Meet The Good Witch Of East Haven

EAST HAVEN, CT — Michelle Piercey knew when she was a little girl that she had "special gifts."

"I knew as a young girl that I was different," the East Haven mother told Patch. "I was told that I had special gifts but I didn’t start (sharing) them until about 15 years ago when I started my studies and I dedicated myself to the craft the God and goddess."

Piercey is a witch.

Piercey has become a cause célèbre of late as she was successful in getting permission from East Haven to include a sign that will be posted on the Town Green to celebrate the Winter Solstice, adorned with holly and evergreens and the symbols from myriad religions on it with the words, “Blessed Be to All."

The sign will stand on the green near a Christmas tree, nativity scene, and Hanukkah menorah. Piercey said she's tried previously to have a symbol celebrating the solstice and "religious freedom and unity" appear there.

Why was it important to her?

Her religion is based on nature, the seasons, the earth and the heavens. The Winter Solstice is one of the eight holidays celebrated. And, she hoped to share awareness and dispel myths.

"I was hoping to achieve unity of all religions and show religious freedom," she said. She wanted to "show witchcraft in a good light."

Witchcraft, she said, is not "a negative thing, we don’t believe in the devil. That is a Christian concept.

The day after the annual tree lighting set for Nov. 30, her sign will go up.

The Word Witch 'Means A Lot To Me'

"It’s a word of personal power, a healer, a teacher of the craft and a lover of the god and goddess and nature," she explained.

Originally from West Haven, Piercey is the mother of two girls, Jade and Mia. She works as a bus aide for the handicapped in North Haven. She's also a Reiki master and a "priestess of the witchcraft tradition."

She studied in Salem, Massachusetts with Laurie Cabot, witchcraft high priestess who founded the Cabot Tradition of the Science of Witchcraft and the Witches' League for Public Awareness to "defend the civil rights of witches everywhere.

The Black Hat Society Of Connecticut

Piercey is the founder and president of the Black Hat Society of Connecticut. The group volunteers in the community and marches in parades.

The Black Hat Society describes itself and its mission this way:

"We are a group of spiritual forward thinkers who come from many different spiritual backgrounds and embrace diversity with spirituality and people. We are not afraid to study, teach and learn about all forms of spiritual workings. This could include witchcraft Buddhism philosophies light workers pagan studies science modern in all forms of nature based Beliefs Celtic studies, healing work, native American-based studies, folklore and at times we draw from the common forms of main stream studies. We do not exclude, we embrace ideas. We are all teachers but we are all learners. The reason we embrace all forms of spirituality is because to us, everything is simply a great mystery. It is unknown then if it is unknown then we believe no one has the actual answers. Our only stipulation would be that the spirituality is peaceful and not in anyway harming another. "

"Along with our studies we participate in helping our community by helping those in need, cleaning up our mother earth, simply doing our part to help raise our vibrations and make the every day struggle of life a bit more pleasing. Lastly, we believe all forms of religion, spirituality, philosophies and more always need to be respected, I’ll have a voice and we as people have the right to study. Learn and teach in the freeway without any fear of being judged. We do not judge, we embrace and want to grow with you and our communities."

Just as the mission statement ends with, "Blessings be," so too did Piercey share that in an interview.

"Blessed be," she said.