It’s so freeing to live in an age where we can freely discuss magic and witchcraft in all its nuances. Whether you believe in it or not, you have to admit, it’s really fascinating; encompassing a world of possibilities beyond what we can imagine. I remember being a little kid and throwing some dirt and water and sticks in a bucket and calling it a potion. It seemed so much simpler, back then I really thought magic was real, or at least it could be real and maybe I just hadn’t stumbled upon it yet. Somewhere between then and now, the spark left. Stoicism and an obsession with productivity probably took its place. Later on in high school, I felt oddly giddy when my boyfriend lovingly referred to me as a witch. Whenever I made a fuss, he’d say stuff like “you stir your little potions in your little cauldron and you stir up trouble in it too”. It felt strangely intimate. And it felt strangely nostalgic for a world I seem to had forgotten. All this is to say, I love witchcraft, I love the feeling of wonder and curiosity it gives me (although I haven’t personally dabbled in it much myself).
Over the past few years, I’d begin to suspect witchcraft being on the rise. I’d seen more posts about different spells on Tumblr, more tarot card readings on cosmo, more palo santo wood burning posts on Instagram. Delving into research for this piece only confirmed my expectations.
Bianca Bosker, a contributor at the Atlantic, had an interview with one of the most prominent witches of this day and age, Juliet Diaz. In the piece she details how Diaz, formerly a disenfranchised woman with Cuban and Taíno roots, who grew up on food stamps and sometimes would skip lunch to make rent, was able to turn her whole life around by manifesting a new life from her candlework, which includes a lucrative business and wildly successful book deals. In a way, this is a beautiful and symbolic case study; in the modern age, witchcraft has grown more inclusive and is now home to witches of all different backgrounds. Some women have been attracted to this lifestyle as a form of resistance to patriarchal and Eurocentric norms. Some women have joined in opposition to the Trump presidency. Over the course of history, the practice of witchcraft seems to have rised hand in hand with the rise of feminist beliefs. Bosker’s article details how the rise of transcendentalism and second wave feminism in the 19th century offered witches an opportunity to rebrand, to shift the narrative. They went from being seen as demonic cult members to being seen through a softer, kinder lens. Strong willed, intuitive women. It’s grown even more in popularity ever since the Trump presidency; perhaps as a silent personal revolt against the degradation of women’s autonomy over the past 4 years.
Witchcraft has undoubtedly had a troubled history. Throughout the echoes of time, we can count a plethora of instances of society using witchcraft as an excuse to subjugate women. The Salem Witch trials naturally come to mind, where more than 200 women were killed because of women hating rhetoric, under the excuse that they were practicing “witchcraft” or the “devil’s magic”. Given this violent history, over time even identifying as a witch was seen by some as an act of liberation, of feminism. Gabriela Herstick remarks, “Witchcraft is feminism, it’s inherently political… it’s always been about the outsider, about the woman who doesn’t do what the church or patriarchy wants”.
All this is to say: thank you. Thank you to the witches of the past who have pushed forward against the tides of time and sexism, who have paved the way for witches and even just people who like astrology. Nearly everyday, I opened the cosmo Snapchat story to see my horoscope, not because I believe in it; just because it’s fun. It’s fun thinking there’s a cosmic prediction about you based on something that makes you unique. It’s fun reading tarot cards and seeing what might lie ahead of you in the week. It’s fun getting your palm read to see what your next lover might look like. It’s fun collecting crystals and learning spells. When I’ve had a rough week, it’s fun to be able to say “oops, Mercury must be in retrograde again” (whatever the hell that means). In this day and age, in 2020, in the middle of one of the worst administrations in recent history, a pandemic, a severe economic crisis, we and those before us have allowed ourselves just a glimpse of joy every now and then with these magical witchlike activities, and I for one, am eternally grateful.