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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