BAY RIDGE, NY (PIX11)—
With a wavy dress and wispy hair, Laurie Bizzarro is a witch.Her witch name is Lady Thalestris.
"I am a High Priestess of Wicca," clarified Bizzarro.
For the past ten years, she's been practicing Wicca. Also during that decade, she's been practicing law.
Bizzarro said, "I'm a personal injury lawyer. I take on Plaintiff-only cases like car accidents, slip-and-falls, trip-and-falls."
While she works, she proudly displays the pentacle symbol on her ring and necklace. The pentacle is a symbol of her Pagan religion Wicca (an earth-based witchcraft) that she says protects her.
She wears it around her neck every day. Even to court.
"I've been asked from anyone from judges to lawyers to my clients and I can say I've never had an instance where I've had bad reception," said Bizzarro.
Born a Catholic, Bizzarro says that religion never felt right to her. She believed in spirituality and soon came into contact with a Wiccan coven in New York City, led by High Priestess Lady Morgana.
There is one rule about these witches: "You can do whatever you want to help yourself or someone else but you cannot harm another human being," explained Bizzarro.
That means no evil spells. They do cast spells but, Bizzarro insists, its only for the greater good. Witches use magic to make their desires come true, "like getting a promotion, or finding a soul mate," added Bizzarro.
"By using the energy inside of ourselves – the energy of the god and goddess – and the energy of the earth and the moon and the sun – that we can effect change in this world, in a positive way," said Bizzarro.
There are plenty of perceptions out there that Bizzarro feels are misconceived. "People think we use blood or cut ourselves or we invoke evil beings and that's simply not true," said Bizzarro.
She says, people like her, are not wicked witches, instead they are givers of goodness.
"We're not some closed door, back room evil society. We're a bunch of good people like everyone else," said Bizzarro.
Like good people, witches give back to the community by contributing to charitable causes. This group of wiccans recently donated clothes and food to Occupy Wall Street. As a lawyer, Lady Thalestris is also offering representation to the protesters.
So, what do you think now? Are witches still just another cool Halloween character?
If you're interested in learning more about Wicca and the local covens in New York City, check out their meetup site.
