Ipsita Roy Chakraverti

Ipsita Roy Chakraverti (born Ipsita Chakraverti; 3 November 1950) is a Wiccan priestess based in India.

Born into an elite family in India with a diplomat for a father and royalty for mother, Chakraverti spent her early years in Canada and the US where her father was stationed.

There, she was allowed to join a select group of women studying ancient cultures of the world and the old ways.

Chakraverti studied with them for three years and finally chose Wicca as her religion.

Chakraverti was born on 3 November 1950, to diplomat Debabrata Chakraverti, and Roma Sen, a descendant of the royals.

Chakraverti spent much of her early life in Montreal, Canada, where her father was stationed.

He was a representative from India to the Council of ICAO.

An only child, she shared her father's passion for reading and devoured books on Indian mysticism and traditions partly because people at Montreal were always asking questions about India.

In 1965, while on vacation in the Laurentian mountains, Chakraverti was invited to an all woman's party by one of her mother's friends, Carlotta.

There, she was introduced to the Society for the Study of Ancient Cultures and Civilizations, founded by Carlotta.

The group studied ancient texts, long-forgotten customs and the mystical way of life.

Chakraverti was selected to join the group, through a process of initiation, and enrolled for a course with them.

For the next five years, she stayed in a chalet on the mountains and studied ancient cultures and their long-forgotten rituals with eleven other women, with Carlotta as their teacher.

Alcohol, close friendship or anything that distracted them from the prescribed hours of study, solitude and meditation, were taboo.

Practical training in witchcraft was the only way; it included learning varied techniques of self-development and understanding the significance of ancient chants, movements, symbols, gestures, invoking energy from the elements, and training in the use of the apparatus integral to the craft.

Chakraverti later commented, "It started as an academic curiosity. [...] Wicca includes both scientific facts and old lore. We studied Carl Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche because Wicca means studying various layers of the human mind."

In 1972, near the completion of their course, Chakraverti, along with two other women were asked to choose between Way of Tao, Wicca and Kabbalah as their practiced craft; Chakraverti chose Wicca.

She later commented that ancient goddesses like Isis, Artemis, Hecate, Kali and Freya, played an important role in deciding her future in Wicca.

While studying in the chalet, Chakraverti came across a number of prophecies left by a fifteenth-century Wiccan, Luciana, who was brought to trial for practicing her craft, but managed to escape to a castle on the Rhine.

Chakraverti translated the scrolls and believed that she was the reincarnation of Luciana.

She commented in her book Beloved Witch,

"Even though Wicca does not believe in fortune telling or divination, Luciana left a few quatrains like Nostradamus, prophesying about generations to come. I was the one who sat at a chalet monastery in the Laurentians years ago and translated them from an ancient dialect to English. I knew I had to. That was my purpose. For I was Luciana returned. To take revenge for the wrongs she had suffered, to vindicate all women who are battered and bruised as witches in India till today. I have a purpose – I know that. Through the eyes of Luciana I see this world.

At the end of her study, Carlotta gave each new initiate witch certain implements: symbolic gifts of Mother Goddesses who are worshipped by Wiccans.

From Athena, Ipsita received a black cloak, which conferred majesty and regality on her.

Among other gifts given to her were a crystal skull of Kali and a silver bowl from Venus to be filled with water and used in particular rituals.

However, she did not receive a certain glowing amber ball of Hecate, which confers vision and is used for toning up the electro-magnetic system of the body.

Carlotta told her, "If you have been and are a true Wiccan, the ball will come to you in some part of your life."

After coming back to India and getting married, Chakraverti declared herself as a witch in 1986.

Amidst the backlash that followed her declaration, Chakraverti explained to the media the Neo Pagan ways of Wicca and its healing power.

Chakraverti started administering Wiccan ways of healing to the people of India, including traveling to remote villages and teaching the Wiccan way to the female population, several of whom were often accused of black magic and "witchcraft" by male folk, and murdered.

In 1998, Chakraverti campaigned as an Indian National Congress candidate for the Parliament of India in the Hooghly district, but was not elected.

She released her autobiography Beloved Witch in 2003.

A second book titled Sacred Evil: Encounters With the Unknown was released in 2006, and it chronicled nine case studies during her life as a Wiccan healer and explained why those events happened.

Both books received positive critical acclaim.

The book, Sacred Evil was made into a motion picture by Sahara One Pictures.

Titled Sacred Evil – A True Story, the film starred Bollywood actress Sarika playing Chakraverti.

The film was a commercial disappointment but received mixed reviews.

Chakraverti started the Wiccan Brigade, a platform for those who wanted to study Wicca.

Later, Bengali TV channel ETV Bangla, created two tele-serials based on Chakraverti's life and her experience with the paranormal.

Chakraverti, who believes that Wicca is the first feminist movement in history, has been credited with throwing new light on the taboo subject of witchcraft in India, and the rest of the world.