As Halloween witches go, Samantha Harvey hardly fits the stereotype. She trades a black dress for jeans and T-shirts, and pointy boots for flip-flops. Her one vestige of sorcery is a house full of cats. Despite the appearance, Harvey, 36, identifies as a bona fide — and benevolent — witch. She teaches witchcraft classes, performs weddings and rites of passage, and her Occoquan shop, 13 Magickal Moons, sells the accoutrements: potions, talismans, crystals and candles. Harvey sat down with The Washington Examiner to share her not-so-spooky beliefs, and how they can deepen our understanding of tonight’s tricks and treats.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I do consider myself of one faith, and that is witchcraft. I appreciate its duality — honoring both the female and the masculine divine. And I appreciate the amount of control found in witchcraft. We live in a world where we feel constantly out of control, where we’re always reacting to others. In witchcraft, your spirituality is your religion. It doesn’t require being at a specific place at a specific time — it is with me all of the time.
What exactly does it mean to honor both the female and masculine divinities? Or – to be a witch at all?
It means to worship the god and the goddess you feel most connected with. Each culture has its own deities — Egypt has Isis and Osiris, the Greeks have Zeus and Hera, there’s the Celtic goddess Brigit [and] the Norse god Freyr. Each god and goddess has his or her own history — you worship the divine you feel most connected with. The worship is different now than it was historically, but I think the gods transcend time. They don’t necessarily want to stay in ancient times — they want to be remembered, and to live life with us today.
Earlier this week, you hosted a Samhain ritual attended by 80 people in downtown Occoquan. What lessons of that Gaelic precursor to Halloween can we think about as we prepare for trick-or-treating?
Honor those that have passed. Around Samhain is the time of year when the veil between this world and the spirit world thins. When you’re in the kitchen, and you sense someone pass by but there’s no one there; or when you walk into the bathroom and smell hazelnut coffee, but there’s none brewing — those are reminders of the spirit world’s closeness. This time of year is a great time to set a place for those who have passed, or set out food for animals that have passed, and to honor them and remember them.
It’s also a good time of year to do a tarot reading, rune casting or any form of divination — even crystal ball gazing. Of course, that’s been demolished by the media’s portrayal of gypsies and other fortune tellers.
Did anyone or any event lead you to the practice of witchcraft?
A friend bought me a book on witchcraft as a joke — that’s how it started. Earlier than that, though, I had grown up a twin. And whenever my twin brother and I went to church together, they always deferred to him — they looked at him, they spoke to him. I got ignored. The older Chris and I got, the more it seemed he was better than me, and I thought that was unfair. My brother passed away when we were 16 years old, and when he passed on, there was this emptiness. Witchcraft filled that emptiness. The anniversary of his death is this week. I feel like he’s here — like he’s doing this with me.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I believe that taking control of my life, and believing in the god and the goddess, has led me to a place of pure happiness. No one knows if the god that witches honor is the Christian god, but, fundamentally, I believe what most religions believe: be a good person, be strong in your spiritual beliefs, and live your life with as much moral and ethical happiness as you can have. I used to be angry. I believed that the world owed me something, and that too many people had control in my life. As a practicing witch, I make my own decisions, and I walk my own path. The practice has made me kinder, more compassionate, and less judgmental.
– Leah Fabel
