MotherTown -

He drinks coffee. He enjoys video games, board games and playing poker. He reads Harry Potter, and you might see him in the local chapter of Weight Watchers if you wander in.

He's also a witch.

Edward McGuire of Hudson has chosen Wicca as his religion, and he considers himself a witch. McGuire, however, doesn't cast spells, and he doesn't whip up nasty-smelling brews composed of liver and squirrels to feed to his neighbors at night. He strives to debunk the stereotypes modern-day witches shoulder, and he explains the Pagan faith with ease and a down-to-earth attitude.

A careful choice

McGuire, 27, climbed the tree of Paganism when he was 16 - young, but old enough to make his own decisions regarding a religion. When he was 12 or 13, McGuire said, he realized he was disappointed with what was being taught to him in the Catholic church his family was a part of.

"I told my parents I didn't want to go to CCD [Confraternity of Christian Doctrine] anymore," McGuire said. "But I needed to believe in something beyond the five senses."

So McGuire researched Paganism and Wicca; Paganism refers to a group of religions in which people believe in a multiplicity of gods and goddesses and have a very high respect for nature. Wicca is one of the religions falling under that umbrella. One who is Wicca isn't necessarily a witch, and one who is a witch isn't necessarily Wiccan.

McGuire said he chose Wicca because of its acceptance of people of all lifestyles, as well as the self-empowerment he feels the religion encourages.

"I was also attracted to the female deity," he said, explaining how he feels other religions subjugate female figures instead of revering them like Wiccans do. "Wiccan is about personal choice, freedom to live life the way you choose. Equality between the sexes is big because of birth and the mystery of life."

So he planned his own dedication ceremony and chose the Wiccan holiday Imbolc on Feb. 2 to do his initiation into the religion. He didn't have a group of other witches to collaborate with.

"Some say [my initiation] was a valid ceremony; some don't count it," McGuire said. "I put on a robe, I had candles, I did a meditation. I welcomed the god and goddess to the ritual. I made a declaration that this was the path I wanted to walk."

In Wicca, there are eight holidays or "Days of Power." Put simply, the holidays fall on the four season changes (summer and winter solstices and autumn and spring equinoxes) and the four middle-points between the changing of the seasons. Looking deeper into Wicca, it's easy to see that many of the traditions, holidays and practices revolve around the seasons, the earth, the sun and the moon.

"Wicca was practiced a lot among the agrarian societies in the past," McGuire said. "The changing of the seasons is very important-a lot is also based on the movement of the sun."

The eight Days of Power are also called the Wheel of the Year, and celebrating them is called "turning the wheel." McGuire said this comes from the old belief that the seasons would not change unless someone helped them change - by turning the wheel.

In Paganism, the moon represents a goddess and the sun represents a god. McGuire said Mother Earth, or Gaia, is considered the goddess of fertility, and Father Sky is also considered a god.

McGuire doesn't believe that the gods and goddesses are physical entities; instead, they are icons.

"It's more of a concept of creation," McGuire said. "It's easier to commit to the energy when you give it a name. I don't think the sun or the moon is any more or any less divine than anything or anyone else. Mostly Pagans are very much nature-lovers."

In declaring himself a witch, McGuire came "out of the broom closet;" he said that is the term often used to describe if a witch has been open about his or her decision to become a witch.

McGuire has the title "high priest," a title that necessitates no special ceremonies or higher degrees, he said.

"A high priest(ess) is someone who is responsible for more than their own spirituality," McGuire said. "They are the people who often lead group ceremonies or rituals and in general are 'out' witches who are very willing to teach those interested about the religion. Not every coven (group of witches) uses the title."

A welcoming community

McGuire began to frequent a store in Marlboro called New Moon, a new-age supply store carrying items such as books and robes; that was his first contact with other Wiccans. The store closed shortly after, but not before someone McGuire met there told him he attended the local Unitarian church, because it accepted his Pagan practices.

So McGuire attended a full-moon Pagan ritual held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marlboro and Hudson, located in Hudson. The ceremony involves celebrating the lunar goddess at a time when she is highest in power, socializing and feasting; it can also include Tarot readings, divinations and aura readings.

McGuire intended his involvement in the church to end there. But when he realized who had attended the full-moon ritual - a Quaker, a Hindu, and others from different religions, he became interested in the church. He learned Unitarian Universalists are an assembly of many religions coming together to share their faiths.

"It's a church that doesn't offer answers; it offers questions." McGuire said. "It encourages you to find your own spiritual path - there are even atheists who go there who think it's important to have a sense of community. The church does a lot of readings - some from the Bible, some from the civil rights movement, Ghandi, prophetic people. You don't have to choose."

McGuire calls himself a Unitarian Wiccan and now attends the Unitarian church regularly.

"Parts of my spirituality still come from my Christian days; some Hindu and Buddhist teachings have made their way into my theology," McGuire said. "Wiccan is simply a label that most closely captures my beliefs, gives people a point of reference."

History ... and Halloween

McGuire said the beliefs of Wiccans date back to around 5-10,000 B.C., when there were carvings and statues found of pregnant women and the "magic" of birth, which wasn't understood back then. At that time, though, Wiccans didn't call themselves Wiccans.

McGuire said Neo-Pagans, which describes Pagans today, take many of their beliefs from thousands of years ago and apply it to today's knowledge of the world and science.

Tannin Schwartzstein, owner of the Pagan shop Bones and Flowers in Worcester, said the word "pagan" comes from the Latin "Pagonis," which means country dweller. Schwartzstein is also a witch, but she is not Wiccan.

Schwartzstein said the holiday Samhain (pronounced "sow-in") on Oct. 31 is the highest holiday of the year for Pagans.

"It's a time when we remember our dead," she said. "Remembering our dead is remembering our past. It's a good time for divinations for the new year. Not all people practice divinations, just like not all people who are Pagan are witches."

Schwartzstein said Oct. 31 is a time when many Pagans leave offerings to their dead ancestors - biodegradable presents, such as paper, wood, and rope dolls. It is a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead are believed to be thinnest.

However, Pagan practices and traditions on Samhain seem to be more plentiful than Pagan religions themselves.

Samhain, Schwartzstein said, is the final harvest festival of the year. The new year starts on Samhain; therefore, many use this time to make their New Year's resolutions. Also, people often look at the past year and evaluate what changed or what should change.

"I celebrate Oct. 31 the same as everyone else does; I love it," McGuire said. He also partakes in Pagan celebrations, though. "It's a time of partying and celebration because it's the time to use up the harvest before the time when you conserve it. Or, you find people who are contemplative on these holidays - they look over life, become more introspective."

It's magick

The "k" is there for a reason, McGuire said - he uses it to distinguish this form of magick from the David Copperfield, on-stage type.

"Magick is the sensing, arousing, and directing of natural energies within ourselves and our environment to affect change in accordance with will," McGuire said.

To McGuire, magick is not supernatural; it does not allow the impossible to become possible. Instead, it works with the natural laws of the world. Magick can be used as a tool for empowering oneself. For example, McGuire said, it could be as easy as this simple concept: believing in yourself makes it easier for you to achieve your goals.

It can also be more complex: "If you do a ritual and meditate and direct energies toward something, it will be more likely to happen, for example, if you're unemployed and looking for a job," McGuire said. "Of course, you still have to act in accordance - send out resumes and such. The impossible doesn't become possible; the possible becomes more likely."

More simply put, McGuire said magick refers to energies inside of you and around you and how you direct it.

Magick can also be defined as forces and natural laws to the universe that science has not yet discovered.

An open book

McGuire is not only open about his Wiccan faith. He is also open about being gay and about a physical disability he was born with called spinal bifida. He uses leg braces, worn under his pants, to help him walk. When he is walking a long distance, he uses crutches.

McGuire came out of the closet to his mother as bisexual when he was 16.

"I was falling for a friend of mine, and I needed someone to talk to," he said. "My mom and I always had a close relationship growing up, and I felt we could talk about it."

McGuire joined the Welcoming Committee at the Unitarian Church, a group designed to make sure bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender people knew they were accepted there.

"Wiccans are activists at heart, and the current civil rights movement is the gay rights movement. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Wiccan who didn't actively support gay marriage."

McGuire feels that many people who are gay feel ostracized by orthodox religion and are more likely to look for alternate spirituality, and many do find Wicca to be very welcoming.

Obstacles and pentacles

McGuire didn't find the same level of openness in his family as he did in the Unitarian Church.

"My mom is somewhat curious [about being a Wiccan], but I can't really have long talks with her about it," McGuire said. "It's not a comfortable subject for us to discuss."

As McGuire can't drive, his mother did take him to his first full moon ceremony. She told him he would need to get a ride to any future ceremonies, though.

McGuire's father, he said, doesn't really acknowledge his beliefs. McGuire feels that is typical among his parents' generation.

"A lot of it is ignorance - they just don't understand it," he said.

He also has a half-brother who, McGuire said, has no use for religion but finds the Wiccan religion more tolerable than others.

McGuire said Christianity bothers him because he has found some people don't know why they're doing what they're doing.

"With witches - you can disagree with what they think, but at least they know what they're doing and why," he said. "Witches tend not to raise their kids as witches unless the kids choose it. Most witches convert from other religions - it's a choice they make."

It's true - what most people think about when they hear the word "witch" are green-faced, wart-covered old ladies.

"What people don't think of are the eco-centric healers who do their very best to spread love and understanding," McGuire said. "As new-age healing techniques like Reiki become more mainstream, we will turn more to spirituality as a very real part of our world, capable of making a lot of positive, healing changes."

McGuire said another popular myth is that witches wear all black. McGuire himself owns a lot of black clothing, but his reasons have nothing to do with being a witch - one reason is simply that black is slimming.

"However, certain colors are believed to have special properties - black is energy-absorbing and negating," McGuire said. "Black traps light, and it traps heat. It isn't a fascination with death or evil."

McGuire also said Wiccans are known for being very liberal, and therefore some conservatives consider them immoral.

"Being Wiccan hasn't really complicated my life, but being so open about it has," McGuire said. "I've gotten my share of 'bible-thumpers' trying to save my soul, and it took some work accepting that those people are, for the most part, actually good people doing what they think is a good thing. It's just a shame most of them aren't open to other views and beliefs."

McGuire said he started wearing a pentacle - a five-pointed star that represents the elements of creation - in high school, and it may have put people off.

"Now it seems like a larger number of teens are learning witchcraft as a form of rebellion," McGuire said. "A lot of teens who do choose to learn the Craft are looking for something missing in their life, and some actually find it in Wicca. For some, it's just something they want to explore for a while, and that's ok, too."

McGuire advises parents to learn as much as they can about Wicca if their teenager is interested in it, including attending a service with the teen if he or she goes to a public group.

"Wicca isn't a bad thing to get involved in, but like any other group, there are a few people who would take advantage of young, impressionable people," McGuire said.

Educating the community

McGuire does most of his networking with other Wiccans online, as it offers more anonymity.

"I'm hoping that Unitarian churches such as the one in Hudson can be more active in helping Pagans gather locally and have a safe place for people to learn and to share," he said.

McGuire himself is involved in religious education programs at his church for the middle-school-aged population. He is also working on an adult religious education program. The class he wants to offer at the church is called "Inner Temple," and the material for the class comes from a book written by New Hampshire author and teacher Christopher Penczack. The teachings of the class will include, in part, the fundamentals of witchcraft. The class would span 13 months, and it would be free.

McGuire thinks more than half of the Wiccans in the area are still "in the broom closet."

"But sometimes we can identify each other," he said. "There are a lot more of us than you'd think."

Above all, McGuire likes to remind people he is just a regular person, and his Wiccan beliefs and practices are only one side of him.

"I am a person first," McGuire said. "I am a witch, but I have friends and family and live in American society."