Well, it's that time of the year again. The time when everyone has an opinion about our religion. While each of us is usually capable of defending ourselves against criticism, an annual ritual of non-Wiccan retailers is gaining some attention by Witches everwhere. This, of course, is the habit of putting up cardboard images of green-faced, evil crones.

   The following letter has been drafted by myself and approved by a majority of the Witches Informational Network to be delivered to one such store in the Minneapolis area and can be used as a template to send to other stores as well. This letter is presented as an example of how to approach the issue of religious tolerance in store advertising at this time of the year.

   Blessed Be, and have a great season!
   Sylvan SilverNight.

The Witches' Informational Network
722 36-1/2 Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418

(612) 789-8378
http://www.schnoggo.com/win2
phantos@visi.com

To the attention of the Store Manager,

Recently, while going to your store to purchase a few much-needed items for my home (a set of knives, some video tapes and towels), I noticed that your Hallowe'en decorations were up and ready for the coming season. While I have no problem with your store showing interest in fall colors and fun decorations, I do have a objection to one decoration in particular.

As you have no doubt noticed in the header to this letter, I represent the Witches Informational Network, an informal group of Wiccans in Minnesota who are struggling to educate the public about our much-maligned religion. The image of the green-faced crone over her bubbling cauldron is of some offense to us and something that we have been struggling to overcome for years now. Please understand that centuries of slander and persecution may indeed have made the figure of the 'witch' into a mean, cruel hag; but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

In our religion, there is the triple-aspected Goddess; one aspect of which is the elder crone. In most Wiccan Traditions, this crone is typified by her cauldron ... a survival of the worship of Cerridwen in pre-Christian Europe. When non-Pagan missionaries began to slander and convert the rural peoples in and around the former Roman Empire, they frequently spread lies about Pagans' practices; including making up stories about our 'evil' Gods and Goddesses. This led -over time- to the revered elder crone, a repository of wisdom and respect, to be reduced to an evil, cackling hag with broken teeth and a cauldron full of noxious poisons. I hope you can see how distressing this can be for those of our faith.

Even Hallowe'en itself has been changed into a night of tricks and treats for youngsters not of our religion. For myself and other members of the W.I.N., this doesn't bother really us, though; the fun, Americanized celebration of Hallowe'en is significantly different from our religious celebration of Samhain, and doesn't really hurt our practices. The false image of the evil crone however, does indeed do damage. It reinforces the idea in our youth (and even the adult population) that all witches are wicked, untrustworthy and evil. It is no different than perpetuating untruths about Jewish folk, Moslems, Hindus or members of any other religious bent that is non-Christian.

Please rest assured that I and our organization are not considering anything drastic such as a boycott or protest. I am quite fond of XXStoreNameXX and purchase it's merchandise on a weekly basis. I would just like to ask -respectfully- for you to remove your displays of the green-faced hags. They could easily be replaced by other enjoyable symbols of the secular celebration of Hallowe'en such as ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, etc... It's just that -as witches- we find that the perpetuation of a stereotype makes it all the more difficult for us to achieve understanding and repair the damage caused by centuries of misinformation and theological intolerance.

So that you understand, please know that we are not a small constituent of the population in Minnesota. The Twin Cities and the extended state contains one of the largest concentrations of witches surviving in the world. Public (and private) rituals are held many times during the year by such organizations as the Minnesota Church of Wicca and the Covenant of the Goddess, Northern Dawn Council. Our religion has been Federally recognized in the U.S. since 1985, and even by that time was widespread following abolition of the anti-witchcraft laws in England during the 1930's.

We would appreciate it if you would remove these offensive icons from your store and forward this request to other stores and business professionals with whom you associate and are affiliated. Please feel free to phone us or write to us at any of the above addresses to let us know your decision. As the time draws near to Samhain, I and other members of our religion will be watching to see what you decide to do. Please let it be the right thing.

Blessed Be,


Sylvan SilverNight
the Witches Informational Network