Witch says Layman Online thwarted seminary acceptance
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, January 13, 2005
A self-described witch told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that she was denied admission to Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., because of The Layman Online.
The Layman Online published a story on Oct. 28, 2003, titled “Wiccan priestess studies at Presbyterian seminary.” That story did not mention the student by name, but quoted John Carroll, dean of the faculty, as saying, “We have admitted to nondegree status [a student] about whom I have heard” such reports.
The Times-Dispatch published a story on Jan. 8 on the front of its “Faith & Values” section and did disclose the name of the student: Cindi Simpson. The story was titled “Efforts to become a minister a bewitching saga.”
The Times-Dispatch said that, since Simpson was admitted as a non-degree student, she had applied to be enrolled as a degree student in the seminary but her application was denied. Now, she says she plans to enroll as a master of divinity student at Lancaster Theological Seminary, a United Church of Christ school in Pennsylvania and become a Unitarian Universalist minister.
“My heart plummeted when I heard about the story” published by The Layman Online, Simpson told the Times-Dispatch. But, she added, “I can understand why Union didn’t admit me. They have to raise money. They have to keep alumni and donors happy. Who knows what would have happened if they had admitted me. It might have been good. … But I will be much happier at a seminary that has no problems with me.”
The Layman Online story, which was based on an anonymous tip and the confirmation by Carroll, described Simpson as a “wiccan priestess.” But Simpson told the Times-Dispatch that she never claimed to be a wiccan (another word for witch) priestess.
However, she unabashedly declared that she is a witch, but that she doesn’t ride a broomstick. She practices what she calls “magick.”
The Richmond newspaper quoted her as saying that “magick” is “the focus of your will to achieve something. Prayer is magick. It’s engaging with the energy that is out there. That’s why prayer works. Do I cast spells? I call it praying. The power is in focusing your will. It’s about being clear about what I want and focusing on that. I don’t go about wanting bad things for anybody. The witch’s rede is do as you will and you harm none. What that means for me is that I’m not let off the hook. I’m responsible for what I do.”
The “rede” is a three-fold rule, according to The Witch’s Voice.
Simpson also told the newspaper she believes in God. “I call her goddess and to me she is the same [as God]. … We are God. I am divinity, but so is everybody and everything.”