Badass Witches
(Written for Aura Magazine)
​
A religion, an aesthetic, a movement.
Rewind to 1563 and cloaked by the black of night, women gather in secret to practice the Craft and exchange knowledge. These women are committing a crime worthy of being burnt at the stake. It’s now 1951 and the laws on witchcraft have finally been changed making it no longer illegal to practice. However, it wasn’t till the late 60’s and early 70’s that witchcraft started to gain popularity alongside movements such as the women’s liberation as the cultural revolution and political turbulence of the time gave people a reason to latch onto movements which offered the idea of feminine power in a society that offered none.
Fast-forward to 2017 and the ‘crimes’ these women of the past had been committing are now all the rage. Trend forecasting groups such as J. Walter Thompson rightly predicted that mysticism such as witchcraft would be a defining trend this year, particularly among millennials who are looking for ‘a way to create change through processes that you can’t entirely understand.’
Similarly to its growth in the 70s, the resurgence of witchcraft today has come alongside that of feminism with many seeing witchcraft as a symbol for female empowerment. It was the oh so evil acts of indulging, being free-willed, laughing loudly (which led to the idea of a witch’s cackle), challenging patriarchal systems and having sex which led to women being accused of being witches. 450 years later and women have suffered years of persecution and still are. They’re still having to fight to be put in positions of power, they have their bodily rights decided for them by men and are slut shamed for expressing their sexuality. This is why, in attempt to take their femininity back into their own hands, women are turning to witchcraft as the power it brings provides women with the feeling of comfort and control and helps them to harness their inner wisdom. Woody Allen recently labelling the ongoing sexual assault allegations of Harvey Weinstein a ‘witch hunt’, compelled author and feminist Lindy West to respond ‘Yes, this is a witch hunt. I’m a witch, and I’m hunting you.’ Proving that being a witch today is seen as a symbol of strength and empowerment.
For most, the word ‘witch’ instantly conjures up ideas of ugly, green-faced hags who fly around on crooked looking broomsticks (which can’t be too comfortable for their lady parts) and aren’t the type of girl you’d want to invite to lady’s night. They might even have a wart or two and a black cat as a sidekick. In actual fact, the word ‘witch’ comes from the Old-English word ‘wit’ meaning ‘keenness and quickness of perception or discernment’, therefore ‘witchcraft’ is practicing the art of keen wisdom.
Just to make your head spin a bit more, being a witch and being Wiccan aren’t synonymous. Witchcraft is a skill or methodology which people practice but it has long been a debate about whether witchcraft itself is a religion or not, with some witches believing it is and others practicing it in addition to or instead of another religion. Whilst the practice of it can be traced back 40,000 years, it wasn’t till the 50s that Gerald Gardner developed the religion of Wicca, which is a spiritual philosophy based on the old traditions of witchcraft, with its own code of ethics, concepts, rituals and deities etc. So, whilst many witches choose to follow the Wiccan religion, many witches follow no religion at all and some even follow other religions and incorporate their faiths beliefs into their witchcraft practice.
Despite yet another misconception that witches are a cult of devil-worshippers who you wouldn’t want to come across in a dark alley, they do not worship Satan at all and most don’t even believe in him. Witchcraft is a nature-based religion and is a dedication made to nature, the deities and yourself. Unlike Christians, whose God rules over the Universe, the divine power that witches worship is known as the One or All and to them it is the Universe. The One and All is often personified as God and Goddess as it makes it more relatable and easier to comprehend.
If you’re considering exploring witchcraft, don’t worry you don’t have to delve into casting spells at elaborate ceremonies and rituals straight away. Many witches just use simple meditation to practice the Craft so you could easily fit it in between your standard everyday binging on Netflix and scrolling through the Gram. Casting spells also isn’t a necessity with not all witches doing spell-work and anyone who seeks to follow witchcraft solely due to spell-work are considered as misguided. Similar to a prayer, a spell is a ritual formula, or series of steps taken to accomplish a positive goal. For any of you considering conjuring up a spell to get revenge on a cheating ex or hexing the Starbucks barista who spelt your name wrong despite you being a regular then be prepared for your karma as Witchcraft teaches that anything you send out is returned threefold, whether that be positive or negative energy.
In the early days of witchcraft, rather than having a Bible-type book of the teachings, they were passed along by an Elder of the Craft through spoken word therefore ensuring that the knowledge was not passed into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, this resulted in a lot of the knowledge being lost when the medieval church began its attempts to convert and abolish rival belief systems causing a lot of the Elders to be killed or to go underground. Nowadays, most modern witches have a Grimoire or Book of Shadows which is a culmination of their individual rituals, spells, herb lore and discoveries etc. much like a workbook or diary but most likely far more interesting than the diaries most of us kept aged 13 which consisted of scrawling Mrs [insert your name] DiCaprio obsessively across every page and the odd antidote about what we ate for dinner that day.
Even the world of pop-culture is being influenced by this enchanting witchy zeitgeist. All you have to do is look to the runway to see witchcraft making its mark. Christian Dior’s 2018 Resort collection included spellbinding clothes adorned with illustrations from the Motherpeace feminist tarot card deck created by Vicki Noble and this was nothing new. Their SS17 collection included clutch bags embroidered with lucky tarot cards (inspired by the fact that Monsieur Christian Dior himself would carry around lucky talismans) and tops with slogans such as ‘La Luna’ and ‘We should all be feminists’ on them showing that even Dior knows what’s up when it comes to the witchcraft and feminism. Dior’s artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri has even stated she wants to define Dior as a feminist brand and links magic with femininity and feminism. Witchcraft was also an unmistakable inspiration behind Sarah Burtons AW17 collection for Alexander McQueen. ‘It really started when we went to Cornwall and it was so beautiful’ Burton stated, with Cornwall being a prominent area in the emergence of witchcraft. The witchy influences were prevalent through the delicately crafted mystic and earthy symbols from hand amulets to mushrooms. ‘We were talking about paganism and how it’s all about the earth. These witches could feel the earth more, they feel more connected. They’re here and so are their spells. We’re so disconnected from the earth as it is, and witches were basically healers’ Burton said.
Although the rise of witchcraft is undeniably largely down to woman being drawn to its alluringly empowering views and values, many are also latching on to it for the bewitchingly beautiful aesthetic. Forget Witches of Eastwick, the Witches of Instagram are coming out in full force with #witch having 5,103,797 captivating results whether they’re a fully-fledged Wiccan or are just curiously dabbling. With posts on crystal collections, shrines, the occult and even their girl squads which they wittily refer to as their ‘coven’, they are a positive source of inspiration for women and girls worldwide unapologetically promoting feminism, body and sex positivity and all-round girl-power.