Not only are they mother and daughter, they are also white witches. Titaniaand Samantha Hardie tell Rosita Boland about spells, potions, and Britain's fastest growing religion'

Witch. It's a word that is almost exclusively used in fiction, not in the real world. Yet there are two white witches sitting opposite me in the Clarence Hotel, Dublin, and both of them are laughing and drinking champagne. They are Titania and Samantha Hardie, a mother and daughter who are third and fourth generation white witches. They are both also best-selling writers.

Titania's books have sold a million copies worldwide and Samantha's first book, Samantha's Oraqle: Fortune Telling for Teenage Witches, sold 60,000 copies. Her second, Samantha's Witchery: A Magical Guide for Teenage Witches, has just been published and there are similar expectations of high sales for it. In addition, she writes two weekly columns for British teenage magazines, has very striking looks, and is allowed to spend the money she earns. She keeps a broom at the bottom of her bed, which she uses to "sweep away all the things I don't want in my day". Samantha is only 13. How on earth do her classmates cope with it all?

"Some people - not my friends - deal with it by being insanely jealous. At school, I'm the same as everyone else, except when someone comes up to me with a picture of me in a magazine and asks me to sign it. In most ways, I am not ordinary. I have never fitted into the box; I exceed the box," she states with total self-possession, as she twirls the champagne glass between her fingers.

There are very few teenagers who can deliver lines like this and not sound like spoilt and self-absorbed monsters. Yet Samantha - like her mother - comes across as a very bright and remarkably articulate person, well able for whatever challenges she meets as a fourth-generation white witch.

"She came home from school when she was seven and told me about a boy teasing her," Titania says.

"He said to me, 'If you're a witch, why don't you turn me into a frog?' I said, 'Thomas, you already are a frog'," recounts Samantha.

"A lot of scepticism is simply born out of fear," says Titania, with a big smile.

The very basic equipment required by a white witch is a calendar which show the phases of the moon, candles, essential oils and, presumably, a well-developed sense of self-confidence with which to carry off your new dimensions.

This is where the opportunity for books comes in, to give a would-be white witch guidance, and to entertain the curious general reader. The subjects of Titania's nine books to date cover topics such as numerology, love spells, magical feasts, and fortune cards. Samantha's two focus on the teenage market.

Contrary to what one may think about special gifts, you too can become a white witch. Provided, of course, you are female.

"Witch is Anglo Saxon for wise woman," Titania explains, adding that it is the fastest growing religion in Britain. So what is a white witch?

"Someone who keenly understands her own power and who draws that power from within to help understand herself better. Lots of people search to know who they are," is Samantha's definition.

"A white witch must always only ever use her powers in a beneficial way. She is someone whose senses are keenly developed and whose instincts are working very hard all the time," says Titania.

"White witches cannot cast spells for other people; because you can't cast a spell that is for something you don't want for yourself. But you can give someone a spell and let them cast it themselves: you can attract exactly what you desire. We try to empower other people, who might feel small about themselves. By casting spells, you can be interactive in your own future," Titania adds.

"If I'm having exams that week, I'll burn a lot of candles and go through rituals to try and boost my confidence," says Samantha. "I go through a lot of candles."

The more they talk, the more it seems being a white witch is a bit like cultivating a sense of wisdom and creating your own built-in support system of positive thinking and feeling good about yourself. It's not surprising that such a benign philosophy is attracting such a big following. Titania sees the reason for its success as this: "Interest in white witchcraft has sprung up because woman are really aware of a need for a non-patriarchal religion."

So, as a result of their white witchcraft, do they have more wisdom and insight into life than the rest of us? "Well, being a white witch doesn't mean you don't have a temper!" is Samantha's laconic reply.