Bellflower Dancing Group Becomes Target of Christian Fundamentalists

 

Never judge a book by its cover.

A group of about 20 Bellflower residents got together a couple of years ago to start a club to host Halloween parties,and costume contests. It has since evolved into a much sought after dancing group called Witches Honor, and they have been the target of much misdirected criticism from Christian conservatives, almost exclusively because of their name. 

Why Call Themselves ‘Witches Honor’?

Witches Honor was named after a phrase from the 1960s-1970s television sitcom Bewitched. When the main character Samantha would inquire if her mother or another witch was involved in something, usually some deceptive plot, the phrase was invoked. In the show, if a witch held up her index and middle finger, and said “Witches Honor”, that witch was essentially giving an oath that they were telling the truth. That’s the inspiration for the name.

Witches Honor was the brainchild of Christal Vargas-Leyva and Kimberly Berger, all of whom were active members of the Bellflower Chamber of Commerce.  Of the group’s 15-20 members, most of the group’s members were Christians or Catholics, with one or two agnostics/atheists, and maybe three pagans. 

At first, Witches Honor was mainly a fun group for Halloween parties where they would dance and have costume contests. They also did some charity works together, collecting food and socks for homeless people, and volunteering in the community. At some point, the group was asked if they would like to perform a dance at a Chamber of Commerce event. Their first performance was a Halloween event at Bellflower Steelcraft in 2021.

What About That Scary Song?

Thanks to World War 2 movies, German sounds like scary. And so the music they dance to, sung in German and with a groovy dance beat, along with everyone dressed up, does give an impressive witchy feel.

Schuttel Deinen Speck, by Peter Fox is a fun dance song with a tribal beat and sung in German. While Eye On Pioneer’s translation was very rough (Google Translate), the song seems to be about falling in love with a big girl on the dance floor. The song’s title translates as “Shake Your Bacon”.

A Few Cancellations Won’t Stop These Ladies From Dancing

Vargas-Leyva and Berger explained that prior to this year’s performances, they had been practicing for weeks. “One person practiced after experiencing a heart attack, another after getting foot problems,” said Vargas-Leyva.

She continued, “We’re old! We’re just a bunch of old ladies trying to dance and shake our booties.”

There are a few men in the group as well, by the way.

Berger said, “We’re not witches, either. There’s probably three or four of us that are considered pagan, there’s maybe one or two agnostics or atheists, and the rest are Catholics and Christians.”

Despite their innocent beginnings, the group has been targeted by religious conservatives in Bellflower because of the mistaken belief that this is a group of witches. 

Probably the most outspoken person is a staffmember at the Bellflower Chamber of Commerce named Michele Moore. Moore allegedly reached out to various agencies to stop the group from dancing.

Eye On Pioneer has attempted to contact Moore, but she has not responded.

One of the events that was canceled was a Dia De Los Muertos event at the Artesia Cemetery. The cemetery’s manager Tony Mendoza explained that he received a call from Janice Hahn’s office that they received one complaint from an anonymous person. “Other than that, I had not seen their dance video, so I wasn’t sure what they were going to do. They might not have made this year’s event, but they’re more than welcome to perform next year,” said Mendoza.

However, Lauren Yokomizo, Field Deputy from LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office, said, “We wanted to clarify that the performance was canceled at the request of Artesia cemetery staff. Our office was not involved in the decision made to cancel.”

According to Berger and Vargas-Leyva, five out of 10 dances were canceled this year. While upset about this year’s turn of events, they look forward to more opportunities.

“We’re going to continue fighting back against the hate until we get a public apology,” said Vargas-Leyva. “We have support from councilmembers, from residents, and so many others. It’s very encouraging."

Keep on the lookout for shows from Witches' Honor next year. Who knows, maybe Eye On Pioneer will be there in person to film it.