#12: The Season of the Witch
When I was in college back in Boston, a city notorious for arcane “blue laws," it was understood that no more than five unrelated women could live together without being considered a brothel or perhaps even a coven. There was that one summer I spent sharing an apartment in Allston with three other women and one token dude, and frankly, from what I remember of those months, I'd say we could've been mistaken for either.
Still, given Massachusetts’s somewhat, um, challenging history with the treatment of witches, and with the absence of "googling" being either a verb or concept at the time, we didn't ask too many questions.
At the moment, the Ouija-board messages of internet culture seem to be signaling a new season of the witch. Which old witch, you ask?
- All incantations and possessed gyrations, gnashing teeth and snarling claws, the enigmatic Lorde is pop culture's current conjurer of the dark side, the 'avatar of the new witch aesthetic,' as Vox points out in a very thorough sweep (broom pun, boom!) of the landscape of witchy vibes.
- Meanwhile, the Glenda figure would have to be Amanda Chantal Bacon, mixer of potions and flogger of fairy dusts to grant the wishes of the modern (rich, white) woman: sex, beauty, intellect, and yoga body. You can whip up your own versions with her new cookbook. Now where does one source schisandra, cistanche, and epimedium? Eye of newt was much easier to find...
- Manhattan's all-girlboss club, The Wing fancies itself a "coven not a sorority," hosting workshops like "Radical Self Love" with "stylish and sassy" wellness witch, Gala Darling. Or, get clear on the healing power of crystals (which are totally a thing right now) with Shaman Colleen McCann, who can help you "curate your space" with these pretty, shiny rocks.
- Added to my summer reading list is Slutist founder Kristin J Sollee's new book, Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive. As described by The Guardian, "Sollee’s book positions itself as a whirlwind history of the witch in America and her shared history with sexually liberated women and radical "liberationary politics." Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, hello beach read!
- Lest we forget, modern pagan practices of seasonal rituals are still very alive and well. Over on Vice's Broadly channel, watch this enchanting video of Romanian witches casting spells from thousands of years of traditional witchcraft. Makes me want a flower crown...
- And finally, a beautiful and moving profile of my own dark lord of worship, Nick Cave.