SALEM — There was special meaning to the long walk the witches took last night to Gallows Hill for the 21st annual Samhain Magick Circle.
Richard Ravish, one of the longtime Salem witches, was not present.
Ravish, 59, a high priest of the Temple of Nine Wells, died in September. For many years, he and his wife, Amy “Gypsy” Ravish, have led the annual Halloween ritual at Gallows Hill, near the site where 19 men and women were hanged during the witch hysteria of 1692.
“I am doing a widow’s walk,” Ravish’s wife of 31 years said before the ceremony. “I’ve never done it before. This is the first year that the high priest ... my partner, is not here to walk the circle with me. So I want to walk the circle round in a special walk.”
In keeping with tradition, Gypsy Ravish stressed that this year’s Magick Circle is dedicated not only to her husband but to “remember and honor all our dear departed who have crossed over and are beyond the veil.”
Doing the ceremony alone, she knew, would be hard.
“I know, as we witches know, there is no death, just life after another manner ... in spirit form,” she said. “But I want Richard Ravish back. I miss him. (But) I’m sure he will be here watching the circle tonight, sending his energy and smiling.”
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