By Tanya Howard
It’s a night of ritual to honour the dead and an all-out party to celebrate the living.
This Halloween, Barrymore’s Music Hall hosts the Witches Gathering, the largest pagan event in Canada, say organizers.
The goal is to expose and educate partygoers to pagan rituals and religions, which are centred on a religious belief in gods or goddesses other than those in mainstream religions.
“This is the only party in town where the dead are invited. Formally, anyways!” Says Michelle Hrynyk, a Wiccan high priestess who leads rituals to honor and formally welcome ancestors. Wicca is a pagan religion with practitioners who believe in a god and goddess and practice a closeness to nature and the earth.
Paul Thompson, event organizer, says Ottawa pagan culture is private but quite strong. “Ottawa’s a pretty good place to be pagan,” he says, because there’s a variety of Wiccan and pagan groups practicing here when other cities may not have any. Thompson hopes the pagan community comes together while enjoying a great party with non-pagans.
Ottawa will learn about Viking pagan religion, also called Norse, at this year’s Witches Gathering. Thompson says modern pagan religions have developed from ancient cultures like Norse, which is why it was chosen as a theme. Barrymore’s will be transformed into Valhalla, an ancient Viking drinking hall for the night, with decorative Norse shields and swords, flickering torches and banners, he says.
Cecilia Tucker, a Wiccan, says Halloween is a great time to explore pagan practices. “You know, I think Wiccans always do get excited over Halloween,” she says, “I think it’s one of the times of year when you feel most in tune with the spirit world.” She explains that Halloween is related to the Wiccan celebration of Samhain, which marks the turning of the seasons at the end of October. She says the “party” atmosphere of the Witches Gathering is a great chance to broaden Ottawa’s perspectives on spiritual beliefs and teach non-pagans about different religions.
Hrynyk says non-pagans are encouraged to attend, since the purpose of the event is to educate people about different pre-Christian pagan religions and help them learn and explore what’s involved in the rituals.
When the ritual is complete, Thompson says a more traditional Halloween dance party will follow, complete with a costume contest, funk band Dr. Huxtable and headliner Dave Anthony. He hopes the entertainment attracts non-pagans, and helps dispell common stereotypes.
Tucker says she experienced some stereotyping in Ottawa, and feels some people still have strange ideas about Wiccans and pagans. She’s had people ask if she dances naked in fields, a stereotype that comes from the Wiccan focus on closeness with nature. “It’s just not true,” she says and hopes that people who see the ritual in person will understand what goes on in pagan ceremonies.
Hrynyk’s ceremony will start with a cleansing by water and herbs so people can enter the ritual hall prepared to meet spirits. She will then invite people to write down names of those close to them who’ve died in the Wiccan Book of the Dead. Those people, along with other ancient ancestors, will be called in a formal ritual. She’ll conduct the ceremony in priestess robes and accessories, including a jet necklace with a pentacle (a Wiccan star symbol) and silver wristbands called cuffs.
Hrynyk says the ritual of welcoming back the dead can be very cathartic and says, “when we recognize death, we can accept life.” She says she wants people to go away “feeling absolutely wonderful to be alive.”.