The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/witchcraft)
“Contemporary reclamations of ‘witch’ as feminist identity tend toward celebration,” writes Beatrix Kondo, “which Atwood declines. What she offers instead is something harder and more useful: these practices functioned as survival apparatus for populations the official world refused to protect.”
Lyonel Perabo reviews Chloe Zhao’s film, a moody, witchy exploration of grief and art that incorporates the medieval Nine Herbs Charm into its story of Agnes Hathaway and William Shakespeare.
New analysis of a famous Anne Boleyn portrait suggests it was deliberately altered to counter witchcraft slander, revealing how art, politics, and gendered attacks shaped the posthumous image of Henry VIII’s ill-fated queen history.
Alex J. Coyne looks into how some Witches and Pagans are using chatbots and other generative AI tools as components in their rituals and spells – and why that has potential to be a very bad idea.
As 2025 closes, The Wild Hunt looks back on a year shaped by conflict, vigilance, and resilience, where Pagan communities confronted power, defended religious freedom, and strengthened collective voice through storytelling, organizing, and shared witness.