Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Devon DeMarco English professor Michele Tarter cleared up misconceptions about witches at the ninth annual Witch Lecture.

Walking toward the Music Building at night on Oct. 29 was a creepy phenomenon. A cool, crisp wind blew. It was two days before Halloween and the spooky spirit of the season filled the air. What made the experience of the walk more interesting was its final destination: the ninth annual Witch Lecture.

Seated toward the top of the auditorium at the Music Hall, the view included a packed crowd, all whispering, laughing and anxiously awaiting the events which were to begin shortly. The podium on the stage donned a witch's hat and, oddly enough, a Bruce Springsteen T-shirt. Then, everyone became quiet and the opening invocation began. It was a dark, serious depiction of what the witches of past times had to endure, the torture they suffered and the legacy that they would leave behind for those who study them.

Following the chilling invocation read by sophomore women and gender studies major Tamra Wroblesky, students Desiree Bryant, senior secondary education and mathematics major, and Peter Waldman, junior English major, performed a small skit that summed up the abuse of women and how they were forced into "admitting" they were witches for fear of being hurt and punished. It also brought to light how women were mistreated and deemed "imperfect" by the male congregation.

Presented next to the audience were 13 facts about witches, read by senior elementary education and English major Kaitlin McCann, an eye-opener and a very informative list of facts that cleared up false notions. For example, witchcraft is a federally recognized religion, a spell is merely a prayer and, most importantly, witches are healers.

Afterward, Michele Lise Tarter, professor of English, spoke to the audience. With witty dialogue and a gripping presentation, Tarter gave a detailed analysis on the religion known as Wicca. She pointed out the misconceptions of the religion and culture, the stereotypes of green faces, disgusting bodily features and the riding of a broom through the night sky to meet with the devil underneath the moon. "Wicca is a nature-based religion," Tarter said. "And most importantly, witches are beautiful," she said.

Continued...

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