Modern Day Witch Hunt
An Interview with Darla Wynne
By Roxanne B. Poole
Exploring
the Cauldron
– Roxanne B. Poole: Thank you so much for agreeing to talk
to me and the viewers of Exploring the Cauldron. I will apologize in advance
if some of my questions seem repetitive to you. I am sure you have been
asked these questions a million
times, but I feel that it is important for everyone who reads this article
to fully understand what you are currently going through, as well as what
has lead you here.
Darla Wynne: Thanks Roxanne for your willingness
to talk with me and share my story with your viewers. I don't mind repetition,
due to the fact that it doesn't matter how many times someone hears what
has happened in this case, to me, my animals and my property, they still
put their own twist to make the victim the villain, so I feel it is important
to continue to say it until they hear the truth.
ETC:
You were once the Assistant National Director of Witches Against Religious
Discrimination (WARD). Can you tell us more about yourself? What brought
you to the small town of Great Falls, South Carolina?
Darla: I am a Beltane child, born at 3:55
am in Hobbs, NM on May 1, 1964 to 2 very young parents with a lot of problems.
I lived a large portion of my youngest years with my father's parents,
whom my grandmother was blind, my grandfather illiterate, which meant
Mrs. Roberta took care of all of us to some degree, which was rare in
that day because she was black, but it also helped shaped my life to how
it is now because I have never been prejudiced, nor do I hate because
of simple things such as differences, which my grandfather primarily taught
me. I can remember his neighbors not being open to Mrs. Roberta handling
their finances, being a part of our family and they would brag about hanging
people from trees and Papa would walk Mrs. Roberta to the car with a gun
and telling our neighbor he had no problems filling him full of holes.
Once my parents divorced and remarried, they began to utilize me as a
tool to harm the other for many years later and longed to be with my grandparents,
who practiced the Old Ways along with Mrs. Roberta. Before my grandmother
went blind, she was an herbal healer and my grandfather communicated with
plants and animals, which I believe is also where I receive my gifts of
herbal knowledge and my love and passion with animals.
I left home at 10.5 years of age, only to return a few more times and
was married by the age of 12.5 and from there 3 more times by 1990.
I took Dr. Leo Louis Martello's Witchcraft course when I worked in Bethel,
AK, in the late 1980's, became a Rosarian as well in that time period
and was so for 10 years. I also joined Martello's group, Witches Anti-Defamation
League and was the AK Chapter Director until my High Priestess and Martello
had a falling out and WARD was created, which I changed groups.
I arrived in the Carolina on October 17, 1997 at 2:30 am, a move that
would affect the rest of my life.
I worked as a Certified Medical Assistant, EMT, Flight Medic, CNA, Phlebotomist,
Legal Secretary, Secretary, Book Keeper, Payroll clerk, Bartender and
Dancer in AK and when I arrived down here, waiting for my medical license
to get transferred I worked at a battery factory in Statesville and then
for several temporary agencies as a CMA or CNA, it didn't matter to me
which one as long as I worked.
I moved to Great Falls in the fall of 1998, joined the Great Falls Rescue
Squad and gave a lot of my medical equipment from the Assisted Living
Home I had up North to the Great Falls Senior Center.
I am now in the Tradition of the Sidhe.
ETC:
Did you know anyone in Great Falls, SC before you moved there in 1998?
Darla: My mother. I moved down to be closer
to my mother, whom last year moved back to Florida, to build a relationship
with her, which now I know was a mistake. She had issues about my case
and didn't want people to know she was my mother, so unfortunately, I
have chosen to not have anything else to do with her at this time because
that has hurt me that she is ashamed of my faith and me.
My mom was a typical southern woman, always in your business and originally
I lived very close to her and when she drove by and saw a car, she would
stop to see who they were and if it was a man, she would make sure they
knew I wasn't legally divorced even though I haven't lived with my husband
since 1993. I began to look for a place to put some space between us,
not much, just a little to give me privacy when I read an ad that said
"rent to own" and I fell in love with the drive and rented,
but then eventually found this house I live in now and bought it, which
I have no mortgage.
ETC:
What was your first impression of living in a small town, in the middle
of the Bible Belt, with a population of approximately 3,000 people?
Darla: I grew up in a small town and then
I lived in the Bush of AK for 8 years and I really liked it. I didn't
notice all the churches at first. I originally thought they were my kind
of people. At the Flopeye Cafe, the very first day I stopped there to
look at that house for rent, they had all of my favorite foods and it
reminded me of my home town, Springhill, LA; fried okra, squash, green
tomatoes, peas and cornbread, they even had buttermilk! I was in love
with this town from that moment!
ETC: Most of us are aware of the lawsuit that you filed in 2001against the town of Great Falls. According to the Great Falls newspaper The News & Reporter, your lawsuit against the town was to remove the name Jesus Christ from its opening prayers at town council meetings. Is this true?
Darla:
Actually, I would like to correct that because it was to make it a nonsectarian
prayer, to where no specific deity could be called upon, not specifically
to remove JC's name, but to stop the promotion of one religion over another.
ETC: What lead you to file the suit? At the
time, were you involved with Town Council Meetings and if so in what regard?
Darla: I moved over here in the Fall of 1998,
by the Spring of 1999, I had bought this house, which put on me on the
other side of town, which meant my route to work changed and had me stopping
at a stop sign on a daily basis that 3 crack dealers occupied as well
on a daily basis. Because I didn't buy their drugs, they became obscene
with me, by grabbing their crotches and telling me they had 12 inches
for my backside. This went on for almost 6 months before I had my fill
and an argument with them, which by this time they were already driving
by my house and if I was outside they continued the obscenities.
I made them mad when I cussed them out at the stop sign one day and they
decided to jump in their car and chase me down, and I pulled over to play
whoop ass with them, but 2 guys from the Big A Auto Parts store came out
and they took off. They told me I needed to go to the police and being
the biker babe that I am, I didn't want to be a snitch but was informed
that in this town, everyone went to the police with their problems, it
was the way things were done, so I did.
The police told me that they were only allowed 2 undercover operations
a year and that if I wanted anything done about it I would have to go
to a council meeting and talk with them, which I did, but I had never
been to a council meeting prior to that and had no desire to do so and
would have never went back had they not made my bumper stickers and my
faith an issue and dealt with my issues of the drug dealers.
I had no problem with their prayer at the council meeting, matter of fact
I participated in it. I stood, bowed my head and said amen at the end,
just like everyone else. When it came time for me to talk, I got a sentence
out and then they informed me my bumper stickers were offensive and wanted
them removed and my time ran out, so I had to go back 6 times and each
time I prayed with them, but by that time, I was interested in why it
took so long for them to hear me and why did I have to accuse them of
making money from the drug dealers to get action, so I continued.
Then when I didn't remove my stickers the prayers began to be directed
at me or at least that is how I took it when the prayer, "may everyone
find JC including the heathens" was said. At the next council meeting,
I didn't bow my head and they waited for me to bow my head and then publicly
pointed out that I didn't bow my head and people called me a Satanist
and told me I wasn't wanted and I could get burned out during the meeting
and none of my council said anything about these comments. So then, I
asked for a generic prayer or to have members of the community alternate
the prayer and they created a policy, which banned members of the community
from giving prayers, and went to the churches and requested resolutions
and petitions and got them against me and my request. From there, it just
escalated to the point of having to file suit, but during all of this
the first of the vandalism on my vehicles began and they were throwing
bricks through my windows, egging my house and the first of the cats began
to be poisoned, so they pushed me to the point of putting a stop to this
organized hateful attitude towards differences.
ETC: I have researched your case online and
it amuses me that from 2000 to present there are seventy-seven articles
referencing you in The News & Reporter, the newspaper that serves
Chester County, South Carolina. It appears that the Mayor and City Council
Members in Great Falls are very close-minded individuals. What is the
most upsetting in these articles is that your house has been vandalized
and your animals have been injured and even killed. Can you reflect upon
what is happening there?
Darla:
In the Spring of 2003, when we were in the planning stages for
the PPD event in Great Falls, the police chief Mike Revels told me that
town council had ordered him to ignore me, I recorded a conversation with
him telling me this again, on August 27, 2004.
Prior to PPD of 2003, the problems were as I stated above, just starting,
but then we were originally going to hold PPD in this town and one of
the Council members, Glenn Ross began to collect signatures to stop it
and writing letters to the editor to me and my God from him and his and
also began to preach at me at the council meetings, which seemed to really
inflame the public with me. We had a race riot on the 4th of July weekend,
where Juicy Brown was murdered and an elderly man shot when he stepped
out on his front porch and we cancelled the event and I went to the Council
meeting to let them know that and Glenn Ross, claimed "that God was
looking over the balcony and didn't like what he saw, so he spite the
evil pagans down and that this was a great day for the residents of Great
Falls and that every citizen should rejoice in God's glory," or something
to that affect.
I went to PPD in Charlotte with a friend's husband and my Goddaughter
and when I arrived back home after a wonderful day with friends and family,
I walked into a home, that a front door and windows were broken and spray
painted, cabinets tore down, poop in microwave, cat box dumped in my bed,
spray paint on the walls that said, " die witch," refrigerator
and stove flipped over and everything out of the drawers and it was totally
demolished. I called the Chief and then I went to the police station only
to be given a security catalog and told he would be jeopardizing his job.
I went home and attempted to clean up and from that day forward until
August 11, 2004, my house was vandalized a total of 9 times. I have redone
my home 5 times and am working on the 6th now. During that time, everything
except one piece of furniture survived in its entirety, which is a dresser
from a beautiful bedroom suit. How it survived I don't have a clue, but
one of my friend's reminds that he feels it is because when he came over
and saw it flipped on the floor and offered to turn it back up, I told
him to leave it that it would only end up there again and he said he thinks
that saved it.
During this time, I did try to get, as much of my stuff that wasn't broken
or broken too badly outside in the shed or on the front porch, but it
didn't save my animals.
I walked in once to find a cat gutted and hung from a planter in the back
bedroom, my African Grey, Little One beheaded and her heart cut out, with
a note attached saying I was next, cats poisoned, murdered, my horses
almost killed, my oldest Yorkie was blinded when she was 14 and then attacked
again this year, which now she is completely blinded and just recently
had to under go surgery which they didn't think she would survive due
to her age. I have been pulled over my fence and beaten. Even my male
raccoon was taken and I think they were going to kill him, but possibly
attempted to torture him first by shaving him, which was their mistake,
because he got away and came home. They killed my iguana, Sammie, which
she was 6 feet long, my black shark and due to the attacks I had to give
my horses away because I couldn't be in 2 places at once, my 9 foot Burmese
as well.
I don't want to go into the juicy details of it all because it makes me
cry when I think of my animals being hurt and I have been struggling with
depression since December of 2004, or maybe even sooner than that, but
I know it hit me hard in December and I felt like I just wanted to die
because I felt so inadequate due to my inability to keep my animals safe
and my poor Blue Fronted Amazon who was Little One's companion, cried
every day and made the sounds, which I believe were Little One's last
sounds, would send chills up my spine and make the hair raise on my arms.
It got to the point, where I had to put the birds in the back room so
I could shut a door I just put up because I couldn't stand to listen to
it any more.
I can't afford to allow depression to take hold again because it is important
to me that I continue with the work on my house so that I can live in
a home that feels like a home again. The people here have attempted to
run me out by making my living conditions unbearable and for a while they
were.
ETC:
Is the local Police Department doing anything to resolve these issues?
Do
you feel like they are there to protect you?
Darla: They sometimes will do an incident
report and other times they don't. As I stated they are under orders to
ignore me. On August 11th, Officer Melton is the one who arrived to investigate
the killing of Little One, which he didn't even bother to come inside
my home because he said it wasn't necessary and he walked around my home
to where in the back, under a window that had the screen removed was a
lawn chair, which he thought he saw a finger print, stood up in the chair
and ran his finger through it and then declared it a smear and that there
was no evidence of forced entry. He also threw the note that was attached
to Little One's back in the garbage can, which my attorney had me pull
it out and dry it out and take it to the cop shop and demand it be put
in the file the following day, which I did.
Every incident report claims it is still under investigation, even the
ones that go back to 2000. The police department hasn't lifted a finger
to do any form of any type of investigation into anything that has occurred
to me. Matter of fact, the Chief has often asked me to do the investigation
for him, such as find out where my ex room mate is and so on.
ETC:
I am sure you have been asked this question a thousand times, but why
do you stay in a place that does not want you there?
Darla: I stay here for many reasons, but
the primary reason I stay is that I will not reward this behavior by giving
them what they want because then it sets other people up to be victimized
when this Town decides they don't like them because they are different,
but also, I will not leave here until someone is charged and convicted
for killing my bird. Plus, this is America, we have the right to pursue
happiness and liberty and to live where we want, and I fully intend to
follow my dreams where ever they may lead me.
ETC:
The legal costs have to be overwhelming?
To date, the legal fees have totaled $65, 490.91, but I can honestly say
my attorney hasn't asked me for a dime, and is hoping to get the $ back
from the now battle of getting the town to reimburse him, but I am not
sure if I will be responsible if the award of legal fees does not cover
the full expense and to be honest with you, I haven't even bothered to
ask, because I am not prepared to hear the answer yet. If we end up in
a second suit, I am sure there will be other fees that I will have to
pay upfront, so am planning to deal with all of that as it comes my way.
ETC:
Have the Pagan's in South Carolina and/or North Carolina showed any support
for you?
Darla: There has been about a dozen that
have showed me support.
ETC:
A dozen? This makes me angry. When I first heard about this case, it truly
upset me. I am disappointed in the Pagan Community! We should all come
together and help in some way.
How about religious organizations? Have any of the religious organizations
come forward to offer you assistance?
Darla: I get moral and legal support from
AREN. Sheila Jackson of the SC ACLU Piedmont Chapter, is a UU and she
has gone to a UU meeting and 4 UU's have come together and are planning
to come over in October to either do an assessment of my home or possibly
to begin working on my home to get it livable again.
ETC:
Do you see yourself staying in Great Falls, SC for the rest of your life?
I understand now, it is more of a fight, a challenge to prove that the
people of that area cannot run you out. You want to insure that this sort
of treatment will not happen to other people who move into the area. I
totally support you. But, is this where you want to grow old and spend
the rest of
your life?
Darla: No, it's not. If I ever recover from
this and get back on my feet, I fully intend to go back to the Bush of
AK. I want to live somewhere close by a river that in the Summer time
you can get in by boat, or in the wintertime fly in or sled in. I hope
to one day be able to buy me many acres there, build a solar paneled home
and write some books on my favorite subject and connection with animals.
ETC:
As I said, this situation makes me angry and in my opinion, I think we
as Pagan's, Witches, Wiccans, etc. should come together and help you fight.
Therefore I am going to start a fundraising campaign for you. All money
that is collected on your behalf can help you with repairing your house,
paying attorney fee's, feeding yourself and your animals. I am willing
to help you fight this, because this subject touches me in a way that
I cannot begin to describe. I am angry and saddened to know that you live
this way. This is America! We have freedom of religion.
Darla: Thank you Roxanne, but please don't
expect a lot from our community. It seems many people feel that I have
jeopardized their safety by filing this suit. I appreciate your support
more than you will ever know, but this has been happening for 6 years
and people have known this for all of that time and I feel that if they
were going to come be by my side, they would have already done it and
the majority of them haven't and I don't expect them to now. They are
afraid to stand up and say, we are Pagan, we are People, we demand Equality,
you can't Harm us and get away with it, because I have learned I am not
the first that this has happened to, nor will I be the last, but the only
thing I hope to accomplish from this interview is to give people something
to think about for the future for the next victim, which as we speak something
similar is occurring in it's infancy in NM; that our community doesn't
allow this to happen to another one of us and if they do, I think it is
shame on them and when it happens to them, I hope they understand the
precedence they have set within our community and that they have the strength
and the ability to survive it.
ETC:
You may be correct Darla; the Pagan community may not do anything. It
is possible that some people are not aware of the situation. Some people
are new to the Pagan community. Regardless, I think that deep down in
my heart something must be done. That is why I am going to do everything
I can to make EVERYONE that I can aware of this situation. If everyone
everywhere, that is touched by this story or simply just does not agree
with what is happening to you, would donate a dollar – one dollar,
it will make a difference!
If you
are interested in helping stop the current Witch Hunts, please email
help@exploringthecauldron.com.
Additionally you can donate to Darla Wynne fund by clicking below
or send donations
to:
Exploring the Cauldron
Darla Wynne Fund
PO Box 213
Landis, NC 28088
Please feel free to download this banner and use it on your own sites with the link to: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/412952817
Items of interest:
Satan's
Bluff is Called - Letter to the Editor of Great Falls, SC newspaper
about Witchcraft amd our featured article on Darla Wynne.
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