Witches gather after Hung Cao called Monterey ‘a really dark place’ with ‘a lot of witchcraft’
By Alicia Alvarez
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PACIFIC GROVE, California (KSBW) — A “witchy” gathering was held at Lovers Point on Friday in direct response to acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao’s comment that the area is “a really dark place” with “a lot of witchcraft.”
Cao originally made the comment in 2023, saying, “There’s a place in Monterey, California, called Lovers Point. The original name was Lovers of Christ Point. But now it’s become — they took out the Christ — it’s Lovers Point. Monterey is a really dark place now, a lot of witchcraft. The Wiccan community has really taken over there.”
He also mistakenly said Lovers Point was in Monterey, when it is actually in Pacific Grove.
More than a dozen people gathered on Beltane, a pagan holiday marking the beginning of summer, in witch-themed outfits to paddleboard.
Miranda Diamanti, a participant, said the idea started as a Facebook invite from Elsa Rivera for a fun community gathering. Rivera also organizes a yearly “brujas paddle,” which translates to “witches paddle” in Spanish. The group hosted its fourth one in October. “I don’t think it was intended to be a regular thing, but throughout the evening we all kept saying we should make it that way,” she said. “[We met to] have a witchy gathering in response to what Navy Secretary Hung Cao said about our beloved area.”
Diamanti pushed back against Cao’s generalization of the area.
“There’s something a little ironic about trying to define a place rooted in beauty, community and connection through fear or assumption. Lovers Point has always been more than a name — it’s a feeling,” she said. “Monterey isn’t ‘dark’; it’s layered. It’s home to churches, spiritual seekers, nature lovers, artists, healers and everyday people just trying to live with a little more kindness in their day.”
This is not the first time the Central Coast has seen witchy water sports. A group in Capitola called the “Capitola Sea Witches” takes to the ocean on paddleboards in witch-themed garb on Halloween.
In a different response to Cao’s comment, a “Witches of Monterey” web game has appeared. The game is played in a web browser and is free to access. The game focuses on collecting money from a shift at the 17-mile-drive toll booth. With the accrued funds, the player can recruit witches to their coven.
The player is also prompted to “run a sacrifice ceremony” and “light the black candles. Whisper the rites. Channel the darkness Hung Cao warned them about.”
With points gained from sacrifices, the player can then “attack” what the game calls “Lovers of Christ Point.”
Cao said Lovers Point was previously named “Christ Point,” which appears to be the basis for the game’s name for the area. The area was once called “Lovers of Jesus Point,” not “Christ Point.”
The accrued “dark favor” points lower the “purity” of Christ Point, prompting comments such as, “The Chamber of Commerce receives 400 anonymous Yelp reviews,” as the coven attacks the area.
Once the player topples “Lovers of Christ Point,” the game signals the player’s win with a pop-up saying the area has been successfully renamed “Lovers Point.”
The game’s title page features a snapshot of KSBW’s article on Cao’s comments.
Diamanti said generalizing the area as dark misses what makes it special and that Lovers Point reflects love, openness and respect for differences.
“If anything, Lovers Point reflects exactly what its name suggests: love in many forms,” she said.
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