![]() The bookshop owner complains that many of her young enquirers “haven’t yet understood is a religion” with “a veneration for the God and the Goddess”, not “a service provider”. The Revd Paul Cudby, the Vicar of Tansworth and the Bishop of Birmingham’s Adviser for New Religious Movements, and author of The Shaken Path: A Christian priest’s exploration of modern pagan belief and practice ( Books, 17 November 2017), says that teenage girls and young women with an interest in Wicca are increasingly opting for “self-initiation” rather than being initiated by a Wiccan priest, much to the annoyance of older pagans. They often ask for the protection of spirits that represent these elements to protect the sacred space they’re worshipping in.” “And some people might get together in groups to make a sacred space that’s generally a circle, and have protection from the four quarters. Jean Fowler, the softly spoken voluntary pagan chaplain at Edinburgh University, describes what solitary practice may entail: “Perhaps meditate, have a small altar with something that’s sacred to them, candles, incense, even music. MANY witches, or Wiccans, are known as “solitary practitioners”, who meet for rituals, festivals, or moots (meetings). “Once upon a time, parents didn’t want their kids coming into the shop now, they’re entirely happy. ![]() The bestselling fictional wizard “has made all sorts of things entirely legitimate now”, she suggests. She links this increase to Harry Potter and a lack of faith in authority figures. seeking an esoteric path through life”, which may also attract them to Buddhism, mysticism, and meditation more generally. ![]() She has noticed an increase in younger female customers, but they are “genuinely. This does not mean that British witches resemble their American sisters. The owner of an esoteric bookshop in London, who describes herself as a third-generation witch, says: “The Americans do have a slightly more hysterical view of life than we do.” When the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Cornwall staged an exhibition in London in 2017, 3000 people turned up for the private view. Treadwell’s Books, in London, runs three or four events a week - including a Young Urban Witches programme - many of which sell out far in advance. The British-run magazine Sabat, which blends witchcraft and feminism, was launched in 2016 and has attracted almost half its readers from Britain (the other half from the United States). KATRINA BARTLAM Mark Townsend presiding at an interfaith/Christian/Pagan blessing in a forest The industry monitor Nielsen Book Research says that UK sales of books on mythology and the occult have doubled in the past five years, while sales of books in its “Alternative Belief Systems” category have risen 13 per cent in the same period - double the growth of general book sales. ![]() The trend appears to have crossed the Pond, albeit in less politicised and attention-grabbing form. Wherever your childhood literature told you witches gathered, today a new wave of “influencers” are to be found pouting and posing on Instagram, offering “witchtips” and horoscopes to help their thousands of followers to navigate a demanding and misogynistic world.Īn occult bookshop in New York encouraged Facebook users last October to join them in putting a curse on President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee (now Judge) Brett Kavanaugh, who had been accused by three women of sexual assault, as the #MeToo movement suddenly took on a spiritual angle. THEY are photogenic, social-media savvy, feminist, vehemently anti-Trump - and they are witches.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |