As the sun travelled across the sky making way for a full moon above Casper Mountain, the Moon Witch of Crimson Dawn flitted from shrine to shrine, always a little ahead of the droves of visitors to the festival.

"How come I've never seen the Moon Witch before?" nine-year-old Ashley Bradnstetter asked the Moon Witch, who was robed in flowing white, purple and blue silk adorned with strands of shining pearls.

"I don't have a shrine, because I am everywhere, but only on the full moon," the Moon Witch, played by Anna Lewan, said. "We are close enough to the full moon tomorrow that I came out. I won't be out for another five years."

The annual celebration of the summer solstice called Crimson Dawn began in 1929 on Casper Mountain with the storytelling of Casper Mountain resident Neal Forslund. Forslund spun tales of mischievous but harmless witches who lived on the mountain to entertain her daughters and the few brave residents of Casper Mountain at that time.

Forslund created the characters of more than seven witches who were said to have inhabited Casper Mountain years ago.

"To me, Crimson Dawn is a connection with nature and imagination," said Rebecca Hunt, head witch and Crimson Dawn tour leader.

Hunt began attending Crimson Dawn 45 years ago with her own mother. Her father, Warren Weavers who is in his eighties, was a friend of Forslund. Weavers met Forslund in 1942 and still helps with the annual celebration today. Forslund died in 1977.

"The mountain is a very magical place. This is a part of the magic," Hunt said.

Hunt said she expected more than 500 visitors this year.

Crowds of children ran from shrine to shrine, listening to the stories of Undine the Homesick Sea Witch, the Lavender Witch, the Emerald Witch, the Black Witch, the Cardinal Witch, the Star Witch, the Topaz Witch and many more.

The Lavender Witch granted each child a wish with the gift of a tiny lavender flower. The Emerald Witch, who was adorned with colorful peacock feathers, gave each child a tiny strand of pearls to wear around their neck.

"The children, they can walk into a fairy-tale here," Janet Neuman said. Neuman has played the part of the Black Witch at Crimson Dawn for three years.

Interpretations of spirituality, witches and magic vary from person to person, Hunt said. In the past 75 years, the celebration has been met by protesters a few times. Hunt, who has guided tours at Crimson Dawn since 1990, said the last protest she could remember was in the early 1990s, and that protest was a small one.

"From my point of view, the protesters had a very narrow view of what spirituality is," Hunt said.

Denise Caskey of Riverton has been coming to Casper Mountain for five years for the celebration.

"I love it up here. There's just a mystical feeling up here," Caskey said.

Caskey called her trips to Crimson Dawn her "annual pilgrimages."

"Coming, it saves me the trouble of making my own (summer solstice) celebration," Caskey said.

Staff writer Carrie May can be reached at (307) 266-0616 or caroline.may@casperstartribune.net.