ABSTRACT
The author met his first Maltese Witch outside Burger King, just inside the city gates of Valletta, Malta's walled capital. Isabella arrived within a few minutes and walked up to him, smiling. Isabella had been a religiously precocious child who had always been interested in the esoteric, in fairies and magical worlds. She offered her mother a book explaining a range of contemporary Pagan traditions so that she could read and decide for herself. For about a year she ran a Pagan study group which met in cafes for discussions on a range of topics, such as the Sabbat festivals, different Pagan traditions, runes and divination. The multivalence of the symbol strategically serves its wearer, both communicating and eclipsing Pagan identity. The display and performance of apparently Pagan identity are not, however, reliable signs that someone identifies personally as Pagan, and this is one reason why it is impossible to quantify contemporary Paganism in Malta with any precision.
