Witches will be taking over Widnes Market this month as a crafts fair arrives in town.
Raven Moon, organiser and founder of the Coven Connect group, said the event will feature a range of stalls offering goods such as bath bombs and salts, handmade candles, custom crafts, artwork, “divination readings” and photographs taken through crystal balls and “aura” photography. Witches will be descending on Widnes from as far afield as Yorkshire, Lancashire and Wales for the Widnes Market day.
The event is on from 9am to 5.30pm on Sunday, December 11. It's been pitched to shoppers as a chance to pick up “unique and personal” gifts for the festive season.
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The craft fair is part of a series of fundraising events as Coven Connects looks to buy land on which to establish a witchcraft allotments and education centre, and to build links between like-minds around the country.
Raven said the market day is also an opportunity for Coven Connect, also known as Coven Connections, to meet people and help to dispel the “Hallowe’en” stereotype and myths about witches, while finding out what residents want and need, stressing that witches want to “protect and help”.
She told the ECHO: “We want you to come and meet us and see we’re the same as everybody else and we’re nice people, and to talk to us about our plans for the future.”
Raven previously told the ECHO that witches still face discrimination and it’s time for them to “come out of the broom closet”, saying: “The idea is we want to show people we’re not the Hallowe’en witch. The role of ‘witch’ means ‘a wise woman’ and ‘pagan’ means ‘of the villages’.
“What we’re trying to do is integrate back into society and come out of the broom closet. We’re not going to steal your kids or eat your pets or hex you or steal your money or the other nasty things. All we want is acceptance or non-judgement.
“We want to revive our old roles and go back into the community and help people and educate people.”
As part of its plans, "Coven Connect is looking to “give away franchises for free” as it builds a network of witches with similar interests, with a witch recently offering to cover Widnes and Runcorn.
Raven said the group was launched as a not-for-profit with the goal of providing witches with a place or their own, and to “turn it into a movement around the UK”.
The Widnes Market witch crafts fair will be followed up with the Burning Witch Festival in Knutsford on August 19-20, 2023, which will include the burning of wicker effigies, with visitors invited to put their “hopes and dreams” inside..
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