This book traces the New Age and Neopagan religious movements, and examines more radical feminist groups drawing upon spiritual sources, including feminist action group W.I.T.C.H (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). Berger and Wendy Griffin on Witchcraft and Neopaganism and Feminist Spiritualities, respectively. I analyzed selections from this book by Helen A. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. “Witchcraft and Neopaganism.” In Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, edited by Helen A. She attended ritual gatherings and interviewed self-identified witches across the United States as well as in Britain about their diverse cultural backgrounds and spiritual beliefs united under the term “witch.” This text is seen as a departure from other accounts that often equated witchcraft with Satanism, and was credited with popularizing interest in and scholarly attention to earth-based religions.īerger, Helen A. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans In America Today. New York: Viking Press, 1979.Īdler, a Neopagan herself, documents a history of the United States Neopagan movement from a sociological perspective. Her first words on the LP are “Yes, I am a witch.” Īdler, Margot. She also released an LP of spells, some of which can be heard here. Gundella: The Hour of the Witch (1971): Interview with self-identified “green witch” Gundella, who refers to her background as descending from a family of witches in Scotland.Guide to starting new chapters of W.I.T.C.H.:.(Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) // their current website Laurie Cabot, “The Official Witch of Salem” in the 1970s, provides a guide for cooking at a pagan Samhain feast.Psyched by the 4D Witch (1973) trailer: Īdditional resources from self-identified witches.Season of the Witch (1972-1973) trailer:.Ultimately, I conceive of the witch as a figure in the center of fights for power between women and patriarchal forces of oppression, constantly shifting in response to the pressing issues of the time. According to her interviews with self-identified witches, many feminists and practicing witches consider the witch as a being conceived in rebellion, an unstable category capable of transfiguration, a “changer of definitions and relationships.” In my paper, I analyze the connections of witchcraft to feminism and female networks of power, as well as the representations of fear of the sexuality of women, particularly women of color. In Drawing Down the Moon, a 1979 sociological study of pagans in the United States, American journalist and Wiccan Margot Adler explores the many different ideas of what a witch is, and writes that the very power of the witch identity lies in the name’s imprecision. The identity crisis of what a “witch” looks like has historically been mobilized by groups of women who use it to unite diverse groups of women (like W.I.T.C.H.) and push for greater rights. All of these narratives connect the attainment of sexual power with becoming more overtly sexualized and sexually active.īut while the witches in these films shared many similarities, actual witches did not always share the same definition of their identity some saw it as a religious identity, some as a political one, some as an individual thing versus a community-based one.
All four of these films feature white, conventionally attractive women becoming witches. The films I focus on from the decade are Mark of the Witch, Psyched by the 4D Witch (A Tale of Demonology), Season of the Witch, and Virgin Witch. I call this trope the “sexy witch” due to the numerous sexploitation films and genre B-movies from the decade that depicted witches as attractive, sexualized, sexually adventures young women. My project looks at real-life political and cinematic witches in the 1970s, mostly in the United States, and the diversity (or lack thereof) in conceptions of what being a witch mean. (Women’s International Terrorist Group from Hell), the name “witch” has been used to symbolize feminine power and rebellion against patriarchy. From Wiccans and neopagans to the radical feminist group W.I.T.C.H. Not only are witches popular figures in Halloween costumes and films, they are also prominent presences in the feminist political sphere. There are a million different variations and sub-tropes of the witch, calling to mind everything from pointy hats, black cats, and broomsticks to old hags with warts and gray hair to enchanting women using their alluring powers for love. The Wicked Witches of the Left: Feminist Power and the “Sexy Witches” of the 1970s
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