The New Witches

Published at The Conservator: https://www.theconservateur.com/conservateur-club/the-new-witches The witches are back from the dead. Unlike the Hocus Pocus sequel, we should take notice.

The age of the nones is upon us. The nones refers to the increasing number of people in the West who are not religious. Many Millennial and Gen X members raise their children with vague spirituality. Out of this void, witchcraft and paganism have emerged. Social media influencers specializing in “feminine energy” have capitalized on the confusion. On TikTok, there are self-proclaimed witches. (#WitchTok)

Humans participate in religion. It’s in our nature. From the Jews in B.C. Egypt, to the Mayans, to the Inuit people in Alaska and Australia, we tend towards worship. Even in the absence of organized religion, there's still a yearning for a higher power. It can manifest as blind loyalty to political leaders, like in some communist regimes. Other times it’s an obsession with an ideology or philosophy, like we’ve seen with followers of Nietzsche or Silicon Valley altruists.

Similar to WitchTok, divine feminine energy influencers on Instagram and Youtube have built their Barbie Dream Houses on sand. Horoscope reading scratches our religious itch. Personality assessments such as the enneagram and love language quiz can make us feel special and known. We like to uncover hidden knowledge about ourselves. We believe we can understand our nature by following computer charts. But these tools replace or largely supplement surrender and devotion to God.

For many young women, secular culture mixed with the natural desire for meaning leads them to adopt dubious beliefs and practices. 

Not everything in occultism is equally spooky, but they share a common theme. Today’s version hardly looks like the human sacrifice rituals the Spaniards encountered when they first came to America or the idol worshipers in Greece and Rome. The current iteration is disguised as meditation, wrapped in soft pink, and packaged with cute crystals. There’s another contingent of people who deify drugs and morning affirmations. 

One twitter user @RRR0BYN reflected on her time dabbling in the occult: “I’m ashamed to admit I did this for years when I was into the occult scene.”

“ My experiences with them were real but were in no way redemptive,” the account said. “These are the same fertility, protection, wealth giving ‘Gods’ people worshipped before Christ in the Old Testament. They just go by different names and seduce people in ways which appeal to the modern man’s weaknesses nowadays…”

Good belief systems can answer deep questions, provide purpose, and offer prayer as a way to petition for the good rather than superficial desires. If you’re trying to “manifest” a goal, let’s call it what it is: casting a spell. We should consider an intimate prayer to God instead. Or, maybe just a list of actionable goals that don’t involve ayahuasca or energy cleansing.