Different small pagan groups communicate through symbolism
Last week while doing a night hike through a nearby low elevation trail, I discovered some elaborately painted twigs hanging by twine on some lower branches of a smaller brush-like tree. They were hanging in rows on two different branches, and were like wind chimes. I don't know as yet their meaning, although it may just be a type of decoration. Their painted patterns were more complex than the above image (more like the image below). There is some type of coven in the area, as I have seen their signs in the past, such as stacked stones, handmade wicker hearts, and little white rocks put in patterns on the side of the trail. I have gone over in the past the concept of different small groups sharing a park or mountain, and not knowing of each other's presence.
On two different occasions I believe that I spotted them, although this was some years ago. There had been a Satanic cult known to conduct rituals on this mountain in the 1970s, but I'm certain that this is not a continuity of that... as their signs are only of positive energy. Once I saw perhaps five individuals in black robes just entering the park at twilight on higher elevation, but their hoods were down and I just thought at that time that they may have been wearing matching coats of some type. I just didn't make the connection. At another point I came upon a woman after dark on a high elevation trail. She was wearing a dark cloak with a hood, and was interacting with a wild cat.
The only reason I saw her clearly was due to the light from a ranger station in the distance. She saw me walking down the trail towards them, stood up facing me for 3-to-4 seconds, then walked off the trail. I wrote about this experience a few years ago. When I made it to the spot where she had been, I then saw her walking off into the brush; her robe which was draped wide around her ankles made her appear to be just gliding along. Of course I'm wearing a light grey sweat outfit with sneakers, and probably looked to her like someone who would not understand her spirituality, and I unintentionally made the two of them depart. I suppose it would go without saying that she didn't expect anyone to show up at that time.
