WITCHCRAZE: A LOOK AT MODERN WITCHCRAFT

Alrighty folks, being a lifelong football fan, I know when to punt. Today’s blog was supposed to further the Knights of Lore series, but an older series of mine, The Top Ten Witches of All-Time, is still far surpassing the Knights’ series, so I’ve decided to jump back on the bandwagon and further explore the new ‘Witchcraze’!

It’s hard to believe that just a few hundred years ago, claiming to be a witch, or even being accused of being one, would get you burned at the stake! My, how times have changed. It seems like the only mythical creatures that can rival the skyrocketing popularity of witches is vampires. From a personal standpoint, I see witches winning that battle.

Nothing against those immortal blood sucking creatures of the night, but I will take witches any day! Hey, witches are pretty sexy! All one has to do is look at shows like American Horror Story: Coven, to see what I’m talking about.

That show, which is my favorite AHS yet, has sexy witches from all age groups and walks of life. From perennial bad girls, Fiona Goode and Delphine LaLaurie (portrayed by the esteemed actresses Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates), to younger bad girls like Madison Montgomery and Zoe Benson (Emma Roberts, Taissa Farmiga) and even witches in between, Marie Laveau, Misty Day and Cordelia Foxx (Angela Bassett, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, respectively).

The AHS: Coven witches are bad to the bone! And like all naughty witches should be, they are charming and beautiful, thus belying their own wickedness. So far, the Coven witches have shown incredible powers of second sight, telegraphic fire starting, resurrection, death by sex, control over zombies, reverse empathetic pain, and, of course, murder.

During the upcoming blog installments for Witchcraze! A look at modern witches, we will explore these incredible witches and see what makes them tick. 

On the flip side, American Horror Story producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk aren’t the only production company zeroing in on witchcraft. We also have the Lifetime television series Witches of East End, and Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, which has witches that Ichabod Crane must deal with.  CW’s The Originals is full of witches too.

In the land of Hollywood we’ve recently seen witches on the big screen in Beautiful Creatures, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Snow White and the Huntsman, Oz, the Great and Powerful, and Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem. Later this year we can expect to be enchanted by Disney’s upcoming cartoon movie, Frozen.

2014 promises to be just as epically wicked with potential blockbusters such as Maleficent, Seventh Son, The Last Witch Hunter, The Good Witch’s Wonder and Into the Woods.

Is this just a result of the last witchcraft trend, in which the kids that grew up watching Buffy and Charmed are putting their own spin on things? I think it is, and I also think that is a very good thing. When the Harry Potter kids and the kids that are currently learning the ins and outs of witchcraft from today’s shows, grow up, the cycle will repeat and their witches will be even bigger and even more wicked and epic.

In real life, witchcraft is more openly popular than ever before. However, even in today’s time there is still a great degree of discrimination for those who practice. Just mention the word Wicca to a fundamentalist of other religions and you will see exactly what I’m talking about. It seems that some just can’t get past the ‘do not suffer a witch to live’ mentality from religious edicts from thousands of years ago.

Though these aren’t the burning times, I wouldn’t encourage any kid to go to school and claim witchery. While it’s ok to be proud, it invites too much negativity. Who would want to deal with all that in a religion that teaches positivity? Let’s not be like the religions that preach peace and practice war! We are witches damn it! Like good heavy metal music, it’s a helluva lot better when it comes from underground!

Somewhere in the midst of this series, I would like to take a close look at Wicca, what it entails, how it works, and what real coven witches are like. So, if you know some fantastic witch, particularly one that is an author or one that lives in or around Cincinnati, I would love to chat you up and profile you on my blog. Hit me up on facebook or twitter and let’s talk!

In closing I can only add this: Witches: You’ve come a long way baby!

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