The witches will be at a crafts market and are hosting a festival with the burning of a wicker man and woman to raise funds

A witch has told the ECHO it’s time for pagans to “come out of the broom closet” as she launched a fundraising campaign to buy land for her fellow witches to grow their own food and host education sessions for the public.

Raven Moon, previously of Widnes but more recently living in Bootle, hopes to be able to raise around £1m to purchase land either near Cronton on the outskirts of Halton, in Knowsley or on the Wirral. She said the eco-friendly development would have allotments for growing food, a soup kitchen for the general public and source all its energy from clean sources such as solar, as well as a health and education centre for teaching people how to grow and forage for their own fresh food.

Part of the land would be used for rewilding if a bigger enough plot is found, folk witch Raven said, adding that both women and men can be witches. Raven has launched the company “Coven Connections”, also known as “Coven Connect”, to run as a not-for-profit to pursue the goal of providing witches with a place or their own, and to “turn it into a movement around the UK”.

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She said witches wouldn't live on the site but would be able to visit and grow veg and any buildings would be on wheels to protect the ground and would include "chalet" structures.

Upcoming events include a day of craft stalls and music when witches “take over Widnes Market” on Sunday, December 11, and the Burning Witch Festival in Knutsford on August 19-20, 2023.

Around 80 stalls are expected in Widnes, offering goods such as homemade crafts, bath bombs, artwork, “divination readings” and photographs taken through crystal balls and “aura” photography.

The Burning Witch Festival's name is intended to reclaim the motif of persecution and turn it into “positivity” aimed at tackling discrimination. It will feature live music from top goth and pagan acts , drumming and chanting, workshops and crafts, and learning to make a clay god or goddess with Phoenix Moon, with the weekend culminating in the burning of a wicker man and wicker woman.

Sculptor Trevor Leat has been commissioned to create the wooden effigies, and visitors will be invited to put their “hopes and dreams” inside.

Raven said witches and other pagans continue to suffer discrimination, persecution, and ignorance - even being killed by burning in some parts of the world.

Closer to home, she said her own daughter had been barred from being friends with another girl because of her mother’s disapproval of her beliefs and had been prohibited from wearing a witchcraft veil that is intended to aid concentration in school.

The reality is more like “an old women’s sewing club” with members “passing information back and forth” and handing it “down through the generations”

Raven, 45, said: “If you go back into your history, everybody has a witch in their history and everybody has pagans in their history. If you go back far enough you have pagan ancestors and witch ancestors.”

With the spread of Christianity during the Middle Ages, Raven said pagan beliefs were absorbed into the new religion’s calendar such as the dates for Christmas and Easter.

She hopes tolerance can bloom in the North West.

Raven told the ECHO: “The idea is we want to show people we’re not the Hallowe’en witch. The role of ‘witch’ means ‘a wise woman’ and ‘pagan’ means ‘of the villages’.

“What we’re trying to do is integrate back into society and come out of the broom closet. We’re not going to steal your kids or eat your pets or hex you or steal your money or the other nasty things. All we want is acceptance or non-judgement.

“We want to revive our old roles and go back into the community and help people and educate people.”

She added: “People are still being persecuted.

“I started Coven Connections when my daughter went to see a friend after lockdown and her friend’s mum dropped her off and saw my protective symbols and sigils and she didn’t realise we were pagans and my daughter was banned from seeing her best friend.

“I thought ‘I’ve had enough of the discrimination and the pain these people are causing’ It’s 2022 and we’re still having to hide.”

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