The Witchvox Project, #1: THE CRAFT
This 1996 film changed modern witchcraft irrevocably...
(The Witchvox Project is an ongoing series of posts to this blog, reprinting all of my reviews and media articles from The Witches’ Voice website from 1997 through around 2008. This is being done in tandem with research for my forthcoming book The Witching Hour: How Witches Enchanted the World.)
First, a bit of history…
This was the first article about media that appeared on what would eventually become the Witches’ Voice website. The website came to life at www.witchvox.com on February 2nd of 1997. Prior to that, Fritz Jung and Wren Walker (the co-founders of The Witches’ Voice) had created a website for the Witches’ League for Public Awareness, a public service organization founded by Laurie Cabot a few years earlier. The WLPA website (at the URL www.celticcrow.com) went live on April 2nd of 1996, and The Craft was released a month later. (The WLPA website content was eventually migrated to the Witchvox site upon its creation in 1997.) This article was written after Wren, Fritz and I and several other people went to a theatre in Boston to see the film its opening weekend. Wren has given me permission to reprint it here, and this marked what would eventually become many collaborative pieces we wrote about films and TV for the Witchvox site. As the site grew more popular, we also became a source for other media outlets and did countless interviews for newspapers, magazines, radio and television. As I continue this series I will add more tidbits of the 25 year history of The Witches’ Voice.
It’s appropriate and kismet that we begin with The Craft, because it had such an enormous impact on the modern pagan witchcraft movement. I wrote about this impact in greater depth for the Time Magazine and Polygon websites when the reboot film The Craft: Legacy came out in 2020.
In writing about media, we often had to weigh different considerations. If the movie or show portrayed contemporary practitioners in a negative light, we usually offered our analysis of why and how we found this to be problematic. This was in keeping with the mission of The Witches’ Voice as an organization designed to address issues of spiritual prejudice and persecution, while at the same time celebrating the life-affirming nature of all pagan paths. Needless to say, our pages devoted to discussing witchcraft in popular culture became some of our most lively and sought-out destinations on the entire (eventually huge) website. I’m honored to have been a part of these conversations and grateful to have been able to continue them all these years later.
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The Witches' Voice's Official Statement on the Movie The Craft
Dear Witches,
Several members of the Witches' Voice went to see the Sony movie over the weekend of May 4th and 5th. We were all in agreement on one thing - we had "mixed feelings" about the film . There were several quite amusing parts in the first half and more than a few disturbing acts in the second. It was quite tempting to want to post a review rather than an actual statement of position, as several people have posted that they "liked" the movie and saw it as mere entertainment. Upon reflection, it was decided to measure the impact of the movie using the mission statement of the Voice as a guide.
Although the makers of The Craft and Sony Pictures have been quite vocal concerning their employment of Pat Devin (whom we certainly do not hold responsible for the end results of this film, nor do we question her credentials or intentions) as a Witch "consultant," the Voice considers this no more than a form of "tokenism" to lend credibility to an otherwise inaccurate portrayal of Witches. It would certainly not be clear to the general viewing public which parts of the film show actual practices of the Religion and which are Hollywood fabrications. Hiding behind the shroud of "showing actual rituals of Witchcraft,” the media in fact is exploiting the term "Witch" for the sole purpose of increasing profits and has refused to use the opportunity to correct an injustice against the religious community of Witchcraft.
There was a real "turning point" in the middle of the movie. When Sarah goes to the shop owner for help and the audience sees, at last, what lies behind the curtain, THIS is the chance to show the real practices of the Craft - how Witches cope with issues in their lives under the Laws of Witchcraft and the laws of the United States. THIS is the place in which to demonstrate the effects of the "Three-fold Law " and the value of the "Rede". And THIS is the opportunity not taken. The door to knowledge again was slammed shut. The choice was made to exploit the negative stereotype under which we continue to be burdened. The remaining half of the story deals with revenge and destruction. To be content that "at least SOME of what the film portrayed is accurate" is to be satisfied with "at least SOME of what Witches are shown to do is not blatantly evil,” Anything that is not a whole truth is a partial lie.
By linking the terms "Witches" and "Witchcraft" with murder, mayhem and destructive acts, there is a great potential danger. That danger could create encouragement for a resurgence of public mistrust and suspicion of the contemporary religious belief system known as Witchcraft or Wicca. This unfortunate linkage of Witchcraft and evil may impact the lives of thousands of Witches across the nation. We are not a "fringe" group to be made light of or ignored. Witches hold positions of responsibility in government and business. All Witches conduct themselves in a way that upholds the laws and ethical codes of the land. We are educated and intelligent people. We are NOT the "weirdos.”
"In order to bring the ways of Light and Love and Life to the peoples of the Earth, our secrets are slowly becoming secrets no more; and it is good that this is so- for the age of shadow and secrecy is passing. Yet the sharing of our ways needs always to be guided by wisdom and by love. Let our rites and our mysteries be kept sacred. Let no one defile our worship or our heritage. For the defilement of our ways is loss of honor, both for self and for the Craft.”
Walk in Light and Love,
Wren Walker
(Chairperson - Witches' Voice)
May 6th, 1996
It's unfortunate that Wren tried to speak with such definitive authority about this topic. Traditional witchcraft does not embody things like the threefold law or concepts of karma. Those come from the Gardenarian Wicca tradition, which borrows (or one could say appropriates) such concepts from other cultures. Ironically, "karma" comes from the Hindu faith which acknowledges that so-called darkness and evil are all just part of God, one of its many faces. But I digress.
Traditional witchcraft has many different practices around the world, all who see things differently. Within Europe, traditional European witchcraft is also diverse, from country to country and even region to region within those countries.
It's both scholastically and theocratically incorrect for anybody to say witchcraft is one thing. Fortunately the modern understanding of magic has evolved greatly as the internet has proliferated and old literary volumes that were formerly lost have been found. Magic is not one dimensional. It is an entire universe.