Delaware witches have come out of the broom closet, casting spells and having fun – The News Journal

Witches and wishes mix on a Lewes beach

A bright, brilliant moon and beachfront fire make for a positive setting for Mandie Stevenson's "Full Moon Gatherings" that mix spiritituality and sand.

William Bretzger, Delaware News Journal

Mandie Stevenson is in lovewith the 1993 Halloween comedy Hocus Pocus, except for one major complaint.

The self-proclaimed witch and psychic medium claims the film (like every other in Hollywood) misrepresentsher and her sisters and brotherswho cast spells in real life.

It was a great movie, but like, really… a talking black cat? I mean, come on, said the 45-year-old witch from Lewes. And [theres] witches chasing children ... trying to eat them. Is this Hansel and Gretel? Witches dont eat children.

Stevenson is so enchanted with the craft that its become her livelihood.

On Nov. 6 in Pike Creek, this real-life witch will host agrand opening for her second retail shop, Mandies Magical Marketplace(4837 Limestone Road, Pike Creek).

Her first location in Lewes, which began in a hotel basement about five years ago, features witchy clothing and crystals meant for healing. Customers can havetarot card readings and sessions with a certified Reiki practitioner, Stevenson said.

Her business offers courses on mediumship (how to connect with spirits), psychic development and self-empowerment. Multiple times throughout the year, she and her staff hostmeetups for full-moon ceremonies on Lewes Beach, and the public is welcome.

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The latest full-moon celebration was Oct. 21. It wasextra special because its close to Samhain, apagan festival celebrated on Oct. 31, which inspired Halloween.

Witches commonly refer to the season ofSamhain as "the thinning of the veil," Stevenson said,because it's a time where spiritsbecome more visible to them. That means people might seesubtle things like random shadows, if theyre sensitive to it.

So, where did the tradition of wearing ghoulish costumes on Halloween come from? Someone came up with the idea that ghosts wouldnt mess with humans if humans were camouflaged.

The spirit activity was so high [people] would sense them and they were so scared of them, Stevenson said. They wanted to disguise themselves from the spirits.

Stevensons Pike Creek storewill include more healers and readers than at her Lewes location, she said.

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It was important to bring her new shop to Pike Creek, Stevenson said, because New Castle County has the largest population of residents, with lots of witches (or witch-curious people) in the Wilmington area.

Sussex County also has its fairshare of witches, she said.

Students from the University of Delaware have frequented her Lewes shop.Over the last year, Stevenson said she has noticed a lot of customersunder the age of 21, and thatgroup isbecoming more curiousaboutthe New Age movement.

"It's becoming for the younger generation a huge thing," the 45-year-old witch said."They're starting to kind of see that the old way of thinking, [from traditional religion],isn't really working out for them."

At the same time, she said, there are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and members of many other religions or philosophieswhopractice witchcraft.

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Chelsea Fitzgerald, new store manager forMandies Magical Marketplace in Pike Creek, said shes come across people of all backgrounds at the Lewes store. A fraction of those customers, such as those with severe illnesses, have turned to magic because theyre desperate.

They're coming in here because they don't know what else to do, said Fitzgerald, 25, of Milford. They're kind of at the end of the road. And they just want something that will make them feel a little bit better.

Theres a stereotype that all witches are bad. But Stevenson says thats not true, although dark magic is real.

Each witchmakes a personal choice how they want to conduct themselves, she explained.

There arethree types of witches: White, black and gray.

White witches are good. Black witches can do curses against others. There's a meme about gray witches being "bi-hexual," since theyfall in-between black and white witches. Yetthey strive to be white. Butif somebody really makes them mad,theyre going to attackback.

That's where I am, Stevenson said. I'm wanting to do good for the world. But if you attack my family or my children its on.

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Stevenson said its her understanding that most witches are gray like her. Fitzgerald and Chrissy Conn, who both work at Mandies Magical Marketplace, both identify as gray witches, too.

The shop owner explained that she believes many witches are born into the lifestyle.At some point in her bloodline, she suspects she probably had a witchy auntie in there.

To be clear, there are also male witches. In fact, Mandie Stevensons husband, Josh Stevenson, is the only male witch in their coven, or witches group. Back in the day, male witches used to be called warlocks. But that title is frowned upon today because it has a negative connotation.

There are lots of spells in witchcraft. Some are said to help with healing, protection and even prosperity. For some spells, ingredients mightinclude, urine, candles, a lock of hair andspices.

Fitzgerald, who doesnt castdark spells unless its justified, said she recently performed a banish spell on someone who was being awful to me. The spell prevents the person from messing with her, she said.

For thatspell, Fitzgerald typically uses a mason jar, which is a popular tool for spells, and shell mix ingredients like vinegar and hot spices such as crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper. She likes to burn ablack candle and let itmelt over the jar.

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Yet Stevenson and Fitzgerald warn that casting dark spells is serious business. The person doing the casting should not be lazy, they warn, because if you accidentally targetthe wrongperson, or you don'thave a goodreason to do the spellin the first place, that spell can backfire on you.

In hersituation, Fitzgerald said she was being kind to the person who was botheringher, andkilling them with kindness. But it got to a point where they kept attacking her, so she had to keep them away from her.

It won't hurt them. Nothing bad will happen to them. It'll just remove them from my life.

Princess Llucky, a 37-year-old witch with a full beard (who prefers the pronouns she/her), said she doesn't seeall spells as being spooky.

Llucky described spells as trying to manifest something from the unseen world (or your imagination) into the material world.Hence, any person who says a prayeris casting a spell, according to the Rehoboth Beach resident.

Awitch believes they can use magic to create prosperity, which is a light spell.For example, Stevenson said, if a witch needs to pay a bill or debt, they can write that amount on a piece of paper and put it in a mason jar. Then they can add honey and sugar to the jar.

What that does is, it sweetens that intent to happen in your life. So it's going to help it work, she said. It's kind of like signaling in the universe that you need this done.

Growing up was rough for Stevenson. As a young girl, she used to get haunted by spirits that would hover over her bed, or theyd be hanging out in the corner of her room.

Ghosts would ask her for help.

I would always sleep with my lights on in my room, because it was so scary, she said. I would try to hide from them.

She would tell her mom, but the spirits didnt stop bothering her. Even when she hid under the covers, she could still see them. With terror in her heart, shed tell them to leave her alone.Sometimes it worked.

Her otherstrategy was to pretend she couldnt see or hear them.

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At the age of 16, Stevensonwas drawn to spellcasting and began reading books onitfromthe library. As time went on, she had a spiritual awakeningand finallyaccepted that was she different, and she started to embrace being a witch and psychic medium.

As a psychic, Stevenson said, she can predict things about people. And as a medium, she tries to connect clients with spirits, usually their loved ones who died.

Some will look exactly like an old lady, like a grandmother. Some look young. Some are just blurry gray, the Lewes witch said. Sometimes I can hear them talk very easily and have a whole conversation. And sometimes it's broken up or distorted.

Conn, her coven member, isnt a psychic or medium. But she has seen spirits.Last week, the Rehoboth Beach resident said she was driving in the dark near Crabby Dicks restaurant in town.

She said she saw somebody dart across the highway. So she slowed down, because she wasnt sure if the second person, who was off the highway, was gonna chase after their friend. Before long, Conn realized the first pedestrian vanished.

I was waiting for the other person to run across and they disappeared. That was weird, the 53-year-old witch said, adding the second person vanished, too.

She now thinks it may have been ghosts."When I started thinking about the figure, it was very dark, but it was light. But I can't even really describe it.'

First and foremost, witches and Satanists are from two different groups, althoughits a popular belief that they're similar, because both have pentagrams.

But those pentagrams arent the same, Stevenson said.Satanists have an upside-down pentagram, while witches have one thats right-side up.

Witchy pentagrams, Fitzgerald said,are a symbol of protection and representfive elements: earth, air, fire,water and spirit.

Fellow witch Robin Ward, who shares a coven withStevenson and Fitzgerald, said most witches, including her, dont even believe in the devil. Yet there are outliers.

Unfortunately, there are black witches, the ones who really do worship Satan, which Im starting to learn a little bit more about that, said Ward, of Lewes, who showed up to last week'sfull-moon ceremony wearing a witch's hat and shirt witha broom on it that read: "Frequent Flyer."

Along with the theme that all witches are evil, Ward also wants todebunkthe myth that all witches are unattractive and ugly, since she considers herself to be fabulous.

Stevenson pointed out that many of their peersare peaceful people who care about the environment and helping others. Her own goal, she said, is to work with the homeless.

Seven months ago, she started the private Facebook group Witches of Delaware, which has nearly 2,000 members.While everyone doesnt live in Delaware,a number of them do, and the Lewes witchfeels theres finally strength in numbers to help make the community a better place.

Stevenson also has a traditionof waiving costs for some of her customers who come to her for healing. I do a lot of pro bono for like rape victims, molestation, things like that, because I don't want to charge them."

While the pagan festival Samhain is commonly associated with witches, pop culture has perpetuated themyth that the event is pronounced as "Sam-Hayne." But the true pronunciation of the festival, Stevenson said, should be"Sow-Win," where the first partof the word rhymes with"cow."

She's still salty about howHollywood continues to falsely portraywitches, often reducing them to just cat-loving and broom-riding women whoplaywith magic.

Stevenson would drop a house on some of those Hollywood script writers. But she's trying to be a goodwitch.

I watch some and I actually get pissed off. I mean, people [in Hollywood] try. But they never truly get it.

To learn more about Mandie's Magical Marketplace, visitmandiesmagicalreadings.comor call (302) 313-5950

Andre Lamar is the features/lifestyle reporter. If you have an interesting story idea, email Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com.

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Delaware witches have come out of the broom closet, casting spells and having fun - The News Journal