Frequently Asked Questions

What is Connect DC?

Connect DC is a Wiccan based public ritual group that seeks to heal and transform the city of Washington DC through magic, mystery and celebration.

Our rituals are always free and open to the public.

We have been celebrating magic in public spaces since 1999. Our motto, “Stop, drop, and do ritual”, sums up our philosophy in seeking public and accessible areas to do magic.

Connect DC creates ritual at boundary stones, in the parks, on city streets, behind the White House, next to the Anacostia River and within national demonstrations. Our goals are to heal our city with magic, mystery and celebration, and to create an expectation for public pagan ritual in the city proper.

Announcements of upcoming rituals and other activities are posted on Facebook and Meetup.

Join us. Join in the magic.

How did Connect DC get started?

The Beginnings of Connect DC

Katrina Messenger was looking for ways to meld her Wiccan spiritual practice with her long-term political activism. In spring of 1998, while in San Francisco for a meeting, she attended the public Spring Equinox ritual put on by the ritual-planning cell of the Reclaiming Collective. She returned home with the idea of starting a public ritual group in DC.

The first ritual, using the process that was to be later used for Connect DC, was held for Summer Solstice 1998 on the roof of the now closed Lammas Women's bookstore. After discussing her idea for the "original working" with numerous friends and colleagues, Katrina launched Connect DC in spring of 1999.

The original working of Connect DC was to ritually reconnect the boundaries of the city. In the 1790's, boundary stones were placed all around the diamond shaped city. However the land donated by Virginia is no longer consider part of the city. The city literally has a gash in its side and using a magical metaphor, is like a circle with a hole in it. So the original working's intent was to energetically reconnect the boundary stones and give the city good boundaries. The original working began at Spring Equinox 1999 and concluded a year later at Spring Equinox 2000. More information is included in an article Katrina wrote in 1999 after the first ritual.

"Washington, DC, a planned city in the shape of a diamond, is literally the jewel in the center of a much larger working. Every day people come here from all around the world seeking justice and freedom. Let's give them something to work with, a shining jewel sitting on the Potomac River. Lets reconnect and heal the city as part and parcel of our work to heal the world."

Are non-Wiccans welcome to participate in Connect DC?

Connect DC, like most Wiccan groups, is not anti-Christian. People of all faiths and traditions are welcomed to participate in Connect DC rituals.

Many witches practice both Wicca and a wide range of spiritual beliefs including Judaism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Sufi, Hindi, Yoruban, Fon, Santieria, Voodun, Dine, and Greek Orthodoxy to name a few. Additionally amongst pagan and Wiccan practitioners there exist an even wider variety of spiritual practices, beliefs and models.

Connect DC seeks to build bridges within the pagan community, but ultimately seeks healing for our diverse, interconnected communities throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area.

However, the basic structure of the rituals, the intent to honor both Goddesses and Gods, and the acknowledgment of the inherent divinity of all life are non-negotiable. Beyond those basic ideas, it is up to the ritual planners to find creative ways to blend their various spiritual traditions into a coherent and meaningful ritual.

Who drew the original Connect DC Mandala?

Reyasdottir (aka Reya Mellicker) created the original Connect DC Mandala. Reya at the time was a priestess of Feri and Reclaiming tradition witchcraft. The mandala was displayed on our home page form 1999 till 2006.