Notes on Strange Rites 2/6

In October 2018, Catland, a Brooklyn occult supply and magic shop that seeks to marry witchcraft and social justice, held an unconventional protest to the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh for his sexual assault accusation by Christine Blasey Ford.

Over ten thousand people showed interest in the “Hex Kavanaugh” event and assmebled a series of effegies representing Kavanaugh, Mitch McConnell, and Trumps, along with writing down names of their abusers on papers placed alongside the effegies. They proceeded to engage in a meditative ritual centering on the self, and read Pslam 109: “Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy / let an an accuser stand at his right hand / When he is tried, let him be found guilty.” Then everyone began to stamp and stream, which was not just a ritual but also a way to recognize and process trauma. Attendees then shared their own stories of abuse, assault, etc.

Many large news channels covered the story. Amy Kremer (cofounder of Women Vote Trump super PAC aka politcal actions committee) said that “it is a very scary time right now.” Tucker Carlson, an anchor for Republican news outlet Fox News, described Catland’s plan to donate part of the proceeds from the event to Planned Parenthood at an effort to “help witches continue to fund their human sacrifice rituals.”

  • Contemporary occultism has proliferated as an identity maker, a religious practice, and a mechanism for community foundation

    • Much of it is not merely orthogonal to traditional Christianity but is actively apposed to it

  • In 2014, around 1 million Americans identified their religion as New Age, Neo-Pagan, or Wiccan (a contemporary reconstructionist pagan religion founded by mystic Gerald Gardner in the 1950s), excluding those who practice but dont identify

    • There are more witches in the US than Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • New Age rituals involve crystals, tarot cards, and cleansing sage

  • Capitalism’s grasp on the ever growing “trend” of witchcraft has led to mainstream “witchy” subscription boxes (ex. Sephora), Instagram hashtags, etc.

  • About 40% of American adults 18-29 say they believe in astrology at least a little

  • Witchcraft stresses progressive, queer-friendly, and feminist values and symbolic systems, concerned with racial, economic, and social injustice

  • Milennials who grew up on fantasy media feel empowered by the witchcraft movement

“I’m a witch when I’m celebrating the change of the seasons with my coven sisters, as well as when I stand against the destruction of the environment. I’m a witch when I’m giving thanks to the sun, moon and stars, and when I’m working to subvert the corrosive narrative of sexism, queer-phobia, and xenophobia.” -Pam Grossman

It’s interseting to observe the similarities between witchcraft and Christianity, since much of the former’s practice intent to oppose and criticize the latter and it’s patriarchal history. But like Christianity, witchcraft enables you to find personal purpose, truth, and intention. It allows you to discover what makes you “you.” Like being a Christian, identifying as a witch is to hold your beliefs high and be passionate about your personal values. It is to promote your ideas and cultural markers to your community and society as a whole. In the present day, Christianity and Wicca are both widely-known religions that are highly praise and criticized at the same time by different groups of people, both having significant cultural effects on society.