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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; If anyone came to the Osterhout Library on Monday evening looking for a Hollywood kind of witch, that person might have been disappointed.</p><p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t charm you, erase your memory or throw a fire ball,&#8221; Jamie Dana, of Nanticoke, told the group of about 30 individuals who had come to hear a Modern Witchcraft presentation in the Reading Room.</p><p>What Dana does do, as a witch, Wiccan and member of the Grove of the Ancient River Coven, is strive to live in harmony with nature, learn more about himself and uphold the values of courage, discipline, fidelity, honor, industriousness, perseverance, self-reliance and truth.</p><p>&#8220;Why do you call yourself witches?&#8221; a member of the audience asked, suggesting the word has a negative connotation for some people.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re reclaiming the word,&#8221; said presenter Shannon Saylor, of Wilkes-Barre, noting ancient peoples respected witches as wise women and wise men.</p><p>Actually, Saylor explained, &#8220;I identify more as a pagan than as a witch. I follow a Hellenic path.&#8221;</p><p>A chart Saylor had put together for the seminar listed an array of pagan paths, among them heathen, Hellenic, Druid, and re-constructionist.</p><p>As a pagan influenced by Hellenic, or Greek, culture she explained she might invoke the Greek goddesses Athena or Persephone &#8220;to bring about change.&#8221;</p><p>The way to look at a prayer or spell, Dana said, is as &#8220;a probability enhancer, increasing the odds that something you want to happen, will happen.&#8221;</p><p>But don&#8217;t fall back on those old Hollywood images and imagine a cackling witch trying to hurt Dorothy, the Tin Man or anyone else.</p><p>Quoting the Wiccan Rede, Dana said, &#8220;An ye harm none, do what ye will.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Rede means advice,&#8221; he added.</p><p>&#8220;You have the freedom to do whatever you want, just understand it will come back to you,&#8221; Saylor said, noting that&#8217;s similar to the idea of karma.</p><p>Touching on other beliefs, Dana said, &#8220;The golden rule for most people is, you&#8217;re responsible for your own actions. There&#8217;s no bad place you&#8217;re going, and if there is a good place, you&#8217;re going there regardless.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no divine plan. When things happen, it&#8217;s because of you or someone who has influence over you.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;To Wiccans, you&#8217;re not so much a physical being on a spiritual journey but a spiritual being kind of stuck in a physical world,&#8221; said Dana, who holds the title &#8220;Rev.&#8221; in the San Bernardino, Calif.,-based Covenant of the Goddess.</p><p>Despite the name of the organization, Dana explained, &#8220;It&#8217;s a misconception that we have a monotheistic goddess. There&#8217;s a divine masculine and a divine feminine.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Reincarnation is key,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We don&#8217;t believe everything happens in one go-around. We all get a chance to live as a man and as a woman; we all have a turn at being persecutor and persecuted.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I have no animosity toward any Christians,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m happy that you&#8217;re happy. I&#8217;ll say a prayer with you. Just don&#8217;t tell me there&#8217;s only one path.&#8221;</p><p>Ainslee Golomb from the library&#8217;s information services department said she organized the Modern Witchcraft session to increase understanding and dispel misconceptions about the practice, which Dana described as &#8220;a set of skills, like carpentry or plumbing.&#8221;</p><p>For anyone interested in learning more, the library offers &#8220;Drawing Down the Moon&#8221; by Margot Adler, &#8220;Witchcraft in America&#8221; by Peggy Saari, and other books, including volumes on herbs and folklore.</p><p>Each of the two presenters is also involved with an upcoming event that newcomers are welcome to attend.</p><p>Saylor&#8217;s local group, the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, will host a full moon labyrinth walk from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 24 outdoors at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Church Road in Kingston Township. (For more info, contact nepa.cuups@gmail.com.)</p><p>Dana&#8217;s local group, the Grove of the Ancient River Coven, will observe the upcoming Samhain holiday on Oct. 28. (It&#8217;s weather-dependent, so check the Facebook page or contact groveancientriver@yahoo.com for details of time and place.)</p><p>&#8220;As the world is descending into fall and winter, we honor the passing of life and our ancestors,&#8221; Dana said. &#8220;You can write the names of people who have died on a cloth that will be brought out and used every year.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption"> Jamie Dana, of Nanticoke, has been practicing Wicca since he was a teen-ager and likens witchcraft to &#8220;a set of skills, like carpentry or plumbing.&#8217; He holds the title &#8216;Rev.&#8217; in the Covenant of the Goddess organization. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches1.jpg</photo0><caption0> Jamie Dana, of Nanticoke, has been practicing Wicca since he was a teen-ager and likens witchcraft to &#8220;a set of skills, like carpentry or plumbing.&#8217; He holds the title &#8216;Rev.&#8217; in the Covenant of the Goddess organization. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Osterhout Library has several books on witchcraft in its collection. Librarian Ainslee Golomb said she organized the Modern Witchcraft session to increase understanding and dispel misconceptions about the practice. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches2.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Osterhout Library has several books on witchcraft in its collection. Librarian Ainslee Golomb said she organized the Modern Witchcraft session to increase understanding and dispel misconceptions about the practice. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Shannon Saylor, of Wilkes-Barre, explained during the seminar that witches and pagans would not want to harm someone because they believe that for anything you do, &#8216;it will come back to you.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Shannon Saylor, of Wilkes-Barre, explained during the seminar that witches and pagans would not want to harm someone because they believe that for anything you do, &#8216;it will come back to you.&#8217; </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A respectful crowd of about 30 people attended the Modern Witchcraft seminar at the Osterhout Library on Monday evening. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL101618Witches4.jpg</photo3><caption3>A respectful crowd of about 30 people attended the Modern Witchcraft seminar at the Osterhout Library on Monday evening. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>&#8216;Modern Witchcraft&#8217; explained at Osterhout</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

No fireballs, just sincere beliefs