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Janell Langley-Reyes brews a cleansing simmer pot consisting of sage, bay leaves and fruits. As a practitioner of pagan spiritual beliefs, she said she brews it once a month to clean the household of bad energy and to bring in positive energy.
Janell Langley-Reyes holds out her a five-pointed star necklace called a pentacle at her home in Victoria. A pentacle is considered by some pagans as a spiritual symbol.
Different words that the user wants to manifest are written in black ink on bay leaves.
As part of the pagan tradition, bells are hung on the front door to protect the home from evil spirits.
An old photograph shows Janell Langley-Reyes as a teenager.
A cat lamp among other items on display in Janell Langley-Reyes’ home in Victoria. Langley-Reyes inherited the lamp from her grandmother who passed away in 1997 which she considers her favorite possession.
Janell Langley- Reyes said it's important to respect people of all religions.
Eight times a year, a DeWitt County man lays out a table of fruits and vegetables to offer to spirits as part of his pagan beliefs.
Janell Langley-Reyes brews a cleansing simmer pot consisting of sage, bay leaves and fruits. As a practitioner of pagan spiritual beliefs, she said she brews it once a month to clean the household of bad energy and to bring in positive energy.
Janell Langley-Reyes holds out her a five-pointed star necklace called a pentacle at her home in Victoria. A pentacle is considered by some pagans as a spiritual symbol.
An old photograph shows Janell Langley-Reyes as a teenager.
The sweet scent of apples, cloves, rose petals, star anise and a host of other fruits and herbs wafted through JaNell Langley-Reyes’ Victoria home on Wednesday.
The brew bubbling in a pot on her stovetop was not a soup or dessert. In Sharpie, Langley-Reyes had written on several bay leaves words to manifest wealth, protection and prosperity before stirring it 10 times and allowing it to simmer for the rest of the day.
Janell Langley- Reyes said it's important to respect people of all religions.
The “simmer pot,” as Langley-Reyes described it, is just one practice of many she does as part of her own personal brand of spirituality, which she has pieced together from study of ancient religions throughout the world.
“Yes, I am pagan, but I am a new pagan, a new tradition,” she said, at her Victoria home, which she shares with her husband, two sons and daughter.
Different words that the user wants to manifest are written in black ink on bay leaves.
Paganism is often defined as spiritual beliefs other than those of mainstream religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
“I believe in multiple different things, everything. I believe in just being a good person, doing what you can to make the world a better place, not being hateful and judgmental,” she said.
According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, about 0.3% of Americans identify as either pagan or Wiccan. Despite their widely personalized and varying beliefs, many of these practitioners have a few things in common.
They often have a reverence for the natural world. Many have tailored beliefs borrowed from ancient religions, of which much has since been forgotten over the millennia. And they often hold a respect for love, life and divinity, whether that be in the form of a god or gods or goddesses.
As part of the pagan tradition, bells are hung on the front door to protect the home from evil spirits.
Langley-Reyes has decorated her single-story home with a décor that many of her neighbors might find strange. A black pentagram hangs from her wall. A ouija board sits in an occasional table. Candles are everywhere. And a slightly sinister looking Siamese cat lamp glows in her foyer.
“Grandma had a lot of decorations, had a lot of German old country stuff,” she said. “You got to understand nature is both light and dark. I have both of that in my house … I like both.”
Many of those decorations are just that, Langley-Reyes said, but others, like the cinnamon and salt sprinkled at her doorstep, or the myriad vials of black salt she makes, serve a purpose — protection from “bad intentions.”
While the items may seem spooky to some, Langley-Reyes said she never wants ill-will for others, no matter what their beliefs may be. Instead, she prefers to embrace the idea of death, just as she does life, because it is a natural and unavoidable part of living.
A cat lamp among other items on display in Janell Langley-Reyes’ home in Victoria. Langley-Reyes inherited the lamp from her grandmother who passed away in 1997 which she considers her favorite possession.
The cat lamp in Langley-Reyes’ foyer is of special personal importance, she said, because it once belonged to her grandmother, a woman who served as a powerfully nurturing influence during her childhood.
During Langley-Reyes’ childhood, she questioned “everything,” she said. And one day, her grandmother revealed to her that she was a witch. As a child, she began researching witchcraft and paganism at the Victoria Public Library. At festivals, she met people with similar spiritual ideas. She even once joined a coven of witches briefly. And when the internet came along, she found even more information to feast on.
After the death of her grandmother, who was born on Halloween, Langley-Reyes became even more interested in pagan spirituality, in part as a way to reconnect with the woman she had lost.
One DeWitt County resident said he became interested in paganism after a childhood near-death experience when he was struck by a car.
That man has asked the Victoria Advocate to refrain from identifying him for fear his family could suffer discrimination within their community.
During that near death experience, he saw visions of his ancestors and “a god or the God,” he said.
Since then, he has felt a powerful pull toward spiritual practices from a variety of traditions that range from Christianity to the Celts to ancient India, among other indigenous cultures.
“So called spiritual powers are all around us and inside us, kind of like how they always have been with indigenous humanity,” he said.
“The worlds are all one, and making that distinction is really problematic for humanity and life on the planet. What contemporary religion has done is take spiritual humanity and chopped its head off.”
Describing his beliefs in one word is difficult, the man said, and instead he prefers to see himself as a person who integrates ideas from many traditions. Rather, he prefers to shun labels and instead embrace the mystery within.
“It’s kind of like looking at the Pleiades, as soon as you look at them they disappear, but if you unfocus your gaze, you can see them,” he said. “You can’t put it under a microscope. It’s a part of being a living being.”
Each year, he and his family celebrate eight fire and harvest festivals that borrow meaning from Germanic and Celtic cultures. During those times, they enjoy a feast together, say a prayer and set out a table of fruits and vegetables to feed the spirits. They also give offerings by pouring whiskey or butter or oats into a fire.
“If you keep your own consciousness in tune with the greater world around you, and you are generous, it will respond to you,” he said, adding the ceremonies are both symbolic but also serve a real purpose.
Both Langley-Reyes and the DeWitt County man said they wished their fellow Crossroads residents would understand they are not the enemy.
According to Pew, about 77% of Americans are Christian.
The DeWitt County man said he has no animosity for that majority religious group.
“We are not the enemy. We are just people,” he said. “It’s scary, we are terrified of you. … If you had your way, you could disrupt our lives so fundamentally, and there is a long history of that.”
Eight times a year, a DeWitt County man lays out a table of fruits and vegetables to offer to spirits as part of his pagan beliefs.
Langley-Reyes’ daughter is now about the age she was when she began exploring pagan ideas. Her daughter is just beginning her spiritual journey, and Langley-Reyes said she encourages that. But she also wants her daughter to know, in the end, her spiritual and religious beliefs are a personal decision.
“I just want her to embrace who she is,” she said. “Whatever she chooses, I will be happy with that.”
Diane Tyng, owner of the Port Lavaca shop Gypsy Moon and a self-described “witch,” said she is seeing a growing interest in alternative spiritual beliefs.
At her shop, she sells incense, stones, crystals, blessed candles, dream catchers and even witches’ brooms. She also offers services like crystal healing, chakra readings and psychic readings.
More and more people are showing up in her shop, and during her long pursuit of spirituality, she has witnessed increasing numbers of curious people questioning their religious preconceptions.
That’s in part, she said, because the world is progressing from one mode of thinking to another. The shift, she said, happened around the year 2000.
The previous age was one of industry, authority and control, she said. The new one is defined by self-actualization and exploration.
“We are not going to go backwards,” Tyng said. “It’s like the universe is giving us permission to wave your flag and be who you are. Be that soul who you came down to be. The universe is saying you can.”
Jon Wilcox is the local editor for the Victoria Advocate. Jon is a former Advocate crime and courts reporter. He may be reached jwilcox@vicad.com or 361-580-6515.
Ever since Pastor Jim Graff's first days at Faith Family, the pastor has worked to build a church that can offer spiritual healing to people in need.
Jon works in the Victoria Advocate newsroom, editing and working with a team of journalists. He also occasionally writes.
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Dr. Roger C. Schustereit said:
May God offer comfort at this time.
My sincere condoles for the lost of your love one; may he rest in peace.
Mary was such a sweet lady always smiling and giggling
My deepest condolences to her family
Mary , I remember all the laughs and good times we shared working together at Dillards. I will never forget your laugh and friendship.
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