Columbia River Witches Collective’s high priestess: ‘This isn’t an aesthetic. … This is my spiritual path.’

High Priestess Angel Biederbeck of the Columbia River Witches Collective lays out tarot cards at her home in Camas on Oct. 14. Private tarot readings and other forms of divination are part of her skills. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Angel Biederbeck, high priestess of the Columbia River Witches Collective, cleanses her Samhain altar with copal, a tree resin used as incense. Biederbeck will lead a Samhain celebration on Oct. 30 at the Camas store Vampire Unicorns. (Photos by Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

High Priestess Angel Biederbeck of the Columbia River Witches Collective hosts some ceremonies and rituals in her backyard. Here, she’s entering her art studio, where she creates felted art and paintings and works on traditional pagan crafts. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Angel Biederbeck is the high priestess of the Columbia River Witches Collective, with a core coven of 13 witches. She teaches “witch school” once a month in her home and new members are welcome. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Witch Angel Biederbeck embraces Halloween decor but draws the line at stereotypical imagery depicting witches as wrinkled, warty hags. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Angel Biederbeck, High Priestess of the Columbia River Witches collective, is a practicing witch who is “out of the broom closet and has been for decades.” (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)