From Baptist to Wiccan

It’s not easy being one of the only witches at Harvard, but then again, being a witch has never been easy for Quincy House resident Devon G. Castillo ’08. Converting to Wicca was challenging for Castillo, who was raised by conservative Southern Baptist grandparents.

Castillo, who always felt slightly out of place in church, disagreed with parts of the Christian faith and turned to Wicca, a neo-pagan, earth-centered religion.

“It was sort of wild [when I converted].” Castillo says. “My grandmother thought I was possessed.”

Conversion was difficult, but Castillo says it no longer divides him from his family. “At the same time though, I wouldn’t be like, ‘Hey grandma, wanna come to my full moon ritual?” he says.

Though Castillo doesn’t carry a broom or cackle in a black hat, he does cast spells occasionally.

“Spells speak to a different level of your consciousness. They help you get insight on what you would miss if you were logically awake,” Castillo says, and describes spells as prayers with extra props. Castillo last cast a spell nearly three months ago when a friend’s arm started hurting. “I did it in the shower. The constant noise of the water helps me,” he says. Castillo also writes his own rituals and prays to a shrine of representations of God in his room.

But being a witch can be lonely without Wiccan Harvard undergraduates on campus to share rituals and swap spells with. For now, Castillo finds company in his trusty pentagram necklace and books by his favorite Wiccan author, Starhawk. In the meantime, he says he is eager to share his religion with others.

“I like it when people ask me about [Wicca] because I like to hear about other religions, too, so it’s kind of an exchange,” Castillo says. “I’ve always been really interested in why people believe what they believe.”