The sun is setting on a Friday evening as Mikki Mayo dances across her backyard to a makeshift altar in the corner. Incense burns in the background as she rings a Tibetan bell and sways to its soothing chime.

“This grounds me,” Mayo said, embracing other symbolic items such as a bowl of sea salt, a decorative blade and a gold cauldron.

At 52 years old, Mayo is a mother of two and grandmother of seven who enjoys cooking, beading and reading. Born in New York City, she has traveled the world, working as a professional model in Paris before settling in Sacramento in the late 1970s. But it wasn’t until she arrived in California that she discovered her true identity.

“I am a witch,” she declares proudly.

Mayo represents a growing number of men and women, young and old, who are finding spiritual fulfillment in Wicca, a branch of paganism in which all subscribers, male or female, are classified as witches.

“There is growth all over the country,” said Sarah Pike, professor of religious studies at CSU Chico, in a telephone interview.

But while Pike said she has heard estimates that between 200,000 and 700,000 Wiccans reside in the United States, figures are difficult to confirm for a couple of reasons.

“Firstly, there are a lot of people out there that don’t belong to groups,” said Pike, an author of two books on contemporary paganism. “Some prefer to just practice a self-defined style of Wicca that they’ve created on their own. Secondly, there are quite a few people who have multiple identities, such as Unitarian and Wiccan or Catholic and Wiccan, so these religions are mentioned first.”

This aspect of Wicca ?” in which followers can still identify with other religions ?” is unique.Wicca, which means “craft of the wise,” is often referred to as the Old Religion because it was founded upon the spiritualism of pre-Christian European beliefs and traditions, according to the “Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft” by Raven Grimassi.

Its believers identify both feminine and masculine traits in the Divinity, hence the worship of both the Goddess and God.

Wicca does involve witchcraft, Mayo said, referring to forms of magic, the use of herbs and the casting of spells that many witches incorporate into their daily lives.

However, despite some perceptions, the Wiccan Creed prohibits witches from using witchcraft for anything other than good purposes.

“It’s like the ‘the Golden Rule’ most of us learned as children,” Mayo said. “It means do what you want or will, just be sure you’re harming no one and no things in the doing. There are consequences to every action and even non-action.”

What is also distinctive of the religion is its emphasis on nature. This is one of the religious aspects that piques interest and draws people to its teachings.

“Considering the dilemmas in the environment today,” Pike said, “this is very attractive.” Wicca is a nature-centered religion where the believers respect all that nature encompasses, including the seasons, the elements and mother earth, Mayo said.

“Wicca is not just a religion, it’s a way of life,” Mayo said.

While the official birth date of Wicca is controversial, it was brought to the United States in the early 1960s by Englishman Gerald Gardner. However, it wasn’t officially recognized as a religion until 1985, when the District Court of Virginia in Dettmer v. Landon held that Wicca was “clearly a religion for First Amendment purposes.” The landmark ruling declared that Wicca’s ceremonies, leadership structure, articulated doctrine, belief in another world and concern for the lives of others were similar to more recognized religions.

“I started researching this area in around 1991 or 1992,” Pike said. “At that point, there was very little knowledge or tolerance.”

She added that while the situation has improved, it still is not a religion that many Americans are comfortable with.

“America is a tolerant society,” Pike said. “But that tolerance often doesn’t extend to witches.”To be a witch means to be a person who is actively involved in “healing” Mayo said.

“We’re healers,” Mayo said. “We care about the environment. We care about healing.”

Despite mysteries surrounding her cauldron, which symbolizes the female womb, and the looming presence of Raven, the resident black cat, Mayo said that the goal of modern day witches is to help others, not hurt them.

“We’re very careful about what we do because we know what goes around comes around,” she said. “We try to be the best people we can be.”

While she comically discussed “coming out of the broom closet,” Mayo prefers to be referred to by her first name or her Wiccan name, “Rainbow Spirit.” Although she is proud of her beliefs, she said that many witches and Wiccans are still persecuted today. Witches tend to use other “magical names” for protection, she said.

“It’s not that I am paranoid or anything,” Mayo said. “But you wouldn’t believe what people will do to a known witch, even when they don’t really know anything about the person or the religion.”Pike has seen custody suits and has heard of people losing jobs once their Wiccan associations were socially revealed. But national institutions and agencies are beginning to accept Wicca’s validity as a religion.

“Both the U.S. military and the state prisons have become pretty tolerant of Wiccans,” Pike said. She said that people from all different backgrounds and socio-economic classes are attracted to Wicca.

“It’s incredibly diverse,” Pike said. “In terms of backgrounds, most of them tend to be people who like to read and who don’t feel comfortable with any of the traditional religions that are available.”Mayo’s first introduction to Wicca came through a high school paper she wrote in 1968, in which she explored the rituals and beliefs of witchcraft. The ideas stayed with her for 32 years until a Wiccan friend invited her to a Halloween ritual.

“Something pulled at me that night,” she said.

It wasn’t until reading a book, “The Wiccan Mysteries” by Grimassi, that Mayo began to truly identify with Wiccan beliefs.

“Everything Raven wrote was a confirmation of things I had learned and gleaned from all of my religious and spiritual training throughout this lifetime,” Mayo said. “I realized that all this time, I really was a witch.”

Mayo was drawn to Wicca’s equal respect for men and women and by the worship of both the God and Goddess.

“Women give birth, men do not,” Mayo said. “I was not born from a man; I was born from a woman.”

Reactions to her “coming out” varied, Mayo said.

“My mother recoiled from me with such a grimace,” Mayo said. “My dad, on the other hand, smiled and asked, ‘So, are you a good witch or a bad witch?'”

Other relatives still do not know, but most people already speculated that she was a witch, Mayo said.

“Some of them already thought I was ‘weird’ or ‘different’ ever since I was a child.”

Mayo said that she believes the average person envisions a witch as either a Satanist or an ugly old woman stirring her cauldron and casting evil spells.

“Well, I may be getting older,” Mayo said. “But I’m not quiet a crone yet. I do not cast evil spells.”Mayo also pointed out that Wiccans do not believe in Satan or the devil. She said that, in particular, fairytales portray witches as evil beings who cast evil spells and eat children.

“I think that’s the worst stereotype seen,” Mayo said. “That Wiccans are evil and do evil things.”Mayo believes that if more people understand what Wicca is about, they might bury old stereotypes.

“Just because we wear a pentacle,” Mayo said, referring to the five-pointed star within a circle that stands as the Wiccan symbol, “does not make us Satanists or evildoers or sexual deviants.” In fact, the five points of the pentacle worn by many Wiccans symbolize the four elements ?” air, fire, water, and earth ?” along with spirit, represented by the top point.

But while Mayo is hopeful that stereotypes surrounding Wicca will soon disappear, her personal beliefs are what matter most to her.

“I am a spiritual being living on and in cooperation with the earth,” Mayo said. “I really know who and what I am.”

Megan Chuchmach can be reached at [email protected]