DATE: Friday, October 31, 1997              TAG: 9710310643
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   88 lines

PAGANS TO OBSERVE HALLOWEEN TONIGHT AT MOUNT TRASHMORE

When Drema Baker climbs Mount Trashmore tonight dressed as Aranea, priestess of the Silver Phoenix coven, she considers herself to be carrying on American and Virginian traditions protecting freedom of worship.

``Yes, we're trying to get people to see us, but not because we're photo hogs,'' said Baker, 38. ``This country was founded on religious freedom and tolerance, and that means not just for Christians.''

Baker is a soft-spoken woman with waist-length chestnut hair who works in the print shop at Tidewater Community College. She's also a witch - or ``wiccan,'' the old word some use, or the more all-encompassing ``pagan.''

She lives very quietly in a brick house in a Suffolk suburb. Baker has never felt discrimination very harshly, although she left one job when her boss found out and started treating her strangely.

But she knows that most people don't understand her religion, and many fear it. The feeling is particularly intense in South Hampton Roads because of the presence of Pat Robertson, who has often condemned witches and pagans on CBN.

That's why 40 to 50 local pagans - some from Baker's coven of witches and others from different groups - will gather at Mount Trashmore today from 5 to 7 p.m. for a candlelight vigil promoting and celebrating religious tolerance. They will pray, sing and recite the names of victims of religious persecution, including Christians and Jews.

Thousands more are expected in Washington, D.C., this weekend for an event called ``Blessed Be Meet Me in D.C.'' They will hold ceremonies on the Mall and perform volunteer work, such as cleaning up neighborhoods and donating canned food, to show their good will.

Holding the candlelight vigil at Mount Trashmore on Halloween seems somewhat stereotypical, but the day has real significance to pagans, who call it Samhain (pronounced ``sowen''). They consider it the day when the veil is thinnest between this world and the afterworld, a day when it is easiest to make contact with the spirits.

``When you think about it, our ceremonies are much more sacred and religious than most of what you see on Halloween,'' she said. ``A lot of Christians are running around with ghoul masks and fake axes in their heads.''

Baker, editor of the PagaNet News, a paper for the pagan community, organized the event in Virginia Beach for pagans who can't make it to Washington. She's also one of the few witches willing to ``come out of the broom closet,'' as they say, and acknowledge her faith publicly.

``We don't sacrifice animals. We don't kill children,'' Baker said. ``We certainly don't poison candy.''

Many witches and pagans are people who became dissatisfied with Christianity and began searching for something else. Some find more devout forms of evangelical Christianity; a few find paganism.

Baker said she found Christianity too simple and too male: ``There was no place for women, no place for anything apart from pure white light. Everything was absolutely good or evil, and what I saw was that 99.99 percent of the world is shades of gray.''

Because of the nature of that searching, pagans are wildly diverse, including those who worship Egyptian gods, celebrate the Celtic tradition and revere the Roman goddess Diana.

The most common misconception, Baker said, is that they are Satanists. But Satan is a Christian figure, and adult pagans like herself are not interested in that religion.

What does she believe?

``Wiccan teaches you that the deity is here,'' she said, putting her hand over her heart. ``You can call it your conscience, your intuition, whatever. It's the spiritual need in each of us.

``All the gods and goddesses are one. Earth, air, fire, water and spirit are one. From that comes the idea that everything is connected.

``That, and quantum physics,'' she joked.

According to one informal survey Baker conducted in her newspaper, two-thirds of pagans are women. It's not surprising: One distinguishing feature of most pagans is that they worship goddesses, rather than gods. The pagan goddess goes by many names but is generally depicted as an Earth figure, a sort of ``Mother Nature.''

Pagans also see their faith embracing sexuality and birth more than Christianity does. They twine fertility and sexuality with the Earth's seasons, the rebirth and growth of spring and summer, the decline and death of fall and winter.

Historically, modern pagan worship is a stubborn survivor of primitive religions that Christianity tried to stamp out. It persisted in many forms, even being incorporated into Christian practices and holidays.

``Christmas is so pagan it's not even funny,'' Baker said. ``The tree, the holly, the celebration of a winter festival - those customs were taken over by Christians.'' ILLUSTRATION: JOHN H. SHEALLY II The Virginian-Pilot

Drema Baker, a witch from Suffolk who edits PagaNet News, a

newspaper for witches and pagans, is helping organize tonight's

candlelight ceremony in Virginia Beach. The event will promote and

celebrate religious tolerance.

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