Hello and welcome to Herstory. Today on the show we have a spooktacular guest to celebrate
Halloween. What a beguiling hat. Doreen Valiente the mother of modern witchcraft--hello--who
has come by to tell a spooky biography. This always happens on these Halloween appearances.
Doreen, first of all your name rhymes with Halloween, that's neat. Secondly, your full
name Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente but you have another name on top of that too. Ah yes,
you must be referring to Ameth, my craft name. Also known as a secondary magical name. Now
Doreen not to be a little bit of a grammar nerd but why do Wiccans spell magick with
a 'K'? That just seems excessive. My dear girl no, it is not excessive at all. It merely
disambiguates the magick of Wicca versus the magic of say a David Copperfield or something.
Were you a wicked child? I was no more wicked than the other neighborhood children, although
when I as about thirteen, I did become quite beguiled with the idea of witchcraft and I
started trying to work with spells. And my mother actually was having trouble with a
co-worker so I decided to cast a spell on her. The co-worker that is, not my mother.
And it seemed to work, my mother had stopped complaining about her. And so I excitedly
told my parents about this spell work that I was doing. My parents are quite Christian
so I got sent to a convent. Doreen! Is 'Teen Witch' actually a bio-pick about you? Oh no,
that wasn't me. Oh wrong again. Sounds like a delightful film. Now that would have been
magickal, with a 'K'. Now Doreen how did you formally become a witch? Was there some sort
of recruitment process, did you run into someone at a broom store? The way I became a witch
was that first, witchcraft was legalized finally in Great Britain in 1951 with a repeal of
the Witchcraft Acts that used to penalize people who were thought to be witches because
there were all of those horrible stereotypes, the kind that you seem to maintain. Then a
couple of years later I was initiated into the craft by a man named Gerald Gardener who
is really the founder of modern Wicca. I did quickly become the High Priestess of Gardner's
coven and I worked very closely with him on revising what is often called the Book of
Shadows. For a lack of a better word it's the Bible of the Wiccan religion. You're telling
me that you were initiated into witchcraft by a warlock? In Wicca both men and women
are witches, there are no warlocks. So many surprises, tricks up your sleeve, right? I
still don't think you get it. I'm trying to make it work Doreen. Clearly my perceptions
have been misconceptions when it comes to sorcery--it's not sorcery--not sorcery? Doreen
I got to hand it to you, you simply hopped on your broomstick and shot up the Wiccan
hierarchy, starting covens, writing books, having appearances, I mean you're quite a
witch celebrity. Today Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States
Doreen. How do you feel about that? Yes it's true by certain estimates. We are still very
small, easily dwarfed Christianity, Islam, you know the mainstream varietals. It is upsetting
that the prejudice against Wicca is so persistent that a number of people who practice do so
in the closet. So Doreen what does Halloween mean to a witch? Is it like your Christmas,
like your Valentine's Day, your Mardi Gras? Halloween is a wonderful occasion in witchcraft.
It's a celebration of the cycle of life and death. It's a time when energetically speaking
the veil between seen and the unseen is quite thin. You are shifting the season from the
warm harvest into the colder period of stasis in which the winter sets in. The growing season
is over, you bury back into yourself, only yet again for the rebirth to happen. Well
Doreen thank you for being a spell-binding guest. My idea witchery has been quite changed.Marvelous.
And happy Halloween to all the little witches out--oh I, okay. Happy Halloween.