Open letter from Fiona Horne to the readers of Witchcraft Magazine
October - December 2003
Hi there!
As I write this letter we have just wrapped up the Labor Day weekend in America and I spent most of it at a girlfriend’s bridal shower. It was a weekend of celebrations and culminated in me conducting a sunset Goddess Blessing Ritual, which she had invited me to do.
It was such a beautiful experience made all the more so for the (eventually) open hearts and minds of all the participants – friends and family of the bride-to be and being that a lot of them were from the mid-west, Christian and staunch Republicans! Certainly not the sort of people you would expect to take part in a Witchcraft ceremony.
During the day prior to the ritual, people were coming up to me and saying, “I feel a bit scared – are you sure it’s okay to do this? I’m Christian you know.” I respectfully addressed their concerns by assuring them that no demons would be conjured and no animals sacrificed! Instead we would be awakening to the divine presence of the Feminine in the Universe and that it would make us all feel really happy and good and ensure a wonderful wedding and life together for the bride and groom!
So at sunset into the circle of scattered rose petals and candles I invited
30 women who stood holding hands, dressed in white, facing the Witches altar
in the centre and looking absolutely radiant. I always honour the God and Goddess
as part of a Circle casting ritual and today, to account for everyone’s
interpretation of their spirituality I made a point of acknowledging some of
the familiar masculine divine voices of the human soul – God, Buddha and
Jesus. And then when I sensed everyone felt comfortable that their individual
interpretation of the Divine was acknowledged I said clearly, “But today
we hear the voice of the Goddess in our hearts”. There was a collective
intake of breath as everyone understood and connected with the Feminine Divine
and the energy that stirred within our Circle was potent, ripe and utterly beautiful.
I blessed the Bride-to-be by kissing her hands and feet and declaring “Thou art Goddess”. She then went around the Circle dipping her finger in a bowl of crushed crystal and rose oil that I had blended for the occasion and anointing each woman at her third eye declaring to them, “Thou are Goddess”.
The woman then each threw a handful of rose petals over the bride to be and said what they each loved most about her.
I raised power by chanting the sacred Goddess names, Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna – and raised my athame to the setting sun inviting everyone to release the past, welcome the future and live in the perfect moment of NOW!
We closed Circle and went to eat a wonderful feast that the chef for the event had prepared. The comments people came to me with had drastically changed from fear and apprehension to tears of happiness and words like, “I have never felt so moved before, I feel really strong and bonded with everyone here!”
The next morning after the sleep over it was wonderful to wake up and see on the lawn below a ring of vibrant rose petals as a visible reminder of the wonderful energies we had shared the night before.
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I moved to America to follow my dream – to fuse my work as a television
host/producer with my practice of Witchcraft and create a television show that
would work to promote tolerance, dispel negative attitudes towards the Craft
and be fun and entertaining too! My books were selling well here and had even
been featured on TV shows like ‘Charmed’! It seemed that America
would be prepared to bridge fantasy and fact and understand that Witches are
positively real.
When I got to America however, the backlash against Witchcraft/Wicca, as a religion was greater than anything I had anticipated. Despite some enlightened and tolerant people in the cities, the majority of this country (ie: the Mid-West and South) is right wing Christian - and this sentiment is amplified under the current government. Fear and ignorance are wielded as tools of power. George Bush openly talks about revoking Wicca’s position as a recognised religion in this country and I have personally being banned from appearing on a number of television and radio shows because of my spiritual path.
The government is so war-oriented but the word on most of the street is that the people really want peace – they want tolerance, compassion and love and upon settling in California I have met some great people. I have a terrific open-minded television agent working to help me realise my vision of presenting a positive representation of Wicca and Witchcraft on my own show. And everyday I get closer to achieving that goal.
The initial backlash here led me towards the decision to create my own Coven – I needed some support! This was a first for me – as in Australia I had been practising as a Solitary for the last 17 years. Though when I think about it more often than not I was anything but solitary! Ever since I wrote my first book on the Craft six years ago I have regularly appeared on TV and radio shows, conducted workshops, taken part in public gatherings and rubbed shoulders with Witchy people nearly constantly! But it is a different experience to forge a private, committed, connected, bonded group with whom to grow and evolve magickally and spiritually.
The entertainment industry of Hollywood is a soulless place. It’s incredible to be surrounded by so many people and yet often feel so very alone. This atmosphere added to the impetus of my decision to form my first Coven and in the process write a book about it – which is my new title, “The Coven-Making Magick Together” (Random House October 2003).
I met my Coven sisters rather serendipitously – Tri came to one of the workshops I was giving at The Bodhi Tree on Melrose and Lupita was a friend of hers and we all just ‘clicked’ immediately.
I write about this all length in my new book, but the early days were fun. We would meet at local coffee houses and excitedly discussing out magickal hopes and plans and also delve into the practical side of things like ‘ what should we use to make a blood offering in our Coven Book of Shadows?’ (We decided to prick our thumbs with pins and stamp our blood prints on the pages to seal our unified intent). We get together regularly on Full Moons and on the occasions we absolutely cant connect physically we have an ‘online’ meeting and exchange emails and chat. We are have done house blessings together, gone on magickal supplies shopping excursions and we are planning a spiritual retreat to Mexico, Lupita’s homeland together soon. I am the most experienced Witch in the group, but we share leadership roles equally as we each have something to learn from each other. Even after 17 years I still feel my personal Craft evolving in ways I didn’t anticipate.
In Australia I spoke and talked publically a lot about the Craft when ‘I
came out of the broom closet’ and published my first books. (This is after
being a Witch for 12 years but not ever telling anyone). During this very ‘out’
time I stopped doing a lot of the ‘practical’ stuff that I had when
I was ‘in the broom closet’ – by this I mean spell casting,
divination and other ‘hands-on’ skills. But now in America my personal
practice of Witchcraft has evolved so much – particularly in hands-on
matters to do with the psychic and helping others. I’m sure being part
of a Coven and the added momentum it has given my ‘powers’ is a
part of this occurring.
For starters I have become a palm reader! Though I’ve never made it through a book on palmistry, so I only have the most rudimentary knowledge of lines – but when I hold someone’s hand their world opens up to me and I find that words start to pour from my mouth that are uncannily accurate in their destination.
But then my biological Hungarian Aunt Magda did say I am ‘just like the Gypsies’ when I met her seven years ago when I was unravelling the threads of my adoption and biological genetic heritage. She said there are palm readers in my blood line. I love the intimacy that holding someone’s hand offers. I have read tarot for people, but touch is the key for me.
I find that as I hold and ‘read’ the people I can also channel healing energy if they choose to accept it and it is very rewarding to be able help them with practical advice and magickal energy at the same time.
Not being as ‘known’ in the US as I am in Australia the opportunity to help others through ritual and spell casting has really opened up for me here. I have cast spells for people to help sell their homes, repair broken marriages, find love, get job promotions and heal their bodies. I never ask for payment – which in this particularly consumerist society surprises people. When what I do helps someone (which it always does) I suggest they make a donation to the charity of their choice – to ‘pay it forward’ so to speak.
As I said, not charging to help people, surprises a lot of people – especially when there are those around charging (literally) thousands of dollars an hour for similar work! I think when they know there is nothing in it for me other than a sincere desire to help facilitate change in their lives they give me their trust, but more importantly, ‘their energy’. This is what I wield to carve through the stagnancy surrounding them and create positive change. And the change always occurs as they need it to.
I don’t advertise I just do this by word of mouth and let fate draw me towards the people that I can help.
I’ve never seen Witchcraft as my ‘job’ – For seventeen years now I have worked at various times as an author, TV host/producer/writer, radio host, singer, waitress, aerobics instructor, shop assistant, secretary etc etc! It just happens that I am a Witch.
And now I am a Witch working in the Hollywood entertainment industry. So I go and have dinner with Nicolas Cage to talk about Witchcraft and the possible job for me as a consultant on a film his production company is developing and he wants to star in. It is a remake of the classic Hammer film, ‘The Wicker Man’ which will be very cool! I also get invited to ‘celebrities’ homes to do blessings and spell castings – and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood rubs off on my Craft a bit – and I embrace this because a bit of celebrity endorsement goes a long way to opening doors in this town.
Not only the doors of my career as a TV host/producer but also in encouraging the general public to understand that Witchcraft is not satanic or anti-Christian, that it is one of the fastest growing spiritual paths in the Western World and deserving of tolerance and respect. When A-listers like Madonna and Britney finally come out of the broom closet and declare themselves Witches watch the world sit up and take notice! Maybe then the ‘satanic’ misconceptions and other ridiculous stereotypes that promote fear and disrespect will finally be eroded.
Considering the oppressive attitude in the USA, there are some wild and wonderful occult supply stores here in California – my favourite is Panpipes (you can visit them on the web at www.panpipes.com). The owner, Jymie Darling is very active politically and got the Los Angeles Council to voice an official city proclamation naming October 5th each year as the official Pagan Day of the city. The Pagan Day Fest is now an annual festival celebrating the many aspects and diversity of the Pagan religions. The fest is held in the city of West Hollywood and is attended by 2000+ people and grows each year. Last year I spent a lovely day there meeting people and signing books and conducting a introduction to Witchcraft workshop under the trees that had over 400 people in attendance.
This year I will be in Australia and so will just have to attend in spirit!
I am really looking forward to getting back to Australia – it will be my first trip all year and seeing as I am on a book tour it will be great to connect with like-minded people at the events. I’m also looking forward to seeing my family, especially my niece and nephews who from the photos my mum sends me are growing up very fast!
So I will wrap up this letter here and invite you to read my new book, “The Coven - Making Magick Together” if you are interested in finding out more about my life here in the USA. But more significantly if you would like practical advice about how to form your own Coven, please check it out.
And please visit me at my website! www.fionahorne.com
Love FIONA*