Essay Pages

A WITCH TALKS BACK

by Lisa Morgenstern
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A funny thing happened on March 16th (2002). For the first time since, perhaps, the Salem trials, Witches accused Christians of persecution and didn't run away and hide. I have some things to share as I was there, leading the ceremony at the Witches Grove that day.

Why did the L.A. County Sheriff's Department close the case after only interviewing two Wiccans? I know I was never interviewed by the Sheriff's department. Indeed, I was told that my letter to the editor, also faxed to Captain Pigott's office, was reviewed and investigated as a complaint, yet I never got a call from them regarding this. When I called Lt. Shrieve of the Sheriff's Department, why did he tell me that the "City of Lancaster is greatly concerned about your use of your business license for inappropriate purposes."?

Particularly since I don't have a business license. I was just calling the lieutenant as the clergy person who presided over and conducted the ceremony to verify and confirm with the investigating officer that it was, indeed, a worship ceremony held in the store parking lot. (The owner of the Witche's Grove is the holder of the business license.) In fact, my religious worship group is in compliance with the 14 points required by the IRS for tax exempt status. In addition, my religion is recognized by the IRS and listed in the Military Chaplains Handbook. No one but the Press asked me anything. In fact, the lieutenant told me that he did not want or need people who were at the event to go make statements.

Given the lack of information that the Sheriff's Department gathered, it is no wonder the DA ruled it was not a hate crime. They did not have all the information. At the Antelope Valley Human Relations Hate Crimes Task Force meeting, I watched as the US Attorney
Caroline Witkoff showed surprise when hearing from Cyndia Riker that her son was harassed and leaned on and pushed by Canavello. (Cyndia's comments have been captured on video by AV3 news.)

As for the loud music, Pastor Joseph Sweet's testimony to the paper and to AV3 News, was that the blaring music turned up by those praying was not appropriate - don't just take our word for it, take Pastor Joe's. It was Benjamin John Canavello, accompanied by his wife and child, who drove his SUV up to and parked one stall away from the back door of the
Witches Grove store, next to our altar. He and his wife were the rude ones. He states that he did not play loud music. I beg to differ. There are about 50 people who will tell you that the Amy Grant CD he was playing (repeatedly) was so disruptive to our worship that many of them had difficulty hearing the prayers offered by the Priest and Priestesses. After all, their car was right beside the entire service, with the engine running. Just as an aside, it is one of the least fuel efficient vehicles on the market today. An extremely wasteful use of our Earth's resources is, I suppose, what Pagans would consider sinful,
given our reverence for the Earth.

When I walked up to Canavello on the passenger side before the ceremony began, I told them the same thing I had told another vehicle full of passengers earlier, "We are going to pray now, can you please move your car so that we have room to have our prayer service?" The first driver I spoke with complied, so I had no reason to think they would be the exception. I was replied to by Melissa Canavello, who said "We are in a public parking lot; we have a right to be here." And she resumed reading her book. The music they were playing was so loud it was hard to hear her, but I believe that is what was said. I was horrified, and said to the driver, Mr. Canavello, who was reading a Bible," We would not come into your church and interfere with your prayers to your god, so why are you preventing us from praying to ours?" I was interrupted by the time I said the word "from" by Melissa saying, "Not OUR God! THE GOD! THE GOD!" Again I asked them to be respectful, but it fell on (literally) deafened ears...and the reply was, "We have a right to be here." At that point it was clear to me that they had no intention of listening, and I suggested to Cyndia, inside, that she might want to call the police. We were determined to have our ceremony, as planned, to welcome the Spring and re-dedicate the store with it's
new name.

During our ceremony, when Thomas Breuhl, the Wiccan guardian who called the Sheriff, moved Cyndia's son to get him away from Canavello's verbal and physical barrage, Canavello followed him, prompting Breuhl to ask, "Do I need to get a babysitter for you?" Maybe Tom should have since we didn't have a Sheriff's presence there to „protect and serve." Even then, what was done was mostly only rude to a point. During our circle, Canavello got out of his car, and along with another man, walked around the circle seven times (A magical number? They seemed to think so.) and prayed loudly from their bibles. They had to be loud to be heard over the deafening music, and when that did not
seem to work, he then opened the back hatch of his car and left it open, to make the music louder.

As for the comments Canavello made, well, the music was so loud, and the man was so zealously praying and quoting scripture that he did not make a lot of sense. Between the Bible verses and the loud music, a lot of it did not make sense to anyone. Canavello did flash his ID. Though the Sherrif's Department may only have talked to two people who saw it, I know that my son saw it, as did a number of other people at the ceremony. Canavello lifted his wallet, and held it up, leaning across his wife to do so and showed it to Bruehl.

My reaction to the allegations that a Wiccan woman threw "a potion" on his vehicle, cursing it? This is ludicrous. You see, at the end of our ceremony, I was carrying our altar tools back into the building to pack them away. I happened to walk past Canavello's SUV, since it was by the back door, and stopped to ask (albeit sarcastically) "Would you like communion?" When I was met with odd looks, I then 'blessed' them by sprinkling some holy water on the ground by the car. It was far too cold to sprinkle them, and if some of the water got onto the outside of the car, it was not intentional. The wind was blowing pretty strongly in that direction that day. I offered them a blessing. I never said that I'd cursed them. I would never do such a thing. By my religion, to curse anyone or anything is unethical and a violation of my vows as a Priestess and I risk far more karmic retribution than any curse is worth. The comments the Canavello's have made publicly have done far more to harm their credibility than anything I could have ever done. You see, we believe that what we send out comes back to us three times. Therefore I was blessing them, that blessings would be returned to me threefold.

Canavello says he went there to pray, but before we began our worship, I made certain that he knew we were going to pray too, and that he was willfully disrupting our ceremony. I asked him to turn down his music and be respectful and was refused. Canavello is a brave man. He confronted a young 14 year old boy, wearing a sword, which is a ceremonial part of our religion, and physically leaned on him to the point that he'd turned the boy away from the circle 90 degrees in one direction.

Canavello was in communication with others in another vehicle, whether it was a Nextel Cell or some other device, but he was seen by Breuhl speaking to someone on one, and then, when that did not appear to work, got out of his car and went to speak to his father-in-law, Billy Pricer, director of U-CAN and the Lancaster Sherrif's Station Volunteer Chaplian.

So there you have, it, my version of what happened. I was there, I was leading the ceremony from the center, and have been working with others who were there, to gather testimony, and do for the Sheriff's Department what they are apparently too uninterested to do -investigate this incident as an act of hate against a group of alternative religion. Because you see, willful disruption of a ceremony in a tax exempt BUILDING is a crime. We were merely outside. So that means, doesn't it, that an outdoor ceremony of any faith, might not be protected either. We were on private property -- it may not be marked yet, but it will be, and the parking spaces we used are rented by the owner for her store's use much like a neighboring shop owner who works on cars rents parking spaces.

Should it matter what religion it is? If the National Day of Prayer at the flagpole at noon outside Lancaster City Hall had been protested by those of non Christian religion, or atheists, would it have been a hate crime?

I wonder. I do know, that many Pagans and Wiccans and others of non-Christian religions in this Valley are afraid. Afraid of further acts that might take place, with the apparent permission of the authorities. Afraid to practice their First Amendment right to freedom
of religion. You see, these things start out small and get worse. And unfortunately, from here, it is looking like the bullies won, because they are bigger and have more friends than we do. All we want is to be free to worship as we want. We do not convert people to our faith. In fact, Cyndia does not allow children into her store unless they are accompanied by an adult. Too bad that churches don't require you to bring a parent. Maybe some of this childish behavior would have been nipped in the bud sooner had Canavello brought his parents. Oh, wait, his father-in-law was there, wasn't he. Ah well...

Lisa Morgenstern is a Wiccan Elder Priestess,
Credentialed through Covenant of the Goddess
A resident of Lancaster.

© 2003, Lisa Morgenstern

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