Nothing to hide
Sir: In her review of our recent publication Something Out of Nothing (Tots, kettles and cauldrons' 29 February) Sandra Bar- wick asks why the Pagan Federation and witches in general are not more public about their activities.
I personally am not in a position to speak for the majority of Britain's witches but the reason why the PF uses a box number is simple. Like many other perfectly respectable organisations the PF is run entirely by volunteers working from their own homes all over the country. We have no head office and there are no public premises such as churches, mosques or syn- agogues.
Given this situation, perhaps Miss Bar- wick will appreciate that, far from being intentionally secret, we are simply operat- ing in the only practical manner. When try- ing to run an organisation on a nationwide basis, any administrator will tell you that it is essential to have one single reference point for people who may wish to contact you.
Pagans and witches largely operate in the same manner as many evangelical Christian groups in that they and we hold small meet- ings in the homes of those who share beliefs. These are not so much 'secret' as 'private'. Christian groups who operate in this manner do not advertise publicly but no one should suggest that they are there- fore up to anything dubious.
Regrettably. Miss Barwick has fallen into the old trap of assuming that just because we do not go round imposing our beliefs on others, knocking on doors and generally making a nuisance of ourselves by prose- lytising in the way that fundamentalists do that we are trying to hide something. Just because someone wants to keep something to themselves does not suggest that any- thing wrong is going on.
James Pengelly
The Pagan Federation, BM Box 7097, London WC1
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