What do most students think of when they think of witches? Harry Potter? Halloween? “Hocus Pocus?”

Instead of thinking of fictional characters or a secular holiday, there is a more serious religious ideology that can be associated with the word witch. A number of Alabama citizens and local Tuscaloosa and Birmingham residents practice paganism or Wicca, which is a neo-pagan religion.

Ana Schuber, the program manager and curriculum coordinator of continuing studies at the University and a member of the local Unitarian Church, said Wiccan and pagan faiths are widely misunderstood and stereotyped.

“There is a misunderstanding there, as there is with most religions,” she said. “Everyone starts assuming stereotypes out of laziness.”

There is a small pagan group, made up of fewer than 20 people, at Tuscaloosa’s Unitarian Church, Schuber said.

Schuber said there is no connection with Satan or black magic and those that practice Wicca or paganism will not “cast a spell on you.”

“A pagan simply means a country person,” Schuber said. “The three major religions grew up within cities while Wicca or paganism developed in the countryside. In the countryside, people are more nature oriented.”

Rhiannon Moongazer, a high priestess of the pagan witch coven Gaia’s Sacred Circle based out of Birmingham, agreed with this definition.

“It was the isolated farmers and country folk who continued to live life as people of nature by the breath of the Earth, sun and moon,” Moongazer said. “Basically, a pagan is someone who follows a polytheistic Earth-based belief system and does not conform to or believe in the major religions, i.e. Christianity, Judaism and Islam.”

Moongazer said her personal take on being a pagan focuses on treating others well and being respectful and tolerant.

“Being pagan means I live with the best of intentions towards my fellow man and all living things including Mother Earth herself,” Moongazer said. “I treat others as I wish to be treated. I work hard to find balance in all areas of my life. I strive to learn all that I can so that I may be respectful and tolerant of other’s beliefs and values while I follow my own path in hopes that it will lead me in a direction of spiritual peace and harmony. I cherish the beauty we all bestow upon this life.”

“There is a connection to the planet we live on,” Schuber said. “These are seasonal types of religions, associated with the earth and with the equinoxes, celebrating the earth going to sleep and the earth waking up. These celebrations involve the elements such as fire, earth, water, etc.”

There are also lasting contributions that pagans made to drugs and medicine, she said.

“It is drawing power from the earth,” Schuber said. “It is the ability to look to the earth for healing.”

Schuber said paganism and Wiccan practices, which go back very far in history, are reminiscent of religions that existed before Christianity.

Schuber also spoke about the assimilation of pagan and Wiccan traditions into mainstream religions.

“It’s easy to take over a culture when you let them keep a part of it,” Schuber said.

Halloween was originally a pagan tradition of “cleaning of the house” and “changing of the fire” with a focus on paying homage to ancestors, she said. The word bonfire originated from “bone fire,” which is a tradition in which communities would burn the bones of their ancestors.

Another example of this is the tradition of Lent, or giving up something for 40 days.

“Lent happened among pagans in Europe when stores of food started diminishing,” Schuber said. “Everybody would give up something in order to survive. The Church took that over. There are a lot of connections like that.”

She said she feels in this day and age, pagans and Wiccans are feeling more comfortable about being open about their religious practices.

“We’ve reached a point in the U.S. where things that were underground have more of a chance to bubble out,” Schuber said. “Forty years ago pagans would feel scared or put down, there was a lot of fear in that regard. Today, more people are curious.”

An increase in acceptance can be attributed to a decline in attendance at mega-churches and a turning away from organized religion, Schuber said.

“People are going to home churches, and that’s where you’ll find more pagans,” she said. “These days people are saying they are more spiritual than religious, which is them turning away from organized religions.”

Moongazer said she finds a surprisingly large presence of pagan and Wiccan followers in Alabama.

“They could be your neighbor,” Moongazer said. “Look at the turnout there is for Magick City Pagans annual Witches’ Ball. It was so big this year, we had to rent two venues.”

Schuber said she encourages students to research and learn on their own about faiths such as paganism and Wicca and not believe stereotypes.

“If you want something to be untouchable you say it’s satanic,” she said. “I’ve never met a pagan that is excited about Satan. Wiccan spell casting is more similar to prayer.”

“We are not devil worshipers, how can we worship something we don’t believe in?” Moongazer said. “We love nature and all it offers. Being called a witch, for those of us who follow that as part of our path, do not take offense to it. The biggest thing I would say is have an open mind and open heart. There are a lot of pagan and Wiccan shops, covens, events and wonderful people that are out there. Research – you can never learn enough. I’ve been doing this for years and I still learn something new every day.”

Moongazer recommended students interested in Pagan or Wiccan faiths look on Yahoo or Google and find groups online. Also, students can access witchvox.com and e-mail organizations with respectful questions and inquiries.