Unlikely locations can present obscure, fascinating, and sometimes unsettling history.
Bakersfield, California, is a city ingrained in conservative and religious values, the last place you would expect practicing witches to reside. However, this didn’t stop George Elliot Patterson from forming a Wiccan Church, the Georgian Wicca Tradition, in his Bakersfield home in 1970.
Through posting an ad in the Bakersfield Californian, Patterson founded the original Georgian Coven with Jilaine Callison, known as “Zanoni Silverknife,” and Linda Sue Guinn Sanner, “Lady Tanith.” In 1971, the Georgian Wicca Tradition became a legally acknowledged church through the State of California. One of the main ways Patterson reached out to people outside of Bakersfield, California, was through the Georgian Newsletter, which he began editing in 1976. Through his writing, Patterson expanded the membership of the Georgian Wicca religion from the United States to British Columbia to Scotland, gaining countless members across the globe.
Ashleigh Renee Mitchell, the oldest living Georgian Initiate, discussed her initial correspondence with Patterson, saying, “His ad, “For a FREE copy of the truth about witchcraft. Phone 323-3309″ ran in the newspaper for years. If you called, you generally were answered by his answering machine with instructions to leave your name and address…I called and was in the middle of leaving a detailed message as to who I was and why I was calling when he picked up the phone. We then had a 15-30-minute conversation, at which point I was invited over to meet with him.”
Mitchell was born in New Mexico to a Christian family and moved to Bakersfield after high school to study religious studies. She began looking into witchcraft during her freshman year of college and came across Patterson after searching through various ads and magazines about Wicca. She was initiated into the Georgian Wicca Tradition on April 30, 1973; she was a part of the second coven and states at one point, there were at least five covens within Bakersfield who met at Patterson’s home. Many original initiates and the three founders have passed away, making Mitchell, aka “Moondancer”, the oldest Georgian Wicca initiate currently living.
Primary ritual locations were Patterson’s home, and beginning in 1976, the first mountain meet-up was hosted. It was a major success for many years and is among the earliest pagan festivals. It was held at Panorama Heights, and at its peak, around 150-200 people attended from across the country, but by the early 80s, people in Bakersfield began complaining about a “witchcraft invasion.”
Mitchell talked about one experience, saying, “We used to spend time with locals, but eventually things progressively got worse, and one night, a local put out a cigarette on a woman’s back while dancing. The Rangers did little to nothing about it, so we found a new location the following year. It continued at a different campsite until Patterson’s death; after his death, it became sporadic because of the impact his passing had on the community.”
The Georgian Wiccans were well known in Bakersfield, and many locals accepted their presence until a “satanic panic” wave hit the California city in the early 80s. A daycare sexual abuse hysteria swept through Kern County after the district attorney discovered allegations of satanic ritual abuse on local children. Edward R. Jagels convicted more than thirty-six people during this time, most of whom spent years in prison. Thirty-four cases were later overturned on appeal, making Jagels a notorious figure in prosecutorial misconduct. Mitchell worked at the welfare department during that time. She was segregated from several cases due to family relations and her involvement in Wicca. She was also involved in an interview with other Georgian Wiccans, explaining how they raised their children and how the craft tied into this. The community knew about the Georgian Church, and there was a series of four or five houses with sets of families apart of the Georgian Tradition, off Truxtun Ave. near Patterson’s home.
“We didn’t hide anything and all the kids of the neighborhood played together, most people didn’t care or were too scared to attempt to complain about anything”, said Mitchell when talking about her daily life as an openly practicing Wiccan, “There were people who attempted to call the police on Patterson’s home when we would perform rituals in the backyard even though there was a large fence obstructing the view of the backyard…this didn’t lead to any repercussions from police because they found there were no crimes committed.”
Mitchell eventually moved to Washington with her family and now serves as a high priestess of the New England Coven of Traditionalist Witches. She refers to Wicca as any other religious practice, “It is, in essence, all the same thing; Wiccans are ordinary people who practice religion like anyone else, people are people.”
Patterson’s death caused a lot of upheaval because he was the glue that kept the Georgian covens together. He changed his will towards the end of his life, and new people came in and took over the running of the main coven; he left everything to them, including the Georgian Church. The same couple took over the newsletter, but over the years, it became sporadic and is no longer published. Initiates wanted to continue meeting at Patterson’s home, but after his death, unannounced drop-ins became too much, and services at his house eventually stopped altogether.
Despite the death of Patterson, the Georgian Wicca Tradition is alive and well today, with many members who appreciate his teachings. Loye Pourner, a third-degree elder, says his biggest takeaway from being a part of the Georgian Tradition is a quote from George Patterson, “If it works, use it; if it doesn’t… don’t.” Pourner elaborated, saying, “…as generations pass, so do our methods of performing ritual. If we can’t change with the world around us, we are doomed to extinction.”
Georgians often describe Patterson as a charismatic leader who was extremely dedicated to the craft. He reached many people through his teachings, and the Georgian community is still active and growing. Patterson’s home still stands on Verde St. in Bakersfield, California; it may no longer be a Wiccan Church, but it remains a subtle reminder of Kern County’s strange, unique, and forgotten history.
