By Olivia Turner | Arts & Life Editor
Black pointy hats, flying brooms and evil spells may come to mind for many when envisioning what a witch is.
Midlothian sophomore Avery Escalante, for instance, imagines the Wicked Witch of the West.
“I think of a Halloween costume,” Escalante said.
However, a Waco witch says the reality of being one is quite the opposite.
Serena Teakell, the founder and coven mother of the Balefire Coven in Waco, said most people have misconceptions about what witchcraft is.
“People watch the movies, the horror films, and they see the Hollywood version,” Teakell said. “The biggest misconception is everybody relating witchcraft to religion, and that religion being Satanist or Luciferian. Anyone can practice those religions, and not all witches adhere to religion.”
Instead of using witchcraft for evil, Teakell said she uses it to see “the magic in the mundane.” Even Christians can practice witchcraft, Teakell said.
As someone who views witchcraft as a lifestyle over a religion, Teakell chooses not to associate her practice with any sort of religion. She decided to leave her strict Catholic upringing when she was 19 years old and switched over to following the teachings of the Wiccan Bible. Now, years later, she makes nature the focus of her worship.
“After I drop my kid off at school, I take my baby and we go out to Cameron Park and we sit in nature,” Teakell said. “I ground myself. I am honoring the plants that I see that are there, and I’m talking to the trees as if they’re people that I know. I personally feel like my ancestors are within the earth, like their spirits are around when I am immersed in nature like that. But it’s different for all witches.”
The coven used to have monthly meetings where witches would gather in her backyard in celebration of the pagan Sabbaths, the full moon or the new moon, Teakell said. There, she would lead them in various witchcraft practices.
“I was guiding people on how to do certain things, like witchcraft 101 stuff, like making spell jars and learning different types of herbs and their metaphysical uses,” Teakell said.
Another practice she encourages her coven to engage in is land stewardship, Teakell said. With no relationship with the land, the plants are less likely to work in a witch’s favor in regard to spellwork.
“If you’ve never taken time to see them, grow or cultivate them, or honor them in any way, it’d be like meeting a stranger on the street and asking them for $100,” Teakell said.
In addition to spell jars and serving the land, Teakell said she also does tea leaf reading, known as “tasseomancy,” as well as tarot readings. She said she has a powerful connection with divination.
“I really enjoy tapping into my psychic energy for a reading,” Teakell said. “It feels very powerful. And some of the things that I have talked to clients about through the teacup and through the tea leaves have just been so spot on. They’re the only person that knew it, and then the cup told me.”
With Waco, a largely Christian and conservative community as her home, Teakell said she surprisingly has never experienced hate from anyone face-to-face.
What she has experienced on the internet, however, is a different story. She has received comments on social media calling her slurs and telling her she will burn in hell.
“That’s because people online are brave,” Teakell said. “They’re sitting behind their phones and their computers — much different if you were to want to say those things to my face.”
For those who are interested in pursuing witchcraft as a practice of their own, Teakell suggests diving into the literature.
“Never stop reading books on [witchcraft] because you want to learn all of the different aspects that are there to find which path really resonates with you,” Teakell said. “It’s like with any passion. You don’t really ever stop learning.”
