Why Are Girls Becoming Witches And Turning To Witchcraft?
In my latest YouTube video, I'm explaining the recent phenomenon of non-Muslim girls becoming witches. Did you know that across America, the practice of witchcraft and paganism is growing among young women? It's bizarre! Witches have long been a part of pop culture, but for all the attention paid to them, few people realise some girls practice paganism in real life. Here are two examples of young women who spoke to Teen Vogue about embracing witchcraft.
Charmed n Dangerous
Coming from a deeply religious family, M Alexis, 25, began studying witchcraft in secret when she was 14 years old. Like many others, Alexis has also found a niche community through posting witchy content on TikTok to 48k followers.
“WitchTok gives witches a safe space to connect and relate to each other,” she tells Vogue. “In the real world, it is hard to say you are a witch or speak about the craft. People judge us and don’t try to understand with an open mind. For the world to understand, a spell is like saying a prayer. Praying is sending words of manifestation into the universe. A spell is the same, though, with a bit more spice. Adding herbs and candles to spells helps raise the energy and vibration of a manifestation.”
Divine Mysticz
Kehlsie Jayne, 18, has been practising WitchTok since its inception. “I have always been a pretty spiritual person,” Jayne says. “But after going through a dark time and starting my healing journey, I rapidly went to different awakenings and gained lots of spiritual knowledge. So I started sharing that with TikTok and as my community grew, I realised helping others with their own spirituality and healing is something I’m meant to do.”
Pythian Priestess
Growing up in a strict Roman Catholic household, Ashley Ryan, 28, turned to witchcraft at 14 years old after failing to connect with her religion. “I would go to the local library and look for books under the ‘metaphysics’ section,” Ryan tells Vogue. “I taught myself about auras, clairvoyance, and tarot. This studying was something I didn’t share with anyone; it was my secret. I continued my spiritual journey in college when I earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology.”
It wasn’t until she joined TikTok in 2019, after a friend alerted her to the WitchTok movement, that she began to practice her craft out in the open. “TikTok has forced me out of my comfort zone a little bit. When I reached 100k [followers], I decided it was time to tell my family about my spirituality. I was surprised to see how accepting they were.”
Ryan’s celebrated for the anti-anxiety spells and Mercury Retrograde DIY candles that she posts to her 235.3k followers. With the aim of promoting wellness, Ryan uses her platform to help others: “WitchTok teaches young people to be self-loving, self-reflective, and teaches mindfulness. It allows young people to create a safe space to connect with themselves [and] their spirituality without fear of judgment or shame.”
Of the movement’s popularity, she notes: “We are seeing the decline of the traditional spiritual structure based on authority and the rise in this self-made community without a leader. WitchTok is changing the way young people view spiritualism, witchcraft, and the occult. It is demystifying it, pulling the veil back on what is considered ‘evil’ or ‘satanic’. It’s an honest revamping of spirituality from the masses.”
Hollow Hollis
“I honestly had no idea what WitchTok was at first!” says 22-year-old Jerrell Hollis, who has been studying the occult since 2017. “My followers started posting the hashtag on a few of my videos. So I clicked it one day and realised it was a community of spiritual influencers and witches. I finally felt like I found a home of people like me.”
Hollis’s account is a blend of witchy content spanning astrology, astronomy, numerology, tarot, spiritual guidance, and more. “I see WitchTok as a place for people to come together on their spiritual journeys and teach each other what they’ve learned so far,” says Hollis of his 236.5k fans. “That so many people are awakening and realising that it’s OK to believe what you want and to ask questions is really interesting. It’s honestly just beautiful to witness so many souls unite and radiate positivity on social media.”
I don't believe in scaremongering, educating ourselves is a much more intelligent path to follow. In my book Smart Teenage Muslimah there will be a chapter on the need to follow guidance from Allah rather than manifesting your own spiritual journey based on trends and popular culture Inshallah, it will give your daughter a good Islamic perspective on why we follow messengers and believe the Quran is the word of Allah.