Serious question... will you join our coven?
It feels like witches and magic are everywhere at the moment, and we don't just mean because it's Halloween.
From television shows to trending on TikTok, the rise of modern witches is not something to ignore.
But what is a modern witch? Is it all a bit 'woo woo' or something we can all get onboard with?
THE END BITS
Check out The Quicky Instagram here
Liked this episode? Listen to these:
The Brazilian Influencer Who Exposed The Dark Side Of Life Coaches
Women In Power; Why Kamala Harris Understood The Assignment
Magic Cure Or An Expensive Trip? Psychedelics Explained
Smoking Ceremonies Are Keeping The Fire Burning This NAIDOC Week
Want to try MOVE by Mamamia?
Click here to start a seven-day free trial of our exercise app.
GET IN TOUCH
Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice note or email us at thequicky@mamamia.com.au
CREDITS
Host: Claire Murphy
With thanks to:
Alix Nicholson, Mamamia's Weekend Editor
Cat Howell, Modern Day Witch, Entrepreneur &Author
Executive Producer: Taylah Strano
Audio Producer: Tegan Sadler
You're listening to a Muma Mea podcast. Mumma Mea acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast is recorded on.
Hi.
I'm Claire Murphy. This is Mumma MEA's twice daily news podcast, The Quickie. It's Halloween and kids everywhere are gearing up to get dressed up in their favorite pop culture or creepy characters to walk the streets in search of treats. But while the real meaning of the day has been moved like so many others, into a corporate space, Halloween has meaning steeped in ancient faith, and in twenty twenty four, some of those ways of thinking are back at the forefront of human spirituality. Today we find out why it seems more and more of us so getting a little more what we often refer to as woo woo, in search of something to order our worlds and give us the strength to continue moving forward. But before we step into the world of the witch, here's the latest from the Quickie newsroom, Thursday, October thirty one. The principal of the school which was involved in a car accident earlier this week has described the incident as a complete tragedy. A driver who just picked up a child from Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne's East was doing a U turn allegedly suffering a medical episode. Her car crashed through a fence and hit a table where five students were sitting having a break to eleven year old girls, a ten year old girl and ten year old boy were taken to hospital with injuries. Eleven year old Jack Davy was killed. Victorian premieres Into Allen posted on social media, though what should have been an unremarkable Tuesday has instead cast a dark shadow over the city and State Principal Marcus Witcher has called for media to respect the school and families privacy and allow them to navigate this difficult period. Meanwhile, the club's Jack Belonged to have paid tribute to the keen sportsman who played basketball, soccer and futsal his basketball team, starting a GoFundMe to support his family, which has raised nearly thirty thousand dollars. The Taliban, who've been introducing increasingly more restrictive rules on women, have now made it illegal for women to hear each other voices. The Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced that when adult women pray and another woman passes her, she must not pray loud enough for her to be heard. In Afghanistan, a women's voice and face must not be heard or seen in public. They also cannot sing or make music. Human rights active as are concerned that this will have broader impacts and may stop women from even conversing with each other. The Spanish government has declared three days of morning after dozens of people were killed in a flash flooding event to rental rains on Tuesday in parts of southeastern Spain left roads and towns inundated with floodwater. Emergency services and government officials declaring that at least seventy two people have died, with many more still missing. As the floodwater tears through the region. Authorities in some of the worst hit areas are telling residents to stay inside their homes and avoid all non essential travel as the floodwaters continue to rise, advising that the number of deaths are also expected to increase. Kylie Minogue has admitted she thought the song that launched her music career was very uncool. Minogue shot up the Chants in nineteen eighty eight with her cover of the nineteen sixty two song The Locomotion. Kylie's saying she's so thankful for the song and what it's meant for her career, but admitted at times she's found it a little cheesy, saying she didn't know how to perform it anymore, but now says it's come full circle and she can now with all her heart and enthusiasms sing the song again. The pop star has also denied she has any diva tendencies, saying she's a pretty good boss, but does expect her staff to put in one hundred percent when they're on the job. She explained, they know when something's not right when she raises that eyebrow. That's what's happening in the world today. Next witches are making a comeback. They're out of the cauldron and into the mainstream as women everywhere reclaim their power. Happy Halloween, the day which has roots in pagan religions the eve of all Saints day with a veil between the world of the living and the dead, is reportedly at its thinnest, but while many mark this day in a very non religious way by going door to or in costume, asking for treats and threatening tricks. A well known character for this time of year has been making a comeback in real life. We're talking about witches.
Well, myler for pretty, I can car accidents too.
Many centuries ago, the pagan religions flourished, but as Christianity took hold around the globe, the punishment of witches was a way to not only control women, but to stamp out pagan practices. So being called a witch for centuries represented a haggard, possibly green faced, nulled, angry woman as ugly as they come, with a big crooked nose, sometimes even topped with a hairy wart, someone who ate little children and cursed good people. But the witch has started to break free from that. In stage and now movie productions like Wicked, we follow the journey of Glinda and Elpheba, who go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. Right now, the 's seven of Marvel's latest queer lead witch theme show, Agatha All Along, has spin off of Wonder Vision, has a score of nine point two on IMDb. Now there's only one show with a higher score than that in the entire Marvel universe, and that is the season two finale of Loki Fuck Thyhead. It was revealed recently that Andrew Garfield, who's been making headlines around the world this past week after Chicken Shop Dates host Amelia de Moldenburg finally dropped her interview with the actor after they had those two meet cute moments on the red carpet.
I only ever want to see you what.
He was previously dating doctor Kate Thomas, a professional witch who people accused of using magic to seduce the actor.
So this particular spell is a protection spell where we have two mirrors facing out.
The mirrors are facing out and we've got our name on the.
Inside of it.
So it's a really powerful protective spell. And on social media there are many out and proud witches sharing their spells and practices.
And here from coveniv Gia and I'm going to talk through a protection from someone's spell.
This is one of my favorite witch tips to you take some clean eggshops and go ahead and crush them out. Here is a really easy way to begin your witchcraft journey.
And all you need is remote pad and pen.
Hi.
I'm a witch, and here are my top warning signs when it comes to people around you. These are no ugly old ladies in pointy black hats. Well somewhere the hat. But now witches are portrayed in a much more favorable light as women take control of the narrative. One of these modern day witches is Kat How, entrepreneur and author of two books on alchemy. Kat what drew you to the life of a witch?
Yeah, So in twenty twenty, I encountered pretty big depression mental health issues, and I walked away from my company. It spent about seven years building, and I was really sort of last. I was disassociated. I was completely disconnected from well being. I was meditating, I was doing reiki, I was trying all the modalities therapy, and just nothing was working. And that's when I came across the Kai Balon, which is an ancient Sumerian texts or emetic text, and I started to explore the world of alchemy in more depth, and I realized that there was just so much wisdom, and this premise that we create our reality through our intentions and our emotions and our thoughts and our perspectives was really prevalent in this narrative of witchcraft and alchemy. Actually, So that's how I came across it. That's how I sort of started to work with it. And I would say I was in a really bad emotional state and within sort of two months is starting to do ritual work and practicing alchemy. I completely just shifted through that depression.
So it was very life changing for me.
Can you explain to us what practicing alchemy means?
Yeah, I think it means different things to different people. Some people might think it's like spirits or demons, or the devil or Satan worshiping. I think that's a big misconception out there. Really, alchemy is just the practice of intentionally shifting your emotional states and working with your intentions and guiding those towards what you wish to or desire to create for yourself. In its plainest explanation, I think that's how I would define it.
In doing research for this, I've come across quite a few people who claim to be witches or who are interested in witchcraft, who also delve into spill making and manifestation. Is that something that all witches practice in creating spills, whether it be for protection or for good fortune? Is that something that most witches practice?
So I think manifestation is a really sort of modern term alchemy and witchcraft is what's been around for thousands of years, and the term manifestation is pretty recent. Manifestation is basically just an offshoot. It is a type of alchemy, and there's different ways to do it. A lot of people do ritual work, and I don't believe necessarily personally, that there's a set way to do a ritual. In other words, you have to have this specific crystal or this specific recipe. I think it works mostly because when you're doing rituals, you're creating a tactile experience, which puts you in a state of flow. So they've scientifically shown that when you're doing a ritual, you're entering states of flow, which enhances well being, which is the energy that amplifies intentions.
Kat, how do people respond to you when you mentioned that you're a witchel, that you are interested in alchemy and witchcraft.
Yeah, So when I pretty much was the closet, which from twenty twenty, I mean I had been doing rituals or you know, sex magic before in my business, but I didn't really realize that was a form of alchemy. And then when I started to practice it actively in my life, I was sort of a closet which I was really well known in the entrepreneurial space, and I was afraid that I was going to get judged or ostracized for it. It came to a point where I just I felt so unauthentic not talking about it, and that was manifesting itself as really bad emotional states. So I was like, Okay, I'm just going to come out and talk about this. And the response was just phenomenal. I was, you know, receiving messages like on the daily from these very high performing entrepreneurs, past clients, people telling me, oh, we do rituals, or I do spells, or I do these things as well, but I'm too ashamed to admit to it.
So it was very positive overall.
Actually, do you think the community of witches is growing at the moment? We are seeing more and more of it returning to pop culture. I mean, there was a huge amount of witch content around in the nineties and early two thousands, but that kind of dropped away again, but we're seeing a resurgence in it now. Do you find that the which communities growing alongside that, or just maybe feel a bit more confident that they can come out and speak about it like you did.
Yeah, I think for sure that's definitely the case. I think the ostracization that used to happen and the persecution is no longer in place in a lot of areas of the world. Obviously, it's still happening in some areas of the world, and so people are more comfortable talking about it, and the more people that are creating content about it is giving more permission for others to also claim it.
Well, it does seem like witches are making a comeback. The fact is they never truly left. We've been celebrating them in pop culture for many years, like the nineteen eighty seven classic The Witches of Eastwick, which centered on three friends played by Shirt, Michelle Piffer and Susan Sarandon, whose wishes are granted at a cost finding out they are in fact witches. Nineteen ninety three's hocus Pocus had Bette Midliss There, Jessica Parker and kathyen Na Jimmy terrorizing children in a small town. We Go Buy Toose Open nine Eyes two sniping Gus Tall. The sky life is not shy ah by feet so say it By. In nineteen ninety six, it was the angsty teen horror flick The Craft that saw young girls practicing out of witchcraft for their own benefit. The cast and crew later explained that they had a real witch to consult on set, who warned them about performing that iconic scene on the beach.
Well, while we were doing the invocation on the beach, it was strange because when we would get into the invocation, the surf came up higher and then it would go down.
And she'd heard that that beach didn't like pagan ceremonies because she'd heard from witch.
Associates that it was bad place for pagan rituals. And she got out. In the same year as The Craft, we also got Sabrina the teenage Witch, making her first appearance in nineteen ninety eight. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock brought us a sister witch is in practical magic, struggling to use their powers when a toxic man gets involved.
I always throw spot saltaian lapshot.
Keep thoseonaring by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, the fall in love whenever you can, and of course we can't forget iconic Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. The witches of Waverley Place and many others. Academics have discussed witches in the modern context as a representation of the repression that society faces under the patriarchy. The witch is a symbol of a woman who dares to live outside that structure. While we see witches in pop culture and embrace them in our social media feeds, as Cap mentioned earlier, there are still countries around the world who persecute witches. At twenty twenty one UN resolution specifically address the violence towards those who are accused of witchcraft, the numbers showing that at least twenty thousand witches were killed across six countries from Sub Saharan Africa to India, Nepal, Saudi Arabia and Papua New Guinea between twenty and nine and twenty nineteen. Witchcraft, though, is just one way in which people around the world are reclaiming the spiritual thinking of the past. Alex Nicholson is Mummy's Weekend editor. She wrote about why everyone is a bit woo woo right now. You can find a link to the story in our show notes. Alex, would you consider yourself someone who is spiritually alternative?
I am definitely into spirituality. I like to say that I'm woo woo light. I do have a few sets of oracle.
Cars at home.
I am definitely into a psychic reading here and there.
That's what I did for my fortieth birthday.
I went and had a little reading to see what's coming for the year and the decade ahead. I like to journal, I like to meditate, which I guess things like that have become more science backed anyway, It's more of a science backed wellness practice, but they still I think, exist within that spirituality space. I'm into it, but I wouldn't say that I planned my entire life by it.
Do we, though, think that more people are turning to that kind of spirituality? And why do you think that's happening at this point in time?
Yeah, yeah, definitely, I think spirituality is definitely booming.
I think there are a few reasons behind that.
So firstly, spirituality, as opposed to religion, there's a lot more freedom in it. You're not having to follow a set of dogmatic rules. There's no sense of if you do this, you're going to hell, or you know, something terrible will happen to you if you don't show up and pray on a set day every week or anything like that. So I think there's a bit of freedom within spirituality that you don't get with religion. I think also, you know, the world we live in is pretty chaotic, and I think that spirituality gives a lot of people a sense of control in that increasingly chaotic and, let's face it, kind of grim world.
I'm interested to know from your perspective, what impact do you think the pandemic had on us? So, for example, I've spoken to a witch who said that her journey into becoming a witch really began because of the depression that kind of came about during the pandemic, And a lot of people who work in that space said that things like their tarot readings got booked solid during this time too. So do you think the pandemics really impacted our reach towards this form of spirituality?
Yes, definitely.
For me personally, I feel like my kind of foray into more spiritual practices came as a result of the pandemic. A good friend of mine, Holly as a Party, who is a psychic medium and an astrologer. She noticed that her bookings were increasing exponentially during COVID. She also had offered a course called Manifestation and Magic, and she saw the intake in that double when she was offering it online during the pandemic.
What influence do you think celebrities have on us in making our decisions in how we start to explore things like this, because, for example, Katie Perry just recently started talking about her angel numbers. First of all, if you know what they are, we'd love an explanation. And a lot of other celebrities have embraced this kind of lifestyle and they're of course posting about it on social media. Do you think that celebrities are guided us? I think in starting the journey when we're looking at alternatives to traditional religions, I.
Think celebrities are guiding us in all the trends and all of the I mean, I'm not saying that spirituality is necessarily a trend, but celebrities are at the forefront of sharing ideas with the world. I mean, they have these huge platforms. They're very visible, so if they start talking about something, whether it's spirituality or the later shoe for summer, we pay attention. So angel numbers are huge at the moment with celebs. Obviously we've got Katie Perry and her one four three album. Kylie Jenner wears a necklace that says two two two, and that is in reference to when her son Air was born, because his birthday is the second of the second twenty two. And angel number is basically a pattern of repeated numbers. So you might look at the time and notice that it's three point thirty three, or.
You might see a number plate that has four to three four three.
The concept of the angel number is that these are signs from the universe, or from your guardian angels, or from the that you're on the right track. That sort of thing does have an impact, and you know, Katy Perry is not the first. There are plenty of other celebrities who've spoken about things like manifestation using positive affirmations. There's a lot of spiritual rhetoric tied up in the language that people are using these days, and a lot of the language that celebrities use when they talk about achieving what they've achieved.
Can we break this down as a generational thing, Alex because sort of back when I was younger, when it came to spiritual practices, like my generation wore ride into witches back in the day and being Wickan and many of us ended up being either an atheist or agnostic at best. What generation is embracing this new alternative spiritual practice?
Look, I was exactly the same.
I was very into Wicker and Witchcraft.
And I had all these books when I was younger, and it sort.
Of fell off the radar as they got older, which is exactly what you're saying. I'm definitely seen in my own friendship circles that they're millennials who are returning to these ideas of spirituality.
And loving it.
But the research shows that gen Z are really leading the charge. Thirty eight percent of gen Z Australians identify as spiritual and fifty percent say they believe in karma, which is really interesting. Gen Z are more open to and interested in different ideas, different ways of thinking, and it's something that I spoke to Ellen Hooper about.
So.
Ellen Hooper is a career coach and she also co hosts a podcast called I'll Ask My Sister where they take an approach of cosmic meets corporate, so.
She's really at the center.
Of where the two meet, and she explained that gen Z are just less self conscious about being interested in different ideas, and I guess that speaks to them being quite open and accepting. And I think it really just comes down to the fact that gen Z have been exposed to far more ideas of openness and acceptance in general, so they're really willing to be open minded and accepting about different thoughts and different ideas within a spiritual space as well.
If you do want to get started exploring witchcraft for yourself, Kat has a tip to send you down the witches road.
Well. Obviously for me, the one that I was talking about was the Kaibalan. That one was really powerful because it talks about dualistic forces of reality, which I think is a prevalent force of what we're working with, and if you're doing witchcraft or spell work or any kind of alchemy, it's important to understand this. I've also written a book about it called Magic Source Codes, which talks about the basics of alchemy and some of the ritual work that I do myself.
Happy Halloween friends, thanks for taking the time to feed your mind with us today. The quickie is produced by me Claire Murphy and our executive producer Taylor Strano, with audio production by tiegen Sadler