Magic may be having a comeback, but in America witchcraft is still on trial

You may not know you live next door to a witch, but there are subtle signs.

That purple front door? It’s a nod to fellow practitioners that a witch lives within.

Blue glass bottles in the yard might be more than just decoration – they also trap and ward off evil spirits.

And your neighbor’s rooster that heralds the dawn every single morning is actually a living talisman of protection.

These secrets and symbols – once jealously guarded – are now readily available to anyone interested in taking up witchcraft, thanks to an explosion of content online.

Social media teems with self-described woo-woo moms who swear by tarot readings, and even Hollywood has gotten in on the magic . Oscar winner Anne Hathaway recently revealed she’d “charged” water during a full moon , as Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return this week in “ Practical Magic 2 ,” released by Warner Bros. Pictures, CNN’s parent company.

All the while, #witchtok garners millions of posts, and there’s no shortage of flash sales for love spells – or curses.

In a time of political upheaval and cultural shifts, witches and their customers can feel drawn to magic because it gives them a sense of agency and control over chaos. But when magic and money mix, some opt to lean into humanity’s worst instincts – perhaps with ominous consequences.

The heightened visibility of it all has divided some elders who, after living through periods of persecution, worry a new such era could dawn. So, while magic may be experiencing a resurgence, in many ways, witchcraft is still on trial.

The first thing you notice about Megan Archer’s home in suburban Maryland is how inviting it feels. The afternoon sunlight streams through a large picture window, and the smell of incense hangs subtly in the air.

Other than the occasional barks from her dog, who doesn’t appreciate being locked away for guests, the witch’s home is peaceful and a far cry from the dank, dark cottages often found in folklore.

Archer, of course, credits magic. Indeed, she specializes in “house magic” that protects and cleanses, and often blends feng shui practices with her spellwork to help direct energy.

The 31-year-old describes herself as an “intermediate” witch who began learning about witchcraft during the pandemic after discovering a community online.

“I’ve always liked sharing my journey, sharing beginner witch tips,” she said, adding her love of learning and research “makes me feel more confident teaching the beginner stuff because I’m right there living it.”

Today, Archer posts under the handle “InstantWitch” and has over a million followers across social media. After her content began taking off, Archer left the corporate world to focus on being a “witchy bestie” who shares how to use household items to achieve practical, magical goals.

It’s now her full-time job. Though, she admits, “I do cast spells for success and visibility.”

As she speaks, her pet rat, Fergus, sits contentedly on her shoulder, his tiny nose wriggling when he sniffs the air. Archer acknowledges some witches still prefer secrecy, which she says is likely a form of self-protection, given the host of misconceptions about witchcraft – namely that it has anything to do with Satan or the devil.

Archer was raised Buddhist, and its emphasis on ritual and spirituality eased her transition into spellwork.

“There’s a spirit that connects everything, you know? A lot of practices … religion, witchcraft, are all trying to work with that spirit.”

Some, she said, just call it magic.

Last year, Archer published her first book, “Instant Witch: The Beginner’s Guide,” which offers a practical approach to everything from astrology to candle magic; it was recently translated into Spanish.

“I don’t really gatekeep anything. With these covens, there’s a lot of secrecy involved,” she said. “The internet is sort of opening that up, which can be a good thing.”

Though, she quickly adds, “it can also be a bad thing if things aren’t taught correctly.”

Witchcraft was “not even on the radar” when Phyllis Curott’s friend dragged her into an esoteric shop in Manhattan in the early 1980s for a tarot reading. An Ivy League-educated lawyer, Curott was focused on dismantling organized crime in labor unions by day while also managing a rock band.

Still, she asked the woman – and the cards – for guidance and found the tarot reading oddly prescient. Afterward, she recalled, the witch extended an invitation for Curott to join her weekly group, which she stopped short of calling a coven.

“ I thanked her, and I paid for my reading, and I walked out the door with absolutely less than no intention of ever going back,” Curott said.

But sometime later, Curott found herself standing in a circle, in a room full of diverse women, invoking the Divine Feminine in a ritual.

“Suddenly there was this agency that was being offered to us, this capacity to find a spiritual power that was innate that had been suppressed,” she said.

She began practicing Wicca – a modern form of witchcraft – and she said it was like taking off “the blindfold that’s been tied on by history and also by habit, by culture.”

But in the 1980s, those who practiced witchcraft were under attack. The decade was bookended by the rise of the Christian right in politics and the “Satanic Panic” that sought to root out anything deemed “demonic” or occult, said Helen Berger, a sociologist who’s spent decades studying and chronicling witchcraft and paganism in America.

Far from being cowed, the backlash spurred Curott to advocate for Wiccan and pagan rights.

“People were really buried in the broom closet at that point,” she added. “But I made the decision that I was out.”

When she was asked to represent a group of Wiccan leaders in their fight to perform legally binding marriage ceremonies in New York City, Curott agreed – and they won.

In 1993, she attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions’ first meeting in a century and now sits on the board of the global interfaith organization. She began doing interviews, amassing legal and cultural victories, and attracting notice – especially after she published her 1998 memoir, “Book of Shadows.”

“I watched the world become a little less cruel and a little more accepting,” she said.

And, she noted, the success of films like “Practical Magic” and later the “Harry Potter” series, as well as TV shows like “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Charmed,” helped shift the cultural narrative about witchcraft and magic.

But the rise of the internet age brought a change in how witchcraft is taught, moving away from group-based covens to an emphasis on solitary practice.

And soon, Curott said, what largely had been a spiritual path turned into a commodity. With it came not only benign hexes but also highly publicized incidents of violence that “can play into a stereotype” and feed fresh demonization of witchcraft.

After all, you can buy almost anything online these days.

Nervous about an upcoming interview? There’s a spell for that.

Want to ensure good weather for your wedding? There’s a spell for that, too.

And if you’re a hockey fan and your archrival makes it all the way to the Stanley Cup, you can see a witch about a curse.

At least that’s what Marissa Lee did when it became clear the Vegas Golden Knights would take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2026 finals.

“I am,” she confessed, “a Vegas hater.”

Ian Maule/Getty Images

Lee, who asked CNN to identify her by her first and middle names only because of the vitriol she says female sports fans can face, said she couldn’t stomach the idea of Carter Hart, Vegas’ starting goalie, being immortalized on the Stanley Cup – even after he was acquitted last summer in a 2018 assault case, she said.

So, she bought a hex.

“I never purchased anything like that online,” she told CNN. “I literally just Googled ‘hex,’ and she came up.”

Not only that, but the witch was having a sale.

“What’s the worst that could happen? It’s a scam,” Lee figured. “All right, whatever; it’s not like I spent $1,000.”

The witch sent her a receipt and urged her to “trust the spirits are already working.” After losing the opener, the Hurricanes won the next game in overtime. In Game 3, they caved by one goal in dramatic fashion, then came roaring back.

“No one tell me Etsy Witches aren’t real,” a triumphant Lee posted on Threads, referring to practitioners on the popular online marketplace. “Worth every penny.”

The Hurricanes won the 2026 Stanley Cup, and Hart made history as the first NHL goalie to allow at least four goals in five straight finals matches.

“It felt like a win for women,” said Lee, who – while still uncertain whether she believes in magic – knows spells and rituals can give “people a feeling like they have control, like they can help, they can do something.”

Similar solicitations, however, have become part of far darker storylines.

On September 8, 2025, the publication Jezebel posted an article claiming its journalist had paid “Etsy Witches” to curse the conservative activist Charlie Kirk . Although the tone of the story was mildly tongue-in-cheek, one of its lines soon would feel foreboding:

“I reminded myself: This is witchcraft, not Amazon,” the Jezebel reporter wrote. “The forces operate on their own schedule.”

Kirk was assassinated two days later.

The article drew swift condemnation , and Jezebel editors soon added a note atop it condemning Kirk’s shooting and political violence “in the strongest possible terms.”

Spells also featured heavily this spring in the trial of Larry Millete, whom a jury found guilty of murdering his wife.

Maya Millete vanished from her Chula Vista, California, home in 2021 after informing her husband of her intention to file for divorce; her body remains missing. Larry Millete later pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, and his eight-week trial featured testimony from a spellcaster he hired to curse his wife in the months before she disappeared.

Prosecutors offered evidence Millete asked for hexes that would injure or incapacitate his wife, NBC San Diego reported . Frank Peavy testified Millete hired him off a freelance website, then bombarded him with requests to cast spells on his wife, CNN affiliate CBS8 reported .

Although Peavy confirmed Millete never asked him for his wife to disappear or be killed, he testified Millete’s interactions became manic, desperate and obsessive . Peavy said he blocked Millete before Maya vanished, CBS8 reported.

The spellcaster’s testimony was among several pieces of strong evidence that helped convict Millete, jurors told NBC San Diego.

“You look at those spellcasters and that pitch of going all the way up until – in my opinion and the jurors’, that he killed her, and then he stops. It’s ‘boom,’” juror Beverly Feldman told the outlet after the verdict was announced .

Such high-profile cases can make it “dangerous for those of us who know what (witchcraft) is really all about and are seeking to walk a sacred path,” said Curott, the practitioner and lawyer.

Still, time and experience have taught her, “you cannot practice this spiritual path in fear.”

“The world needs its witches,” she said. “It needs witch’s wisdom.”

你可能不知道你隔壁住着一位女巫，但其实有一些微妙的迹象。

那扇紫色的前门？这是在向其他修行者暗示，里面住着一位女巫。

院子里的蓝色玻璃瓶可能不仅仅是装饰品——它们还能捕捉和驱赶邪灵。

而你邻居家每天清晨啼鸣的公鸡，实际上是一个活生生的护身符。

这些曾经被严密守护的秘密和符号，如今由于网络内容的爆炸式增长，任何对巫术感兴趣的人都可以轻松获取。

社交媒体上充斥着自称信奉神秘学的妈妈们，她们对塔罗牌占卜深信不疑，就连好莱坞也加入了这场魔法热潮。奥斯卡影后安妮·海瑟薇最近透露，她曾在满月时给水“充能”。与此同时，桑德拉·布洛克和妮可·基德曼本周回归，出演由华纳兄弟影业（CNN的母公司）发行的《魔法奇缘2》。

与此同时，#witchtok 吸引了数百万条帖子，爱情咒语或诅咒的限时特价促销活动层出不穷。

在政治动荡和文化变迁的时代，女巫及其顾客会被魔法所吸引，因为它赋予他们掌控混乱局面的能力。但当魔法与金钱交织在一起时，有些人会选择顺从人性中最阴暗的本能——这或许会带来不祥的后果。

这一切的日益曝光，让一些经历过迫害的长者感到不安，他们担心新的迫害时代可能会再次来临。因此，尽管魔法可能正在复兴，但在许多方面，巫术仍然处于审判之中。

你第一眼看到梅根·阿彻位于马里兰州郊区的家，就会觉得它非常温馨舒适。午后的阳光透过宽大的落地窗洒进来，空气中弥漫着淡淡的香火味。

除了偶尔被关起来招待客人的狗吠叫几声（狗不喜欢被关起来），女巫的家很平静，与民间传说中经常出现的阴暗潮湿的小屋截然不同。

当然，阿彻将这一切归功于魔法。事实上，她专攻“房屋魔法”，这种魔法具有保护和净化作用，她经常将风水实践与她的咒语结合起来，以帮助引导能量。

这位 31 岁的女子自称是一名“中级”女巫，她在疫情期间发现了一个在线社群，并开始学习巫术。

“我一直喜欢分享我的经历，分享初学者女巫的技巧，”她说，并补充道，她对学习和研究的热爱“让我更有信心教授初学者知识，因为我亲身经历了这一切。”

如今，Archer以“InstantWitch”为网名发布内容，在社交媒体上拥有超过百万的粉丝。在她的内容走红之后，Archer离开了企业界，专注于成为一名“魔法闺蜜”，分享如何利用日常用品实现实用而神奇的目标。

现在这成了她的全职工作。不过，她也承认：“我的确会施法祈求成功和提高知名度。”

她说话时，她的宠物鼠弗格斯惬意地趴在她肩上，小鼻子嗅着空气，微微动着。阿彻承认有些女巫仍然喜欢保持神秘，她说这很可能是一种自我保护，因为人们对巫术存在诸多误解——尤其是认为巫术与撒旦或魔鬼有关。

阿切尔从小信奉佛教，佛教注重仪式和精神层面，这使她更容易过渡到魔法领域。

“你知道吗？万物之间有一种精神联系在一起。很多习俗……宗教、巫术，都在试图与这种精神合作。”

她说，有些人就称之为魔法。

去年，阿切尔出版了她的第一本书《瞬间女巫：初学者指南》，书中提供了从占星术到蜡烛魔法等各种实用方法；该书最近被翻译成西班牙语。

“我其实不会设任何门槛。这些女巫团体内部有很多秘密，”她说。“互联网正在打破这种局面，这可能是一件好事。”

不过，她随即补充道，“如果教学方法不正确，那也可能是一件坏事。”

20世纪80年代初，菲利斯·库罗特的朋友拉着她去曼哈顿一家神秘商店做塔罗牌占卜，当时巫术“根本不在她的考虑范围之内”。库罗特是一位毕业于常春藤盟校的律师，白天致力于打击工会中的有组织犯罪，同时还担任一支摇滚乐队的经纪人。

尽管如此，她还是向那位女士——以及塔罗牌——寻求指引，并发现塔罗牌的解读出奇地准确。之后，她回忆说，那位女巫邀请库罗特加入她每周的聚会，但她并没有直接称之为女巫集会。

“我谢过她，付了阅读费，然后走出了门，完全没有想过以后还会再来，”库罗特说。

但不久之后，库罗特发现自己站在一个圆圈里，房间里挤满了形形色色的女性，她们正在举行仪式，祈求神圣女性的力量。

“突然间，我们拥有了这种自主权，这种能力可以找到一种与生俱来、却一直被压制的精神力量，”她说。

她开始练习威卡教——一种现代巫术形式——她说这就像摘下了“历史、习惯和文化所蒙蔽的眼罩”。

但到了20世纪80年代，那些信奉巫术的人却遭到了攻击。海伦·伯杰是一位社会学家，她数十年来一直致力于研究和记录美国的巫术和异教活动。她表示，80年代以基督教右翼势力在政治领域的崛起以及“撒旦恐慌”为开端和结尾，这场恐慌试图根除一切被认为是“恶魔的”或神秘的事物。

库罗特非但没有被吓倒，反而因此更加积极地倡导威卡教和异教的权利。

“当时人们真的都躲在暗处，”她补充道。“但我决定要退出。”

当有人请库罗特代表一群威卡教领袖争取在纽约市举行具有法律约束力的婚姻仪式时，库罗特同意了——而且他们赢了。

1993年，她出席了世界宗教议会百年来的首次会议，如今是这个全球跨宗教组织的理事会成员。她开始接受采访，在法律和文化领域取得了一系列胜利，并引起了广泛关注——尤其是在她1998年出版回忆录《影子之书》之后。

“我看到世界变得不那么残酷，也更加包容了，”她说。

她指出，《魔法奇缘》和后来的《哈利·波特》系列电影以及《魔法少女萨布丽娜》和《圣女魔咒》等电视剧的成功，有助于改变人们对巫术和魔法的文化认知。

但互联网时代的兴起改变了巫术的教授方式，从以团体为基础的巫师集会转向强调单独修行。

库罗特说，很快，原本主要是一种精神修行的道路就变成了一种商品。随之而来的不仅是无害的诅咒，还有广为人知的暴力事件，这些事件“可能会加深人们对巫术的刻板印象”，并助长对巫术的妖魔化。

毕竟，如今几乎任何东西都可以在网上买到。

即将面试，感到紧张吗？有个咒语可以缓解这种紧张。

想确保婚礼当天天气晴朗吗？也有办法的。

如果你是一名冰球球迷，而你的死对头一路打进了斯坦利杯决赛，你就可以去找女巫祈求诅咒了。

至少，当得知拉斯维加斯金骑士队将在 2026 年总决赛中对阵卡罗莱纳飓风队时，玛丽莎·李就是这么做的。

“我，”她坦白道，“讨厌拉斯维加斯。”

伊恩·莫尔/盖蒂图片社

李女士要求 CNN 只用她的名字和中间名来称呼她，因为她认为女性体育迷可能会面临恶毒的攻击。她说，她无法接受拉斯维加斯队的首发门将卡特·哈特的名字被刻在斯坦利杯上——即使他在去年夏天被判无罪释放，这起案件发生在 2018 年。

所以，她买了一个六角星。

“我从来没在网上买过那种东西，”她告诉CNN。“我只是在谷歌上搜索了‘hex’，然后就搜到了她。”

不仅如此，女巫还在搞促销活动。

“最坏的情况是什么？无非就是被骗了，”李心想。“好吧，无所谓了；反正我又没花1000美元。”

女巫给她寄了一张收据，并敦促她“相信神灵已经在运作了”。飓风队首战失利后，在加时赛中赢得了第二场比赛。第三场比赛，她们以一球之差戏剧性地败北，但随后强势反弹。

“谁也别跟我说Etsy上的女巫不存在！”Lee在Threads论坛上得意洋洋地发帖说道，她指的是在热门在线市场Etsy上从事巫术的从业者。“物超所值。”

飓风队赢得了 2026 年斯坦利杯，哈特创造了历史，成为 NHL 历史上第一位在连续五场总决赛中至少丢四球的守门员。

“这感觉像是女性的胜利，”李说道。她虽然仍然不确定自己是否相信魔法，但她知道咒语和仪式可以“让人们感觉自己拥有控制权，感觉自己可以提供帮助，可以做一些事情”。

然而，类似的征婚行为如今已成为更加黑暗的故事情节的一部分。

2025年9月8日，Jezebel网站发表了一篇文章，声称其记者花钱雇佣了一群“Etsy女巫”诅咒保守派活动家查理·柯克。虽然这篇文章的语气略带讽刺，但其中一句话很快就让人感到不祥之兆：

“我提醒自己：这是巫术，不是亚马逊，”Jezebel网站的记者写道。“这些力量按照它们自己的节奏运作。”

两天后，柯克遇刺身亡。

这篇文章迅速遭到谴责，Jezebel 的编辑们很快在文章顶部添加了一条注释，以“最强烈的措辞”谴责柯克的枪击事件和政治暴力。

今年春天，在拉里·米勒特的审判中，咒语也扮演了重要角色。陪审团裁定米勒特谋杀妻子罪名成立。

2021年，玛雅·米莱特在告知丈夫她打算提出离婚后，从位于加州丘拉维斯塔的家中神秘失踪；至今她的遗体仍下落不明。拉里·米莱特后来对一级谋杀指控拒不不认罪。在他长达八周的审判中，一位他雇佣的巫师出庭作证，该巫师声称在玛雅失踪前的几个月里诅咒了她。

据NBC圣地亚哥报道，检方提供的证据显示，米莱特曾要求施咒伤害或使妻子丧失行动能力。据CNN附属电视台CBS8报道，弗兰克·皮维作证称，米莱特通过一个自由职业者网站雇佣了他，然后不断要求他为自己妻子施咒。

虽然皮维证实米莱特从未要求他让妻子失踪或被杀害，但他作证说，米莱特的行为变得狂躁、绝望且偏执。据CBS8报道，皮维称在玛雅失踪前，他已经拉黑了米莱特。

陪审员告诉 NBC 圣地亚哥，这位施法者的证词是帮助定罪米勒特的几项有力证据之一。

“你看看那些施咒者，看看他们一路施咒，直到——在我看来，也是陪审员们的看法——他杀了她，然后他就停了下来。就像‘砰’的一声，”陪审员贝弗利·费尔德曼在宣判后告诉媒体。

库罗特是一位从业者兼律师，他说：“对于我们这些真正了解（巫术）本质并寻求走上神圣道路的人来说，这类备受瞩目的案件可能会变得很危险。”

然而，时间和经验告诉她，“你不能在恐惧中践行这条精神道路。”

“世界需要女巫，”她说。“世界需要女巫的智慧。”