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For most people, Halloween means dressing up in ghoulish costumes and parading around town in search of candy.

And the definition of a witch for many conjures up images of the Wicked Witch of the West, Samantha on “Bewitched” or the mostly good, sometimes dark Willow on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

But for those who believe in Paganism and Wicca, these modern views are not the correct way to define Halloween nor witchcraft in general.

Samantha Crowe, a third-year art and philosophy student, who wished to use her Pagan name for religious reasons, says Paganism means “not denying that there is a much older spirituality to our world than the Judeo-Christian beliefs say.”

“There are different traditions to Paganism, and Wicca is merely a part of it as, for example, Methodists are a part of Christianity,” Crowe said.

Bronwyn Stewart, a second-year botany student, who also wished to use her religious name, says Paganism is about being in touch with one’s ancestry, the earth and other women.

Both students agree one of the biggest misconceptions about their Wiccan religion is people thinking they are Satanists or devil-worshippers or that they practice dark magic.

Crowe said she has been given dirty looks from strangers for wearing a pentacle around her neck.

Despite such response, Crowe says one of the reasons she became Wiccan was because the religion allows for the “empowerment of the feminine (that) is always there but denied.”

Crowe also says the Wiccan concept of the cosmic eternity of all things attracted her to the religion as well.

Samhain, what Wiccans call Halloween, is an important holiday marking the beginning of the new year in the Celtic calendar, and is observed through various rituals.

“(Samhain) is the closing of the summer as well as a day to commune with and remember the dearly departed,” Stewart said.

“I am going to make a (broom),” she said.

Brooms are significant because in the past, witches could use them for their rituals and pass them off as household items to prevent being charged with witchcraft.

Other common Wiccan rituals performed for Samhain include making potions with incense and oils, meditating and praying to the spiritual world.

“Samhain, after all, is a day in which mythically the door to the spiritual world is supposed to be open,” Stewart said, “(It’s) a day to remember not just those who have gone, but honor life.”

Paganism, as well as Wicca, has existed for centuries, far before Judeo-Christian beliefs began to emerge.

In ancient times, the pagans believed Samhain was a day when mythical creatures, including fairies and witches, wandered among the living, according to the Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft.

Christians changed Samhain so it would be the day when hallows, or saints, roamed about, instead of witches, which were looked down upon by the church. This gave rise to the word Halloween, from “All Hallow’s Eve,” which came from “Hallowmass.”

UCLA history professor Teofilo Ruiz teaches a course on mysticism, heresy and witchcraft.

“I do not do research on the topic of witchcraft,” Ruiz said, “but I teach a course that includes the period of the witch craze, when people believed there was an international conspiracy of witches.”

Ruiz said that classes on witchcraft appeal to students because “people, not just students, in general are always fascinated by an alternate historical class and the contrast between science and escape from the real world.”