"Coming out of the broom closet:" Denver witches report a vibrant, growing community as witchcraft c

“Coming out of the broom closet:” Denver witches report a vibrant, growing community as witchcraft charms mainstream culture

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Rory Lula McMahan, center, teaches a Witch 101 class at RitualCravt on Dec. 6, 2018, in Denver. McMahan, who has been a practicing witch and Pagan Priestess for more than 20 years, holds classes for people interested in the realm of witches, covens, spirituality and what is it like to be a witch in the modern world. The store is located at 2842 W. 44th Ave. in Denver.

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Hailey Jonoubeh's black cat Raja hangs out amongst its owner's tarot cards at her home on Dec. 11, 2018, in Denver. Hailey has an avid interest in tarot cards and the practice of modern day witchcraft.

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People say hello to the sun and goodbye to the darkness as they take part in a drumming ceremony to celebrate the winter solstice at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Dec. 21, 2018 in Morrison. The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year. The drumming ceremony was to symbolically drum up the sun and while not everyone who participates in the drumming identifies as Pagan, the solstices are important dates in the Pagan tradition.

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Once unmentionable, witchcraft is now trendy, witches and academics who study the craft agree. It’s having a moment, not just in Denver, but in the broader culture — enchanting a new generation of magic-seekers and affording mature practitioners the chance for more outspoken coven lovin’. “It is showing up everywhere, for sure,” said Rory Lula McMahan, a pagan priestess in Denver. “It’s hip and cool and faddish, and I have mixed feelings about that. … It means the mainstream is shifting, and there’s more acceptance and exploration, but I also worry a witch being faddish means people think listening to Stevie Nicks and wearing black lipstick is what it’s all about. “How do you break through the exposure to get to the value?”


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Helen A. Berger, a resident scholar at the Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center, has been studying the witchcraft movement for 30 years and said she has seen an undeniable increase in interest and members. “People are really coming out of the broom closet, as they say,” she said. While there aren’t reliable numbers to determine how many practicing witches reside in the United States, Berger said all one has to do to get a clear picture is peer into the pop-culture crystal ball.

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“Women being strong together”

A hawk circling Red Rocks Amphitheatre at dawn on the morning of Dec. 21 had a bird’s-eye view of the hundreds of people who rose early to celebrate the Yule winter solstice — a tradition sacred to pagans and other cultures signaling the changing of the seasons and a welcoming of brighter, longer days.The ceremony exuded a primal quality with revelers beating drums, their rhythm reverberating between rock formations. The darkness ripened into a sky lit on fire with the rising sun. Some burned sage, others danced and yipped, and a businessman dressed in a full suit raised his hands toward the orange-singed clouds before heading off to work.

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https://www.denverpost.com/2018/12/28/witchcraft-denver-colorado-ritual-cravt/