Author Archives: Garry Rodgers

About Garry Rodgers

After three decades as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police homicide detective and British Columbia coroner, International Best Selling author and blogger Garry Rodgers has an expertise in death and the craft of writing on it. Now retired, he wants to provoke your thoughts about death and help authors give life to their words.

COMMUNICATING — 6 UNCONVENTIONAL NEW RULES FOR 2024

This piece is reproduced from Ted Gioia’s Honest Broker. The Dyingwords site gives full attribution to Ted Gioa and does not benefit in any way by sharing it.

Before they executed Socrates in the year 399 BC—on charges of impiety and corrupting youth—the philosopher was given a chance to defend himself before a jury. Socrates started his defense with an unusual plea. He told his listeners that he had no skill at making speeches. He just knew the everyday language of the common people.

Socrates explained that he had never studied rhetoric or oratory. He feared that he would embarrass himself by speaking so plainly in his trial defense. “I show myself to be not in the least a clever speaker,” Socrates told the jurors, “Unless indeed they call him a clever speaker who speaks the truth.”

He knew that others in his situation would give “speeches finely tricked out with words and phrases.” But Socrates only knew how to use “the same words with which I have been accustomed to speak” in the marketplace of Athens.

Socrates wasn’t exaggerating. His entire reputation was built on conversation. He never wrote a book—or anything else, as far as we can tell.

Spontaneous talking was the basis of his famous “Socratic method”—a simple back-and-forth dialogue. You might say it was the podcasting of its day. He aimed to speak plainly—seeking the truth through open and unfiltered conversation.

That might get you elected President in the year 2024. But it didn’t work very well in Athens, circa 400 BC. Socrates received the death penalty—and was executed by poisoning.

Is that shocking? Not really. Western culture was built on one-way communication. Leaders and experts speak—and the rest of us listen.

Socrates was the last major thinker to rely solely on conversation. After his death, his successors wrote books and gave lectures. That’s what powerful people do. They make decisions. They give orders. They deliver speeches.

But not anymore. In the aftermath of the election, the new wisdom is that giving speeches from a teleprompter doesn’t work in today’s culture. Citizens want their leaders to sit down and talk.

And not just in politics. You may have seen the same thing in your workplace—or in classrooms and other group settings. People now resist one-way orders from the top.

The word “scripted” is now an insult. Plainspoken dialogue is considered more trustworthy. This is part of the up-versus-down revolution I’ve written about elsewhere—a conflict that, I believe, may have even more impact on society than Left-versus-Right.

For better or worse, the hierarchies we’ve inherited from the past are toppling. To some extent, they are even reversing. The era of teleprompters and talking points has come to an end.

This is now impacting how leaders are expected to speak. Events of the last few days have raised awareness of this to a new level—but the ‘experts’ should have expected it. That’s especially true because the experts will be those most impacted by this shift.

Here are the six new rules of engagement—for politicians, broadcasters, and all aspiring experts, decision-makers, and leaders.

  1. You gain more trust when seated, not standing.
  2. Don’t speak at people—speak with them.
  3. An informal tone is more persuasive now. Even leaders must adjust to this.
  4. Conversations have more influence than speeches.
  5. Spontaneous communications delivered from a personal standpoint are considered more ‘real’ than a script created by a team or speechwriter.
  6. Soundbites and talking points are less impactful than storytelling, humor, and off-the-cuff comments.

We could debate endlessly whether this is good for society. For my part, I expect both costs and benefits from this new style of communication. But the more significant fact is that this is now inevitable.

The results may be clumsy and painful to watch. Institutional media will now try to prove that it can be edgy and alternative and freewheeling. This will often look like a dinosaur pretending that it’s a ballerina.

But they have no alternative. You might as well try to rebuild the Tower of Babel from a Lego set. The old hierarchies aren’t coming back anytime soon.

Back in March, I reflected on how my writing style has become more conversational during the last three years. I tried to explain why—but it just boiled down to that fact that it felt right to adopt this conversational tone.

What I wrote back then now seems a bit prophetic of this new style of public discourse. A few months after I launched on Substack, I noticed that my sentences and paragraphs were changing. And not in a small way.

This surprised me. I had been publishing in commercial media since I was a teen, and felt I really found my stride around the time I reached my forties. Ten books written since then validated this complacent confidence by attracting enthusiastic readers.

Why would I change now? What made it more unsettling was that I didn’t understand why I was writing differently….

I only gradually figured out that I was now writing the same way I spoke in private conversation. It was almost as if I’d let my guard down, and was talking off the record, or with a close friend. I didn’t know that could be a writing style. But it felt right, so I kept doing it.

I believe that a lot of people are coming to the same realization. The world has changed, and communication styles must adapt to the new reality.

Why is this happening now?

Here’s the reality—rhetorical skills and speechmaking got degraded during the last decade. This top-down approach works best when it is rigorous, logical, and organized. But in an age of insults, taunts, and denunciations, speechifying starts to feels like browbeating—a never-ending harangue.

Too much of public discourse, in recent years, has boiled down to powerful people (sometimes of limited intellect) screaming into a microphone from a bully pulpit. That’s not what oratory should be, but it’s what it has become.

These things feed on themselves. If you grasp the dominant Girardian mimicry in society today, you shouldn’t be surprised to see that screaming from one elite eventually causes others to scream back. And the conflicts thus escalate—getting angrier and more shrill with each passing year.

Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed. Most of us are now burned out on this kind of hot oratory—whether from friends or enemies. A conversational style feels refreshing by comparison.

Rhetoric and speechifying won’t regain their influence until they get cleaned up. We need different leaders from the current crop before that will happen. Oratory won’t come back until genuine orators emerge as leaders.

Until then, get ready for the new era of rambling conversations. Not long ago, those endless three-hour Joe Rogan podcasts seemed bizarre. Even more to the point, they ran against the conventional wisdom. The audience wanted short soundbites—the ‘experts’ all agreed on this. Nobody had time to listen to a three-hour podcast.

But now every media outlet is shifting to conversational formats. Podcasting is thriving because of this approach. Many successful YouTubers are doing the exact same thing. Writers (on Substack and elsewhere) are also embracing a more conversational tone. Leaders will now have more authority when they speak while sitting—not standing.

TV news channels have grasped this new reality. Until quite recently, broadcast journalism was built on talking heads who could read a script with confidence. Those days are over—instead of the declamatory news anchor, expect to see more spontaneous interactive formats like The View or The Five.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In 1921, President Warren Harding hired the first full-time presidential speechwriter. His predecessor, Woodrow Wilson was the last president who wrote his own speeches. In the aftermath, no serious candidate could afford to rely on spontaneous communicating in everyday words. A leader needed to be a powerful orator, and every word needed to be perfect.

Around that same time, the broadcasting industry was born with the rise of radio—and it followed the same rules. News reels and (later TV journalism) also adopted a polished rhetorical style.

Consider Walter Winchell—the most famous broadcaster in the United States during the 1940s. Does anybody speak in this declamatory way nowadays? It sounds grating to our ears today. It feels fake. But every broadcaster talked like this until the second half of the twentieth century.

TV softened this style—but only a tiny bit. Unscripted conversational styles got adopted in talk shows and game shows. But TV news journalists still sounded like orators delivering a carefully written speech.

Even the best of them—for example, Walter Cronkite, the most popular TV journalist of the 1960s—still sounded very staged and scripted and extremely unlike anybody having a conversation. Could you imagine Joe Rogan—or even Anderson Cooper or Oprah Winfrey—talking like this?

You can’t really do broadcasting like this anymore. Some people try—for example, NPR hosts still hold on to a variant of this scolding tone (even when conducting interviews!). But how’s that been working lately?

Yet, even back in the 1960s, if you stayed up late and watched The Tonight Show, you got introduced to an entirely different way of talking to an audience. This is the true forerunner of today’s new conversational tone.

The Walter Cronkite and Johnny Carson film clips come from the same year—and show the huge gap between professional discourse of politicians and journalists as compared with the more informal, unscripted approach of entertainers.

This gap is now disappearing in every communication forum. Social media is the most obvious place, but spontaneity is now the rule almost everywhere. The Age of the Talking Head is over.

Broadcasters will feel the pinch. But so will almost everybody else—politicians, educators, doctors, ministers, coaches, managers, and any other individual who needs to exercise leadership in any group setting whatsoever.

Many are not ready for this. Some will believe that they are immune to change and will keep bullying from the bully pulpit. Don’t be one of them—because their power and influence will erode very quickly.

 

HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE

The Wizard of Oz, circa 1939, is one of filmmaking’s masterpieces. It stars Judy Garland as Dorothy who interacts with timeless characters like the brainless strawman, the cowardly lion, and the rusty old tin man. And who can forget Dorothy’s little dog Toto and the Wicked Witch of the West? The show is about a fictional land far from home where home bodies never really go.

Speaking of fiction, I’m pleased to host a wonderfully talented writer who’s just released the fourth book in her Coroner’s Daughter series. It’s titled Frozen Lives. Please welcome my long-time friend and bookwriting/screenwriting colleague, Jennifer Graeser Dornbush with her guest piece, Home is Where The Bodies Are.

—   —  —

I recently had the opportunity to watch a big screen viewing of The Wizard of Oz. Of course, I have seen this movie a hundred times on a small screen. The first time was on my family’s 13″ black and white TV as a kid. Decades later, seated in the ornate, historic Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, I saw the film audiences viewed it in 1939.

Dorothy was larger than life and magical!  Imagine her towering over you on the big screen in that classic moment when she taps the heels of those ruby slippers, tips her face towards heaven, and recites that earnest prayer, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

Have you ever noticed that the message of The Wizard of Oz is completely rooted in the theme of HOME? I think that’s why we identify so much with the movie. And I am sure that is why it has stood the test of time and become a classic.

The film’s message is about the importance of the place we call home… Isn’t HOME at the core of what we all long for? We are all beings who seek to belong to a place that we affectionately call home.

Think of the prodigal son… at the end of the story, all he wanted was to be home with his father and brother on their farm. That’s all that mattered to him after he had been given everything else and lived the fast life.

HOME is the truest of all places in the world.

HOME is the place we want to be above all others.

The word we use, HOME, represents so much more than a physical geography or red dot on a GPS. And I believe every one of us could come up with very different definitions of what home means. But I believe there are a few common denominators.

Generally speaking, home is everyone and everything inside the sphere of where you exist.  In this sphere, we create endless personal stories with the people and experiences that we have. Home may include people who are biologically related to you. Or it may not. It may include relationships of choice or circumstance.

This aspect of home is a sphere of community… the people and experiences that add beauty and depth to the tapestry of our lives. And no, we don’t always get to choose who is woven into this tapestry. Sometimes these people make the tapestry radiant, and other times, they cause tears in the fabric. But even this is home, with all its flaws and faults.

Home is a blender mix of emotions and feelings. It’s the place where we are allowed to feel all the feels, hopefully without fear of judgement or condemnation. Home is the place or people where we can test out our feelings and thoughts, and rest assured we will still be loved on the other side of them.

Home is about being known and seen. Home is the place where you experience the truest sense of belonging and find the truest purpose for your life. Home is the sphere of where we learn things and grow.

From life skills like how to bake cookies, play the piano, or change a tire. To relationship skills, like how to live peacefully with others, how to serve others, how to connect to family, friends, and neighbors in a meaningful, loving way.

Home is this place we are invited to become a source of grace to one another when we forgive one another; and we are invited to learn how to accept grace from each other when we don’t deserve it.

Look again at the Wizard of Oz.  This lesson of grace is arguably the most important lessons Dorothy learned as she completes her journey and returns home to Kansas. As soon as she wakes up, back in her own bedroom, Dorothy admits she is wrong for running away. She is then able to experience the forgiveness and grace of her family and friends who surround her bedside and love her and want the best for her in spite of her flaws. In experiencing this, Dorothy makes her final transformation and seals the theme of the movie: There is no place like home.

When people ask me what I write, I tell them I write crime fiction… but it’s more than that… under all the crime solving and forensics, I write about what it means to be HOME.

The Coroner’s Daughter is a series of the prodigal daughter’s story. A lost daughter runs away from home and family when she is 16 years old for reasons that she is both liable for and not liable for. She then estranges herself for the next ten years, which causes a big chaotic hole in her disordered life that she must address in order to receive the grace and growth she needs to return home.

Yes, on the outside it looks like Emily has everything going for her. Successful new surgeon. Great life in Chicago. An adoring fiancé.  But inside, she’s lost her true north. To find it, she needs to undergo a heroine’s transformation, much like that of Dorothy. She experiences forgiveness, a restored appreciation of home, and a renewal of her purpose and her place in it.

In The Coroner’s Daughter books, we follow this struggle and Emily’s heroic transformation. For her, this means returning to her hometown community where she can successfully extend her father’s crime solving legacy and live into her deepest calling.

Here, she finds the place and people she belongs to. Here, she can contribute in ways only she is uniquely and forensically gifted to do.  With new resolve and sense of purpose, Emily knows she will never be unraveled from this place ever again.

Emily discovers, just as the prodigal son, and Dorothy from Kansas do… that there is no place like home.

…because for Dr. Emily Hartford, (because for Emily, The Coroner’s Daughter), home is where the bodies are.


Note from Garry: Frozen Lives is a new release, October 29, 2024. You can get it on Amazon by clicking this link.

Author Bio: Jennifer Dornbush works as a screenwriter, author, speaker, and forensic specialist. She has developed film and TV projects, authored numerous books, and frequently speaks around the world on crime fiction and forensics. She divides her time between Michigan and Arizona. www.jenniferdornbush.com

Free ARC: You can win a FREE ARC  (Advance Reading Copy) of Frozen Lives. Click Here

EXPLORING #WITCHTOK — THE EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF WICCA ONLINE

This Halloween, the witch isn’t green with a long, warty nose. She doesn’t have a tall pointy hat, a sneering black cat, or a magical flying broom. She doesn’t cast spells with eye of newt, smidge of hemlock, and sting of nettle, nor inflicts mean, mean pain on waif-like kids. No, today’s witch is digital. She’s connected, socially smart, and sorcery savvy.

Wicca online has explosively grown in the past few years. Especially since the Covid lockdowns forced secluded young women to seek novel friendships through social media. The appeal of the occult—the mystic and arcane—mesmerized millions and millions who tuned to #WitchTok, a platform now having 42 billion views. Yes, 42 billion. Witchcraft is just that popular.

It’s a fascinating shift in society with practicing Wiccans doing digital covens. And it’s far from the witches of Macbeth, Salem, Oz, and Samantha. Let’s look at what #WitchTok is and how the explosive growth of Wicca online came about.

In Dyingwords posts, I usually create new, from-scratch content about subjects I have some expertise in like human death investigation or writing and publishing. Today, I’m talking witches—witch talking—something I have absolutely no experience with except that the editor of my first novel, No Witnesses To Nothing, was a practicing Wiccan. I found her very intelligent, and there was nothing kooky or spooky about Heather at all.

For this piece, I’ll defer to the real experts—witches I’ve sourced online and extracted quotes from. It’s far better to hear from those in the know, especially about a topic like witchcraft which I suspect is poorly understood by the rank and file. However, we need to know the background of Wicca, Wiccan, and witchcraft. For that, I’m turning to my AI friend.

Me — Please explain clearly and in detail what Wicca is. Give me the history, how it progressed, and what the status of Wicca is today.

Friend — Wicca is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion that was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century. Though influenced by pre-Christian beliefs and practices of Europe, it is distinct from these as a specific, organized path with its own unique characteristics. Gerald Gardner, a British civil servant and amateur anthropologist, is credited with founding what is now known as Wicca in the 1940s.

History and Development — Early Foundations

The roots of Wicca trace back to the early 20th century with the resurgence of interest in esotericism and the occult in Europe. Figures like Aleister Crowley and organizations like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn were part of this broader milieu that influenced Gerald Gardner.

Gerald Gardner and Wicca’s Formation

Gardner was initiated into a New Forest coven in the late 1930s or early 1940s and claimed that this coven was a surviving part of an ancient witchcraft tradition. However, historical accuracy of these claims remains contested. In the 1950s, Gardner began publicizing his beliefs and practices through books and lectures, calling it “Witchcraft” and later “Wicca,” which he claimed was derived from Old English meaning ‘the wise ones.’

Spread and Evolution

After the Witchcraft Act was repealed in England in 1951, Gardner published more openly about his beliefs and practices. His works, notably “Witchcraft Today” (1954) and “The Meaning of Witchcraft” (1959), served as foundational texts for Wicca. In the 1960s and 1970s, Wicca spread rapidly in the United States and Canada, largely due to the influence of figures like Raymond Buckland, who introduced what became known as the Gardnerian Wicca tradition.

Beliefs and Practices

Wicca is diverse, with no central authority, but it typically includes the worship of a Goddess and a God; the observance of seasonal festivals known as Sabbats, which make up the Wheel of the Year; and esbat rituals held at the full moon. Wiccans practice magic, often aligned with natural forces, and adhere to a moral code known as the Wiccan Rede, which states “An it harm none, do what ye will.”

Contemporary Wicca

Today, Wicca has evolved into a variety of traditions, some closely following Gardnerian practices, while others have developed new interpretations or amalgamated practices from other spiritual paths. It is recognized as an official religion in some countries, with practitioners entitled to the same rights and protections as followers of other religions.

Modern Diversity

Contemporary Wicca includes a variety of traditions such as Alexandrian, Dianic, and Seax-Wica, among others. There’s also a trend toward more eclectic and solitary practitioners, who blend Wiccan practices with other spiritual beliefs.

Challenges and Acceptance

While Wicca has gained greater acceptance as a legitimate religion, practitioners can still face misconceptions and prejudice. However, its ecological ethos and reverence for nature align closely with contemporary ecological concerns, adding to its appeal.

Online and Global Spread

The internet has played a significant role in the spread and evolution of Wicca. Online forums, social media, and digital covens have made it easier for solitary practitioners to learn about Wicca, connect with others, and practice rituals even in remote areas.

Wicca continues to adapt and evolve, influenced by broader cultural shifts and the needs of its practitioners. It remains a dynamic and growing religious movement that appeals to many seeking a more personal, nature-based, or feminist spirituality.

Me — What is Wiccan?

Friend — “Wiccan” refers to an adherent of Wicca, a modern pagan and witchcraft religion. It can be used both as a noun and an adjective. As a noun, a Wiccan is someone who practices Wicca, embracing its rituals, beliefs, and ethical codes. As an adjective, “Wiccan” describes anything related to the Wicca religion, such as Wiccan rituals, Wiccan beliefs, or Wiccan practices.

Key Aspects of Being Wiccan:

  • Beliefs: Wiccans typically believe in a dual deity, worshipping both a Goddess and a God, who represent various forms of nature and aspects of life. They may also believe in other spiritual entities such as spirits, ancestors, or other deities.
  • Practices: Wiccan practices include ritual magic, casting circles for protection during rituals, celebrating seasonal festivals known as Sabbats (which honor the cycles of nature), and performing rites at phases of the moon, known as Esbats.
  • Ethics: Wiccans generally follow the Wiccan Rede, an ethical guideline that states “An it harm none, do what ye will.” This underscores a philosophy of freedom and responsibility, emphasizing that one’s actions should not intentionally harm others.
  • Community and Solitary Practice: While many Wiccans join covens, which are formal groups with initiated members who gather for rituals, many others practice alone as solitary Wiccans. Solitary practice allows individuals to adapt rituals and beliefs to their personal spiritual needs.

Wiccans often feel a deep connection to nature, seeing the divine manifest in the world around them. This connection guides their practices and rituals, many of which are geared towards aligning with natural forces and cycles.

Me — What is a witch?

Friend — A “witch” is a term with a complex and varied history, and its meaning can differ significantly depending on cultural, historical, and individual contexts. Broadly, a witch is someone who practices witchcraft—a set of skills and knowledge that often involves magic, ritual, and an understanding of natural forces. Here are a few key perspectives on what a witch typically represents:

Historical Perspective

Historically, the concept of a witch has often been associated with negative stereotypes and misconceptions. In many cultures, witches were thought to be individuals who used supernatural powers to cause harm. This view was particularly prominent during the witch trials in Europe and North America from the 15th to 18th centuries, where many accused witches were persecuted.

Modern Neopagan Perspective

In modern times, particularly within Neopagan religions like Wicca, being a witch is viewed positively. Witches in these contexts are practitioners of witchcraft who engage in rituals, cast spells, and work with the energies of nature to bring about change. These practices are often aimed at healing, protection, and personal growth, rather than harm.

Cultural Variations

The definition of a witch can vary widely across different cultures:

  • In African and Afro-Caribbean traditions, such as those practiced in Voodoo, Santería, and other religions, witches may have roles that blend magical practices with community healing.
  • In European folklore, witches were often seen as wise women or men who understood herbs, could heal the sick, and had the ability to affect change through supernatural means.
  • In indigenous cultures, the concept similar to witches might involve shamanic practices, where certain individuals interact with the spirit world for healing or guidance.

Characteristics of Witches

  • Magic and Ritual: Witches often use rituals and magic to work with natural energies to manifest changes. This can involve casting spells, using tarot cards, practicing divination, and creating potions or herbal remedies.
  • Connection to Nature: Many witches feel a deep connection to nature and often honor the earth and its seasons through various ceremonies and rituals.
  • Ethical Considerations: Ethical practices can vary, but many witches follow a form of the ethical guideline, such as “Harm none,” which emphasizes the importance of not causing harm to others with one’s actions.

In Popular Culture

In literature, film, and television, witches have been portrayed in a variety of ways, from the wicked witches in fairy tales like “Hansel and Gretel” and “The Wizard of Oz” to more sympathetic figures in modern media like “Harry Potter” or “The Craft.” These portrayals can influence how the general public perceives witches.

Overall, being a witch involves a diverse range of beliefs and practices, and its interpretation can change dramatically depending on the cultural and religious context. The modern appreciation for witches and witchcraft generally focuses on empowerment, the reclaiming of personal and communal power, and a profound respect for nature and its cycles.

Me — What is witchcraft?

Friend — Witchcraft is a complex, multifaceted practice with various meanings and interpretations, depending on cultural, historical, and individual contexts. Generally, it refers to the use of magical or supernatural powers and practices that involve rituals, spells, and an understanding of natural forces. Here are some key aspects that define witchcraft:

Historical and Cultural Contexts

  1. Pre-modern Witchcraft: In many pre-modern societies, witchcraft was viewed with suspicion and fear, often associated with malevolent magic used to harm others. This perspective was especially prevalent in Europe during the Middle Ages and the early modern period, where it led to witch hunts and trials.
  2. Indigenous Practices: In various indigenous cultures, practices that might be considered witchcraft in Western terms are often part of shamanistic traditions, involving healers or spiritual leaders who interact with the spirit world for the benefit of their community.
  3. African and Afro-Diasporic Traditions: In African and Afro-Caribbean contexts, such as in Voodoo, Santería, and Candomblé, witchcraft can involve complex systems of magic, healing, and interaction with spirits or ancestors, often serving protective or healing roles within the community.

Modern Witchcraft

  1. Neopagan Witchcraft: In contemporary contexts, particularly within Neopagan movements like Wicca, witchcraft is seen in a positive light. It involves practices intended to work with natural energies to effect change, often focused on personal growth, healing, and positive transformation.
  2. Eclectic Witchcraft: Many modern practitioners of witchcraft draw on a variety of traditions and may not adhere to a single religious framework. These eclectic witches blend elements from different spiritual and magical systems based on personal beliefs and experiences.

Practices and Beliefs

  1. Magic and Rituals: Witchcraft involves various magical practices, including spell-casting, divination (like tarot reading), herbalism, and the crafting of magical objects. Rituals can be complex ceremonies or simple personal practices intended to manifest specific changes or desires.
  2. Connection to Nature: A significant aspect of witchcraft is its emphasis on the natural world and its cycles. Many witches celebrate seasonal festivals that honor these cycles, such as the solstices and equinoxes.
  3. Deities and Spirits: Some witches work with deities or spiritual entities. In traditions like Wicca, these might include a God and Goddess. Others may connect with a broader range of spirits or ancestral figures.
  4. Ethical Considerations: Ethical views in witchcraft vary, but many follow some form of the Wiccan Rede, “An it harm none, do what ye will,” which emphasizes the importance of not harming others through one’s magical practices.

Social and Cultural Impact

Witchcraft has been reevaluated in many contemporary societies, moving from a stigmatized and persecuted practice to one that is increasingly accepted and embraced, especially within alternative spiritual communities. It is often seen as a means of empowerment, a way to reclaim agency, and a path to deeper understanding and connection with the world.

In popular culture, witchcraft continues to captivate the imagination, depicted in a wide array of narratives from horror to fantasy, reflecting both historical fears and modern reimaginings of the witch as a figure of power and mystery.

Me — What is #WitchTok and how many views has it had?

Friend — #WitchTok is a popular hashtag on TikTok that encompasses videos related to witchcraft and magical practices. As of now, October 2024, it has amassed over 42 billion views. This online community involves content ranging from tarot readings and crystal usage to candle-burning rituals and advice for newcomers interested in witchcraft. The significant viewership reflects a broad interest in magical and mystical themes on social media platforms.

Me — That’s a lot of views. Now let’s hear from the witches themselves.

Ayla Skinner created #WitchTok. She says, “For Wiccans and witches, magic is real. They believe that magic happens when psychic energy is raised through dance, song, rituals, or meditation. It’s then directed through thought into a particular outcome. All living beings produce psychic energy that can be used to change things in the world. Those who are trained, such as witches, can do it more often and with more accuracy. For many, Wicca is a form of spirituality that provides a sense of community. #WitchTok is a community that gives you a bit of control in your life.”

Helen Berger says, “Wicca began to be practiced by American feminists in the 1960s and was underground. By 2000, with the arrival of online communities and the decline in affiliation with traditional religions, witchcraft began its entry into the mainstream. While Wicca is a religion, it’s individualistic in many ways. You can do your own thing. It’s not signing on to an institutional dogmatic organization. It’s not signing on to a set of actions or beliefs that you must adhere to.”

Berger continues, “Witchcraft reflects two timeless and universal urges. The need to draw meaning from chaos, and the desire to control the circumstances around us. It’s the connection between energy, objects, and people where the magic is. Look at quantum entanglement which proves that objects can influence each other instantaneously in unforeseen ways and at great distances. Isn’t that magic?”

Emma Griffin is an A-list author. “The rise of platforms like TikTok and Instagram played a significant role in making witchcraft more visible and accessible. This is a very positive development and very beneficial especially for younger, marginalized women. However, it’s crucial to approach the practice of witchcraft with respect and awareness of the origins and the meanings.”

Kemi Mani is a witch with over 300,000 X followers. “It brings people to a new awareness. People can become interested in witchcraft and can dabble in it to see if it’s for them. Or not. When you’re alone in your house, and you don’t have many people to connect with and the only thing you’re craving is a connection—that’s what people find in these spiritual spaces like #WitchTok. Connection. Something beyond the material.”

This from Julie Roys. “It makes sense that witchcraft and the occult would rise as society becomes increasingly postmodern. The rejection of Christianity has left a void that people, inherently spiritual beings, will seek to fill. Wicca has effectively repackaged witchcraft for millennial consumption. No longer is witchcraft and paganism satanic and demonic. It’s a pre-Christian tradition that promotes free thought and understanding of the earth and of nature.”

Honey Rose goes by the handle @thathoneywitch. Her quote is, “I am a lot of marginalized groups. I’m nonbinary. I’m queer. I’m half-black. I practice magic and that has been the voice of people who are voiceless, and it has been for a very long time. Some people have a problem with traditional religions and traditional spirituality so sometimes they go towards an abstract form of spirituality which can be witchcraft.”

Gabriela Herstik is the author of Inner Witch: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Craft. Gabriela offers, “We live in a very dark intense age. People want purpose, and they want connection. 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 witchcraft does that. Magic is a way to align with your purpose, your power.”

And Diana Rose (no relation to Honey Rose) sums it up. “It’s engaging outside the boundaries of scientific materialism. We all have a desire to reach out and connect with each other and touch parts of our existence that can’t be understood or controlled by science. Through new channels like #WitchTok, these old ideas are providing people ways to start conversations and engage socially with introspection. A positive power in doing something—anything—to make sense of it all.”