Mary Shelley, creator of the horror genre, once had her Creature, born of Dr. Frankenstein’s ambition and desire for the creation of life, exclaim, “Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful…Man, you shall repent of the injuries you inflict.”
This novel is characteristic of essentially every theme and critical theory to be intertwined with humanity and nature coursing through its spine. It is a tale of the archetypal mad scientist, with the desire to bring forth life; a story that is cognizant of the female power to create life that no man shall ever harness, yet reveals a society of women scorned for this ability anyways. Society has continued to ask what more power may women be allotted, beyond the possession of the very ability to create life? And what if greater power brews beneath that which they hold?Â
We have felt the chill of the campfire stories, seen the distorted shadowy profiles and heard the shrill cackle. We imagine this mythical being pressed into our forethought as wickedly soaring through the night sky on a spindly broom, with a pointed hat and crooked nose. These witches we know are a manifestation of dark, evil magic in our childhood bedtime stories, movies and picture books.
The media and spoken word panning across generations proclaim the damnation of witches. This generalization contrasts the foil, which is typically illustrated as a man with his magical powers: the wise, benevolent and all-powerful wizard.
Yet, therein exists the woman with her magical embellishment of the evil witch, depicted as ugly and unfeminine. She can possess the powers, certainly, but it will contort her appearance, filth her vocal cords and tether her to a broom of all inanimate objects to fly beyond the earthly, non-magical ground.
Much manifestation of this stereotype stems from a skewed, societal view of women and their claims to power, in whatever form that may be. History has yielded strange and mythical legends of individuals or groups who step outside of the tangible societal and religious normative happenings in culture. The way the legends are often perceived based on gender, however, is what must be noted. A man who has power is primarily assumed to have received it from the gods. A woman, on the contrary, historically must prove her worthiness through other measures, with unrelated mishaps seen as curses by the gods for a female occupation of power. A man who has a vision is a saint, endowed by the gods. A woman, much more likely, is a demon possessed by the devil.Â
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 are a historical instance of this, where a group of local women accused of witchcraft were fated to be burned at the stake based on mere accusations, a majority of which were targeted due to nonconformity with righteous Puritan, colonial guidelines.
Designating these women as “witches” made subsequent silencing and stifling easier. Turning that fear into something unearthly, foreign and evil made it easier to grasp. Easier to isolate. Easier to hide.Â
Earth is not so magical all the time, where betrayal can be found in people who you may think you love, who you trust. Yet this little hint of magic to our days, this little switch, keeps us in tune with our own bodies, choices and autonomy within this wide universe. To maybe even find a way to pluck the strings of our destiny, of the destiny of others, of the fate of those kind to us and those who have wronged us. There is so much more than we can ever imagine that we may never control in this world, somehow even including a human being’s right to purely exist in the way they desire. We are swept into this call of the void, to be burned at the stake like those “witches” centuries ago. This is how the world is, but it does not have to be how your life, your control and your fate is defined.
Understanding these implications of witches, how has witchcraft manifested in modernity? Modern witching primarily surrounds waking up from a system drawn back to the stories of which we have been told from the beginning of time. It means waking up to live by the truth that strength is not suppression, and weakness is not beauty. There are no standards for claiming witchcraft in your own life, no predestined knowledge or luck drawn by straw.Â
I felt that compelling desire to learn more of witchcraft to take back power in my own life. Feeling that slip of power creep up is too easy, and whether the demons congregate as mental or physical, the effect pursues nonetheless.Â
Witchcraft in itself is a spectrum, ranging from a TikTok community of WitchTok with 9.3 million posts to tarot card readings to actual adoption of a witch archetype, such as an elemental witch, celestial witch, or intuitive witch. As with any community, there will be certain subsets that claim to be more authentic or spiritual than others. But truthfully, I have found that whether it is only a brush or a full dive, you can practice witchcraft.Â
As a beginner practitioner of witchcraft, there are manners in which I incorporate it into my life, slowly rising as I learn more and yearn for greater connection, confidence, and capability within myself. I first encountered elements of witchcraft in a tarot card reading on the final day of high school by my AP Literature teacher. I felt insight through the interpretation of the cards drawn into my past, present and future at a time of change and uncertainty plaguing my life, where the encompassing demons loomed heavy. As I folded the connections of the cards to my own life, I developed a deep affection towards the universe and compelling reflection in how I truly felt regarding these circumstances.Â
On a recent whim, I discovered moon water, where you fill and cover a glass of water and place it outside in the light of a full moon overnight. Then, the next morning, you use this water with intention. I opted to take one drink per sentence in a letter, written with interwoven gratitude and manifestation.Â
I have also begun braiding my hair more often, originally starting as a more comfortable method of keeping it up but growing into a form of protecting my energy within the strands of my hair from outside, corrupted forces that may no longer easily unravel me.
I have found neurological ties to my understanding of witchcraft in mental health practices, such as mindfulness and EFT tapping. These practices are rooted in the concept of neuroplasticity, the ability of your brain to rewire and reorganize in the creation of new neurons and the building of new networks. This suggests we have the ability to rewire the habits we think we cannot abandon, the childhood exposures we lived and now subconsciously live by and the trauma of which we cannot let go.
Witchcraft is about manipulation of your fate and the way you interact with the natural, social and spiritual world. It is not necessarily anything even rooted in evil or mutating as the tales suggest, and yet this is why it is mocked, because primarily women are the residents of practice and engagement. Often, it is male-dominated parties who mock the women-dominated practices of manifestation, mindfulness, and witchcraft. Just maybe, it is because there may be a true sort of power in reclaiming the power within oneself, betwixt the silence and the outrage brewing just below the surface, slowly rising until the barrier bursts and it is set free.Â
There is a bewitching beauty to that quiet commotion, that reshaping of that which you cannot control into what you can. Let them fear you. Let them fear what they do not, or will not, understand. Because endowing Etsy witches to curse and hex those who betray you or manifesting a feeling of a memory of pure happiness into your future may seem to be lunacy to others, but to you, it may mean taking back that little bit of power, and turning it into something you can control. What are you searching for? Could you imagine it may be right there, all along, within you?