Article created: 06/16/2003
Oxford farm host for pagan gathering
ANTHONY SPINELLI  
tspinelli@ctpost.com
http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96%257E3750%257E1458300,00.html


OXFORD - Selectman Paul Schreiber's farm will be a bewitching place
this weekend.
Starting Saturday, the day of the summer solstice, Schreiber's Farm
at 571 Quaker Farms Road will host a gathering of the Pagan Community
Church for a solstice celebration a gathering of Wiccans.

"Wiccans are witches, but definitely not in the way people think,"
said Beverly Safko, a self-described Wiccan who operates the Magik
Mirror shop in Milford.

Safko is not a member of any group but practices Wicca on her own.

"People think witches are harming other people and doing negative
things. It's self-improvement," she said, describing the belief
system as shamanic, pre-Christian, based on lunar cycles and seasons.

The group is no stranger in town.

"This is the second or third time they've been here," Schreiber said,
saying they're "probably the best group" he does business with when
he rents parts of his 400-acre farm for gatherings.

He said he is not a member of the group but has no problems with it.
The state troopers that cover Oxford said they have had no trouble
there either.

"Most people are good people, that's the way I see it," Schreiber
said.

The event runs from 11 a.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Sunday.

It will be a celebration of the solstice

the day with the most sunlight

with crafts and games, chanting workshops, sacred circle dancing,
feasting and open drumming and dancing around a bonfire.

The day fee either Saturday or Sunday is $10; the fee to attend the
ceremony for a full day and night is $15. The price for overnight
camping is $25 for the weekend.

Alicia Folberth, president of the group, refused several requests for
interviews.

The group's Web site, www.pagancommunitychurch.org , states that the
group is an independent, nonprofit religious organization, not
affiliated with any other umbrella group.

All members are pagans and many are Wiccans, according to the Web
site.

The group has no building, so in the warm months it holds large
events at state parks or rents land for camping events. In the colder
months it rents space from a Unitarian Church for meetings and
classes.

There are no regular religious services.

"Our holidays and days of worship revolve around solar, lunar and
seasonal cycles. The phases of the moon are celebrated, such as the
time of the new moon or full moon," the Web site states. "The sabbats
occur eight times a year on the solstices, equinoxes and old Celtic
agricultural holidays."

A sabbat is a witches' sabbath.

Some of the get-ups may be fancy. "Street clothes are fine at any of
our circles, although many prefer robes," according to the Web site.

The Wiccans get some understanding from the Rev. Lucille Fritz,
pastor of the Oxford United Church of Christ.

Wiccans suffer from a lot of misinformation that falsely equates them
with black magic and devil worship, Fritz said.

"Most of them are nature worshippers. I don't have a problem with
that personally," Fritz said.