The Rise of Witchcraft on TikTok during Covid-19 By: Sophia Palumbo
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Table of Contents Author’s Notes..........................4 Who’s Wiccan? Who isn’t..........................6 A Brief History of Wicca..........................9 TikTok and Witchcraft..........................17 Covid-19 and Witchcraft on TikTok..........................20 Bibliography..........................25
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Letter from the Author
I began looking for ways to practice Wicca when I was in late middle school and early high school. At the time, the best way to begin was to know someone. A family friend who was Wicca introduced me to the idea, which I connected with immediately. During the Covid pandemic, I fell back into focusing on ways to practice Wicca. But I wasn’t alone. All of a sudden, my TikTok began to show hundreds of witches who were sharing spells, tricks, and tips online to other practitioners. With the witches of TikTok at my side, I began to feel comfortable reading tarot and doing rituals more frequently. My experience of discovering more about witchcraft on TikTok is not an isolated one. On TikTok, many videos have 1 million to over 25 million views. The #WitchTok (what people have dubbed this side of the app) has over 28.9 billion views. These numbers for any social media app are shockingly large and indicate this is not an isolated phenomenon. This raises the questions: why did witchcraft find a home on TikTok and why during the Covid 19 pandemic? Throughout my research I answer the above mentioned questions. In addition to this, I provide a comprehensive history of Wicca in Britain and the United States from 1940-2020 to help give context to the contemporary resurgence of interest in the craft.
My friend and I reading tarot in July 2020
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Appropriation, Race, and Wicca: A Note One of the more pressing issues in modern witchcraft and Wicca today is the problem of cultural appropriation. It is important to remember that Wicca is not the first or the only form of witchcraft in the world or certainly not in the United States. Unlike other forms of witchcraft that existed in America, Wicca was brought from Britain by white people and became a religion made of primarily white practitioners. This made it more socially acceptable than other forms of witchcraft or spirituality that black, Latinx, or Native people had practiced and faced persecution for. For example, smudging which is the act of normally burning sacred white sage is taken from Native American tribes. An article titled “How to be a witch without stealing other people's cultures” points out that smudging was actually “illegal for Native tribes to practice smudging in the U.S. until 1978.” Witchcraft on TikTok also lends itself to promoting “whitewashed, heteronormative, elitist, consumerist, and visually appealing images of witchcraft.” It is important to make sure that when people practice, that they aren’t stealing rituals from People of Color and respecting closed practices. The same article points out “there’s also a difference between folk magic and formal religions that were born out of slavery and colonialism, like Santería, Voodoo, and Candomblé.” Taking the time to do research on the history of witchcraft and colonization is a good place to start. Educating yourself and others is important and a small step in the right direction. Although I will not be touching on this topic in depth, here are links to places where you can learn more.
Podcast ”dedicated to Black Ass spirituality, community and witchy womanist insights into healing and culture
Another podcast featuring interviews with witches of color and offers insights into decolonization of witchcraft
Features a comprehensive list of sources you can use to learn more about racism in witchcraft
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Who’s Wiccan? Who isn’t
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Who’s Wiccan? Who isn’t? Who is Wicca and who isn’t is complicated. I am focusing on people who label themselves as witches online, but using the history of Wicca to help inform how neopaganism and alternative spirituality established itself in contemporary America is important to consider. People on TikTok more broadly call themselves “witches,” which can refer to Wicca but is not limited to it. Conversely, people who are Wicca might not call themselves witches. “In digital spaces, lines between Pagan traditions—or between Pagans and other groups—are often blurry” (1), writes Chris Miller from the University of Waterloo in his article “How Modern Witches Enchant TikTok: Intersections of Digital, Consumer, and Material Culture(s) on #WitchTok.” He believes “divisions are collapsed within digital subcultures” (1), and this is exemplified by TikTok witches who “may reference several hashtags, including #PaganTok, #NorsePaganTok, #BrujaTok, or #CrystalTok” (1), which all refer to different practices.
According to Hugh Urban’s book New
Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America, neopagan religions, which includes Wicca, have five key features that seem to be present in each practice. First, he says that these religions look back to “an ancient, usually preChristian past that they wish to either recover or draw inspiration from” (159). Second, these groups tend to have less structure than traditional religions. People can practice in groups or by themselves. Third, Urban identifies neopagan religions as more “practice-oriented” (159) than having a set of commandments. Finally, all of the groups have some element of gender equality or emphasis on women and a belief of the natural world as sacred or divine. Urban calls neopaganism “a religion of ‘othro-praxy’ (‘right practice’) rather than ‘orthodoxy’ (‘right belief’)” (166) meaning neopagans follow similar core rituals while maintaining sometimes very different beliefs. This is reflected in the language Wiccan’s use to speak about themselves.
Wheel of the year showing Wiccan holidays
As Helen Berger, a scholar of contemporary Paganism, points out “adherents refer to themselves as practitioners, not believers.” Most neopagans follow one basic principle coined by English occultist Aleister Crowley and dubbed the Wiccan “rede” stating “an it harm none, do what ye will.” Many neopagans believe in the Goddess and most believe in the Horned God and the Triples Goddess (maiden, mother, and crone). Most follow a ritual calendar that follows the seasons and have eight Sabbaths (holidays). 7
Who’s Wiccan? Who isn’t? continued Those who call themselves Wicca also differ by tradition. More formalized groups that meet in covens such as Gadernians and Alexandrians follow the workings of Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders respectively. This gives them different rituals and workings that other covens might not have. Others like Starhawk’s Reclaiming tradition and Z Budapest’s Dianic tradition differ on fundamental issues such as their perception of men and women’s roles within the Craft. Most Wiccans who are online are solitary practitioners who practice eclectic magic, which draws on different traditions and rituals.
In my writing I plan to focus on people on TikTok who call themselves witches, not just Wicca. Chris Miller believes “another possible appeal of WitchTok is its breadth. Users share an identity as Witches, yet draw on a range of traditions and tools for inspiration” (17). In the radio segment “Witchcraft Gets a Boost During Pandemic,” store owner Melanie Hall attempts to clear up the distinction between the two saying “...if you practice witchcraft you aren’t necessarily Wiccan and if you are Wiccan you don’t necessarily practice witchcraft.
People will practice witchcraft and be Christain.” If you go on TikTok, the general consensus is that Wicca is a religion with holidays and gods, while witchcraft is something anyone can do. Of course, you find a lot of infighting, but this is the most widely accepted distinction.
TikTok from practioner
Inside of the Four Wands
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s)
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) Wicca’s history is messy and tangled up with many unreliable narrators and stories. Critics point to this to show how Wicca as a religion should not be taken seriously, but what is a religion without an unreliable or hard to believe origin story? Margot Adler, author, Pagan high priestess, and NPR correspondent refers to it as “the myth of Wicca,” which is a better description of the beginning of the religion. Wicca traces its messy roots to England in the 1950s with Gerald Gardner popularizing the Craft. Wicca inevitably was brought to America, where it waxed and waned from popular media’s attention. Gardner was “a former customs officer whose 1954 book, Witchcraft Today, recounted his experience in a coven whose tenets were allegedly passed down from the Middle Ages.”
Part of Gardner’s story hinged on the witch-cult theory made popular by feminist scholar Margaret Murray in her 1921 book The Witch
Cult in Western Europe. She argues that
Gerald Gardner Many scholars have taken issue with this, as historian Ronald Hutton said in his book The Triumph of the
Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, “no academic historian has ever taken seriously Gardner’s claim to have discovered a genuine survival of an ancient religion” (206). However, Hutton does conclude “it should be said that there is nothing inherently implausible in Gardner’s claim to have been initiated into an existing religion” (207).
“underlying the Christian religion was a cult practiced by many classes of the community…It can be traced back to preChristian times, and appears to be the ancient religion of Western Europe” (12). In her book she extensively outlines this religion and argues that the witch trials were a result of Christian's demonizing and misunderstanding this religion. However, Murray has been accused of historical inaccuracies. Her critics, such as historian Robert Hutton, say “her copious use of quotations masked the fact that she ruthlessly ignored in her sources anything which did not support her case, and, by removing it from the extracts which she printed, she was effectively altering the tone and import of 10 documents” (196).
A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) continued Hutton even goes as far to say she treated her sources with “reckless abandon” (198). Regardless of either Murray’s historical accuracy or Gardner’s credibility, the religion took off. Professor of religion and comparative studies at Ohio State University Hugh Urban says that “Gardner’s new Wicca movement quickly spawned a tremendous array of new forms of paganism” (159). Although writings like Murray’s and others such as Alestor Crowley predate the 1950s, Gardner’s book Witchcraft Today popularized Wicca to a mainstream audience. The book was the result of repeal of the Witchcraft Act of 1735 in 1951, which imposed fines or prison sentences to those who were found practicing any sort of witchcraft. This made it possible for practitioners like Gardner to publish their works without fear of persecution and opened the gates for the popularization of Wicca in the UK.
First edition cover of
Witchcraft Today
Ronald Hutton describes the book as “both embodied and justified the continuing eclectic evolution of the ceremonies of Wicca” (246). During the rest of the 1950s, Gardner spread Wicca around Britain through books, newspapers, and interviews.
Scholars seem to agree that Wicca arrived in America around the 1960s and early 70s and quickly became “the world center of modern paganism” (340). According to Aidan A. Kelly, an academic and founder of the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (one of many branches of Wicca), Raymond Buckland is responsible for bringing Wicca to America after being initiated in 1963. With his wife, the two founded a coven in Long Island, New York. Kelly writes that “since the late 1960s, enough information on the theory and praxis of Garderian-style Witchcraft [witchcraft as outlined by Gardner’s books] has been available in books that any small group who wanted to could train themselves as a coven” (137). Raymond Buckland
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) continued By the late 1960s, Americans had taken to Wicca, but changed it in distinct ways. Most importantly, Americans adopted this new religion and fused it with contemporary politics of the time. In his chapter “Wicca and Neopaganism: Magic, Feminism, and Environmenatalism” in the book New Age, Neopagan,
and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirtiutality in Contemporary America, Hugh Urban writes
Starhawk
This was the book a family friend who happened to be a “one of the most important High Priestess of a coven reasons-though surely not the recommended to my sister and only reason-for the success of I when we were first interested neopaganism in the United in Wicca as teens. Hutton States has been its close seems to have a soft spot for association with two other Starhawk as well, saying that social and political movements: she is “...a writer of remarkable feminism and talent” (345). environmentalism.” In the States, Wicca has always been closely allied with politics. This is echoed in practitioners writing from the time. Ronald Hutton points to Starhawk as the witch and author who combined Wicca traditions with the iconology of the witch as a liberated woman. Her book, The Spiral Dance: A
In addition he says Starhawk and her book “reworked the whole image of witchcraft to give it a new significance, and respectability, to a modern liberal reader” (346). The Spiral Dance is easy to read, filled with passion, and contains many different rituals that readers can perform. Hutton credits it with “having inspired the foundation of hundreds of groups of witches all over Europe and North America” (347). Mary Adler also agrees with this saying “there are some who have estimated that Starhawks book The Spiral Dance has alone created a thousand women’s covens and spiritual groups” (228). Needless to say, Starhawk was incredibly influential.
Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, published first in 1979 quickly became the best selling book on Wicca.
A Spiral Dance performed
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) continued Throughout the 1980s, Wicca continued to gain popularity and become increasingly more political. Starhawks’ second book
Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics from 1982
deepens Wicca’s political affiliation. Starhawk was involved in the anti-nuclear movement. She was arrested over 14 times, according to Adler who was writing in 1984 at the time. Adler calls Dreaming the Dark “a brilliant attempt to merge this insight of coven work with those learned from anarchist antinuclear affinity groups” (413). In addition to Starhawk, Zsuzsanna (Z) Budapest also popularized her idea of feminist based Wicca throughout the 1980s.
She called her version Dianic Wicca. Hugh Urban describes her version as one that taught “witchcraft as a pure women’s religion, focused exclusively on the Goddess and organized as a women-only space” (171). It’s important to note that the focus on the cisgender female and her body is problematic when considering trans or nonbianry people. Starhawk addressed this in 1989 for the 10 year anniversary edition of The Spiral Dance. In the section “Ten Years Later: Notes on Chapters One through Thirteen” she even says “I am no longer so sure that there is a ‘femine side’ to a man’s nature or a ‘masculine side’ to a woman’s nature. Starhawk speaking about politics 12:20
Today I find it more useful to think of the whole range of human possibilities– aggression, nurture, compassion, cruelty, creativity, passivity, etc–as available to us all, not divided by gender, either outer or inner” (232).
Z Budapest
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) continued The 1990s brought change to Wiccan groups. Many older leaders of covens died, which forced these groups to reconsider their structure. Back in Britain, Alex Sanders, founder of the Alexandrian tradition, died on April 30, 1988. The day of his death, the Pagan Federation reestablished itself. In 1989 they began holding annual conferences and membership increased. Starhawk in The Spiral Dance writes about the mid 90s as “a period of reorganization and restructuring” (5). In 1997, Starhawk and her version of Wicca called the Reclaiming published the Reclaiming Principles of Unity. In the 1990s, the integration of Wicca and Paganism into universities began. From 1994 onward, British universities such as University of Newcastle and University of Lancaster hosted academic conferences.
Reclaiming Principles of Unity and my annotations
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s a fascination with the figure of the witch was rekindled with mass media producing films and series centered around witches like The Craft from 1997 and Charmed from 1998-2006. Social issues such as the Anita Hill hearings in 1991 also sparked more people, especially women, to gravitate towards Wicca.
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) continued The election of Donald Trump and the #METOO movement sparked, again, interest in Wicca. From the 2015-2019 witchcraft became more political. Feminist author Jude Doyle writes in The Gaurdian’s article titled “Monsters, men and magic: why feminists turned to witchcraft to oppose Trump” from 2019 “The Trump administration represented a breaking point for many women. After decades in which sophisticated thinkers dismissed patriarchy as simplistic or irrelevant, it was revealed to be alive, well and out for blood – the ethos which still ruled the US government and defined, or ended, countless women’s lives.” the Brett Kavanagh trials. Witches have always been a figure of female empowerment and resistance to the patriarchy.
Sign from the Women’s March
Many women during the late 2010s reclaimed this identity in the wake of Trump’s “grab her by the pussy” statement and the Brett Kavanagh trials. The 2010s is also when Wicca became a commodity. Writer Hannah Gold reports in her article from 2015 titled “The Rise of the Hipster Witch” that “Buzzfeed even has its own ‘Witches’ Counsel,’ presided over by witches-cum-Buzzfeed-staffwriters who give advice on how to get hot summer bods and boyfriends.” Shows like The
Now Urban Outfitters on Newbury Street is selling books on witchcraft. Jason Mankey, a pagan writer, chronicles the last 10 years in his article “Paganism and Witchcraft in the 2010s.” He speaks about what he calls the “occult bubble” which he says comes every 20 years, give or take. Mankey says the 1960s and 1970s was one bubble, with the late 1990s beginning the second. However, he says “today’s bubble feels very different. Even in 1998 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina when Witchcraft was ‘hot’ it from 2018 also popularized the still required a trip into at idea of witches. least the local Barnes and Tarot, astrology, Noble. Today, that’s no and Wiccan practices went longer the case. You can from harder to find in the early pick up Witch books at 2010s to more normalized in retail stores such as Urban public and online spaces. Outfitters, or simply search When I was beginning to look Instagram for spell ideas. into Wicca, the best place to go was to Salem Massachusetts where the witchcraft stores were.
Books sold at Urban Outfitters
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A Brief History of Wicca (1950s-2020s) continued
Witch Youtuber
Witchcraft has become a part of the zeitgeist, in a way it never has before.” He ruminates on how new media has changed the landscape of what Wicca looks like. Books used to be the main entry into Wicca and Paganism, but now social media like Instagram or Youtube can be the way in. Mankey asks and answers an important question saying “Do I find this change problematic? Despite what it sounds like, I really don’t. People will find what they are meant to find, and get out of it what they put into it.” Many others don’t find this a good thing and believe that those who practice older traditions of the Craft such as Garderian and Alexandrian are the only real or valid practitioners. However, he argues “the more entryways into the magickal world the better.”
Mankey’s observation about Wicca becoming part of the zeitgeist was about to become even more realized. As he wrote in December of 2019, Wiccans on TikTok were already gathering and beginning to share their content. At the same time, reports from Wuhan about a strange new SARS virus dubbed Covid-19 was beginning to spread. These two forces would soon combine to create a large influx of practitioners on a brand new media platform during another period of deep societal unrest. TikTok and Covid were about to introduce a large generation of teens to Wicca and witchcraft on a scale that had never happened before.
Instagram page about witchcraft
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TikTok and Witchcraft
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TikTok and Witchcraft To understand why TikTok was able to attract so many practitioners to the app, it’s necessary to know how it works. TikTok’s secret is how it is structured. Videos can be anywhere from 15 seconds to three minutes in length, making it easy to scroll through lots of videos in a short amount of time. Once you begin liking, commenting, saving, and viewing videos, the app will begin to tailor your For You Page (fyp). Your fyp is hyper specific to what you enjoy and based on what you interact with. This endless stream of videos is the first thing that pops up when you open the app. If you post a video, your video is then shown to your followers (if you have any) and other people that the allusive algorithm thinks might enjoy it. The more likes and views it gets, the more people will continue to see it. Unlike other apps where you need to have a following to gain popularity, TikTok bypasses this through its fyp structure. Anyone can get on someone's For You Page. I know many people who have gotten famous on TikTok from posting random videos that got anywhere from 1,000 to 2 million views.
TikTok’s success lies in its ability to get content out to the public much easier without needing a large, preexisting following. TikTok’s userfriendly format, combined with the ability to become viral easier than other social media platforms, makes it a great place for Wiccans and witches to congregate. Contemporary pop news outlets interviewed witches online to hear their thoughts. On November 1, 2020 in their article “TikTok has become the home of modern witchcraft (yes, really),” Wired UK interviewed creators on TikTok and asked them why the app has been so successful at creating a community of witches. “‘TikTok seems open to interpretation,’” Natasha Slee, a social media creative, says. She continues saying “‘Yes, it began as a lipsynching concept but, its tools and algorithm encourage creativity and promote variety. There’s less of a quest for perfection in image and appearance, and more for humour and creative editing.’” TikTok is able to foster a more creative and casual community, which has helped create an environment where witchcraft could thrive. TikTok creator
Selby says “this makes the app feel more laid-back and accessible than Instagram. ‘On TikTok it’s quick tips and things that anyone can do. It also humanises witches. There’s a lot of negative stigma surrounding witchcraft and witches but with TikTok, I can show the more personal side of myself, like being a mother.’” Instead of being faceless people behind blogs and books, or done up for a Youtube video or Instagram post, TikTok is able to show witches and Wiccans at home as regular people.
Selby’s TikTok page
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TikTok and Witchcraft continued Author and witch Juliet Diaz comments in the article saying “TikTok’s appeal comes from the positivity of the community compared to other platforms. ‘I use TikTok as a very positive feed to spread love and spirituality in a way that connects with everyone, rather than a select few,’ says Diaz, who has close to 88,000 TikTok followers. ‘The community is very open to other people’s beliefs and so far, I’ve had a very positive experience.’” The environment created on the app is one of openness and positivity. In a Vice article, “introducing the witches of tiktok,” creator Rayanne Wilson echoes this statement calling TikTok “‘a safe space to connect with other individuals that share the same interests.’” The openness and safety of TikTok has created a space where people feel comfortable sharing their practice. Diaz continues by saying “‘The reason professional witches are so successful is because we’re very genuine about what we do, and platforms like TikTok don’t make it seem like we’re trying to make a profit, but that we’re doing this because we love it.’” Since TikTok is less easy to monetize, seeing videos on the platform makes it seem more genuine.
TikTok showing its more casual style
TikTok has been instrumental in the rise of witchcraft online and the introduction of it to more and more people. TikTok’s creative, accessible, and accepting atmosphere creates a place where witches can practice their Craft. In turn, it humanizes witches and introduces others to Wicca and witchcraft. Most videos take place in people’s homes making it feel as though anyone can practice witchcraft. Instead of the faceless Wiccans who wrote books in the 1940s1990s and the blog writers of the 1990s-2000s, people can see Wiccans and witches as everyday people and see themselves in them.
The highly stylized Instagram posts and Youtube videos of the 2010s made practicing Wicca or witchcraft seem unattainable and the creators unrelatable. Watching a TikTok of people doing rituals in their bedrooms or kitchens with clothing everywhere and dishes in the sink makes it feel less distant. The ability to not need a previous following also helped practicing witches from all around the country get their content out to many people. TikTok’s ability to be a collaborative space has helped many feel as though they are engaged in a conversation. TikTok’s Q&A feature makes it so people can ask questions to the creator and have them directly reply to people’s questions with videos. TikTok’s format has been key to witchcraft's renaissance by making witchcraft feel accessible and easy, the creators feel human and relatable, making it simple to become viral by not needing a previous following, and fostering community and conversation through comment sections and the Q&A features. While TikTok provided the ideal platform for this to happen, Covid provided a backdrop for witchcraft and Wicca to thrive online. 19
Covid-19 and Witchcraft on TikTok
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Covid-19 and Witchcraft on TikTok
Pew Research graph
In March of 2020 the world shut down. With most of the population home and isolated from loved ones, many turned to religion as a source of comfort. According to a Pew Research Study from the summer of 2020, Americans reported more than any other economically developed country that the Covid pandemic strengthened their religious beliefs. They report “nearly three-in-ten Americans (28%) report stronger personal faith because of the pandemic.” Spain comes in second, and reports 16% of people believe it strengthened their faith. Although this leaves 64% of Americans who responded believing it hasn’t changed their religious beliefs,
the uptick of interest in alternative religions online could show how teens are finding other ways to interact with spirituality in a time of distress. In articles with interviews of creators who make videos about witchcraft on TikTok and in my personal experience, two main reasons why Wicca and witchcraft has seen a renaissance during Covid is due to a need for comfort and a resonance with Wicca and witchcraft’s political history in America.
Marlene Vargas and Alex Naranjo, cofounders of metaphysical store House of Intuition, believe this turn to Wicca and witchcraft during the pandemic is a way for people to engage in self healing during a time of upheaval. In an article by Good Morning America (GMA) Vargas says “‘I think people go to tarot readings or seek something outside of religion when we're really in that vulnerable state.’” At her store, Vargas and Naranjo have seen more business during the Covid pandemic. GMA writes that “[the owners] say people are starting to look for direction through spirituality and witchcraft during this confusing time, just as they were when they first founded the House of Intuition.” Owner Vargas also says “‘now I know I don't need anybody but myself. I'm good with my rituals. I can connect with myself even if the church closes down like it did during COVID.’” In a time when people couldn’t rely on the world around them, feeling self assured was healing for some.
Marlene Vargas and Alex Naranjo
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Covid-19 and Witchcraft on TikTok continued
This sense of comfort and control during a time of upheaval was a topic in Daniel Zomparelli’s article in The Cut titled “The Pandemic Turned Me Into a Witch.” He tells about a time in the pandemic where he had a sick loved one and he did a spell “to feel hope that I would see her again, that the vaccine would happen, that we would be reunited once more. And yes, it really, seriously did help.” He concludes “and that [performing the spell], even if just for a second, gives me a sense of control amid chaos.” This sentiment is echoed in USA Today’s article “What's the deal with WitchTok? We spoke to creators bringing magic to TikTok.” We are first introduced to Adam Wethington who lost his job due to the pandemic and began reading tarot as a form of income. He turned to TikTok to share his talent with others. The article says Wethington “believes part of its [WitchTok] popularity comes from the sense of control it can provide people during uncertain times brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.” Wethington follows this up by saying “‘WitchTok content is so relevant right now because we learned last year we can't control (things). All you can control is what you do, all you can control is what you think is truth in the world.’” Witchcraft on TikTok is helping people feel a sense of control that they weren’t able to feel otherwise.
Wellington’s TikTok page
In the same article Wiccan author Gabriela Herstik says “‘We live in this very intense, dark age... People want purpose, and they want connection,’ she says. ‘But beyond that, they want something that helps them connect to something larger than themselves. Something that helps them feel like there's a purpose, and magic does that. Magic is a way to align with your purpose, your power.’” During a time of uncertainty, people on TikTok have gravitated towards Wicca and witchcraft as a way to feel comfort, to feel in control, and to find purpose in themselves and in something larger than them.
It is not surprising that people during the pandemic looked to religion for comfort. In an article by University of Connecticut professor Crystal Park titled “Religion as a Meaning-Making Framework in Coping with Life Stress” she reports “some theorists have argued that religion grows out of a human need for comprehension of the deepest problems of existence.” She goes on to say “...for many people, religion is an important philosophical orientation that affects their understanding of the world, and that makes reality and suffering understandable and bearable.” Park looks at how religion can help college students who recently lost loved ones cope with the loss. She finds in the short term, depending on a person’s religious system, that immediately it was harder for the participants while the long term effects of religion and coping were positive. “For people with more time since bereavement, these effects disappeared or even reversed, suggesting a positive association between religion and long-term adjustment.” In the article “The Effect of Religion on Psychological Resilience in Healthcare Workers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic” a team of researchers from Taiwan looked at the relationship between mental health and religion during the Covid pandemic. 22
Covid-19 and Witchcraft on TikTok continued was also a time of re-evaluation, and added fuel to the proverbial fire of recognizing what the United States was going through. In an article written in The Atlantic in March of 2020 author Bianca Bosker writes “The latest witch renaissance coincides with a growing fascination with astrology, crystals, and tarot, which, like magic, practitioners consider ways to tap into unseen, unconventional sources of Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon and Miguelina Rodriguez. power—and which can be People of Color, particularly especially appealing for people They found that “religious faith who feel disenfranchised or who can help individuals to cope with women, to recenter their identities in America. In the have grown weary of trying to the stress of the pandemic, with Christianity/Catholicism elevating article “Interest in spirituality, enact change by working within the system.” witchcraft on the rise amid psychological well-being and COVID-19, TikTok boom” Buddhism/Taoism decreasing Grisela Rodriguez-Solomon mental distress and indirectly elevating the level of happiness of who is a cofounder of Brujas of Brooklyn says “‘my sister these healthcare workers.” This shift towards religion in times of and I and so many other women, especially of color, are distress is exemplified in the reclaiming these identities interest in Wicca and witchcraft because we're in need of on TikTok during the Covid healing but also … we're pandemic. reclaiming things that we were Another reason for taught were anti-white, antiWicca and witchcraft’s spike in European, anti-capitalist and popularity during the Covid pandemic is its intersection with my ancestors were shamed for it [witchcraft].’” politics and social justice During a movements. When creators on pandemic where the world fell TikTok were interviewed, many cited the current political climate apart and people had endless as reason for people’s interest in time, it was the perfect storm for reconsidering our identities Wicca and witchcraft. These and place in society. The practices are frequently talked BLM protestor about as antithetical to capitalism, Black Lives Matter protests throughout the summer of colonization, and misogyny. 23 2020 Witchcraft has been a way for
Covid-19 and Witchcraft on TikTok continued She interviews witch and writer Pam Grossman who says “‘The more frustrated people get, they do often turn to witchcraft, because they’re like, ‘Well, the usual channels are just not working, so let’s see what else is out there,’” Grossman told me. “Whenever there are events that really shake the foundations of society’...’people absolutely turn towards the occult.’” The Covid pandemic epitomizes this shaking of the foundations of society. The world completely shut down, which exposed the weak spots and misgivings in contemporary America. I remember feeling frustrated as the government failed to get protective gear to frontline workers and instead strengthened deep partisan divides, which prohibited them from passing policy. In a broadcasted story on NPR affiliated KUAF radio titled “Witchcraft Gets a Boost During Pandemic” Haley Smith, a local astrologist says “‘as a new generation of people become more politically active and empowered, they are pushing back on critiques that’ she says ‘are rooted in colonialism, racism, and misogyny.’” While not necessarily all practitioners would think of witchcraft as political, it tracks with the history of Wicca in the country.
Hugh Urban in his chapter in “Wicca and Neopaganism: Magic, Feminism, and Environmenatalism” in the book New Age, Neopagan, and
New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirtiutality in Contemporary America, writes
“...contemporary paganism has often gone hand and hand with new social movements such as post-1960s feminism and environmentalism.” On TikTok in the summer of 2020, there were many posts of witches supporting Black Lives Matter. One video shows someone performing a hex with the caption “WITCHES FOR BLM.” The video has over 485.3K likes. The #witchesforblm has over 47 million views. The combination between the pandemic, which continued to expose flaws in American politics and society, and the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer was a perfect combination for many to see witchcraft and Wicca on
TikTok as an alternative to established systems of religion or spirituality. The Covid pandemic has been a time characterized by fear of the unknown and political unrest. In a time where people were physically isolated from almost everyone in their lives, religion, specifically witchcraft and the TikTok community served as a way to bring comfort, control, and power during a time of upheaval. The surge in witchcraft can expand people’s tool kit for coping and resilience which, they can reach for in times of need. TikTok gave people a community and witchcraft empowered them to feel a sense of control in their lives. It is important for future research to consider the importance of alternative religion on social media to provide improved wellness 24 and hope during times distress.
Bibliography Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Boston, Beacon Press, 1986. Alfonseca, Kiara. “Interest in spirituality, witchcraft on the rise amid COVID-19, TikTok boom.” Good Morning America, 7 Mar. 2022. https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/interest-spirituality-witchcraft-rise-amid-covid-19tiktok-83268461. Accessed 5 June 2022. Berger, Helen. “What is Wicca? An expert on modern witchcraft explains.” Brandeis NOW , 17 Sept. 2021, https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2021/september/wicca-bergerconversation.html. Accessed 25 July 2022. Bosker, Bianca. “Why Witchcraft Is on the Rise.” The Atlantic. Mar. 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/witchcraft-juliet-diaz/605518/. Accessed 5 June 2022. Cinone, Danielle. “Inside the eerie rise of Witchtok as TikTokers share spells to hex cheating exes.” The New York Post, 24 Jan. 2022. https://nypost.com/2022/01/24/inside-the-eerierise-of-witchtok-as-tiktokers-share-spells-to-hex-cheating-exes/. Accessed 5 June 2022. Chang, Mei-Chung, et al. “The Effect of Religion on Psychological Resilience in Healthcare Workers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.” Frontiers in Psychology, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628894. Accessed 31 July 2022. Doyle, Jude. “Monsters, men and magic: why feminists turned to witchcraft to oppose Trump.” The Guardian, 7 Aug. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/07/monsters-men-magic-trump-awoke-angryfeminist-witches. Accessed 5 August 2022. Gold, Hannah K. “The Rise of the Hipster Witch.” New Republic, 29 Oct. 2015, https://newrepublic.com/article/123258/rise-hipster-witch. Accessed 24 June 2022. Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999. Joho, Jess, and Morgan Sung. “How to be a witch without stealing other people's cultures.” Mashable, 31 Oct. 2020 https://mashable.com/article/witchtok-problematic-witch-cultural-appropriation. Accessed 27 July 2022.
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Bibliography Kelly, Aidan A. “An Update on Neopagan Witchcraft in America.” Perspectives on the New Age, edited by James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton, State University of New York Press, 1992, 136-151. Mankey, Jason. “Paganism & Witchcraft in the 2010’s.” Raise the Horns with Jason Mankey, 6 Dec. 2019, https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2019/12/paganismwitchcraft-in-the2010s/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1658527646218569&usg=AOvVaw0ecn7MynbeTKrAhjdbIuMd. Accessed 18 July 2022. Miller, Chris. “How modern witches are enchanting TikTok.” The Conversation, 19 Jan. 2022. https://theconversation.com/how-modern-witches-are-enchanting-tiktok-174576. Accessed 10 June 2022. —. 2022. “How Modern Witches Enchant TikTok: Intersections of Digital, Consumer, and Material Culture(s) on #WitchTok.” Religions 13: 118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ rel13020118. Moniuszko, Sara M. “What's the deal with WitchTok? We spoke to creators bringing magic to TikTok.” USA Today, 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2021/10/14/tiktok-witchtok-has-billions-views-witches-explainwhy/6102147001/. Accessed 5 June 2022. “More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith.” Pew Research Center, 27 Jan. 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/01/27/more-americans-than-people-in-other-advancedeconomies-say-covid-19-has-strengthened-religious-faith/. Accessed 25 July 2022. Murray, Margaret. The Witch-Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1921. Park, Crystal L. “Religion as a Meaning-Making Framework in Coping with Life Stress.” Journal of Social Issues, 61: 707-729, 2005, https://doi-org.ezproxy.bu.edu/10.1111/j.15404560.2005.00428.x. Accessed 31 July 2022. Rex, Hatti. “introducing the witches of tiktok.” Vice, 31 Oct. 2019. https://id.vice.com/en_uk/article/3kxep5/witches-on-tiktok-wiccan-astrology. Accessed 10 June 2022.
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Bibliography Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. New York, HarperCollins, 1999. Urban, Hugh B. “Wicca and Neopaganism: Magic, Feminism, and Environmentalism.” New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America, edited by Hugh B. Urban, University of California Press, 2015, 157178. Walker, Josh. “TikTok has become the home of modern witchcraft (yes, really).” Wired, 1 Nov. 2020. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/witchcraft-tiktok. Accessed 5 June 2022. “Why Witchcraft Still Enchants Us.” The Takeaway. New York Public Radio, WNYC, New York, 26 Oct. 2020. “Witchcraft Gets a Boost During Pandemic.” Ozarks at Large Stories. National Public Radio, KUAF, Fayetteville, 29 Oct. 2021. Zomparelli, Daniel. “The Pandemic Turned Me Into a Witch.” The CUT, 3 Sept. 2021. https://www.thecut.com/2021/09/covid-pandemic-isolation-witchcraft.html?regwall-newslettersignup=true. Accessed 10 June 2022. .
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