GEORGENA Blything says her grandmother passed witchcraft to her when she was five.
"I told my mother that my grandmother had died half-an-hour before we were told that she had passed on," she says.
"Afterwards I used to have strange dreams. It took me some time to realise that I was a witch." She says that witches do go out in robes on Hallowe'en to celebrate the crowning of the Holly King and the festival of the dead.
But the idea is not as sinister as it might seem. To the Celts death was the door to a new life. It was part of the ancient creed that those who had passed on, still had an interest in the living and were willing to help them.
Oct 31 2001 Patrick Fletcher
CHILDREN who run from house to house trick or treating at Hallowe'en are trivialising an ancient faith, it was claimed yesterday.
Hallowe'en is actually a celebration of new year for those who follow witchcraft, an ancient Celtic faith still observed by some in Wales.
Georgena Blything, a witch who has been practising her craft since she was five, says that Hallowe'en is a serious occasion which marks the start of the winter half of the year.
Tonight she and fellow followers will be carrying out the crowning of the Holly King, the winter lord of misrule, who is traditionally chased away at the start of Spring.
Ms Blything, who lives at Uzmaston, near Haverfordwest, said that her children don't go out trick or treating because they understand the nature of what this time of year is really about.
"I find what's been happening over the last few years with trick or treating upsetting. It's a trivialisation of a faith that dates back to pre-Christian times," she said.
Ms Blything said that many pagan rituals practised by witches and druids were hijacked by Christianity as a kind of cultural colonisation.
And she also dismissed myths about black and white witchcraft.
She said, "There's no such thing as black and white witches. We believe in the number three, that if you do anything that's wrong it comes back to you threefold.
"So we don't have black witch-craft."
She said that there were hundreds of followers of witchcraft in West Wales, and some of them would be taking part in the crowning of the Holly King tonight.
Hallowe'en is the old Celtic eve of Samhain, meaning summer's end.
Ms Blything said that apart from the crowning of the Holly King, the night was also marked by a ritual bonfire that was meant to signify the time when all bad thoughts and frustrations of the old year went up in smoke.
"Bonfire is a derivative of bone fire," claimed Ms Blything. "The Guy Fawkes night did a favour to the pagans because it meant that they could light bonfires without drawing attention to themselves."
While Guy Fawkes is not strictly a Christian ritual, Ms Blything says that Christianity took over every pagan festival and made it its own.
"Even Christmas was celebrated before Christ," she said.
"For witches mid-December marked the re-birth of the sun and the way to spring.
"So it made sense for Christians to take it as the date of the birth of Christ.
"It's a debate I've often had with vicars."
These days the most common connection between people of the craft and those outside, is through herbal remedies.
She says herbal medicine is the oldest form of medical treatment known to mankind and it is still widely used all over the world.
Treatments include herbs that have properties that can help people with all kinds of ailments, says Ms Blything.
They include remedies from everything from colds and flu to anti-depressants and treatments for arthritis and poor circulation. patrick.fletcher@wme.co.uk
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