Coven.com: how witchcraft found a new home online

Picture this. It’s somewhere between the 16th and 18th century in Europe, and you have been labelled a “witch.” This is premised on cast-iron evidence that you are hook-nosed, snaggle-toothed, wispy-haired, you own a black cat and like sweeping with a bristly broom. Expect to suffer gravely for your unfortunate appearance and suspicious cackle by being drowned in the river, hanged, tortured, or savagely burnt at the stake. 

A hop, skip, and a broom ride to the 21st century and being a “witch” is in vogue. It has become something that feminist millenials with slick social media profiles and mass followings have cultivated. You only need to visit platforms like Instagram and YouTube to see how modern paganism is trending in various shapes and forms. In the past couple of years, this has become especially common on TikTok – a rapidly growing social media platform where you can create and upload 15-60 second videos. 

At the time of writing, TikTok’s subculture #WitchTok has culminated in over 16.6 billion views worldwide. If you click onto this portal-like hashtag, you will come across a community posting videos on crystal healings, astrological predictions, to rituals for a shopping basket full of spells. There’s a spell for passing your exams, for getting that dream job, for making someone fall in love with you, for weight loss, and yes, more recently, for protecting your family and friends from Covid-19.

But what is it about witchcraft that has appealed to so many in recent years, and is digitising the occult problematic?

Dr Helen Cornish, a lecturer in anthropology at Goldsmiths University who is an expert on how modern witches and Wiccans (followers of modern paganism) have navigated their movement, says: “There are many factors that influence the current rise in interest in witchcraft and other magical-religious traditions, such as renewed interest in alternative spiritualities and feminism in which witchcraft can be seen as a platform for political action as well as religious self-determination.

“There is also a general acceptance of occulture and a re-enchanted world at the same time as things appear to be more secular and rational. But I must emphasise that the current resurgence is the latest of many, as interests in witchcraft etc. fluctuate over the years.” 

Fascination with the occult seems to have waxed and waned throughout the years. Scholars believe the concept of the “witch” has been around for as long as humans have worshipped deities. In Greek mythology, the first witch was called Hecate, the Goddess of magic and astrology. In the Yoruba tradition, the witch was a wise woman invested with the power of the trickster. But it was in the 1400s, after the rise of male-centric Christianity in Europe and the beginnings of early capitalist structures, that these women started being demonised under the umbrella term of “witch.” Heinrich Kramer’s Malleus Maleficarum, otherwise known as the “The Hammer for Witches,” was released in 1468 and was a medieval treatise on hunting witches, igniting the beginnings of the witch hunt, that would see 100,000 people across Europe accused of witchcraft, and some 40-50,000 executed between 1482 and 1782. 

It was in the 20th century that the symbol of the witch became an emblem of female empowerment. As women began to fight for their suffrage and feminist movements emerged, many turned to the witch as a symbol of endurance. In the late 1960s and early ’70s, the witch was adopted by protesters and activists in an age of sexual liberation. Take Halloween 1968 for example, when a group of dissidents wore black coats and pointy hats and formed the WITCH group (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) to protest against capitalism on Wall Street. Then in the 1990s, people became spellbound by witchcraft after a stream of witch-related shows and movies were released, from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to films like The Craft and Hocus Pocus. 

More recently, the symbol of the witch has taken on a new meaning, both spiritually (paganism has risen dramatically in the US and UK in recent years) and symbolically (with activists fighting for gender, politics, sexuality and the environment). In particular, the Trump presidency and #MeToo movement turned witchcraft into a symbol of feminist resistance to patriarchal narratives. But it is with the advent of social media that witchcraft has found an entirely new space for greater learning, activism and connection. 

Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have provided a new avenue for fledgling witches (otherwise coined as “baby witches”) to learn from more traditional witches and connect online. But as well as being a space for communication, social media has also provided the lucrative opportunity to commodify the craft.

On these sites, you can buy a tarot reading, spell jars, sets of herbs, aura sprays, book a private 1-2-1 witch consultation – you name it. Take internet-savvy witches like Dee, for example. Otherwise known as the “Modern Witch,” Dee uses her site to offer single-cast spells for £130, or triple-cast coven spells for £360, which can: return your ex-lover, grant protection, prosperity, remove a curse and get more luck in your life. 

Ayla Skinner is another tech-savvy witch based in North Cornwall. She too uses social media to promote her online business, “Witch in the Wilderness,” where she sells everything from bespoke boxes and candle kits to ritual oils and oracle cards. As with the rest of the country, Skinner started to harness the power of social media to promote her business when everyone was in lockdown. She started streaming live videos of witchcraft learning sessions, live sales from her shop, as well as offering divination readings. “This was when I started to gain a following,” she tells me. “I then joined TikTok, as it’s easy and quick to shoot videos, and I found I could reach new people and give out information to anyone who wanted it.”

However, the recent rise of #WitchTok has created a divide between the tech-friendly young witches of the future and the older, more traditional witches of the past. Whilst the latter see social media as a positive tool to raise awareness after centuries of stigma, the former believe that commodifying the craft is problematic and risks setting the community back on centuries of progress. “I am sure that some practitioners are concerned about the intentions of others from what instruments should be used or whether it is immoral to gain an income from witchcraft or magical practices,” says Dr Cornish, “but it is not a new complaint. The debates between different ages and different perspectives are found in each generation.” 

Dr Cornish cites the example of ritual tools and how there are polarised perspectives on the topic of cost: “Why should you use an expensive wand if you can just use a stick from a meaningful place or really, why not just point your finger?

“But on the other hand, why not use a glorious, well-crafted wand or other accoutrements. After all, modern witchcraft conferences like the Pagan Federation, and Children of Artemis have long been places of great consumerism.” 

For Skinner, it is about separating the wheat from the chaff online as not everyone trending on social media has good intentions: “There are many ‘teachers’ on social media,” Skinner tells me. “Some do it to make money, some do it for self-importance, and some do it because they like to and want witchcraft to be available to everyone freely. This in turn can lead to quite a lot of misinformation. Don’t get me wrong, there are some incredible teachers out there, but there are also some who have jumped on the bandwagon and are doing it for the wrong reasons.” 

Irrespective of the schism between traditional and contemporary, interest in witchcraft has shown no signs of abating, due mainly to the anxieties triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Spirituality has been shown to increase during moments of societal upheaval, so it is unsurprising that many (particularly younger generations) are developing an interest in spirituality – namely astrology and the occult – to retain a degree of control in a time of prolonged uncertainty about jobs, exams, and their futures. 

Skinner believes that the pandemic has been bittersweet, for while it has devastated the lives of millions, it has also given us the chance to slow down and appreciate nature: “The pandemic has made a huge impact, and life as most people knew it changed overnight. We all spent more time in nature, so we had more time to learn and grow spiritually.

“I have so many messages from teenagers with high anxiety and depression who are fed up of needing to look and be a certain way. Witchcraft gives them that freedom.” 

Social media platforms have succoured the world of witchcraft, providing new avenues for witches to learn the craft and connect in a time of mass distress and confusion. “I have never been so busy since the pandemic started,” says Dee. “People are anxious about their futures and need reassurance and want to take more control of their lives in a positive way. I help them to create rituals and positive lifestyle changes. Witchcraft gives them hope, which is essential at this current time.”