Witchcore Aesthetics and Feminism

If you were also a fan of Phoebe, Piper, and Prue in the late 90s TV series Charmed and couldn't help humming How Soon Is Now by The Smiths as soon as you read the title—spoiler alert, the soundtrack is actually a cover by Love Spit Love—then we should stop and have a chat.

Florence Welch has announced a new album to be released on October 31. And the date is no coincidence. The preview single Everybody Scream, released on August 20 with an accompanying video clip, has already sparked excitement among fans and sent witchy TikTok into a frenzy, complete with videos praising spells and witchcraft, reposted by Florence herself on her account.

The music video of Everybody Scream by Florence and The Machine

Over the years, Florence and The Machine's entire image has been consolidated around a highly recognizable aesthetic. Flowing dresses, long red hair blowing in the wind, and a dramatic voice, all combined with lyrics focused on rebirth and femininity, steeped in symbolism and transformation. In short, a coherent fairy-tale combination of forest nymph and 1970s bohemienne. Goddess, mermaid, and witch - the female archetypes of mysticism. But how much is it a matter of style?

The figure of the witch, along with other magical and mythological creatures from the collective imagination, represents an ideal of subversive femininity. As it rebels against the norms dictated by society and public opinion, it takes on the ambivalent nature of being both beautiful and cruel, an enchanting and frightening creature at once, sometimes bordering on the outcast, even the monstrous. It is no coincidence that mermaids are traditionally depicted as half women and half fish or birds. In cartoons and fairy tales, witches are usually ranked among the villains, and they physically embody the prototype of evil, i.e., they are unpleasant in appearance, according to the stereotypical narrative representation of good=beautiful and evil=ugly. Of ancient origin, from Lilith to goddesses, through nymphs and famous sorceresses such as Medea and Circe, to the witch hunts of the 16th century, the figure of the witch has undergone several evolutions, until it has been rehabilitated in our day as an emblem of strong, benevolent, and fearless femininity, without renouncing the provocative sensuality for which it was so condemned and ostracized in the past.

Contemporary pop culture is full of examples of women who have revived this model, or at least intentionally exploited certain aspects of it. Stevie Nicks earned the nickname white witch during Fleetwood Mac's heyday. Her aesthetic has ever since been associated with something sorcerous, both for her boho stage outfits in full 70s style and for the mystical references that the band brought to their songs - from Rhiannon, named after the Celtic mythological creature, to Black Magic Woman, made famous by Santana's cover, to Sisters of the Moon, via Silver Springs, whose official live performance video still sparks gossip about all the rumors within the band—while their contemporaries, the Eagles, sang Witchy Woman.

Black Magic Woman - Santana’s version

Other modern artists include references to witches and natural elements in their lyrics. Taylor Swift sings, “They're burning all the witches even if you aren't one,” and some of her songs, such as Ivy and Willow, are considered to have a magical aura due to their narrative and aesthetics. Not to mention Lana del Rey, author of Season Of The Witch, the soundtrack to the film Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark. Back on this side of the ocean, Enya has distinguished herself in a unique way for her Lord of the Rings-esque Celtic musical style, evocative of ethereal worlds populated by elves. Norwegian singer Aurora celebrates her close connection with nature in The Seed and the awakening of a wild femininity in the song Running With The Wolves, echoing the title of Clarissa Pinkola Estés' book Women Who Run With the Wolves, a Jungian hymn to the recovery of the authentic and primordial feminine. But mysticism and femininity are also intertwined in other texts, such as Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici, a sharp reflection on feminism from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, whose protagonist likes to solve crimes by consulting the stars and astrology.

Women and magic, therefore, seem to be linked by much more than simple aesthetic choice, and the connection between the two runs through all fields of cultural production. Identification with the witch becomes a cry for the recognition of one's own identity, of the mystical power, both destructive and creative, of a female role that is feared and unknown and therefore relegated since ancient times. It calls for the rediscovery of a sacred, proud, superb, and healing femininity, and appeals to a community of women endowed with powers they do not know they have, whose potential has been stifled and denied for centuries by a social fabric that had every interest in doing so.

A witchy playlist is a must as the icing on the cake, and as usual, I've got you covered. Click here.🔮