Glory to the goddess: How the witch became a new icon of feminism
The nature of women patriarchal tradition loves to associate with submission, procreation and housekeeping. In the service of this concept - the image of the "Vedic woman", calling for the refusal of work and self-development, to discover the energy in itself and direct it to her husband and children. Such an obedient woman, of course, had to find an antidote: as early as the 1960s, a witch who invariably frightened men became one.
Who damned capitalism and nixon?
In 1968, the organization W.I.T.C.H. appeared on Halloween. (Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) - "International Women's Terrorist Collusion from Hell." Feminists dressed in witch’s clothes walked along Wall Street and put a curse on the largest exchanges and corporations. The next morning, the US stock market fell by 13 points, which the witches recorded at their own expense.
A year later, the girls launched a hundred white mice into the crowd at the traditional "Wedding Fair", which took place in the sports arena of Madison Square Garden. They handed out leaflets with the words "Eternal brides who will never become personalities" and sang to the accompaniment of the march of Mendelssohn: "Slaves who have risen from the graves came here." Because of the stock fair had to close. The group arranged similar performances at universities, banks, near the offices of large corporations and even at the inauguration of Richard Nixon. Girls dressed in robes and hats, painted themed posters, and loudly shouted curses.
Of course, it is unlikely that feminists seriously believed in the power of magic spells - for them the image of the witch became a new myth about a strong woman. “If you look inside yourself, you will realize that you are a beautiful and free witch. You set your own rules,” says the organization’s manifesto.
W.I.T.C.H. were the left movement, which broke away from the radical American feminists: they fought with patriarchy, but not with capital. The “witches” believed that the blame for gender inequality lay on the capitalist system - therefore, most of their shares were aimed at banks and commercial corporations.
Glory to the goddess
W.I.T.C.H. built their legend around magic: activists relied on the scientific studies of feminists of the first wave, who argued that the Sabbaths and mysticism were of great importance for European women in the pre-Christian era. The American Matilda Gage believed, for example, that before Christianity, women who lived in Europe were actively conducting magical rites to the glory of the goddess of nature. And in the Christian era in Europe, 9 million women were allegedly killed on suspicion of witchcraft. This hypothesis still has no weighty scientific evidence, and historians estimate the real number of victims of a witch hunt by tens of thousands of people.
Nevertheless, on the wave of these studies by the 1960s, a feminine offshoot of the neo-pagan religion of Wicca, based on the worship of nature, arose in the West. Dianic Wicca - in the center of the belief was the worship of Goddess Diana - became very popular among the second wave feminists and LGBT people. For many of them, neo-paganism helped to overcome the traumas associated with sexual abuse or abusive relationships. And some followers of the cult perceived his rituals (for example, Sabbaths) as an opportunity to study their sexuality in the female community.
In general, magic can hardly be called a serious practice of feminism - rather, it has become an elegant way to form a new female identity
Women sought to explore witchcraft practices as early as the beginning of the twentieth century, which eventually turned into “feminist theology” and took root in the academic environment. And if the first researchers like Matilda Gage and Margaret Murray put forward sometimes fantastic theories about powerful female pagan cults, from which no trace was left, then in the 70s Dr. Yale University Carol Patrice Crist published the book Why Women Need a Goddess? And it was not at all a manual on Vedic femininity, but a detailed study of the practice of worship of ancient goddesses.
An important work on female neo-paganism was the book “Spiritual Dance: Revival of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess” by the ecotheminist Starhak (real name is Miriam Simos), in which she draws a direct relationship between gender equality and the state of ecology. In her opinion, patriarchal Western culture is destroying nature due to the uncontrolled use of technology and the thirst for power, and it is spiritual Spiritual feminism that is destined to return the balance between man and nature.
In general, magic can hardly be called a serious practice of feminism - rather, it has become an elegant way to form a new female identity. "By choosing a witch as their symbol, feminists identified themselves with all feminine qualities not approved by traditional society: aggression, independence, even deformity. Feminists do not use the image of a" good fairy ", but create a new symbol of feminine power, knowledge and even martyrdom", - writes the professor of theology Cynthia Eller in his book "Life in the power of the Goddess: Spiritualist feminism in the United States." And according to Starhak, magic frightens the patriarchal world so much, because this power is not due to the usual hierarchies, but given to women by nature.
Women's magic against Trump and rapists
In recent years, female magic opened a second wind. For example, during the presidential race of 2016, the current US President Donald Trump tried to conjure up several times. On the eve of Halloween in Burlington, Vermont, an initiative group of professors involved in gender studies, organized an ironic sabbat. They called on all witches and their black cats "to use their magical spell of love and feminism to destroy the Great Redhead, as well as the racism, sexism and xenophobia he supports." And before that, the artist-activist Natael Russell posted in her instagram poster with the image of Satan, where she urged the witches to curse Donald Trump. Just this image used by Vermont activists on their stock.
A little later, the World Emergency Witches Association announced that it was trying to mentally prevent Trump during the last round of presidential debates. "We did not cause him any physical harm. Just ten thousand members of our organization attempted to cloud his mind during the debate with the help of witchcraft," said Peter Gover, a representative of the organization in Scotland.
Thousands of women around the world, from the USA to Uruguay, simultaneously cursed Stanford first-year student who raped an unfamiliar girl
More witches with the help of black magic actively oppose the impunity of sexual violence. For example, last year thousands of women around the world, from the USA to Uruguay, simultaneously sent curses at Stanford student - Brock Turner, a freshman who raped an unknown girl while she was unconscious, and got off with only an annual imprisonment. An international session of curses was organized by the Iowa witch Melanie Hexen. According to her, she and her familiar witches felt helpless when they learned about the crime: "We were very angry and upset by this injustice and decided that we wanted to unite with like-minded people and punish this person."
Hexen organized the Sabbath through Facebook, where at the appointed time, women began to share photos of the rituals that they carried out against the rapist: they laid out images of voodoo dolls, black candles and manipulations of Turner’s photos to punish him. According to Hexen, many of the participants themselves once became victims of rape and, therefore, so willingly joined the online coven.
Even mainstream pop singers are calling for the use of dark magic against sexists. For example, in February, Lana Del Rey published a mysterious tweet: "With the onset of midnight - February 24, March 26, April 24, May 23. All ingredients can be bought online." Soon, representatives of the singer said that it was about dates for magical rituals, suitable in order to deprive Trump of Power. And the necessary ingredients included a “ugly” photo of the president, a bottle of water, a tarot deck and, finally, a small piece of red hair.
Witch from a neighboring yard
Feminist witchcraft entered pop culture not only thanks to Lana Del Rey, but much earlier in the 90s. In 1996, the cult film "Sorcery" was released, where subcultural schoolchildren who were hated by all classmates were engaged in black magic. The phrase from the film "We are weirdos" has become a cult, and black lipstick and decorative crucifixes on the neck have finally become mainstream. Feminist ethics are also present in the "Practical Magic" of 1998, where the sorceress sisters and their aunts unite to destroy the killed and then the resurrected villain by mistake. The unity of the family, consisting only of female witches, is shown charmingly and in many respects destroys the misunderstanding stereotypes: in this film women are always ready to stand up for each other.
In the pop culture of the 90s, the demonized image of a single witch practically disappears: women overcome isolation, joining together to live in the same house, make friends and, of course, fight evil forces. Suffice it to recall the famous TV series "Sabrina - little witch." At first, the comic of the 60s, based on which the television show was released, was saturated with sexist patterns: a frank objectification of the main character and the idea that the young witch should manipulate men because of her beauty. But the TV interpretation came out almost flawless: a stylish image of the main character, an idyll in a family consisting only of women, and Sabrina’s constant desire to develop, whether in science or in magic. Sabrina is a typical "the girl next door" with which it is easy to compare yourself and whose actions you want to be inspired. A similar message is in the series "Charmed". The three sisters will learn that, according to the prediction, they will have to become the greatest bright sorceresses in history and their success in the fight against evil is directly related to their ability to help each other.
And, of course, Hermione Granger can rightly be considered the main feminist icon in the magical universe, which not only handles spells well, helps fellow friends and protects the rights of house elves, but also has tremendous diligence, rational thinking and academic abilities. Her image combines witch power and a quite distinguished Muggle mind.
New wave of fantasy feminism
The next round of feminist fantasy has happened in the last few years. For example, the plot of the third season of the American Horror Story, which is predictably called the Sabbath, takes place around the school of witchcraft for girls (analogous to the one-gen Hogwarts), which is decaying. There are no longer chanting of female friendship and inspiring pop cultural patterns. The authors explore the complex relationship between mother and daughter, as well as the line between misoginiya and competition among women. A series of "Witches from the East Coast" and "Salem" are built around the phenomenon of witch hunts and the echo of this cruelty in modern times.
But perhaps the most biting and ingenious reflection on the connection between women's emancipation and witchcraft can be called the recently released film by the director Anna Biller "The Witch of Love", where ideas about female sexuality and power are ironically interpreted. The main character, Elaine, having experienced the end of an abusive relationship with her husband, decides to become a witch and find true love with the help of magic. She helps the heroine become an archetypically sexy diva and fall in love with men to death. It turns out, however, that magic does not help Elaine: the heroine is trapped in stereotypes. But “The Witch of Love” is an almost radical feminist statement in the wrapper of aesthetic suspense: here they show both used tampons and sexual violence, criticize machismo and even fake male feminism.
Afromisticism and ghetto aesthetics
A couple of years ago, the scandalous hip-hop singer Azilia Banks uploaded a video where he sacrificed chickens, and wrote that she considered herself a real witch. "The most magically gifted people are those who faced the envy and aggression of Muggles. That is why blacks and Jews have been chasing so long - most of them know how to conjure," the singer said. But if everyone is already accustomed to Banks' antics on social networks, then the use of the theme of magic in clips and pop-div tracks just recently deserves attention - the witch becomes a real symbol of female emancipation in popular culture.
The video album "Lemonade" by the main western pop feminist Beyonce is one of the main evidence of this. "The most respected person in America is a black woman. The most unprotected person in America is a black woman. The most forgotten person in America is a black woman" - the album begins with a quote by human rights activist Malcolm X, which the singer reinterprets by referring to traditional mystical rituals and visual images. Dancers and the singer herself was prepared for filming by a Nigerian artist Laolu Senbandjo, inspired by his native Yoruba culture and the so-called Afromisticism. At the same time, Beyoncé combines mysticism with traditional Christianity as a true native of the American South. In the video several times show the crosses on the dresses of the dancers, and the singer herself confesses her love for God.
Princess Nokia traces her witch roots all over the same Nigerian Yoruba culture and calls herself "the head of the Sabbath"
In a similar way, the young hip-hop star Princess Nokia is walking along one of her most popular tracks and a music video for him - "Brujas", which in Spanish means "witches". In the song, the rapper talks about her background - she is an African-American from Puerto Rico - and claims that her grandmother was a real witch. Princess Nokia traces her spellcasting roots all over the same Nigerian Yoruba culture and calls itself the "head of the Sabbath." This Afromisticism is mixed with ghetto-aesthetics, so in the video for the song we see both shamanistic rituals in the forest surrounded by like-minded people and urban landscapes where girls dance in completely conventional modern clothes. A friend of Princess Nokii become not only her street "group", but also colleagues in witchcraft.
"Brujas" is a cautionary mystical reminder to the West: "Everything that you have, you have taken from us." Thus, in recent years, the use of the word "witch" in pop culture has become not just flirting with the image of a mysterious and strong woman, but also a way to rethink its ethnic identity.
Magical dildos, tarot-mania and horoscopes
The trend to everything mystical and feminist at the same time, of course, found its response on the web. For example, the podcast "Fat Feminist Witch" has become almost a cult. He is led by an American who talks about gender inequality, divination by the Tarot cards, reviews novelties of magical literature, and also interviews iconic sorcerers. One of the most iconic feminist blogs Rookie five years ago laid out the instructions for divination by the Tarot under the heading "Not just entertainment for a party." And the main astrological pro-feminist portal for queer-women got his Tarot-columnist. In Instagram, you can even find a startup account that sells magical sex toys for women.
Now, in order to learn magic and fortune telling, it is not at all necessary to sit on magical portals. Suppose there is a blog Luna Luna, which publishes news that the Tarot deck, cleared of patriarchy, went on sale. Even on the pro-feminist project Broadly, which launched the media corporation of Vice LLC, there is a separate section on occult practices, where witch materials, seances and the history of magic are published regularly.
The section "Horoscope" in women's publications has traditionally been considered something shameful, absurd, symbolizing an irrational addiction to mysticism. But for some time in the Western press, magic, fortune-telling, and the general passion for mysticism have become quite respectful. In the US, activist Lakisha Harris founded the University of Black Witches, in which she brought together female mystics from the African community. The project carries a clear political message, and in addition to the magic, Lakish teaches at the Chicago Women's Health Center.
The image of the witch is no longer a cliche for horror or a sexist stereotype - now it is a full-fledged symbol of feminism. "All women are witches" - why not the slogan of a new emancipation?
Images: Wikimedia Commons (1, 2, 3, 4), Warner Bros., The WB, Library of Congress, NYWT & S Collection, kozorog - stock.adobe.com, Nikolai Tsvetkov - stock.adobe.com, svrid79 - stock.adobe.com (1, 2), Happy Witch, Chakrubs, Amazon
