I’ve never heard this song, or maybe I’ve heard a cover of it in the credits of season 4 of True Blood. I actually really liked the first two seasons of True Blood, stuck with it during season 3, as Alcide was a werewolf worth sticking around for. Season 4 was where I faltered or rather the series faltered which was disappointing as it featured witches. I had hoped that this would be an exploration into witchcraft as well as the series’ own spin on the this area of supernatural beings, but it wasn’t. Even the ever amazing Irish actress Fiona Shaw couldn’t save the season as the head of a coven who is eventually possessed by a witch from the past seeking revenge. This was a lost opportunity in eyes. I stopped watching True Blood after a few episodes in to season 5, it had lost its bite.
Witches have not been favoured in film, music, literature and anything really... unless you count Sabrina the Teenage Witch and oh gad, Harry Potter and friends. I should say now, I’m not a huge Potter fans. Sorry but not sorry. It’s not a requirement of a British film lover who also likes fantasy and science fiction to ‘like’ Harry Potter. I appreciate the films and the books in other ways but I don’t own the films or even the books anymore (1-5 were my sisters and my dad bought and read the others). The studio tour on the other hand was immense and THAT I did enjoy. I own the Marauder’s Map, yes, but its an amazing work of art. So, there will not be mention of J.K Rowling’s saga. Although I loved Winnie the Witch and devoured all the 'Worst Witch' books, there isn't mention of them either, both classics if you ask me.
I did and do love Sabrina the Teenage Witch, that 90s TV sitcom styled show about a girl who finds out she is half witch and goes to live with her eccentric aunts. That, I could watch again, and I did, when I bough the entire series box set. The magic in that was a mix of goofy kid’s show stuff and pretty dark and dismal such as, being turned into a candle of wax for breaking a rule or turning to stone if your true love leaves you. This was dark for anyone to experience let alone a teen girl. This lighter side to witchcraft, as I mentioned, came with rules that at times Sabrina broke. The amazing spell book she was gifted held spells, need to know info and warnings of magic being misused. As a predominantly kid’s show, it obviously didn’t delve deep into mythology and very little history. One episode I thought was brilliantly executed was where Sabrina went on a class trip to Salem where everyone is given a secret identity, one of which is a ‘witch’. Anyone is allowed to be accused of being a witch because for some reason that’s a fun thing to do? Sabrina is picked on by the mean girl and is even put on trial. She wins and is proved not to be a witch BUT at the end when she finally looks at her identity it is revealed that she had the ‘witch’ card all along. You can’t escape your true identity.
Witchcraft has always been at the back of mind, as well elements of other explanations, might be why I love sci-fi so much. Star signs was something I followed when I was younger then as a teenager I bought my first pack of Tarot cards, ones of which I picked carefully. I tried to learn the meanings behind the cards but it became a novelty when I found out every ‘emo’ owned a pack. I was intrigued by the history and what each card meant rather than being considered to be ‘just like everyone else’. I brought them into school once where everyone got excited and started ‘playing’ with them. Someone suggested I use them to read people’s future at the next charity week, but my head of year promptly shut this down and told me not to bring them again. I should add, this was a catholic Covent school (hideous place).
Although, my knowledge of the cards decreased, witches and witch craft was still something I was fascinated with. When American Horror Story: Coven started, I was ecstatic. Even though it was the least favoured (until Freak Show started), I loved it, despite some problematic parts to it. A house full of witches, actual spells of all kinds, dark and light, Stevie Nicks singing ‘Seven Wonders’, a fantastic old fashioned demonstration of what the seven wonders where, all amazing and yes it was still scary to watch in some parts. When you mix in axe murdering ghosts, voodoo queens and horrific racism, its a series I can watch repeatedly.
My refreshed interest in witches came about when a favourite London based film collective, The Final Girls, presented two short documentaries about witches, specifically in the 70s, at the start of the year during the London Short Film Festival. I wrote a post about this screening at the time, but it stayed with me. Witchcraft holds a world of the weird and wonderful as well as the potential scary elements. Witches in film have usually been placed as the villain which to me, is a tired trope, plus, if its outright horror like the 2015 film ‘The Witch’ I can’t watch. But, I’m still absorbed into the story. All the fairytale witches are evil and cruel, some of them even with cannibal tendencies, which is an easy out. The person with magical powers is always going to be the ‘evil’ one. This might be fear of the unknown, people fear what they can’t explain. Curiosity of witchcraft is far more interesting to depict. I should also mention The Final Girls' previous witch-y themed film, The Love Witch, which they toured the country with. I loved this film but I won't gush on about it in this post as I have already in another.
After going to Somerset House’s free exhibition, Tear it Up, about independent publishing and magazines in the UK, I discovered Sabat magazine, which focused over 4 issues, on witchcraft, the spiritual and supernatural. This beautifully printed magazine had me at the first page. Exploring the myth behind the culture renewal of the occult and witches in a contemporary fashion, Sabat is full of beautiful art, interviews and articles around the idea of Witches. My renewed interest in Tarot cards came from the exquisite hand crafted Tarot cards Sabat has on offer and from The Night Circus (which I can reading right now) as well as the secrets that that story holds.