These new witches are rarely comparable to traditional dirty hags. The new witch is often beautiful, at once dark, gothic, ethereal and wild.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Witches
Displaying 1 - 20 of 56 articles
During the Middle Ages, women were steadily excluded from both the practice and the study of medicine by an overwhelmingly male-dominated, institutional and hierarchical system.
In fairy tales there are real mothers and stepmothers and the latter are always evil.
From ancient Greece to modern-day TikTok witchcraft, the world of witches has been a changing one.
A teenage domestic servant showed signs of possession, and a miller was accused of witchcraft. Considering records of these events helps clarify what we can and cannot know about the past.
Visual references to mythological and popular culture figures of female anger abound in the latest Dr. Strange movie.
The idea of a ‘witch’ was usually female in Western Europe, but not so in Orthodox Russia – partly because of the period’s rigid social hierarchies.
A folklorist explains the prehistoric origins of the mythical Easter Bunny and why this longstanding cultural symbol keeps returning each spring.
It’s facile to claim that only the state, or even only elites, were responsible for executing witches – there is a potential witch-hunter in all of us.
Whether someone is scrolling mindlessly or actively conducting research, WitchTok connects witches to their practices and community.
Beyond the fairy tales, mythical stories and stereotypes, there are many ways to be a witch.
What’s behind Gen Z’s appetite for tarot and spells? 16th century debates about witchcraft help explain why the occult has become viral on TikTok.
Witch trials relied on a medieval text called the “Malleus Maleficarum” – a book this reference librarian can hold in her hands.
Samhain will be particularly poignant this year for Wiccans who are members or veterans of the US military as they process the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
Scent and magic have been entwined in our imaginations for centuries – right up to today’s witch-inspired perfumes.
Interest in Wicca and witchcraft appears to be increasing, but what exactly is Wicca in the first place?
A historian reviews Pablo Agüere’s award-winning Netflix film Akelarre and explains why it is one of the best films around on the early modern witch-hunt.
Today, beer is marketed to men and the industry is run by men. It wasn’t always that way.
The role of witches in society relates directly to the role of women in society. And during times of social upheaval and changes, witches represent access to women’s power.
As the U.S. election approaches, various groups have mobilized to vote. But witches have taken it a little further, organizing online spellcasting meet-ups to engage in magical resistance.
Top contributors
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Affliated Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center, Brandeis University
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Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures, University of Exeter
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Teaching Fellow in Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
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Professor of Anthropology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History, History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
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Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies, Monash University
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University of Newcastle
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Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, the University of Queensland; International Distinguished Fellow, the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University., The University of Queensland
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John Ferguson Professor of Global Ethics, Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham
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Professor of Human Geography, Royal Holloway University of London
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Professor of Children's Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London
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Royal Society University Research Fellow, UCL
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Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician and Public Health Scientist, MidMichigan Health, University of Michigan
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Professor in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Northumbria University, Newcastle
