A counselor was reportedly fired from a local Catholic high school after she invited three Wiccan "witches" to speak to students on starting a small business and being "female entrepreneurs."
Michelle Peduto, secretary for North Catholic High School, told CBS Pittsburgh that the visit went "off the rails" after the witches gave students special "crystals" allegedly imbued with magical properties.
It wasn’t long after that incident that the counselor who invited the witches was fired, Peduto said.
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"We followed our process and protocol and as of today, actually, a few days, she's not with the school anymore," Michelle Peduto, secretary for North Catholic High school, told CBS Pittsburgh in an interview about the crystal incident.
Peduto added that the students themselves were concerned about the witches’ visit and went "directly to the administrators."
The problem was not with inherently with religious objects themselves, Peduto said.
"It is because as we know our faith is in Jesus Christ and not in objects necessarily. Rosary beads? Yes, but crystals no."
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The witches responded to the news of the counselor getting fired from North Catholic, explaining that the one of the witches was formerly a "sorority sister" with the counselor in a video posted to Facebook Thursday.
Tabitha Latshaw, one of the Wiccan witches at the center of the controversy, explained that the crystals were intended as "icebreakers" for the students.
"Just your basic crystals, nothing fancy," another witch told fans as she displayed the gemstones on camera.
Latshaw added that she was not raised as a Catholic and didn’t realize that giving stones with alleged magical properties to students was "an offense to the Church."
"Apparently these things are a no-no in the Catholic religion," she said.
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When CBS Pittsburgh reporter Andy Sheehan told Latshaw that North Catholic directed students to say a prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel to cleanse their homes of spiritual influence, she responded that "God made these [crystals]. They come from the earth. That's all I can say."
Latshaw also explained to Sheehan that different crystals, or stones, have different purposes. "We would say this is for increased concentration so if you need help studying, this is your stone," Latshaw explained, showing a purple gemstone.
The witches clarified to CBS Pittsburgh that they didn’t worship the devil.
"No absolutely, we don't believe in that," Latshaw said. "We worship as Wiccans. We worship nature. So our elements, earth, air, water and fire, that's what we worship."
Fox News Digital has also reached out to North Catholic High School and Elemental Magick, the witches' small business, for additional comment.
