Bridget Engels Fights the Patriarchy with Magic

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Bridget returned to the Puget Sound this Tuesday from a journey to the Valley of Fire. She describes the “primeval magic of the desert” as she recalls her adventures to this sacred ceremonial & Native American Indian hunting area of Nevada, which is inspiring to her magic from the very start of our conversation.

Bridget Engels, a Dianic Wiccan priestess who organizes rituals in Seattle with her group, Circle of Luna, has always felt a connection through nature to the spiritual realm, recalling mystical encounters even as a young girl. “I definitely downloaded some important messages from nature in my childhood wanderings,” she tells us as we begin our interview.

Growing up in a Roman Catholic family in San Francisco, California, Bridget continuously felt a disconnection from the patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church. While the ritual elements of the Church offered Bridget a “sound baseboard” for her later work as a Wiccan Priestess, she always felt inspired to explore spirituality that offered her a healthier expression of the Divine Feminine.

Bridget identified a need to find an alternative spiritual path because she is “interested in balancing women’s energy, helping them develop their unique gifts, and creating ripples of change in our community.” Her experiences with the religion of the patriarchy left her feeling alienated from the divine, and she lit up her soul with the fire of her artistic development instead.

The passion and creative fire of her early artistic studies would lead Bridget to her current pagan path. While studying the painting at the San Francisco Art Institute which has a rich history of highly acclaimed alumni & teachers such as: Ansel Adams, Annie Leibowitz, Mark Rothko, Clifford Still, Karen Finley and Angela Davis, Bridget discovered the art of Remedios Varos, a surrealist Mexican painter and a woman with ties to the magical world. Bridget began painting her own surrealist landscapes while researching the interwoven threads between Jungian psychology, Tarot, lunar mysticism, and female archetypes.

While she found success in the field of Art Direction and Graphic Design, advancing through various positions in the Bay Area, Portland, and finally Seattle, she felt a need for a stronger spiritual presence in her life. She attended the Dianic Wiccan ceremonies in the Bay Area with the Daughters of the Goddess & began her Priestess training there. She was profoundly inspired by these creative and Goddess focused rituals. When she moved to Seattle later on, she began her search for female-centric groups which eventually led Bridget to Women of the Goddess, a Dianic Wiccan circle.

Bridget describes Dianic Wiccanism as “a direct rebellion of all patriarchy. It’s a pro-female, pro-divine feminism that emphasizes Goddess-centric rituals and the phases of the Moon.” With Women of the Goddess, Bridget found a spiritual home in which to develop her skills as a Priestess and spiritual leader for over 10 years. She then founded her own Dianic Wiccan group, Circle of Luna, in the spring of 2010, and has been leading regular rituals for practitioners in the Seattle area ever since.

The Circle of Luna focuses on spiritual fulfillment through the magic of ritual and reweaving the web of Sacred Sisterhood. Rituals with Circle of Luna (which require an invitation and RSVP) typically host about 10-15 women and focus on a specific Goddess and Moon phase. “We invoked Skadi, the Norse goddess of snow, for our Yule ritual,” Bridget offers as an example. “Each goddess has a profound effect on the elements and themes of the ritual. It’s up to us how we interpret that individually within our rituals. We experience understanding and healing through our magical spellwork, energy raising, divination, chants, guided meditation and Goddess enactment together.”

Each ritual is based on the specific needs of the group, a particular Goddess, seasonal influences and Moon phase to create a unique spiritual experience. Bridget encourages serious practitioners to attend more rituals in real-life, as opposed to lurking in online spaces. “Most people say they feel a sense of power at our rituals that’s only felt through real-life connection.” As the High Priestess of the Circle of Luna, Bridget contains and directs the magical energy generated through ritual. “There is a sense of alchemy and magic when we all feel intuitively connected to the Goddess in ritual space."

Bridget cautions that “Circle of Luna rituals can be a little daunting for people with less ritual experience.” She asks that all participants in Circle of Luna are serious and mature about their craft and have at least participated in one or more public Pagan or Wiccan ritual prior attending one of her rituals. “Everybody is a Priestess and we co-create each ritual together where everybody gets a role,” which makes it important for participants to have a solid foundation from which to build their magical practice.

For those who feel ready and aligned with the deep purpose of the group, Bridget and her rituals with Circle of Luna illuminate “what parts of yourself reflect the Goddess and the Divine Feminine power.”

Bridget strives to maintain “a web of Sisterhood which protects from the toxic effects of patriarchy which we have all been affected by in one form or another throughout our lives.”

Bridget has authored The Oracle of Luna: Meditations with the Moon Goddess, Volume 1 & Volume 2, collections of Wiccan Moon Goddess guided meditations directly inspired from real rituals with Circle of Luna. The Oracle of Luna: Meditations with the Moon Goddess is also available on Audible, narrated by the Author and Priestess herself. You can find more information about Bridget and Circle of Luna via her website. Bridget also offers resources and spiritual inspiration via Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram.