Witch trials may be a thing of the past, but the prejudice is still alive and well.
Shop owner Toni Hunt hasn’t had it easy. She’s had her car damaged. Eggs pelted at her shop window. She’s had abuse posted through her letterbox. Exorcisms performed outside her store. She’s been told that she’s ‘damned and doomed’ and that she’s going to hell. Why? Because Toni is a witch.
Witchcraft has been having a revival. From Doctor Who's witch trial episode, to Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; to witch starter kits being sold in Sephora (they’ve since been removed from the shelves), and the hashtag ‘#witchesofinstagram’ has 2.1 million posts. But although the witch aesthetic and pop culture may be trending and enjoyed by many, the reality for those who follow Pagan beliefs and are witches, like Toni, it’s very different. Witch hunts may have ended when an Act to repeal witchcraft was passed in 1735, but the stigma and persecution surrounding witchcraft is alive and well.
It was only a few months ago Toni received a call to say her shop Spellbound had been broken into and smashed up. “It took us maybe a day or so working through the night to get things right”, she says calmly. “They smashed all the cabinets; all the stock. We are incredibly persecuted.” For Toni, her staff and other pagans alike, mistreatment accompanied with the title of ‘witch’ or ‘Wiccan’ has unfortunately become the norm.
Jennifer Lane, from Manchester, has been practicing Wicca since she was 13 and is familiar with this negative treatment. One memory which stands out particularly for her was back in secondary school. “We were all asked to say what we believe in and say how religious we were on a scale of one to 10 and, me being Wiccan and it being something I practiced every day and was really passionate about, I said 10”, she says. “After that, word got out that I was a witch, even though that’s not what I’d said. I didn’t really open up to people about it after that because I just thought, if I’m going to be ridiculed for what I believe in then I’m just going to keep quiet.”
The typical reference that Jennifer’s ‘going to hell’ is something she’s also familiar with. “It’s kind of that sort of abrupt horrible thing to say; not that witches believe in hell or the devil, or anything like that”, she says. “It’s the malice behind saying something like that that’s actually the problem.” But it doesn’t stop there; she’s even been referred to as a ‘lesbian witch’. “ There’s this guy who is always making suggestive comments about me and my friend practising witchcraft together and it’s really not ok in any way at all”, she says. “It’s that sort of thing that wears you down.”
"You’re more likely to get laughed at than attacked if you call yourself Pagan.”
The last census revealed more than 56,000 people in the UK identify as pagan and over 11,000 as Wiccan; and a survey by the Pew Research Centre revealed there’s between 1 and 1.5 million Wiccans in the US. Long gone are the days of hanging, burning and ducking witches. So why is it centuries later this prejudice still exists?
Professor Ronald Hutton from the University of Bristol is an expert in modern witchcraft and Paganism, which he has been studying for three decades. He says one reason is partly because people cannot go through ‘official channels anymore’. “They have to carry out illegal personal, vigilante action because they’re not likely now to get the police, the justice system, local government or the caring services on their side”, he says. “Up until the 1990’s if you were identified as a modern-witch you were in danger of losing your job, having your children taken away from you and having your windows broken and your house given graffiti.”
He continues: “What happens instead is that if you identify as a modern witch you’re most unlikely to be entrusted with a position of responsibility in our society. The propulsion comes from a rooted Christian idea that identifies Paganism with devil worship or at best with blood sacrifice.”
Toni’s shop is situated a couple hundred metres from Gloucester Cathedral and Christian conflict is something she’s experienced regularly. “I had a Christian come to the door and he tried to prevent people coming in”, she says. “He was filming and said ‘you need to get Jesus, what are you?’ and I said ‘don’t you see that your Jesus would’ve preached that you should judge people by their heart and how kind they are’. He just shouted me down and I realised given his way he would’ve stoned us.”
She’s quick to point out where her abuse comes from: “I don’t think it comes from the Cathedral, they are really agreeable. I think it comes from fanatical quarters.”
Gloucester Diocese said they couldn’t comment on the abuse Toni’s suffered. But one church within the city did show concern. Rory Jones, Secretary at Southgate Evangelical Church, said that the churches views on witchcraft are clear cut. He said: “The Bible is very clear in its warning about any involvement in witchcraft or sorcery of any kind. Witchcraft and spiritism often involves the ritualistic use of magic, potions and mind-controlling drugs. Using illicit drugs can open ourselves up to the invasion of demonic spirits.”
But not everyone holds the church to account for the negative stereotype placed upon witches today. Debi Gregory came out as a Pagan at 13 years old and is the Disabilities Manager at the Pagan Federation; a volunteer based organisation offering support to the Pagan community. She recalls a time she was “scoffed at” by a priest for her beliefs, but when asked if she feels the church is to blame she disagrees. “It’s not the church, it’s people in general”, she says.
“People are so quick to blame religion, even people in religions are so quick to blame other religions for their problems; what they forget is religions didn’t do all these things. Religions didn’t start wars. Religions don’t discriminate. Religions don’t point guns. Religions don’t start fights. Religions are constructed by people. Man did all those things.”
She continues: “I don’t think Christianity is the reason we’re discriminated against. I think people being overzealous with their beliefs is why we’re being discriminated against.”
But the biggest issue witches and Wiccans are facing is that people struggle to take them or their beliefs seriously. “It’s not that they think we’re evil”, says Debi, “It’s the fact that they don’t take us seriously as people at all. Every aspect of our life is then belittled because of our faith. You’re more likely to get laughed at than attacked if you call yourself Pagan.”
This is something Professor Ronald Hutton also agrees with. He says: “To be Pagan is itself to suggest to most people, especially people in authority, that the person concerned cannot be taken seriously.” He continues: “Just stop to think across the world; there is not a single person who is a publicly professed Pagan who is a leading politician, academic, business person, media figure, industrialist, journalist, actor or musician. The role models are missing and so is the influence.”
Things are progressing, but very slowly. Wiccan and YouTube star Harmony Nice, and online platforms such as ‘The Hoodwitch’, have created a resurgence of interest in witchcraft. There is the Police Pagan Association which was established in 2009. An official support group is being launched for Pagans in the military. Paganism is taught as part of the syllabus in Cornwall and the Pagan Federation does work within prisons, hospitals and education.
So what further steps can be taken to eradicate the stigma associated with witchcraft today? Professor Ronald Hutton says two things: “First the public authorities need to continue as they’re mostly doing at present and treating modern-witchcraft as a legitimate spiritual system and the other thing is we need time.
“It took 100 years for people to stop beating up Quakers and putting them in prison and taking away their children. It was 100 years before they then accepted Quakers as fully recognised legitimate members of British Society. We’re moving much faster these days so maybe it will be another 50 years before Paganism is fully accepted the same way.”
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