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♪

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Charlotte

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♪

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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Deborah

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♪

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Suzanne

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♪

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Deidre

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♪

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Samantha

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♪

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Rowan

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♪

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Man: She's different
from the others.

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♪

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[Screams]

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♪

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[ Thunder rumbles ]

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Narrator: Double, double
toil and trouble,

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fire burn and cauldron bubble,

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filet of a fenny snake,
in the cauldron boil and bake.

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[ Sinister laughter ]

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Where did you learn
about witches?

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Are you a good witch
or a bad witch?

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Who me?

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I'm not a witch at all.

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Well, is that the witch?

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Witch.

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[ Screaming ]

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Tell me, what do you do
with witches?

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All: Burn them!

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Narrator: Witches have been
known to put fear

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in the hearts of men.

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I'm not here
to frighten you.

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...and devour
little children.

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Witches of England...
you're a disgrace!

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We kill our husbands, too.

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Where did you all come up
with these ideas?

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[ Cackles ]

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Lisa:
If they're really witches,

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why don't they use
their powers to escape?

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That sounds like witch talk
to me.

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I kept trying to tell you.

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Narrator: The story is a lot
more complicated.

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Witches aren't real,
you guys.

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[ Both laugh ]

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Occulus reparo.

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Let me hear you scream
like a witch.

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[ Crowd screaming ]

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Narrator: We're real,
and we walk among you.

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♪

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There's a pretty big spectrum
of what a witch can be.

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Wife, queen, daughter, mistress.

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Grossman:
She can be young and sexy,

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but then she will seduce you
to sin.

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Dorsey: You've got this image
of the witch as the crone,

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wrinkly face.

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Rose: I don't have to have
a witch's hat.

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You know, I do have cauldrons.
I have many of them.

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Yates Garcia:
I do my daily things.

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I clean up after my cats.
I hate washing the dishes.

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Rose: I have to drop my kids
off at school in the morning

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and I, like, attend
parent-teacher meetings.

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I'm part of my community
in all these different ways.

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This is me.

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Yates Garcia: A witch is someone
who stands on her own

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and who's powerful.

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Who wouldn't want to be one?
[ Chuckles ]

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Dorsey: People respond to it
with a joke or, you know,

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"I know another word
that rhymes with witch,

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but it begins with a 'B.'"

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Luna: "Are you gonna
put a spell on me?"

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Or, "Are you gonna hex me
if we break up?"

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And it's like, "Maybe."
[ Laughs ]

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Velasquez: Am I at home lighting
candles and burning stuff

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so my crush
will fall in love with me?

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100. [ Laughs ]

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Grossman:
Witches represent both our fears

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and our fantasies
about feminine power.

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Anybody that deviates
from this perfect,

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maternal, beatific,
obedient woman

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can be reframed as a winch.

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Narrator:
Our journey has been long,

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and the truth
will surprise you.

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[ Spooky music plays ]

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♪

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♪

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I was brought up practicing
witchcraft.

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My mother is a witch.

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She was resisting very
patriarchal culture and society

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in the '50s.

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She was finding her power
more and more when I was young,

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and so I was
very influenced by that.

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When I was 13 or, I think,
the first menstruation,

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I had a coming-of-age ceremony

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where all the women
from the coven came together,

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and it was called
the Rite of Roses.

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A coven is just
a group of friends

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who practice witchcraft
together.

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[ Women whispering ]

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We sit in a circle and say,

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all the women
in your family line

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back as far as you can remember.

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I am Amanda,
daughter of Lucinda,

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daughter of Patricia,

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daughter of Lila,
daughter of Mariana.

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And then say,
"Daughter of she,"

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meaning going back
to the beginning of time.

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You dip the rose in the water,

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and your mother
brushes it on your cheeks,

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and then you take a walk in the
moonlight and do some chanting.

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It's really about
coming into your power,

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your beauty, your authority,
your eroticism,

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and connecting with the other
women of your community.

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♪

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Narrator: The pentacle may not
be what you think.

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It represents harmony
with the elements,

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a sign of magic and paganism.

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Ward: Witchcraft is a form
of paganism,

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and paganism, basically,
in its very ancient origins

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had two particular aspects,
or forms, of worship.

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One is nature and the other
is the divine feminine.

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Grossman:
Paganism essentially says

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we all have access to divinity

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and that we don't
need a mediator.

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It doesn't have one central text

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or one church or temple
that you have to join.

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We can just communicate
with the spirit world ourselves

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because the spirit world
is everywhere.

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For most witches,
we relate to the gods,

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the goddesses, the divine,
more like forces of nature.

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♪

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There are so many goddesses
in witchcraft --

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Medea, Circe,

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Melusina, Pythia,

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and then you have Hecate,
who is a goddess

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that has taken
many different forms

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in many different cultures --
a goddess of childbirth,

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a protector of women,
goddess of the moon.

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One of the reasons
why witches of today love her

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is because
she's a goddess of magic.

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She finds power in the shadows.

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Even in the dark,
she lights the way.

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Her symbol is the key.

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She is the guardian
of the threshold,

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the liminal spaces
between the worlds.

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♪

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Grossman: The figure
of the witch in literature

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and in oral stories

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was derived
from goddesses and fairies

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and all of these
other mythological beings

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who had immense power
and who were feminine

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and who were lauded
just as much as the male

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or more masculine gods
and figures, too.

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But as politics evolved,
as, frankly,

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men gained more and more power
in society

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and in culture-making overall,

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these goddesses, these fairies,
these priestesses

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seem to lose status
in their society.

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Yates Garcia: When the
Holy Roman empire took over

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and Christianity started
to dominate all of Europe,

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Hecate was turned into a demon,

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a demonic figure,
a goddess of hell.

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She was turned into a hag,
a crone, an old woman,

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as if that's the worst thing
that could happen to you,

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as if that in itself
is horrifying.

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♪

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Ward: Witchcraft
for most of human history

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has been antithetical
to Christianity,

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often seen as allied
to some kind of demonic power,

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and so the church hierarchy
saw it as a threat

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to their position and power.

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Grossman: The church popularized
the notion

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that anybody who was not
Christian

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was going to hell,

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that you were
on the path of sin,

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that you were diabolical,

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and, yes, that can be people who
we might consider to be pagan.

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It's Jewish people,
it's Indigenous people,

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it's people who are practicing
the religions of Africa.

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It's anybody that has not been
converted yet.

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The other piece of the witch's
story is around medicine

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and specifically around
reproductive care.

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Yates Garcia: Giving birth,
you had midwives --

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this group of women who learned

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about plants and medicine
and healing,

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from the common cold
to a heartbreak.

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Narrator: Europe sees a new age
in medical science

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from the 1400s to the 1700s,

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but only men are allowed
into their universities.

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Midwives are eyed with mistrust,

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and we are about to be hunted.

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♪

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Grossman: In ancient Greece
and ancient Rome,

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there were also always figures,
often women,

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who you would go to
and you could procure

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some kind of herbal
or botanical magic from them,

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and this is what I consider
to be a service magician.

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These people sometimes
were respected,

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sometimes were considered
a bit dangerous,

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but it's kind of
the precursor to chemistry,

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to the field of medicine.

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Yates Garcia: The word witch
means person of knowledge,

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means wise one,

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00:11:01,138 --> 00:11:04,794
but then over time,
that word transformed

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00:11:04,925 --> 00:11:07,536
into something
that was an insult.

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00:11:10,278 --> 00:11:12,106
Grossman:
At the end of the 15th century,

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00:11:12,236 --> 00:11:14,761
we see the advent
of the printing press,

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00:11:14,891 --> 00:11:17,372
and one of
the most popular things

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00:11:17,502 --> 00:11:19,635
for these presses to print

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00:11:19,766 --> 00:11:24,553
are what we call
witch-hunting manuals.

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00:11:24,684 --> 00:11:28,122
One of the most famous books
that comes out is called

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00:11:28,252 --> 00:11:33,910
the "Malleus Maleficarum,"
or the "Witches Hammer."

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00:11:34,041 --> 00:11:37,435
This book is written by
Jacob Sprenger

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00:11:37,566 --> 00:11:41,744
and a religious zealot
named Heinrich Kramer.

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00:11:41,875 --> 00:11:43,790
Kramer is involved
in a witch trial,

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00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,402
which he loses against
a group of women.

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00:11:48,795 --> 00:11:52,450
And he then writes this book,

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00:11:52,581 --> 00:11:54,409
the "Hammer of Witches."

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Narrator:
The "Malleus Maleficarum"

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00:11:59,588 --> 00:12:04,593
weaponizes the printed
manuscript against witches...

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00:12:07,074 --> 00:12:10,381
...and therefore against women.

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00:12:14,995 --> 00:12:17,867
You're promiscuous
and that's evil,

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00:12:17,998 --> 00:12:19,434
and you're wicked,
so you're a witch.

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00:12:19,564 --> 00:12:21,479
So you would be killed
as a witch then.

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00:12:21,610 --> 00:12:22,872
You're killed if you're ugly.

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You're killed
if you're beautiful.

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00:12:24,831 --> 00:12:26,658
There's no winning.

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00:12:26,789 --> 00:12:30,010
The "Malleus Maleficarum"
is printed and disseminated

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00:12:30,140 --> 00:12:32,664
throughout Western Europe.

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00:12:32,795 --> 00:12:34,841
Berger: And so that book
became essential

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00:12:34,971 --> 00:12:38,235
in terms of demonology
in the West,

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the notion that the devil
is active in the world

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and gathering helpers,

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and those helpers
are called witches.

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Tell how you tempt us
with pretty things.

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00:12:50,073 --> 00:12:52,206
Tell how you suckle the snake.

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-Tell!
-Tell!

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When you say the word witchcraft
in the United States,

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most people immediately think of
the Salem witch trials in 1692.

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00:13:04,958 --> 00:13:07,221
Period of about nine months,

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00:13:07,351 --> 00:13:11,616
there was widespread
moral panic.

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Basically, anybody could be
accused of witchcraft --

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00:13:15,838 --> 00:13:20,974
children accusing their mothers
or their fathers and vice versa.

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00:13:21,104 --> 00:13:23,280
Grossman: I think
one of the reasons that Salem

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00:13:23,411 --> 00:13:26,762
has captured
a lot of our imaginations

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00:13:26,893 --> 00:13:34,248
is that the center
of that story is young girls.

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Narrator: Since 1953,

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00:13:36,293 --> 00:13:38,339
Arthur Miller's
Tony Award-winning play

252
00:13:38,469 --> 00:13:39,514
"The Crucible"...

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00:13:39,644 --> 00:13:41,342
But they're speaking
of witchcraft.

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00:13:41,472 --> 00:13:43,953
...has been performed
on stages and screens

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00:13:44,084 --> 00:13:48,001
by scores of young women.You drank a charm to kill
John Proctor's wife!

256
00:13:48,131 --> 00:13:51,308
Miller's play would use
the real Salem witch trials

257
00:13:51,439 --> 00:13:56,357
as the basis of his allegory
about McCarthyism,

258
00:13:56,487 --> 00:13:59,751
but he casts
his Abigail Williams

259
00:13:59,882 --> 00:14:03,190
as a devious home wrecker

260
00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:08,151
when in real life,
Abigail was only 11.

261
00:14:08,282 --> 00:14:11,459
Grossman:
"The Crucible" re-popularized

262
00:14:11,589 --> 00:14:12,939
the Salem witch trials,

263
00:14:13,069 --> 00:14:15,811
but in real life,
what happened in Salem

264
00:14:15,942 --> 00:14:18,683
is a less sensationalist story

265
00:14:18,814 --> 00:14:21,121
than the one that Arthur Miller
told in "The Crucible,"

266
00:14:21,251 --> 00:14:23,645
which is super sexualized.

267
00:14:23,775 --> 00:14:26,213
Witch!

268
00:14:26,343 --> 00:14:29,042
Ward: There were 19 people
that were hung.

269
00:14:29,172 --> 00:14:33,524
14 of those were women
and 5 of them were men.

270
00:14:33,655 --> 00:14:36,701
And two dogs were
executed for witchcraft.

271
00:14:36,832 --> 00:14:38,138
Burn the witch.

272
00:14:38,268 --> 00:14:40,357
But, in fact,
no one was actually

273
00:14:40,488 --> 00:14:42,707
burned to death in Salem.

274
00:14:42,838 --> 00:14:44,405
People were hung.

275
00:14:44,535 --> 00:14:48,583
People were pressed to death
with heavy stones.

276
00:14:48,713 --> 00:14:53,066
And the loss of life
was horrific,

277
00:14:53,196 --> 00:14:56,808
but we're talking
a couple dozen people,

278
00:14:56,939 --> 00:14:59,420
as opposed to
the tens of thousands of people

279
00:14:59,550 --> 00:15:02,771
that were killed, you know,
throughout Western Europe.

280
00:15:07,341 --> 00:15:10,170
The witch hunts are sometimes
called the Burning Times

281
00:15:10,300 --> 00:15:15,088
because many, many people were
burned in the public square

282
00:15:15,218 --> 00:15:19,179
and would often burn to death
or asphyxiate.

283
00:15:19,309 --> 00:15:24,619
Particularly in England,
there are also some tests

284
00:15:24,749 --> 00:15:29,232
if one is accused
of being a witch.

285
00:15:29,363 --> 00:15:32,192
You might prick them with a pin

286
00:15:32,322 --> 00:15:36,805
and see if the wound bleeds.

287
00:15:36,936 --> 00:15:40,678
You might put them in water

288
00:15:40,809 --> 00:15:44,552
with chains or weights
on their body

289
00:15:44,682 --> 00:15:47,772
and see if they drown.

290
00:15:47,903 --> 00:15:49,296
If the person drowns,

291
00:15:49,426 --> 00:15:52,864
"Oh, I guess they weren't
a witch after all,"

292
00:15:52,995 --> 00:15:56,172
so it's a real
lose-lose situation.

293
00:15:56,303 --> 00:15:59,262
Now, were these women
actually witches?

294
00:15:59,393 --> 00:16:01,264
Most of the research suggests

295
00:16:01,395 --> 00:16:04,789
that the women who were killed
were innocents.

296
00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,009
[ People clamoring ]

297
00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:12,362
And it was a crime that was
almost impossible to disprove.

298
00:16:12,493 --> 00:16:16,671
Many of the accusations
had to do with dreams.

299
00:16:16,801 --> 00:16:20,240
There was spectral evidence.

300
00:16:20,370 --> 00:16:23,112
For example, King James --

301
00:16:23,243 --> 00:16:26,898
the first of England,
the sixth of Scotland --

302
00:16:27,029 --> 00:16:29,727
he and his new bride
from Denmark

303
00:16:29,858 --> 00:16:32,513
were hit by a terrible storm.

304
00:16:32,643 --> 00:16:34,297
[ Thunder rumbles ]

305
00:16:34,428 --> 00:16:38,998
They were crossing from Denmark
back to Scotland

306
00:16:39,128 --> 00:16:42,958
and almost died in a shipwreck.

307
00:16:43,089 --> 00:16:49,617
He had a dream in which
he thought he had been cursed.

308
00:16:49,747 --> 00:16:53,142
He then became convinced
of witchcraft.

309
00:16:53,273 --> 00:16:55,840
Narrator: King James,
obsessed with witchcraft,

310
00:16:55,971 --> 00:16:59,844
convicts the village's
eldest midwife, Agnes Sampson.

311
00:16:59,975 --> 00:17:03,152
Shaven, tied, and tortured,

312
00:17:03,283 --> 00:17:05,633
the devil's mark
is found on her body.

313
00:17:05,763 --> 00:17:09,419
Agnes confesses.

314
00:17:09,550 --> 00:17:12,161
She tells a lurid tale
of meeting demons

315
00:17:12,292 --> 00:17:14,424
with other witches
on Halloween night

316
00:17:14,555 --> 00:17:19,473
to curse the king in front
of hundreds of spectators.

317
00:17:19,603 --> 00:17:23,738
Berger: When somebody admits
something under torture,

318
00:17:23,868 --> 00:17:27,916
we know that
they often tell lies.

319
00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:31,441
They'll say anything.

320
00:17:31,572 --> 00:17:33,313
And so she was killed for it.

321
00:17:33,443 --> 00:17:36,664
In Scotland,
witches were burnt on the stake,

322
00:17:36,794 --> 00:17:38,840
so she was burnt.

323
00:17:38,970 --> 00:17:41,103
Grossman:
The witch hunts as we know them

324
00:17:41,234 --> 00:17:44,019
are not one unified event.

325
00:17:44,150 --> 00:17:47,892
Scholars believe between
50,000 and 100,000 people

326
00:17:48,023 --> 00:17:49,894
were killed
during the witch hunts,

327
00:17:50,025 --> 00:17:52,941
which is a genocide.

328
00:17:54,769 --> 00:17:58,555
Narrator: The legacy
of the witch trials never dies

329
00:17:58,686 --> 00:18:01,645
and lives on
to take shape in the new world.

330
00:18:08,261 --> 00:18:11,002
♪

331
00:18:11,133 --> 00:18:15,442
Man: Beautiful Haiti --
well made the veil of paradise.

332
00:18:15,572 --> 00:18:17,226
Yet as I penetrated deeper
into the jungle,

333
00:18:17,357 --> 00:18:20,708
I saw that
which few white men ever see,

334
00:18:20,838 --> 00:18:22,666
the cult of the voodoo.

335
00:18:22,797 --> 00:18:26,366
♪

336
00:18:26,496 --> 00:18:29,020
Nwokocha:
The way that we perceive

337
00:18:29,151 --> 00:18:31,153
any African-derived
religious traditions

338
00:18:31,284 --> 00:18:34,374
has a lot to do with
when the U.S. occupied Haiti

339
00:18:34,504 --> 00:18:37,551
from 1915 to 1934.

340
00:18:37,681 --> 00:18:40,815
The Haitian president
was assassinated,

341
00:18:40,945 --> 00:18:43,600
and the U.S. president,
Woodrow Wilson,

342
00:18:43,731 --> 00:18:45,472
wanted to "help"

343
00:18:45,602 --> 00:18:49,606
with the economic and financial
stability of Haiti.

344
00:18:49,737 --> 00:18:53,349
They brought in Marines,
journalists, anthropologists

345
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,046
that came to Haiti
to understand

346
00:18:55,177 --> 00:18:58,615
what the people
and the communities are like.

347
00:18:58,746 --> 00:19:02,402
There were journal articles,
books, early films

348
00:19:02,532 --> 00:19:04,099
that talked about
the religious tradition

349
00:19:04,230 --> 00:19:08,625
from a very voyeuristic,
white-supremacist notion.

350
00:19:08,756 --> 00:19:11,150
Man: The cult of voodoo
embodies the worship

351
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,587
and fear of devil God.

352
00:19:13,717 --> 00:19:16,416
Nwokocha: They basically called
voodoo demonic,

353
00:19:16,546 --> 00:19:18,722
and they demonized
the religious tradition.

354
00:19:18,853 --> 00:19:24,467
♪

355
00:19:24,598 --> 00:19:27,688
The way we think about zombies,

356
00:19:27,818 --> 00:19:29,907
the way that we understand
the Vodou,

357
00:19:30,038 --> 00:19:32,432
stems from this time.

358
00:19:32,562 --> 00:19:35,391
♪

359
00:19:35,522 --> 00:19:38,873
You start to hear
this talk about zombies,

360
00:19:39,003 --> 00:19:44,095
especially from around
the '30s, the '40s,

361
00:19:44,226 --> 00:19:46,924
this kind of
Hollywood conception

362
00:19:47,055 --> 00:19:49,144
with films like "White Zombie."

363
00:19:49,275 --> 00:19:52,278
Man:
Haiti, land of the Voodoo.

364
00:19:52,408 --> 00:19:56,020
Dorsey: ...where you've got
this exoticized other.

365
00:19:56,151 --> 00:19:58,762
Zombie!
[ Speaks French ]

366
00:19:58,893 --> 00:20:00,721
Dorsey: I think that
the zombie myth really sort of

367
00:20:00,851 --> 00:20:03,593
grew out of the fact
that there were puffer fish

368
00:20:03,724 --> 00:20:05,682
that were native
to the Haitian waters

369
00:20:05,813 --> 00:20:08,555
that also caused
temporary paralysis.

370
00:20:08,685 --> 00:20:12,123
And when somebody was being
a bad person in society --

371
00:20:12,254 --> 00:20:14,604
somebody who might be
harmful to children,

372
00:20:14,735 --> 00:20:18,173
somebody who might be
stealing from their neighbor --

373
00:20:18,304 --> 00:20:21,959
they couldn't always necessarily
have the recourse

374
00:20:22,090 --> 00:20:26,573
of an honest and just
and helpful police force.

375
00:20:26,703 --> 00:20:29,228
This combination
of animal medicines, of herbs,

376
00:20:29,358 --> 00:20:31,534
would simulate paralysis,

377
00:20:31,665 --> 00:20:33,623
and people would maybe
think they're dead.

378
00:20:33,754 --> 00:20:35,277
And then they would be moved
to a different town

379
00:20:35,408 --> 00:20:37,497
or a different part
of the area,

380
00:20:37,627 --> 00:20:39,412
and then they wouldn't be
an issue anymore.

381
00:20:39,542 --> 00:20:40,674
[ Laughs ]

382
00:20:40,804 --> 00:20:43,285
And it was not
this flesh-eating thing

383
00:20:43,416 --> 00:20:45,461
that it's turned into now.

384
00:20:45,592 --> 00:20:49,509
♪

385
00:20:49,639 --> 00:20:51,946
Ramnes.
Ah!

386
00:20:52,076 --> 00:20:53,730
For the most part,

387
00:20:53,861 --> 00:20:55,515
Hollywood gets everything wrong
about voodoo.

388
00:20:55,645 --> 00:20:59,301
It is vilified.
It's demonized.

389
00:20:59,432 --> 00:21:01,869
I think that a lot of people
associate

390
00:21:01,999 --> 00:21:05,481
the traditional voodoo doll,
or hoodoo doll, with pins in it

391
00:21:05,612 --> 00:21:08,136
as being an integral part
of the religion,

392
00:21:08,267 --> 00:21:09,703
when the reality of it is

393
00:21:09,833 --> 00:21:13,141
it doesn't have anything to do
with the religion.

394
00:21:13,272 --> 00:21:15,317
In other systems of witchcraft,

395
00:21:15,448 --> 00:21:18,364
mainly European witchcraft
where you build a poppet

396
00:21:18,494 --> 00:21:21,541
and then you can perform
sympathetic magic with that --

397
00:21:21,671 --> 00:21:24,892
people took that
and turned it into,

398
00:21:25,022 --> 00:21:28,374
"If I stab someone in the foot
with a pin on their doll,

399
00:21:28,504 --> 00:21:31,420
then maybe their foot
will hurt."

400
00:21:31,551 --> 00:21:34,336
And this isn't something
that came from Africa

401
00:21:34,467 --> 00:21:37,165
or African diasporan people
at all.

402
00:21:37,296 --> 00:21:39,515
[ Singing
in native language ]

403
00:21:39,646 --> 00:21:42,605
♪

404
00:21:42,736 --> 00:21:45,782
I wish people would know
that witchcraft and voodoo

405
00:21:45,913 --> 00:21:50,570
aren't necessarily dark
or shady or shifty.

406
00:21:50,700 --> 00:21:53,355
Out of a need
to protect itself,

407
00:21:53,486 --> 00:21:55,618
not all the secrets
were revealed.

408
00:21:55,749 --> 00:21:58,142
For a lot of us,
it really was a situation

409
00:21:58,273 --> 00:22:01,885
where we were persecuted.

410
00:22:02,016 --> 00:22:03,800
Nwokocha: When we think about
transatlantic slavery,

411
00:22:03,931 --> 00:22:07,804
this is a forced migration
from west and central Africa,

412
00:22:07,935 --> 00:22:11,591
from Nigeria, from Benin,
from Angola, from the Congo.

413
00:22:11,721 --> 00:22:13,027
They brought with them
their religion.

414
00:22:13,157 --> 00:22:14,420
They brought
with them their beliefs.

415
00:22:14,550 --> 00:22:16,813
Many of our ancestors
were enslaved,

416
00:22:16,944 --> 00:22:19,250
and so we believe
that their survival

417
00:22:19,381 --> 00:22:22,515
was wrapped up
in their knowledge of healing.

418
00:22:22,645 --> 00:22:24,430
Nwokocha:
Haitian Vodou is derived

419
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,955
from many
African indigenous peoples.

420
00:22:28,085 --> 00:22:34,222
Then Hoodoo is another tradition
about root work and conjure.

421
00:22:34,353 --> 00:22:37,573
Voodoo has its origins
in Haitian Vodou,

422
00:22:37,704 --> 00:22:41,447
but is actually practiced
in New Orleans.

423
00:22:41,577 --> 00:22:45,102
But imagine, voodoo is --
it's a worldview.

424
00:22:45,233 --> 00:22:47,104
It's a way of knowing.

425
00:22:47,235 --> 00:22:49,280
Not only is it a belief system,

426
00:22:49,411 --> 00:22:52,806
it is a way of how you orient
yourself in the world.

427
00:22:54,634 --> 00:22:56,418
Dorsey: There are several
wonderful rituals

428
00:22:56,549 --> 00:22:59,290
and [chuckles] ceremonies
that actually are a part

429
00:22:59,421 --> 00:23:01,858
of the practice of voodoo
and hoodoo,

430
00:23:01,989 --> 00:23:05,209
and very often they're
centered around healing,

431
00:23:05,340 --> 00:23:08,430
not just healing an individual,
but healing the community.

432
00:23:08,561 --> 00:23:09,823
My name is Lilith Dorsey,

433
00:23:09,953 --> 00:23:11,868
and I'm a voodoo priestess
and author.

434
00:23:11,999 --> 00:23:15,002
My practice is primarily
New Orleans voodoo-based,

435
00:23:15,132 --> 00:23:17,483
and that involves
honoring the ancestors

436
00:23:17,613 --> 00:23:21,704
and honoring the spirits
of New Orleans.

437
00:23:21,835 --> 00:23:23,793
Her name was Marie.

438
00:23:23,924 --> 00:23:25,099
[ Audience cheering ]

439
00:23:25,229 --> 00:23:27,231
She did
all that old voodoo stuff

440
00:23:27,362 --> 00:23:31,018
for all them rich folks
down there in New Orleans.

441
00:23:31,148 --> 00:23:34,369
Marie Laveau is the most popular
voodoo queen ever.

442
00:23:34,500 --> 00:23:36,327
♪ Voodoo lady named Marie

443
00:23:36,458 --> 00:23:39,243
Dorsey:
They've been singing that song
for at least 100 years.

444
00:23:39,374 --> 00:23:41,550
♪ I said, Marie Laveau

445
00:23:41,681 --> 00:23:44,945
♪ I said, Marie Laveau,
you lovely witch ♪

446
00:23:45,075 --> 00:23:46,425
♪ Why don't you give me
a little... ♪

447
00:23:46,555 --> 00:23:49,645
It is said
that she died in 1881.

448
00:23:49,776 --> 00:23:52,169
She was a hairdresser,

449
00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:55,695
and she would do the hair
of all these rich people

450
00:23:55,825 --> 00:23:58,915
and learn all their secrets,
be their confidant,

451
00:23:59,046 --> 00:24:00,613
and then
when she wanted something,

452
00:24:00,743 --> 00:24:02,702
leverage that information

453
00:24:02,832 --> 00:24:06,575
to help the disenfranchised
people of the city.

454
00:24:06,706 --> 00:24:09,143
It is said that
she used to visit prisoners

455
00:24:09,273 --> 00:24:12,712
and make them some sort of
spiritual psychedelic gumbo

456
00:24:12,842 --> 00:24:14,714
[laughing]
that she would feed them,

457
00:24:14,844 --> 00:24:16,933
which I think is fantastic.

458
00:24:17,064 --> 00:24:20,371
And she was the first person
that did public magic ritual

459
00:24:20,502 --> 00:24:23,723
in New Orleans at Congo Square,
at the Bayou St. John,

460
00:24:23,853 --> 00:24:25,768
and other sites
around New Orleans,

461
00:24:25,899 --> 00:24:28,858
and those were attended
by people of all races,

462
00:24:28,989 --> 00:24:30,556
people of all classes.

463
00:24:30,686 --> 00:24:33,036
People think of her
as this personification of evil

464
00:24:33,167 --> 00:24:36,170
when, in reality, she used to
go to church every week,

465
00:24:36,300 --> 00:24:38,738
that the reason we know
what we know about her today

466
00:24:38,868 --> 00:24:40,783
is because
a lot of the information

467
00:24:40,914 --> 00:24:43,220
was kept by the archdiocese.

468
00:24:43,351 --> 00:24:46,615
She wasn't the first voodoo
queen and she wasn't the last,

469
00:24:46,746 --> 00:24:49,052
but she was certainly
the most powerful.

470
00:24:53,883 --> 00:24:55,319
♪

471
00:24:55,450 --> 00:24:56,712
[ Thunder rumbles ]

472
00:24:56,843 --> 00:24:59,802
Berger: Magic is a power,
like electricity.

473
00:24:59,933 --> 00:25:04,590
It could be used for positive
or negative goals.

474
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,419
It's very real for the people
who experience it.

475
00:25:08,550 --> 00:25:11,335
Whether that experience
is with Christ,

476
00:25:11,466 --> 00:25:13,512
with God, with the goddess,

477
00:25:13,642 --> 00:25:15,992
they've been transformed by it.

478
00:25:19,561 --> 00:25:22,782
Traditionally,
tarot is thought of

479
00:25:22,912 --> 00:25:25,567
as being divination

480
00:25:25,698 --> 00:25:30,006
or being able
to peer into the future.

481
00:25:32,356 --> 00:25:36,012
In my own life,
my tarot practice has been

482
00:25:36,143 --> 00:25:40,887
a way for me
to connect to my intuition.

483
00:25:41,017 --> 00:25:42,845
There's a lot of candle magic
that I do.

484
00:25:42,976 --> 00:25:45,413
There's a lot of spell craft
that I do.

485
00:25:45,544 --> 00:25:48,590
Cauldrons have a whole host
of connections

486
00:25:48,721 --> 00:25:50,679
which are really meaningful
for witches.

487
00:25:50,810 --> 00:25:54,161
It's a place where things mix,
where elements combine,

488
00:25:54,291 --> 00:25:59,122
where things change shape and
change form in a nourishing way.

489
00:25:59,253 --> 00:26:01,603
Velasquez:
There's a lot of shape-shifting
things that you can do.

490
00:26:01,734 --> 00:26:03,649
And, I mean, in my case,
I'm from L.A.

491
00:26:03,779 --> 00:26:07,391
I've had a little bit of work
done as well, like, you know,

492
00:26:07,522 --> 00:26:08,828
on my face here and there,

493
00:26:08,958 --> 00:26:10,873
so I also have shape shifted
in my own way.

494
00:26:11,004 --> 00:26:12,483
[ Laughs ] You know?

495
00:26:12,614 --> 00:26:14,268
Dorsey: I know a witch
that used to have a cat box

496
00:26:14,398 --> 00:26:15,617
outside the front door,

497
00:26:15,748 --> 00:26:17,053
and she would make people
stand in it

498
00:26:17,184 --> 00:26:19,534
[laughing]
before they entered the house.

499
00:26:19,665 --> 00:26:20,796
I always thought
that was beautiful.

500
00:26:20,927 --> 00:26:23,059
It was like
a decontamination station.

501
00:26:23,190 --> 00:26:25,975
I love roses because
it's such tender,

502
00:26:26,106 --> 00:26:30,066
compassionate, divine,
feminine energy.

503
00:26:30,197 --> 00:26:34,375
It protects the heart
because roses also have thorns.

504
00:26:34,505 --> 00:26:38,074
Gottesdiener:
I have had times when I've
pulled the Five of Cups,

505
00:26:38,205 --> 00:26:42,731
which generally has a person
crying and they're very sad.

506
00:26:42,862 --> 00:26:44,864
And I was depressed as fuck,
and I was like,

507
00:26:44,994 --> 00:26:46,996
"Thank you, tarot,
for seeing me."

508
00:26:47,127 --> 00:26:50,304
Luna: I love love spells.
I love healing spells.

509
00:26:50,434 --> 00:26:52,480
I like things that make people
feel confident

510
00:26:52,611 --> 00:26:55,352
and feel good about themselves.

511
00:26:55,483 --> 00:26:58,878
I love magic
that has to do with love

512
00:26:59,008 --> 00:27:03,534
and feeling happy,
feeling sexy.

513
00:27:03,665 --> 00:27:05,014
Sometimes it can backfire.

514
00:27:05,145 --> 00:27:07,103
Sometimes it'll absolutely
blow up in your face.

515
00:27:07,234 --> 00:27:09,279
Don't be out here, like,
putting out negative energy

516
00:27:09,410 --> 00:27:11,151
because there's always
that rule, right?

517
00:27:11,281 --> 00:27:12,674
Never mind the Power of Three,

518
00:27:12,805 --> 00:27:14,807
what you do will
come back to thee.

519
00:27:14,937 --> 00:27:17,287
Berger: Magic tends to be
more empowering.

520
00:27:17,418 --> 00:27:19,463
You think of yourself
as not a supplicant,

521
00:27:19,594 --> 00:27:20,682
but as a participant.

522
00:27:20,813 --> 00:27:22,989
[ Chanting indistinctly ]

523
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,340
Berger: For most witches,
they see themselves

524
00:27:26,470 --> 00:27:28,951
as in connection
with the goddess,

525
00:27:29,082 --> 00:27:32,346
sometimes with
their own ancestors,

526
00:27:32,476 --> 00:27:35,697
and so magic is part
of a spiritual world.

527
00:27:39,832 --> 00:27:42,573
Luna: When we think
about women in witchcraft,

528
00:27:42,704 --> 00:27:44,532
you know,
there's a long history.

529
00:27:44,663 --> 00:27:47,927
Witches have existed
on every continent.

530
00:27:48,057 --> 00:27:50,494
Regardless
of if you call yourself a witch

531
00:27:50,625 --> 00:27:52,627
or a healer or a seer,

532
00:27:52,758 --> 00:27:55,499
this innate power
has been gifted to us.

533
00:27:55,630 --> 00:28:00,853
♪

534
00:28:00,983 --> 00:28:06,075
♪

535
00:28:06,206 --> 00:28:08,948
Dorsey:
Feminine power has always
been an important component,

536
00:28:09,078 --> 00:28:10,906
especially
in New Orleans Voodoo.

537
00:28:11,037 --> 00:28:12,212
They held the tradition --

538
00:28:12,342 --> 00:28:14,605
not only held
the Creole language,

539
00:28:14,736 --> 00:28:18,914
held the knowledge of the herbs,
the cooking, the child rearing,

540
00:28:19,045 --> 00:28:22,526
things that were
very integral to society,

541
00:28:22,657 --> 00:28:24,964
very integral
to everybody succeeding

542
00:28:25,094 --> 00:28:26,966
and remembering
where they came from.

543
00:28:27,096 --> 00:28:29,882
I picture the women
in my family --

544
00:28:30,012 --> 00:28:32,623
my abuelas,
my tías,my primas,

545
00:28:32,754 --> 00:28:35,235
and how protective
they are of me.

546
00:28:35,365 --> 00:28:37,324
You don't know the women
in my lineage.

547
00:28:37,454 --> 00:28:39,282
Like, we don't fuck around,
and they're not gonna

548
00:28:39,413 --> 00:28:42,982
let their gay grandkid, like,
go through some shit, you know?

549
00:28:43,112 --> 00:28:45,636
Rose: I started to, like,
seek out those people

550
00:28:45,767 --> 00:28:47,682
who had their wisdom
of their grandmothers

551
00:28:47,813 --> 00:28:49,684
and their grandfathers
and say to them,

552
00:28:49,815 --> 00:28:51,164
"Do you remember this plant?

553
00:28:51,294 --> 00:28:53,644
Do you remember how your grandma
used to use this plant?"

554
00:28:53,775 --> 00:28:56,604
And it was like their whole face
would light up.

555
00:28:56,735 --> 00:28:59,041
"Oh, she'd give it to me, like,
when I was having cramps."

556
00:28:59,172 --> 00:29:01,174
"She'd give it to me
when I couldn't sleep."

557
00:29:01,304 --> 00:29:03,437
"She'd give it to me for a bath
for protection.

558
00:29:03,567 --> 00:29:06,440
And I'm like, "My grandmother
did the same thing."

559
00:29:06,570 --> 00:29:10,270
I come from lots of different
facets of spirituality.

560
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,838
I grew up with certain portions
of my family

561
00:29:12,968 --> 00:29:16,015
who practice variations
of folk magic.

562
00:29:16,145 --> 00:29:18,495
I grew up with other portions
of my family

563
00:29:18,626 --> 00:29:20,454
that practiced hoodoo
or conjure.

564
00:29:20,584 --> 00:29:23,196
I've learned a lot
from my grandmothers,

565
00:29:23,326 --> 00:29:25,720
and having magic
within my blood,

566
00:29:25,851 --> 00:29:28,854
within my family,
it's who I am.

567
00:29:28,984 --> 00:29:30,812
It's just my essence.
[ Chuckles ]

568
00:29:34,294 --> 00:29:38,037
Ward: Both men and women
have practiced witchcraft

569
00:29:38,167 --> 00:29:40,604
throughout human history,

570
00:29:40,735 --> 00:29:44,913
but women don't get
the same prestige or power

571
00:29:45,044 --> 00:29:48,047
and generally work
in the shadows.

572
00:29:49,831 --> 00:29:53,052
Men have gotten more prestige

573
00:29:53,182 --> 00:29:56,359
and have been given more credit
for what they're doing.

574
00:29:59,493 --> 00:30:03,932
♪

575
00:30:04,063 --> 00:30:08,415
Yates Garcia: If you think about
most of the spiritual traditions

576
00:30:08,545 --> 00:30:11,897
or religious traditions
of the world,

577
00:30:12,027 --> 00:30:16,031
most of them are not
made in the image of women...

578
00:30:17,859 --> 00:30:22,559
...whereas witchcraft,
the people who are making it,

579
00:30:22,690 --> 00:30:24,213
who are writing
the books about it,

580
00:30:24,344 --> 00:30:28,391
who are practicing it,
are literally feminists.

581
00:30:31,481 --> 00:30:35,877
An interesting thing happens
in the 20th century.

582
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,752
Certain scholars, like a woman
named Margaret Murray,

583
00:30:41,883 --> 00:30:47,367
wrote several books positing
that there was a witch cult

584
00:30:47,497 --> 00:30:52,198
that existed in Western Europe

585
00:30:52,328 --> 00:30:56,724
and that during the witch hunts,
she believed,

586
00:30:56,855 --> 00:30:59,248
a lot of the confessions

587
00:30:59,379 --> 00:31:03,731
of those who were accused
of being witches

588
00:31:03,862 --> 00:31:07,735
were actually somewhat true.

589
00:31:10,607 --> 00:31:15,917
Someone who's quoted a lot
is a woman named Isobel Gowdie,

590
00:31:16,048 --> 00:31:19,225
because she has
this very elaborate,

591
00:31:19,355 --> 00:31:23,011
fantastical, fantasmagorical
confession.

592
00:31:25,666 --> 00:31:27,929
She talks about
not only being a witch,

593
00:31:28,060 --> 00:31:31,541
but describes in detail
the sabbats,

594
00:31:31,672 --> 00:31:35,806
or the meetings of witches,
that she would engage in,

595
00:31:35,937 --> 00:31:39,854
and she essentially details
what we now refer to today

596
00:31:39,985 --> 00:31:43,205
as being a coven --

597
00:31:43,336 --> 00:31:45,381
12 people who would meet

598
00:31:45,512 --> 00:31:48,819
and then one person
overseeing the coven

599
00:31:48,950 --> 00:31:52,780
as a priest or a priestess.

600
00:31:52,911 --> 00:31:57,654
Margaret Murray takes
this confession of Isobel Gowdie

601
00:31:57,785 --> 00:32:01,789
to be 100% literal.

602
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,010
As romantic as that idea is,

603
00:32:05,140 --> 00:32:08,709
it has been since kind of
picked apart by scholars.

604
00:32:08,839 --> 00:32:12,191
Margaret Murray is considered
a pretty controversial figure.

605
00:32:12,321 --> 00:32:15,368
However, when her books
came out,

606
00:32:15,498 --> 00:32:19,763
there were many people
who were thrilled by them,

607
00:32:19,894 --> 00:32:24,159
the most prominent one being
a man named Gerald Gardner.

608
00:32:26,118 --> 00:32:28,729
He took a lot of
Margaret Murray's ideas,

609
00:32:28,859 --> 00:32:30,949
and he ran with them.

610
00:32:32,994 --> 00:32:35,779
Narrator:
In England, in 1951,

611
00:32:35,910 --> 00:32:41,394
Gerald Gardner forms his own
coven made of 13 members.

612
00:32:41,524 --> 00:32:43,874
He designs a hierarchy

613
00:32:44,005 --> 00:32:47,574
and creates
secret initiations and rituals.

614
00:32:47,704 --> 00:32:52,448
This new religion
is called Wicca.

615
00:32:52,579 --> 00:32:55,103
There's eight major holidays
within Wicca,

616
00:32:55,234 --> 00:32:58,063
the Wheel of the Year,
or the eight sabbats.

617
00:32:58,193 --> 00:33:01,022
What regularly is celebrated
is death.

618
00:33:01,153 --> 00:33:04,895
It's seen as needed and good
for renewal,

619
00:33:05,026 --> 00:33:07,550
particularly
in Celtic countries.

620
00:33:07,681 --> 00:33:12,512
Samhain was a traditional
holiday prior to Christianity,

621
00:33:12,642 --> 00:33:19,301
and it always involved the dead
returning from the beyond.

622
00:33:19,432 --> 00:33:22,043
The dead were said to come
that night,

623
00:33:22,174 --> 00:33:23,523
and you wanted to appease them

624
00:33:23,653 --> 00:33:26,526
because you don't want, really,
to piss off the dead,

625
00:33:26,656 --> 00:33:30,225
right, who have special powers.

626
00:33:30,356 --> 00:33:34,142
This holiday became known
as Halloween.

627
00:33:35,796 --> 00:33:38,625
[ Wind whistling ]

628
00:33:38,755 --> 00:33:41,410
Man: Sweeping the crossroads
near his home in Castletown,

629
00:33:41,541 --> 00:33:45,284
we found a self-professed witch,
Dr. G.B. Gardner.

630
00:33:45,414 --> 00:33:46,981
Placing the dust in a shoe

631
00:33:47,112 --> 00:33:49,592
is done to simulate
sweeping away bad luck.

632
00:33:49,723 --> 00:33:53,988
♪

633
00:33:54,119 --> 00:33:57,078
Grossman:
In Gerald Gardner's coven,

634
00:33:57,209 --> 00:34:01,735
he had both a man

635
00:34:01,865 --> 00:34:07,741
who was kind of a stand-in
for the Horned God.

636
00:34:07,871 --> 00:34:10,526
He would also have
a high priestess,

637
00:34:10,657 --> 00:34:12,963
and the high priestess
was actually the one

638
00:34:13,094 --> 00:34:14,965
who was really in charge,

639
00:34:15,096 --> 00:34:19,796
and there was a lot of ritual
around goddess worship,

640
00:34:19,927 --> 00:34:24,453
doing spells, doing rituals,
raising energy.

641
00:34:24,584 --> 00:34:27,456
Berger:
But Gardner was not a feminist.

642
00:34:27,587 --> 00:34:30,938
When the high priestess
started to get old,

643
00:34:31,069 --> 00:34:33,984
Gardner said, "She's out."

644
00:34:34,115 --> 00:34:38,076
The high priestess
has to be young and pretty.

645
00:34:41,862 --> 00:34:46,214
He used ancient witchcraft
beliefs and practices,

646
00:34:46,345 --> 00:34:49,391
but also a lot of the writings
and beliefs

647
00:34:49,522 --> 00:34:53,265
and practices
of Aleister Crowley,

648
00:34:53,395 --> 00:34:57,573
who is considered to be
a magician,

649
00:34:57,704 --> 00:35:02,012
mystic, poet, novelist.

650
00:35:02,143 --> 00:35:06,974
On the one hand, Crowley
was a proponent of witchcraft

651
00:35:07,105 --> 00:35:11,239
and empowerment
of those not in power.

652
00:35:11,370 --> 00:35:13,372
But on the other hand,
he was also into

653
00:35:13,502 --> 00:35:19,421
the black-magic aspect --
revenge, retribution,

654
00:35:19,552 --> 00:35:23,947
consequences, fighting against
the powers that be.

655
00:35:24,078 --> 00:35:26,602
There's an aspect
of youth rebellion.

656
00:35:29,736 --> 00:35:33,914
Amongst Aleister Crowley's
followers, it's a long list --

657
00:35:34,044 --> 00:35:37,744
Black Sabbath, AC/DC,

658
00:35:37,874 --> 00:35:41,356
The Beatles
with "Sergeant Pepper's."

659
00:35:41,487 --> 00:35:44,577
Crowley is on the cover
of the album.

660
00:35:48,972 --> 00:35:52,237
If you want to become a Wiccan
or a witch,

661
00:35:52,367 --> 00:35:55,762
you join a coven,
you join a group.

662
00:35:55,892 --> 00:35:59,244
And there's supposed to be
secrets that no one shares,

663
00:35:59,374 --> 00:36:04,727
and you're supposed to be
initiated into the secrets.

664
00:36:04,858 --> 00:36:08,862
But what happens to the religion
when it comes to America?

665
00:36:08,992 --> 00:36:10,646
It's the 1960s,

666
00:36:10,777 --> 00:36:13,780
and there's a growth
of all sorts of change, right?

667
00:36:13,910 --> 00:36:17,827
There's protest movements
against the Vietnam War,

668
00:36:17,958 --> 00:36:22,005
for gay rights, civil rights
for African Americans...

669
00:36:22,136 --> 00:36:23,877
More power to the people!

670
00:36:24,007 --> 00:36:25,357
Berger:
...and of course feminism.

671
00:36:25,487 --> 00:36:26,923
Man: The women of America
are marching.

672
00:36:27,054 --> 00:36:28,751
Women have caught onto the game.

673
00:36:28,882 --> 00:36:30,492
You have a lot of options.
You can be somebody's wife.

674
00:36:30,623 --> 00:36:32,799
You can be somebody's mother.
You can be somebody's lover.

675
00:36:32,929 --> 00:36:35,671
You can be somebody's anything,
but you can't be somebody.

676
00:36:35,802 --> 00:36:39,806
Grossman: During the second wave
of feminism,

677
00:36:39,936 --> 00:36:41,590
women, of course,

678
00:36:41,721 --> 00:36:44,854
are trying to have autonomy
over their own bodies.

679
00:36:44,985 --> 00:36:48,641
They are trying to get
economic equality.

680
00:36:48,771 --> 00:36:53,428
We see a renewed interest
in the figure of the witch.

681
00:36:53,559 --> 00:36:55,343
Berger:
Forget that the high priestess

682
00:36:55,474 --> 00:36:57,693
has to be
traditionally beautiful.

683
00:36:57,824 --> 00:37:00,261
Forget that the high priestess
has to be young.

684
00:37:00,392 --> 00:37:02,916
Forget all that.

685
00:37:03,046 --> 00:37:05,614
And witchcraft
started to spread.

686
00:37:05,745 --> 00:37:09,357
Ma'am, what is the organization,
W.I.T.C.H., here?

687
00:37:09,488 --> 00:37:10,837
The initials W.I.T.C.H.
stand for

688
00:37:10,967 --> 00:37:14,101
the Women's International
Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell.

689
00:37:14,232 --> 00:37:16,277
It strides along with
the Women's Liberation Movement.

690
00:37:16,408 --> 00:37:20,499
Woman: Witches materialize at
demonstrations just to harass.

691
00:37:20,629 --> 00:37:22,718
Berger:
This was political theater,

692
00:37:22,849 --> 00:37:26,287
but they started to get out
the word "witch."

693
00:37:28,898 --> 00:37:31,771
Why did they take witch?
It's sort of in your face.

694
00:37:31,901 --> 00:37:33,381
And for many of these women,

695
00:37:33,512 --> 00:37:36,863
in your face
was exactly what they wanted.

696
00:37:36,993 --> 00:37:40,867
Women are reclaiming names
that have been used against them

697
00:37:40,997 --> 00:37:42,564
and they're saying,

698
00:37:42,695 --> 00:37:47,352
"Yes, that's who we are
and we're proud of it."

699
00:37:47,482 --> 00:37:51,225
Grossman:
You have these women

700
00:37:51,356 --> 00:37:54,750
who kind of braid together
the politics of the time

701
00:37:54,881 --> 00:37:57,187
and the spirituality of Wicca.

702
00:37:57,318 --> 00:37:59,973
There starts to be
a feminist witchcraft.

703
00:38:00,103 --> 00:38:03,324
Zsuzanna Budapest,
who's in California --

704
00:38:03,455 --> 00:38:05,935
she changes it,
makes it feminist,

705
00:38:06,066 --> 00:38:09,591
only the goddess,
only the high priestess.

706
00:38:09,722 --> 00:38:15,162
You have an NPR journalist
named Margot Adler,

707
00:38:15,293 --> 00:38:17,512
and she's so entranced
by these groups

708
00:38:17,643 --> 00:38:20,123
and moved by these groups
that she ends up

709
00:38:20,254 --> 00:38:24,127
becoming a Wiccan
high priestess herself.

710
00:38:24,258 --> 00:38:27,653
They're showing that
our spirituality is political,

711
00:38:27,783 --> 00:38:31,787
that the stories we tell,
the rituals that we develop,

712
00:38:31,918 --> 00:38:37,619
the spells we cast,
that they are fluid,

713
00:38:37,750 --> 00:38:42,015
and that if we so choose,
we can elevate the feminine

714
00:38:42,145 --> 00:38:47,020
and kind of remake
our own spiritual systems

715
00:38:47,150 --> 00:38:52,939
into systems that serve us
and honor marginalized people

716
00:38:53,069 --> 00:38:57,465
who often get dishonored
or pushed aside

717
00:38:57,596 --> 00:39:01,469
in a lot of the world's
largest religions.

718
00:39:04,864 --> 00:39:06,300
[ Film reel clicking ]

719
00:39:06,431 --> 00:39:11,044
♪

720
00:39:11,174 --> 00:39:15,178
Grossman: So if you look
at images of witches,

721
00:39:15,309 --> 00:39:18,660
they're often shown
riding broomsticks.

722
00:39:18,791 --> 00:39:23,056
They're also sometimes shown
riding cooking forks

723
00:39:23,186 --> 00:39:27,408
or any simple domestic object
they can fly.

724
00:39:27,539 --> 00:39:31,499
[ Thunder rumbles ]

725
00:39:31,630 --> 00:39:35,851
In the '70s,
a writer named Michael Harner

726
00:39:35,982 --> 00:39:39,289
put forth this theory
that perhaps the reason

727
00:39:39,420 --> 00:39:43,119
that we associate witches
and broomsticks

728
00:39:43,250 --> 00:39:48,037
is that these women were taking
these hallucinogenic herbs,

729
00:39:48,168 --> 00:39:51,301
rubbing them on the heads
of broomsticks

730
00:39:51,432 --> 00:39:55,828
and then inserting them
into their orifice

731
00:39:55,958 --> 00:40:00,528
in order to get that
contact high all the quicker.

732
00:40:00,659 --> 00:40:02,835
As you can imagine,
a lot of people love this idea

733
00:40:02,965 --> 00:40:05,664
and have really gotten
carried away with the idea

734
00:40:05,794 --> 00:40:07,317
that witches were just,
you know, ladies

735
00:40:07,448 --> 00:40:10,886
who were masturbating
with hallucinogenic dildos.

736
00:40:12,540 --> 00:40:14,281
[ Film reel clicking ]

737
00:40:14,412 --> 00:40:19,373
Narrator: We are done being
defined and defamed.

738
00:40:19,504 --> 00:40:25,074
We are the only ones
who can call ourselves witch.

739
00:40:27,337 --> 00:40:31,820
A witch is someone who stands
on her own and who's powerful

740
00:40:31,951 --> 00:40:37,478
and who the status quo
is afraid of.

741
00:40:37,609 --> 00:40:43,266
Witchcraft is growing in appeal,
especially now, I believe,

742
00:40:43,397 --> 00:40:47,706
because that it is
all about empowerment.

743
00:40:47,836 --> 00:40:51,057
I absolutely adore Rachel True
in "The Craft."

744
00:40:51,187 --> 00:40:54,452
So many of us didn't get to see
a Black witch

745
00:40:54,582 --> 00:40:56,323
until we saw her face.

746
00:40:56,454 --> 00:40:59,935
In 1986, most witches were in

747
00:41:00,066 --> 00:41:02,547
what they call the broom closet.

748
00:41:02,677 --> 00:41:05,898
What we saw in the 1990s --

749
00:41:06,028 --> 00:41:09,336
"Charmed,"
the "Harry Potter" series --

750
00:41:09,467 --> 00:41:13,122
and directly after that there
was an increase of searches

751
00:41:13,253 --> 00:41:15,385
about witchcraft online.

752
00:41:15,516 --> 00:41:20,347
Along comes the Internet,
and you have people

753
00:41:20,478 --> 00:41:25,352
who are emboldened to start
sharing who they actually are,

754
00:41:25,483 --> 00:41:28,181
and it's really helped
to destigmatize

755
00:41:28,311 --> 00:41:29,965
the practice of witchcraft

756
00:41:30,096 --> 00:41:33,621
and to show us
that there are others like us,

757
00:41:33,752 --> 00:41:35,536
and that there's
a whole community out there

758
00:41:35,667 --> 00:41:38,408
that we can connect to
and plug into.

759
00:41:38,539 --> 00:41:41,803
And absolutely,
witches can be any gender.

760
00:41:41,934 --> 00:41:44,066
Is there a difference between
the masculine and the feminine?

761
00:41:44,197 --> 00:41:45,807
Absolutely.

762
00:41:45,938 --> 00:41:46,895
Is there a mixture
of the non-binary magic

763
00:41:47,026 --> 00:41:48,375
or non-conforming magic?

764
00:41:48,506 --> 00:41:50,203
Absolutely, for sure.

765
00:41:50,333 --> 00:41:53,467
Because we have TikTok,
we have WitchTok.

766
00:41:53,598 --> 00:41:58,037
What you see is this growth
of individuation.

767
00:41:58,167 --> 00:42:00,822
I think they're serious
about their witchcraft.

768
00:42:00,953 --> 00:42:03,825
They're serious
about their practice.

769
00:42:03,956 --> 00:42:06,219
And I think it's very easy
to discount the young,

770
00:42:06,349 --> 00:42:07,916
but I think it's an error.

771
00:42:08,047 --> 00:42:12,007
♪

772
00:42:12,138 --> 00:42:15,228
Grossman: The witch knows
that this is her time,

773
00:42:15,358 --> 00:42:20,015
and the witch knows
that she can truly help

774
00:42:20,146 --> 00:42:24,150
elevate humanity.

775
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,196
Narrator: The world will see
what they wish to see,

776
00:42:27,327 --> 00:42:31,026
and we remain all them witches.

777
00:42:31,157 --> 00:42:32,593
We.

778
00:42:32,724 --> 00:42:36,771
♪

779
00:42:36,902 --> 00:42:41,733
♪ The circle is open,
yet unbroken ♪

780
00:42:41,863 --> 00:42:47,086
♪ May the peace of the goddess
be ever in our hearts ♪

781
00:42:47,216 --> 00:42:51,569
♪ Merry meet and merry part

782
00:42:51,699 --> 00:42:56,443
♪ And merry meet again

783
00:42:58,750 --> 00:43:05,757
♪

784
00:43:05,887 --> 00:43:13,199
♪

785
00:43:13,329 --> 00:43:20,598
♪

786
00:43:20,728 --> 00:43:27,648
♪

787
00:43:29,258 --> 00:43:33,219
♪

788
00:43:33,349 --> 00:43:34,873
Younger woman:
Do you know this place?

789
00:43:35,003 --> 00:43:36,483
Older woman: It's the old
Mayfair house.

790
00:43:36,614 --> 00:43:38,224
Younger woman: What do you
know about it?

791
00:43:38,354 --> 00:43:40,574
Older woman: Murders,
disappearances.

792
00:43:40,705 --> 00:43:43,795
But really, that house is famous
for its witches.

793
00:43:43,925 --> 00:43:45,231
What?

794
00:43:45,361 --> 00:43:47,581
♪ In darkness

795
00:43:47,712 --> 00:43:48,887
Tell me about
Daniel Lemle.

796
00:43:49,017 --> 00:43:51,237
His death had nothing
to do with me.

797
00:43:51,367 --> 00:43:53,152
But you were there.

798
00:43:53,282 --> 00:43:57,069
I don't understand anything
that's happening.

799
00:43:57,199 --> 00:44:00,246
Man: The Talamasca exist to
investigate the, um,

800
00:44:00,376 --> 00:44:01,943
unexplained.

801
00:44:02,074 --> 00:44:04,119
We're assigned to observe
the Mayfairs.

802
00:44:04,250 --> 00:44:07,253
Your gift is the strongest thing
I've ever felt.

803
00:44:07,383 --> 00:44:10,082
Do all the Mayfairs have...
"gifts"?

804
00:44:10,212 --> 00:44:12,693
There is something --
a being --

805
00:44:12,824 --> 00:44:15,391
he's connected
with your family.

806
00:44:15,522 --> 00:44:17,785
[Woman gasps]

807
00:44:19,700 --> 00:44:21,049
Man: He can take
different forms.

808
00:44:21,180 --> 00:44:24,966
♪

809
00:44:25,097 --> 00:44:26,838
He might start to visit you.

810
00:44:26,968 --> 00:44:32,670
♪

811
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:38,458
♪

812
00:44:38,588 --> 00:44:41,374
♪ You're my lucky charm

813
00:44:41,504 --> 00:44:44,290
Woman:
The devil comes in many forms.

814
00:44:44,420 --> 00:44:45,900
[All chanting]

815
00:44:46,031 --> 00:44:50,209
Woman: Redeem her soul from
evil, o, Lord!

816
00:44:50,339 --> 00:44:51,863
[Screams]

817
00:44:51,993 --> 00:44:54,430
Man: Here's the power
that's rightly yours.

818
00:44:54,561 --> 00:44:59,871
♪

819
00:45:00,001 --> 00:45:01,394
Are you frightened
of you?

820
00:45:01,524 --> 00:45:02,917
Shouldn't I be?

821
00:45:04,876 --> 00:45:06,704
He serves you,
not the other way around.

822
00:45:06,834 --> 00:45:11,883
♪

823
00:45:12,013 --> 00:45:14,668
Man: You know you're special,
don't you?

824
00:45:14,799 --> 00:45:17,149
Can you feel it?

825
00:45:17,279 --> 00:45:23,372
♪