Back in February I highlighted a quote from an opinion piece by Margaret Caldwell, the world’s oldest newspaper columnist, who mused that “perhaps I am Wiccan” when pondering her religious beliefs. Now, in an Easter-themed column, she expands on that “perhaps” a bit more.

“I have a daughter, not the dear one who lives with me, but one I adopted about 15 or 16 years ago. She is Wiccan. Some years ago she was going to attend an all-night celebration for Wiccans on Mount Shasta. When I said “I would love to go,” she said, “Then come. You can you know, if you really want to be there.” I went. It was real. In the night I saw her, and a number of men and women who chanted and danced in a grove of fragrant pine trees. I wore a red dress. When next we met, I told her I had been to the Wiccan celebration. “I know you came”, she said. “You wore your new red dress.” “Why did you not let me know you saw me?” She just looked at me and I got it. It was totally a spiritual thing – a real Wiccan spiritual happening. I shall never forget it. This is my Easter story.”

Stories like this help remind us that the appeal of Wicca isn’t simply a youthful rebellion against Christianity, or the passing fancy of a “spiritual but not religious” seeker, but a living and breathing faith that contains a deep current of sacredness and awe. A faith that can even appeal to a 102-year-old newspaper columnist who wants to remind the world that the earth is holy and that “an old crone is a wise old woman.”

Tags: Margaret Caldwell, Paganism, Wicca