In Frightening Times, Witchcraft Rediscovers Its Political Roots

From levitating the Pentagon to hexing Trump, witchcraft has a long activist history—and a new activist future.

O n a February night at midnight, during a waning crescent moon, American witches cast a binding spell on President Trump. The idea came from author and “magical thinker” Michael M. Hughes, who crafted a minimal, tongue-in-cheek ritual using elements familiar to practitioners of Wicca but accessible to all. The ritual centered on an inverted Tower tarot card (which signifies disaster averted), and called for simple objects like candles, baby carrots, incense, and salt. The post made the rounds among various pagan networks and webpages, and went viral quickly, with coverage on mainstream sites like Rolling Stone and Buzzfeed, and in newspapers like the Boston Globe. Breitbart covered it too, naturally, referring to the event as “black magic” and noting that Christian Trump supporters would be counteracting the binding spell with prayers of protection.

Witches across the country joined in with alacrity. TIME had a video of witches hunkered down with candles and smartphones in front of Trump Tower in New York City. In Chicago, a group inspired by the 1960s activist collective W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy…