Meredith for Real: the curious introvert Ep. 311: Is Modern Day Witchcraft on the Rise? LSD, Feminism & Fungus
Is there an uptick of people claiming to be actual witches? When in history were witches NOT seen as evil? Is this commercialism packaged as a spiritual practice?
Julie Walsh, PhD, is the Whitehead Associate Professor of Critical Thought & Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Her primary research focus is on metaphysics & the ethics of human freedom in the early modern period.
In this episode, we talk about the historical origin of witches & word choice, the connection between female sexual satisfaction & witches, the 1400’s witch hunting manual & how time legitimizes magical practices
If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 195: ROUNDING UP SUSPICIOUS WOMEN? THE AMERICAN PLAN
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00:00 — Generations of witches in pop culture
01:20 — First encounters with “I’m a witch”
02:10 — The word wicce and its earliest meaning
04:00 — Magic before evil: shifting definitions
05:00 — Witch as a living, changing word
06:10 — Salem isn’t the beginning
07:00 — The 1487 bestseller that fueled hunts
09:00 — Sex, power, and the devil’s contract
10:30 — Why ridiculous ideas still matter
11:30 — How witch manuals went viral
13:00 — From Europe to Salem: ideology travels
14:00 — What counted as a witch in 1690s Salem
15:00 — Tituba’s confession and survival strategy
17:00 — Executions, prisons, and spectral evidence
19:00 — How do you defend against a ghost?
20:00 — LSD bread or land grabs? Debunking theories
22:30 — Property disputes and colonial lawsuits
24:30 — From persecution to empowerment today
25:30 — Why modern women claim “witch”
27:00 — Moon cycles, ancestors, and ritual
29:00 — Ancient solstice parties and survival
31:00 — The risks of claiming witchhood
32:00 — Are modern witches linked to the executed?
34:00 — Saints, voodoo dolls, and cultural taboos
36:00 — Whose magic gets mainstreamed?
37:00 — Why old beliefs feel more “legit”
38:30 — Tarot cards, tradition, and authority
39:30 — Crystals, consumerism, and moon circles
40:30 — Salem today: trinkets and tourism
41:30 — Can spirituality resist commercialization?
42:00 — Beyond WitchTok: finding your roots
43:30 — Elders, ancestry, and empowerment through knowledge
44:30 — Where history, nature, and identity converge
45:00 — Closing thoughts + future book tease
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