Waltham Forest witch prepares to cast a spell

11:27am Wednesday 29th October 2008

This Hallowe’en, witches will be carrying out spells in Waltham Forest – but these are not trick-or-treaters, but pagans celebrating their new year.

MHAIRI MACFARLANE met the leader of the Walthamstow coven to dispel some of the many myths about spells.

A Trained witch, Jeanette Ellis has been casting spells and celebrating festivals in the pagan calendar for 20 years.

She admits she owns a broomstick that is used for space clearing during rituals – although not to fly – and a pointed hat that she wears for festivals.

But she insists that her life as a witch is worlds apart from the cackling wart-covered characters that have been the mainstay of fictional stories for many years.

“Our public image is changing very rapidly – but there are still many people that have a negative impression of us. I don’t think they really understand what we do,” she said.

“And there is an image put out by the church for many years that we have had to work against.”

Jeanette has always been interested in myths and legends, and said that a chance meeting with a pagan 20 years ago first sparked her desire to train in witchery.

A year of training was followed with an initiation ceremony, and since then she has been learning to cast all manner of spells using herbs, candles and incantations, to bring about good fortune.

She said:“Enjoying life is a great deal of what Paganism is about. We learn to enjoy ourselves and to help our friends.”

The mother-of-two sais she was often asked to do money spells, ones to improve health or to get a new job. But there is one spell which many people request, but she will not perform – the love spell.

“They can work, but it is against our principles. If you acquire the person and he doesn’t live up to expectations, you are stuck with him and you will have difficulty getting rid of him because of the spell. But I can do a spell to make someone more attractive,” she said.

She said she had been offered £1,000 to do a negative spell on someone – but she refused and said that neither she or any witches she knew would ever cast an evil spell on an unsuspecting person.

“We believe it returns on you three times, so if you cast a spell for someone's tooth to fall out, yours will fall out.”

Aside from spells, part of being a witch involves celebrating the eight festivals of the pagan calendar by carrying out rituals and attending festivals.

Peculiar as some of the Pagan rituals might sound, it is the seventh largest recognised religion in the country and Jeanette sits on the Public Body Liaison Committee for British Paganism Committee (PEBBLE), which advises the Government on Paganism.