Salem’s Witch Cult and America’s Abortion Industry

MELBOURNE, Florida – Patricia Baird-Windle, founder and executive director of Aware Woman Center for Choice, has been in the national media spotlight recently. A featured guest on Good Morning America and the subject of a Rolling Stone magazine article, she has gained her notoriety through being portrayed as the embattled owner of Brevard County, Florida’s only abortion clinic. Rolling Stone portrayed Windle as a suffering saint and “one of the most persecuted women in America.” Local pro-lifers were painted as a movement led “almost entirely by white men” who “fit the Son of Sam profile.“1 Media coverage hasn’t been exactly unbiased.

In resisting the abortion industry in the state of Florida, some local pro-life activists have repeatedly come across statements from residents in the Melbourne area linking Patricia Baird-Windle to witchcraft. Area pro-lifers claim that Windle has stated: “You practice your religion and let me practice mine.” When asked what her religion was, Windle is alleged to have remarked: “My religion is a holy ritual of child sacrifice.”

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If comments made by Windle were off-the-cuff, then most people would dismiss these allegations as the “hysteria of the religious right.” However, further investigative research has shown that there is a strong connection between the Aware Woman abortion clinic and a cult of witches called Wicca. As we view the ties between the Wiccan organization and the abortion industry, the conclusion will become obvious: The promotion of abortion is not just a political issue for members of Wicca; it is part of a religious agenda – the religion of witchcraft and child sacrifice.

Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida

The city of Melbourne is just one example of the growing national connection between the abortion industry and the religion of witchcraft. An employee of Aware Woman, Veronica Jordan, and a former employee, Rebecca Morris, are two of the six founding directors of a registered non-profit religious corporation known as the Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida (WRCF). The WRCF lists a post office box in Orlando as its principal address, and is attempting to network witches’ covens throughout central Florida. One group working closely with WRCF is the Church of the Iron Oak. They meet weekly for “Wiccan Ways,” a teaching seminar at 1220 East Prospect Street, Melbourne, and for rituals in a backyard of a dead end street at 2027 Mattison Drive NE, Palm Bay.

Air, Fire, Water & Earth, a New Age book shop at 795 S. Wickham Road, West Melbourne, functions as another meeting place for local Wiccans. Activities of the WRCF have taken place at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Melbourne. Practicing witches in Melbourne are also members of Project Response (a homosexual/AIDS activist group) and South Brevard National Organization for Women (NOW). They are politically active, own profitable businesses, and universally support abortion on demand in America.

A newsletter published eight times a year, Open Circle, informs area “Wiccans and Pagans” about upcoming events and describes the activities of Church of the Iron Oak. Veronica Jordan’s post office box (P.O. Box 060192, Palm Bay, FL 32906) is the mailing address for Open Circle. The editors take pseudonyms – “Lord Shelandera,” “Dahud,” and “Lady Rowana” – the supposed names of pagan gods and goddesses.

The January 1993 issue of Open Circle described WRCF’s founding: “A year ago the dream of an umbrella group under which many covens would function and be committed to peace and harmony ‘For The Good Of All,’ was just that, a dream. But now it is a reality and a very, very big part of the lives of many people. Five board members with a sixth as a mediator made a commitment to five years of donating time to a Wiccan umbrella group … Teaching, which was started by three people in Orlando in the summer of 1991 is really the first ‘order of business’ of WRCF … The first class in Brevard County shares teaching responsibility among six Elders and also had nearly 40 students registered this past October.”

This particular issue, published the same month that Operation Rescue’s IMPACT team began its training course in Melbourne, alerted area Wiccans and Pagans to the spiritual warfare that they would soon be facing. “Dahud” explains that “… steps are being taken to protect not only Aware Woman, but a woman’s right to choose. Work is being done mundanely, financially, and magically, to help get through the next few months and beyond.”

Readers of Open Circle are exhorted to become “clinic escorts” – pro-abortion activists who eagerly escort pregnant women entering the abortion clinic. Clinic escorts distract the women from pro-life sidewalk counselors who try to hand them literature and counsel them not to have an abortion. Undoubtedly, many of Aware Woman’s “clinic escorts” are practicing witches. Readers of Open Circle are also told how they can help fund the South Brevard National Organization of Woman’s program to help low income women have abortions.

Wiccans are also encouraged to work their magic on the area surrounding the clinic: “Finally, many individuals and groups have been helping to magically (sic) protect the building and property … This has been done by magical and psychic shielding being put on and around the property….”

The phone number of Aware Woman is given and the following guidelines are suggested: “If you want to do magical work to protect the clinic, please, please, do it with perfect love and trust. Our goal is to protect the clinic, the staff, and the patients from those who want to force their views on them. Please keep in mind the Harm None Clause and make your work defensive in nature.”

And just what is the “Harm None Clause” to which Wiccans refer? According to Laurie Cabot, founder of the Witches League for Public Awareness in Salem, Massachusetts, the Wiccan craft is based on three principles, the first being: “Do what you will and harm none.“2 Christians whose actions uphold the moral law of God found in the Bible (You shall not murder) are “those who want to force their views” on society. Apparently, the Wiccan “Harm None” clause does not apply to the life of the unborn child.

Wiccan Ways

In researching Wiccan festivals and worship, we sent two college students to one of the “Wiccan Ways” weekly meetings in Melbourne. Upon arriving for the first class, they were greeted with suspicion by their hosts: “How old are you? If you’re underage, you can’t attend this class. If you are under 18 years of age, your parents could bring suit against us.” They were charged $3.50 each for the hour-and-a-half long seminar. After the meeting with the Wiccan teaching group and study of literature obtained at the seminar, we were able to obtain answers to questions we had about Wicca.

How many Wiccans are there? Conservative reckonings estimate that there are 200,000 Witches in the United States.

How does Wicca gain followers? In order to be initiated into a coven, a year or more of training is usually required. The movement grows through networking and outreach. Some Wiccans travel throughout the United States as folk musicians or teachers, promoting the movement by visiting covens, singing and teaching at festivals.

What happens at Wiccan festivals? Wiccan festivals or Sabbats occur eight times a year: four times on the solstices and equinoxes; and four earth holidays between these times. This is a time of dancing and celebration; sometimes a skit is performed to honor the god or goddess being worshipped.

What happens at Wiccan rituals? Full moon and new moon rituals occur each month and involve consecration of a ritual space and the invocation of pagan gods. Ceremonial stone rings are created and fires are lit. The difference between the two was summarized by the Wiccan Ways’ teacher: “Festivals are for fun; rituals are for worship.” Members of Wicca were encouraged to bring family and friends to their Sabbat festivals, but the worship rituals were off limits to the uninitiated. Wiccans believe that their spells and rituals have their greatest effect on these holidays.

Do Wiccans worship Satan? From a biblical viewpoint, witches do worship Satan. Although witches claim not to believe in the Christian concept of Satan, they do worship “the European Pagan Horned God, who has been depicted as Pan…. Our Horned God is neither evil nor a source of evil; He is the energy of nature, of plant and animal life, which energy manifests for people in music and dance, intoxication and ecstasy, and all joyous activities, including lovemaking.“3

What about bloodletting? Although Wiccans deny using animal and human sacrifices in their rituals they do admit that they “pour out libations … Some female Witches use their own menstrual blood in spells; other witches may prick themselves … and offer a drop or two of their own blood. But the only blood a Witch has the right to offer is her/his own.” As of the printing of this article, we were not able to ascertain whether or not Witches use the blood of aborted children in their sacrifices. Since the child is not considered human according to our liberal abortion laws, it stands to reason that such a sacrifice, protected by law, could be used by witches.

Wicca’s National Network

The association of witchcraft/paganism with the promotion of abortion on demand can be seen in cities where Wicca has gained it strongest following. Most of these centers are liberal communities with large colleges or universities such as San Francisco; Cleveland; Birmingham; Boston; and Salem. Wicca finds its greatest popularity in so-called “New Age Centers.” However, many Wiccans look down on New Agers as “spiritual wanna-be’s” who have picked up the terminology of Pagans and Wiccans, but “have no expertise in the craft.” Wiccans are those who take their “magic” more seriously.

The Witches’ League for Public Awareness and the Wiccan Religious Cooperative of Florida are two groups which are seeking to bring about Wiccan “unity” by networking covens into a nationally-organized, highly-funded, tax-exempt cult with a local headquarters in every New Age Center.

Salem, Massachusetts not only symbolizes witchcraft to tourists with a casual historical interest, but is the national headquarters of an organized, politically-active and profitable cult. Laurie Cabot is the foremost leader of the American witch cult. Cabot, called the “official witch” of Salem, Massachusetts, made her first national convergence in the April, 1979 issue of National Geographic. The magazine described her as a descendant of a well-known Massachusetts family: “Ten years ago (1969) she felt drawn to Salem from her home on the West Coast. Shortly after settling in the town, she announced herself to the mayor as a witch. Since then Laurie Cabot has made a living lecturing on witchcraft and selling herbs, astrological charts, and magic mirrors.”

The National Geographic report described a ritual led by Cabot in which a coven of her followers called upon the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis. She was also described as being involved in group chanting and displays of psychic power in conjuring a “blue aura.” When the National Geographic article was published in 1979, there were 350 witches in the area. Today Salem, a city of 38,000 people, has approximately 2,400 practicing witches. Cabot has become well-known across the nation and has been featured on television talk shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America.

Cabot’s agenda is to organize the 2,400 witches in Salem (one-third of whom are feminist activists) and the 200,000 witches nationwide. She wants to “set the record straight” on the definition of Wicca by dispelling the notion that there is anything evil about witchcraft. Cabot contends that the concept of Satan was introduced by the Christian Church, but that there is no place for the devil in their beliefs, practices and traditions. Cabot seeks to portray witchcraft in a respectable new light as a “science and an art.” Says Cabot, “Witchcraft has not been redefined since 1692, and it’s time for people to ask us who we are, not ask our enemies.“4

Cabot and her league of witches lobby as a political action group through 15 witches’ councils which cover the United States, Ireland, England and Canada. Cabot’s strategy is to desensitize Americans to the evils of witchcraft and to promote Wicca through a carefully crafted political agenda. According to Cabot: “Each council head oversees volunteer activities such as letter writing campaigns, monitoring television programs, news reports, and newspaper accounts of Witchcraft, and reporting back to our central office in Salem. In addition to being a watchdog on misinformation about the Craft, we review books and articles on the Craft and recommend the better ones to libraries and schools. We also keep tabs on congressional bills that deal with civil rights and religious liberties.“5

Abortion advocates from Salem have militantly demonstrated at Boston area abortion clinics, common sites of pro-life activism. Pro-life leaders in the Boston area claim that witches from Salem make up some of the ranks of some of the most vocal pro-abortion activists. Laurie Cabot concurs with the rise of feminist activism within Wiccan covens that worship the Goddess Diana: “In Dianic covens great emphasis is placed on the Goddess and the role of priestesses. Covens and organizations are matrifocal and center around women’s issues. The current women’s movement has inspired much of the political activism that some covens engage in…. radical feminism, including lesbianism, has found a place in Dianic covens….“6

Witchcraft and Child Sacrifice

Mention the word witchcraft and most Americans think of the Salem witch trials – “an outbreak of religious hysteria among superstitious people.” The term “witch hunt” evokes the most negative images. There is no doubt that many of those executed for witchcraft were the innocent victims of gross superstition. But it is hard to cope with the genuine instances of demonically inspired activity recorded with full documentation. A modern misconception about those tried and executed for witchcraft is that they were punished for merely casting spells. The death penalty for witches was prescribed for their monstrous practice of human sacrifice.

The biblical injunction, “You shall not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18) had nothing to do with bigotry against those practicing the religion of witchcraft. God had warned Israel not to intermingle with the Canaanite tribes – worshippers of Baal, Asherah, Molech and Ashteroth – because they were practitioners of child sacrifice. The ancient Israelites were first enticed into sexual promiscuity through the worship of Baal and Asherah, the sun god and fertility goddess. The children of this generation grew up in a world in which pagan sex rituals were deemed “normal.” Soon Israel was lured into worshipping Molech and Ashteroth, supposedly the same deities; but darker and more sinister, demanding human sacrifice.

In Power of the Witch, Laurie Cabot extols the paganism the ancient Celtic world in which fornication, adultery and homosexuality were “normal.” The Mother Goddess cult is presented as “a joyous, playful, sensuous, peace-loving culture.“7 Cabot then describes the permutation of the Mother Goddess into an old crone and the Horned God into a ravenous animal. Cabot’s description closely mirrors the transformation of ancient deities from sensual sun gods and fertility goddesses into demons of infant ritual sacrifice.

And like the ancient Israelites, 20th century Americans were first enticed by the sexual revolution of the 1960s; and just a few years later we codified abortion as a “fundamental right” and killed over one million unborn children a year. Whenever pagan sexual immorality is accepted, abortion and child sacrifice becomes a necessity in covering up the fruit of sin.

As we look at revivals of paganism in historical perspective, the connection between abortion and witchcraft becomes even more apparent. It is impossible to understand ancient and medieval Europe without having an understanding of the pagan rituals that accompanied everyday life. Paganism and Witchcraft played an important part in these periods, affecting the lives of all classes of people.

The Celtic and Northern German tribes – the ancestors of English and German speaking peoples – were barbaric, pagan idolaters who sacrificed their own children to the Mother Goddess. Child sacrifice and abortion were practiced and were accepted as facts of everyday life – the necessary consummation of rampant sexual immorality.

In 15th century Italy, Pope Innocent VIII was so concerned about the rise of witchcraft that he commissioned Kraemer and Sprenger’s famous Malleus Maleficarum, a treatise on Witchcraft. Commissioned in 1484, the treatise repeatedly links witchcraft to abortion and child sacrifice: “Witches who are midwives in various ways kill the child conceived in the womb and procure an abortion….“8 In Italy and other European countries of the Renaissance, witchcraft was repeatedly linked to the practice of child sacrifice and abortion.9

During the reign of Louis XIV, witch trials were held in France which exposed a vast network of abortion services and the trafficking of new-borns used for sacrifices in the Sabbats of a High Priestess named la Voisin: “The child was held over the altar, a sharp gash across the neck, a stifled cry, and warm drops fell into the chalice…. The corpse was handed to la Voisin, who flung it callously into an oven fashioned for that purpose which glowed white hot in its fierceness. It was proved that regular traffic had been carried on for years with beggar women and the lowest prostitutes, who sold their children for this purpose. At her trial la Voisin confessed that no less than 2,500 babies had been disposed of in this manner….“10

20th century Nazi Germany is yet another example of how a revival of neo-Paganism led to adult human sacrifice. In The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer points to a sterilization law passed in 1933 as the event which began the persecution of Christians and Jews throughout Germany.11 Abortion was also made legal during this time. This was the spiritual impetus which brought a revival of human sacrifices being offered to ancient pagan deities – complete with Nazi rituals – to the forefront. The Holocaust was preceded by vast pageants which Hitler used to promote neo-Paganism. Resolutions were drawn up requiring all pastors to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler and insisting that all churches institute the Aryan paragraph and exclude converted Jews.“12 Pastors who resisted were jailed.

“Not many Germans lost much sleep over the arrests of a few thousand pastors and priests or over the quarreling of Protestant sects. And even fewer paused to reflect that under the leadership of Rosenberg, Borman and Himmler, who were backed by Hitler, the Nazi regime intended to destroy Christianity in Germany, if it could, and substitute the old paganism of the early tribal Germanic gods and the new paganism of the Nazi extremists. As Bormann, one of the men closest to Hitler, said in 1941, ‘National Socialism and Christianity are irreconcilable.’“13

History tells us that neo-Paganism has experienced sporadic revivals, but also that the Church has had great success in openly confronting witchcraft and the practice of child sacrifice. But whenever the Church has compromised with pagan culture, she herself has become paganized eventually committing the same practices that she was commissioned to destroy. Pagan cultures that have worshipped false gods and practiced human sacrifice – Canaanites; Carthage; the Celtic tribes; and Nazi Germany – faced destruction. This scenario is being replayed today. We now have laws that make it a federal felony for Christians to peacefully blockade an abortion clinic and are on the verge of making “mercy killing” legal. We are facing the paganization of our culture.

Americans are turning to pre-Christian pagan religions because the Church is culturally irrelevant and is not having an impact on our society. Christians are losing the battle for the same reason that the pagans are gaining a foothold. Pagans take pains to appear as “nice people”; are involved in community causes; give generously to political lobbyist groups such as NOW; and are aware of the threat that activated Christians pose to their continued existence.

On the other hand, modern evangelical Christians are ignorant of the historical precedent for revival even in the face of militant paganism. The average evangelical is content to meet with other Christians on Sunday to worship God, yet is not politically active and will not contribute in such a way as to re-Christianize our nation. We do not see a need to resist idolatry even with pagan immorality being codified at the highest levels of government.

But it is still possible to turn the tide! Just think of how mighty and godly some of the more committed Christians in your community are. Imagine how powerful God’s people could be in turning the tide towards righteousness. God has a prophetic company of men and women who are destined to go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to confront wickedness and change our nation!

How you can resist modern paganism

1. Recognize that abortion is primarily a spiritual issue. Abortion is the sacrifice of human preborn infants on the altar of convenience by those with a pagan worldview. Abortion is not just a political or social issue; it’s a spiritual issue. Witchcraft is the spiritual force behind the politics of abortion.

2. Engage in spiritual warfare against demonic forces behind child sacrifice. There are many forms that this can take, but spiritual warfare is most effective when you appear physically at the abortuary nearest to your home. It is important for the Church in America to go to the places where the killing is taking place and intercede on behalf of the unborn. Prayer for the mercy of God to spare the unborn and put an end to abortion in our nation must be accompanied by real activism on the part of the Church. Jesus said: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church” (Matthew 16:18).

3. Evangelism. Many abortion advocates are not secularists, but are deeply spiritual people. They are drawn to the spiritual power of occult practices. Some of the most meaningful evangelistic outreaches occur before the very gates of hell the abortion clinics of America. Two of the most notable examples in recent years are Norma McCorvey, the Roe of Roe v. Wade, and Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a former abortion doctor, both of whom were reached through the evangelistic witness of pro-life activists. God can pour out his grace on those practicing human sacrifice, but they must repent. Pray that God will touch that deep spiritual impulse in abortionists to seek reconciliation with their loving Father.

4. Become politically and socially involved. Don’t be fooled by the modern prevailing notion that God is not involved in politics. Isaiah described the role of Jesus Christ in governing the affairs of men: “And the government shall be upon His shoulders” (Isaiah 9:6). This government includes individual, family and church self-government, but this verse also applies to civil government. Civil government is not “secular” or evil, but should be occupied by Christians who rule by the moral law of God.

5. Give generously to ministries that are committed to reforming our society. There are many organizations that are committed to fighting the war against abortion. But reformation must happen at the grass roots level among committed individuals.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked;
But such as keep the law contend with them.”
– Proverbs 28:4

For a list of media resources and information on how you can resist the flood of evil in our country, write:

The Forerunner
P.O. Box 138030
Clermont, FL 34713

1 Paul Solotaroff, “Surviving the Crusades,” Rolling Stone, Oct.14,‘93, pp.59,60.
2 Laurie Cabot, Power of the Witch (Delacorte Press, New York, 1989) p.51.
3 Witchcraft: Commonly-Asked Questions; Straightforward Answers, Homebrewed Productions, 2140 Shattuck Ave., #2236, Berkeley, CA 94704.
4 Jan Phillips, “The Craft of the Wise,” Ms., January/February 1993, p.79.
5 Cabot, pp.85,86.
6 Ibid, p.83.
7 Ibid, p.33.
8 The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, trans. Rev. Montague Summers (Dover Publications, New York, 1971) p.66.
9 Montague Summers, Geography of Witchcraft (University Books, New Hyde Park, New York, 1965).
10 Ibid, p.432,433.
11 William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall the Third Reich (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1960) p.234,235.
12 Ibid, p.237.
13 Ibid, p.240.