The resurgence of the feminist witch
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
You would think that these words were taken straight out of my forthcoming book on Jezebel’s War with America . You would think they came from the pen of a conservative follower of Jesus. But they did not. They were written by a self-proclaimed feminist witch. She said , “The fact that the resurgence of feminism and the popularity of the witch are ascending at the same time is no coincidence: the two are reflections of each other.”
Precisely so!
Writing for Time.com, Pam Grossman explains, “Today, more women than ever are choosing the way of the witch, whether literally or symbolically. They’re floating down catwalks and sidewalks in gauzy black clothing and adorning themselves with Pinterest-worthy pentagrams and crystals. They’re filling up movie theaters to watch witchy films, and gathering in back rooms and backyards to do rituals, consult tarot cards and set life-altering intentions. They’re marching in the streets with HEX THE PATRIARCHY placards and casting spells each month to try to constrain the commander-in-chief. Year after year, articles keep proclaiming, ‘It’s the Season of the Witch!’ as journalists try to wrap their heads around the mushrooming witch ‘trend.’”
Shades of the spirit of Jezebel herself. Shades of that idol-worship seductress from biblical times who emasculated men, silenced the prophets, and practiced sorcery and witchcraft.
Jezebel is on the rise.
It is the thesis of my new book that there is a direct and real spiritual connection between the rise of radical feminism, the explosion of porn, the attack on masculinity, the militant abortion movement, and the resurgence of witchcraft. And the ascendancy of Donald Trump to president, for better or for worse, has served to highlight all these different but related streams.
A headline on October 4, 2018, announced , “THE US WITCH POPULATION HAS SEEN AN ASTRONOMICAL RISE.” A few weeks later, another headline proclaimed , “The Fastest Growing Religion In America Is Witchcraft.”
Is it any surprise that, side by side with radical feminism, witchcraft is on the rise in America? It is certainly no coincidence.
Grossman is absolutely right. These are two sides of the same coin.
By opening your heart and your home to foster youth, you can show the same compassion to a child as Jesus shows us. Every child deserves to be loved, connected and safe. Will you say YES!
At the beginning of her book Radical Feminism: Feminist Activism in Movement , Finn Mackay offers this fascinating account from West Germany: “In the midst of the Cold War, in a divided country, feminists were about to start a global movement that for decades to come would unite women in symbolic protest against male violence against women. Shortly before midnight on 30 April 1977, small groups of women began gathering in the centre of towns and cities across West Germany: Bochum, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hanau. They were dressed as witches, carried flaming torches and had painted women’s symbols on their faces. The date of their synchronised protest was no accident. They were assembling on that night to mark what is still known across Germany as Walpurgis Night, a superstitious tradition to mark the coming of May; a time when witches and tricksters are believed to roam.”
To be sure, all people should stand together to oppose male violence against women. All people should unite in decrying honor killings, acid attacks, and the overall oppression of women in society. All of us should stand against reducing women to sex objects or treating them as second class citizens.
To the extent that feminists stand for those values, I stand with them.
But there is a radical feminism that despises males. That deplores the nuclear family. That demeans motherhood. That views babies as unwanted intrusions (and merely a clump of cells while in the womb). That holds all men guilty.
As expressed by the radical feminist Robin Morgan, “I feel that ‘man-hating’ is an honorable and viable political act, that the oppressed have a right to class-hatred against the class that is oppressing them.”
Or, in the words of Andrea Dworkin, “Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice.”
This is the spirit of radical feminism, the man-hating spirit, the spirit of Jezebel.
And it is intimately connected to the spirit of witchcraft.
As expressed by Lily Burana in the Huffington Post last December, “The modern witch, as we would recognize her today, is a mid-20th-century phenomenon, as laid out in a lovely Boston Review piece by journalist Jesse Kindig. ‘In their 1968 manifesto,’ Kindig writes, ‘the women’s liberation activists from W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) proposed that “A witch lives and laughs in every woman. She is the free part of each of us.” It is this history ― from 1486 on ― that explains today’s global feminist protest chant, “We are the granddaughters of all the witches you could not burn!”’”
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It is possible that a spell has been cast upon you, perhaps you may want to have that checked out.
Gotta be careful of those Witchy Women...
Which witch would that woman be, a feminist witch or your every day run of the mill witch, really it is difficult to distinguish which witch is which?
Sorry Kavika there's I've got a spell on me ( I'll see your Eagles and raise you one Screamin Jay Hawkins (I put a spell on you).
I'll see that and raise you a Carlos Santana (Black Magic Woman)
Alrighty then, Season of the Witch (Donovan, although I prefer Stills, Kooper and Bloomfields version). But I have to admit, Black Magic woman is hard to top.
I'll call Season of the Witch and raise you a, Witch Queen of New Orleans by Red Bone.
That is my theme song about 50% of the time.
Some men have always feared and resented women they couldn't control.
They’re floating down catwalks and sidewalks in gauzy black clothing and adorning themselves with Pinterest-worthy pentagrams and crystals
Any woman sporting the above can have as much control over me as they wish and then some.
Seriously I just do not get some of these folks, these kind of issues (if they can even be deemed an issue) puzzle me to no end. Equal partnerships require no controls for either by definition, they are partnerships.
I don't wear pentagrams (don't have a problem with them, either), but I think gauzy black clothing and crystals can be quite pretty and elegant. My go-to "little black dress" is gauzy (lined, of course). I suppose that makes me evil incarnate.
It would depend on the shoes and jewelry.
I wear tasteful jewelry and avoid stripper heels because they'd break my ankles.
I don't wear much jewelry other than diamond studs or a herringbone chain. I limit my shoes to 3.5 and 4" for the evening. My ankles hurt too much the next day if I try to wear anything higher.
Same for me on the jewelry front. I seldom even wear earrings, as I seem to have become allergic to almost every pair I own, and pay for it with red, itchy earlobes for days.
I can't do a heel nearly that high. 2 inch heels are pretty much my limit.
I found some white gold moissanite or pearl studs that I wear 90% of the time. I can afford to lose them, because I commonly do. I've never owned a pair of 4" poodle hoops.
I have these is almost all of the colors because they are my corporate dress shoes. They look nice but they aren't sky high or overly sexy for the office. I wear flats or low wedges when I can
The highest heel I wear to work is about 1.5 inches. My office is business casual (for me) or scrubs (for my staff, and me when the mood strikes). I might wear a necklace, but no rings or bracelets, because they always get caught on my gloves when I'm putting them on.
I wish that I could wear scrubs to work. I wore scrub tops in college because they were cheap and comfortable.
I can't stand things on my wrists because it bugs me and then I play with them.
I've considered just wearing scrubs all the time, as they're cheap and comfy. But they're too comfy and forgiving, and it's easy to gain weight when you wear them all the time, because your clothes don't feel tight.
Yep. I have to watch myself when I wear leggings in the winter because of that fact.
We'll need pictures for proof Sandy... lol
It's not that little
. A scoop or v-neck is about as daring as I get for evening wear.
LOL fair enough... I do own a tux, but been years since I have worn it...I am a jeans kinda guy.
Anyway, back on topic..
Religious conservatives have been fearing strong women for centuries. They feared them so much they were drowning them, burning them, hanging them, any woman they couldn't control could be accused of being a "witch" and disposed of as a threat to the white male Christian patriarchy. They ruled for so long in Europe I suppose it was inevitable that their worthless ideology of male dominated control would be imported to the States along with the Christian patriarchy.
We are supposed to play second fiddle to men, barefoot pregnant and in the kitchen, while we also happily genuflect to their gods.
I can't say any more because Perrie said this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum.
I just got my broom tuned up so the AC and the GPS works. I hate having my hair messed up by the wind but there are times when you have to just say **** it.
Surely, there's a spell for that.
Doesn't your pointy hat protect your hairstyle? I must admit, I avoid wearing my pointy hat. Hats + curly hair + humidity = fright wig.
I have my bicycle helmet, but then I have helmet hair. That doesn't look good on anyone.
I could try to be a 1950s fashion icon and wear a silk scarf over my hair.
That would work. It should be gauzy, embroidered with pentagrams, and it should have crystals.
There is a word for the irrational fear of and hatred for women. It is, "Misogyny"...
It's a word I doubt many Trump supporters know the definition of or how to spell, but which many exemplify in their daily lives, even their women, as they proudly label themselves "Deplorable's". Seeing the kind of scum of the earth wearing T shirts that said "Grab me by the Pussy" and "I'm a Deplorable" in line to Trump rally's really was a shocking eye opener. That there were actual women who supported the sexist misogyny they live under in many evangelical religious conservative circles was sad to watch. It was like watching someone giving the reverse daily affirmation speech, "Because I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, and doggonit, people don't like me! And I bleed from "wherever" once a month, so I can't be trusted. I better put all the control and responsibility for making decisions in any mans hands, which, regardless of how incompetent that man may be, they must be better than a woman because God put them in charge...".
Not that I am doubting this, but really?
I must lead a sheltered life, that one slipped by me, though I may not want to see the visuals.
That depends on what one defines as "being [a] sanctimonious ass". Is it just pointing out truths that one's opponents in debate find to be distasteful, but are unable to refute with facts?
It has more to do with using three syllable words to point out the facts...
I'm not the one hinting that anyone is a sanctimonious ass.
Looks like she could use a bra and a bigger shirt.
Yes, really. I asked MUVA what his definition of "sanctimonious ass" was. I applied it to nobody. As he brought up the term, you might want to ask him what he meant by it, and to whom he meant it to apply. I think most people following the conversation can tell, frankly.
And anyone following the conversation can also tell what I meant, and didn't mean.
The title caught my eye , but the article and the comments seems to just be a rehashing of all the old battle of the sexes arguments , one that no one has won and likely wont .
We've hit the trinity with this drivel.
Misogynistic, patronizing & chauvinistic ignorance.
The reason everybody wants to keep christian theocracy out of our lives is that there are so many other ways to spiritual ideals. Part of the problem is they don't even see how insulting they are.
you forgot arrogance , which neither side seems to be in short supply of IMHO.
Ah, the "both sides" argument.
Only one side in this article is attacking women for following a religion that typically empowers women, rather than submitting to a religion that relegates them to submissiveness. Only one side found Jezebel to be "emasculating" - a very common characterization of disobedient women by misogyny.
"Both sides" doesn't cut it here, Mark. One side is vilifying the other for wanting equality. That's arrogance.
Calling a woman a "Jezebel" is misogynistic.
Now I have a Rod Stewart song going through my head...
Let's look at what Jezebel supposedly did, shall we?
She practiced her own religion (that wasn't Judaism), and she harbored the priests and prophets of her own religion when they would have been killed otherwise. I thought you were for religious freedom? Some of that seems like she was a damned fine humanitarian. Why do you have a problem with her trying to save the lives of endangered prophets of a different religion?
Ok, there was that little thing about having Naboth killed by accusing him of blasphemy (led those religious zealots by the nose, didn't she?) so that her husband could have Naboth's vineyard. That was pretty bad. Quite reminiscent of how David treated Bathsheba's husband, to my mind.
And yet women who want equality and don't want to follow your religion are maligned as "Jezebels", while men who chase after married women are never maligned by being called "Davids", are they?
I wonder why that is?
It's because some religions and religious followers will always judge the actions of women more harshly than the actions of men.
That's misogyny.
Rod Stewart could be my father but there is something very sexy about him. I love a guy with an English accent.
Yep, that's the one.
First song of his I heard was Maggie Mae.
Enough side track, Sorry.
I love the mandolin intro' on Maggie Mae.
jezebels? good fucking god.
So I am the only one seeing the arrogance from both sides in the comments because they think they are right? myself included? and yes the both sides argument fits .
Women wanting equality adds up to women being arrogant?
Nope.
The women here who are objecting to being vilified for wanting equality aren't arrogant, either.
ok so I am the only one seeing it from my perspective.
Looks that way. Women embracing a religion that does not oppress them is not arrogant, nor is defending them, nor is recognizing the misogyny that leads to them being called out.
In cases of oppression, calling out the oppressed as arrogant for objecting to their own oppression is more or less siding with the oppressors. Most members of the oppressed group aren't likely to see it your way, as they're unlikely to see objecting to their oppression as arrogance. What would you have them do to avoid the label "arrogant"? Acquiesce to their oppression? Protest, but only in a manner approved by their oppressors?
That's why "both sides" doesn't work here.
If you say so.
I'm sure the slaves were also arrogant for wanting to not be slaves, as were the abolitionists.
Jews were probably arrogant for not wanting to go to death camps, and so were those who fought the Nazis or hid Jews in their basements.
And women are arrogant for following a religion that doesn't oppress them, as are those defending them when they're vilified for it.
Sarcasm, of course.
It's sad when equality is seen as oppression.
If you think women are and should be equal to men, then you shouldn't have a problem with feminism, because that's what feminism seeks. But you obviously do.
But you said we should support religious freedom. Paganism is a religion. Didn't you mean it when you said it?
BTW, a pagan isn't really secular, you know. Since they follow a religion and all.
What are these secular progressives women's groups? Is the AAUW a secular progressive women's group?
Are these secular progressive groups?
arrogance can have many roots , the main one I think would be ignorance .
would it be ignorant to assume that witchcraft was and is only practiced by females? and is decidedly slanted to favor females?
that would be ignorant to think that because men have been hung on the charge of witchcraft, Salem mass.
what is arrogant is to think that witchcraft would favor females , or druidism favors males , or that there are not wiccans of both sexes. All 3 believing in the sanctity and equality of all life, and to attempt to make any of those 3 pick a favored sex, is to do what was done to , go ahead and pick a flavorite mainstream religion.
Only slaves I have ever known are those that were held slaves by their own beliefs and ignorance , see above for the relationship of ignorance and arrogance and I believe I called the seeder out along those same lines when it was pointed out that witchcraft was devil worship. I likely would have got along with an abolitionist since my belief is that it is abberant for one human to own another.
Jew /Nazi reference , strawman/ godwins law , but I can say the Nazis were a militaristic type of arrogance , meaning even when proven wrong they refused to admit it not unlike some militaristic feminists that claim that all womens problems stem from the oppression by men , everything nasty that happens to women starts with men to them , MENestration, MENopause …..Its the blanket condemnation with out admitting that it is not all men that are the cause of their ills or oppressions.
I don't believe that anybody said that only women practice witchcraft, nor that witchcraft (or Wicca) is decidedly slanted to favor women. I said it empowers women. Not the same thing.
I'm glad you haven't known any literal slaves. Neither have I. I also have known those who are slaves to their ignorance, but I didn't tell those who objected to that ignorance arrogant.
Likewise, I don't know any feminists who think that men are the source of all their problems, nor do I believe that any such are represented in this discussion. But I am well aware, as I am sure that you are, that women have been oppressed over millennia, and to call "arrogant" those who are merely standing up to that oppression is likely to garner some blowback.
Calling out "both sides" when one is clearly oppressed and the other is clearly the oppressor (as is the case concerning women and patriarchal followers of religion) is siding with the oppressor. One side wishes to oppress. The other side wishes to escape oppression. The two are in no way equally culpable, nor is a wish to escape oppression or recognition of oppression or attempt to oppress arrogant.
Yeah, it's probably a good idea to avoid those.
From the rightwing, bible-thumpers dickshunairy:
witch, n.: any strong woman who can't be cowed by religious freaks who believe women should be subservient.