Relay Column: Witches, Spiders, & Cyborgs (Madoka Shitone)

What images or stories come to mind when we think of the word "witch" today? Witch hunts, maleficium[2], folk healers, beautiful witches? Or perhaps a fearsome bird-like creature with wings? Or even the image of an independent and wise woman living in the forest? Witches have served as a screen upon which people's desires and fears are projected.

It is particularly known that contempt and fear towards religious heretics, lepers, and Jews in the early modern period triggered mass killings referred to as "witch hunts." Many of the victims were women. The aspect of women being mass murdered, often called "femicide," cannot be overlooked when discussing the image of witches.

Moreover, the contemporary image of witches is also influenced by the romanticism that flourished during the Industrial Revolution. Under the influence of romanticism, which values elements deemed privileged to women such as subjectivity, emotion, rebellion, and nature, which fall outside the male domains of science, rationality, and reason, a romanticized image of the witch as a "femme fatale" who seduces men to their doom was created in the 19th century and has been carried over to the present.

In the 1950s, a new trend known as the contemporary witchcraft revival movement emerged in Western countries, gathering mixed images of witches as described above. This movement is known as a significant force within the 'new paganism' that encompasses pre-Christian nature worship, polytheism, animism, and shamanism. Among them, the "Wicca" of contemporary witch religions boasted strong influence in Western countries as an alternative culture and counterculture to the Christian world.

While the contemporary witchcraft revival movement shares a general framework, it has branched into various sects, and when it comes to the level of practice, it is said that each person has their own sect, making it incredibly diverse and difficult to generalize. Nowadays, many practicing solo witches are active, and it is discreetly spreading in Japan as well.

The new image of witches can also be found in pop culture and fashion. CHANEL released a visionary video work titled "Jellywolf" (2017), connecting to memories of grandmothers. DIOR has released collections based on tarot cards in recent years, and Gucci’s cruise collection (2019) featured film director Kenneth Anger, known for his magical experimental films, wearing a sweater adorned with a horned god. Saint Laurent employed director Gaspar Noé to create the witch film "Lux Aeterna" (2019).

In this way, many high-end brands have incorporated the images of witches and paganism into fashion. In Japan, in 2022, a translation of Mona Chollet's "Sorcières: La puissance invaincue des femmes" became a hit after its success in France, and in the film world, folk horror movies such as "Midsommar," "The Northman," and "The Medium" have gained popularity. The new images of witches and goddesses are increasingly becoming pop-culture icons, and the realm of paganism may be becoming surprisingly accessible through the world of fiction.