BLAZETVSTAFF, 10/24
Paganism has been on the rise in the Western world for some time now. More and more people are abandoning their religious upbringings and rejecting the Judeo-Christian values of the West. While some have opted to adopt agnosticism or atheism, others, especially Gen Zers, have chosen to replace Christianity with a different set of beliefs and practices rooted in paganism. Ranging from engaging in actual black magic to just dressing in dark, edgy clothing, witchcore is the newest fad among the rising generation.
Unlike the colonial days when witches were so feared that even the town spinster had to watch her back, today, witches and witchcraft are embraced by society.
Allie Beth Stuckey points to a recent magazine in a grocery store checkout lane titled “Witches: Discover their secretive and mysterious practices” as an example of how mainstream the occult has become. The magazine, which features a woman clad in black robes and a pointed hat holding a cluster of burning red candles, sits adjacent to gossip columns and rows of candy as if it’s just another mundane object.
“This is clearly a glorification of witchcraft,” says Allie.
While the magazine features a traditional-looking witch, the majority of today’s witches look like “your normal suburban mom.”
“Even if someone is not wearing a pointy hat and walking around with their black cat, they might be imbibing and emulating [and] exhibiting aspects of witchcraft,” says Allie.
Further, modern “witchcraft doesn’t necessarily always look like a Ouija board or like dying your hair black and casting spells,” she explains. It often looks like “manifesting,” “transcendental meditation,” “burning sage,” “using crystals,” etc.
Modern witches weren’t ushered into the dark arts because they happened to stumble upon a group of women chanting incantations in the forest either. Most of them were introduced to new age concepts in the growing realm of “self-help” and “self-empowerment” guides. Allie explains that things like “a Cosmo article,” “astrology,” or the idea of tapping into your inner “goddess” is all it takes for someone to set off down a path of darkness.
A recent British Vogue article even spoke on the subject of witchcore and admitted that although the fad aims to “merge romantic mystical vibes with grungy Gothic undertones,” the “witchcore aesthetic is influenced by ancient rituals and practices, from potion making and herbalism to tarot card reading, sage burning, and crystal healing.”
“It’s not just about following a trend that you saw that you think is cute,” says Allie. Even things that seem benign, like a specific clothing aesthetic, are rooted in the incredibly dark idea of unleashing “a woman’s darker side.”
Artists like Taylor Swift are heavily responsible for viralizing the witchcore trend.
Allie plays a video of Swift performing on her Eras tour in a black robe surrounded by a circle of female dancers who are also clad in black robes. They essentially bow down to the pop icon who stands in the center of the dark ring.
“That is clearly demonic,” says Allie.
More
Witchery is indeed a very dangerous pastime for anyone to undertake. That old slogan could well apply here: “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” because it leads to excommunicating oneself from God and from humanity. There is no love there, only desolation and eventually despair in such a dark place.
Anybody here remember from the ’80’s “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark”? She made campy single-liner jokes about witchery as the TV host of horror movies, real name Cassandra Peterson. She later made a movie, which I happen to have on DVD. She wore a black dress with a plunging neckline that barely concealed her full bosoms. It was comedy and fun to watch, particulary since the real evil-doers would meet their demise.
Taking witchery seriously puts one’s soul in grave danger as I said above. It should be as avoided as Satan himself.