ABS data shows Satanists outnumber Scientologists as lifestyle-friendly left-of-field creeds blossom The rite stuff: Jenny Dignan is one of a growing number of Wiccan witches and pagans on ABS census figures. THERE are more Satanists, pagans and witches in Australia than Scientologists: many thousands more. Left-of-field faiths have had a spiritual awakening with the religion question on the nation's census throwing a spanner in the works for data collectors. While 137 religions are recognised by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the 2011 census there were still 132,598 answers thrown on the scrapheap, marked "not defined." Who knows how many were serious spiritual extremists or Australians playing around with authority? Jedi followers and Rastafarians got the thumbs down. Religion is the only optional question on the census form; there is no requirement to give any answer. But in the last census 16,849 were happy to declare themselves as pagans, 8413 Wiccan witches, 2454 Satanists, 1046 said they were druids, 1395 pantheists, 2542 Zoroastrians, 2921 follow Jainism, 2161 Scientologists, 1485 are into theosophy and 1391 are Rastafarian. The cloak of secrecy has dropped. "We live in an era in which there is a religious supermarket and punters pick and choose the religion that corresponds best to their line of thinking," said expert in religion, Associate Professor Pradip Thomas from the University of Queensland. There has been a worldwide increase in new religious or anti-religious communities. The internet has, of course, played an important role in providing the space for the growth of many of these communities. The interesting question for us really is one of why there has been such growth. One reason is popular disenchantment with mainstream religion," said the professor. Jenny Dignan with full moon. Queensland is the state with the largest number of people following animism: the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings. Greenbank in Logan is the state hotspot. The highest number of Satanists live in Caboolture on the Sunshine Coast. The centre for druidism is Brassall, Ipswich. There are more pagans in Kingston in Logan. Brisbane city is the centre of Jainism, Nambour on the Sunshine Coast is tops for Wiccan witches. The hot spot for followers of the Church of Scientology is Sippy Downs, also on Sunshine Coast. Jennie Dignan is a Wiccan witch and during the past week she has been busy performing full moon rituals. She is a psychic and works on her spells to help empower people seeking out a job change or wanting to make a positive life change. The Sunshine Coast, where I live, is jammed with people who are very spiritual. There is nothing evil about what I do. I know of people who have participated in Satanism and I don't sit in judgment of anyone but I'm not interested in that world. I believe everything is here because it is meant to be," said the 50 year old. I've always been a bit weird; even as a child I always had a deja vu feeling I was born this way. I don't believe in one god but in an energy and many different aspects of gods and goddesses. I choose to be called a witch because my basic principle is: Do as you will but bring harm to none. You are responsible for all you do, say and I think and you are responsible for empowering yourself," she said. In the 2011 census 22.1 per cent of Queensland opted for the "no religion" answer, 23.8 per cent, 1,032,928 said they were Catholic, and 817,834 declared themselves Anglican. Associate professor Thomas said: "Some people do not want to identify with any particular religion, even if they were born into one. The question is of course why include that category in the census. Why does one's religion matter?