A Twin Cities Witch Weighs In on the Rising Popularity of Witchcraft

In an age of uncertainty when many are drowning in debt and unsure of the future, spirituality, particularly witchcraft, has been on the rise. We have seen its popularity on display in pop cultural productions such as Penny Dreadful, The Witcher, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and another resurrection of a personal ’90s beloved, Charmed. I had the pleasure of taking with a local witch, Siri Vincent Plouf, who teaches Twin Cities locals the art of witchcraft under the name Northern Lights Witch and practices in their daily life.

My own small tabletop altar, honoring the goddesses I work with.

Plouf was drawn to witchcraft from a young age. They loved nature and animals and were curious about connecting with these from what they now recognize as an animist perspective (the belief that everything has a spiritual essence). They first declared themself a witch in middle school, and though they no longer identify as Wiccan (Wicca being a specific type of witchcraft with roots in paganism and a reverence of nature), they were initiated into a Wiccan coven during high school. Their relationship with witchcraft has been built over years. I asked Plouf what witchcraft means to them.

“So many things!” they said. “Witchcraft can be found in pretty much any religious or cultural context. It often involves embodied, direct communication with deities or spirits. To perform magic is to take ritual action in an attempt to impact the world around you.”

They added, “My spirituality is empowering! It’s extremely active, a way of communing directly with powers that be. It’s also very practical and exactly what I need it to be.” For Plouf personally, it is different from other forms of spirituality in that sense.

They have noticed a rise in the popularity of witchcraft every decade or so, specifically coinciding with times when people feel particularly powerless and fed up with oppressive systems of power. With that context, looking at the current sociopolitical atmosphere, it’s no wonder we are seeing a rise in the popularity of witchcraft in our media, fashion, and pop culture in general.

“I think it’s fascinating!” Plouf said of this most recent surge. “There’s a certain level of being fed up with the patriarchal, white supremacist overculture that feeds into interest in witchcraft. I see witchcraft especially as a faith of the outsider: someone who is unwilling to live with the systems as they are.”

They noted that witches in popular culture tend to be outsiders, people feared by the dominant culture, and often media gives us the opportunity to sympathize with those outsiders: “In Sabrina, you don’t see witches represented as something to fear, but rather you are being asked to be on our side. We are asked, by the show, to identify with the ‘evil,’ and to revel in the power that brings us.” Of course, they added, it’s important to separate the fictional witchcraft of fantasy shows from the practices of real-life witches. “There’s a difference between the archetype of the witch and the reality of being a witch, so they can’t be taken too seriously. If seeing powerful witches on your screen inspires you to seek your own power and explore the world of witchcraft, that’s great.”

With witchcraft and magic being practiced in so many cultures across the globe, there is no shortage of varieties a person can learn. Plouf describes themself as an eclectic practitioner with a focus in Scandinavian and Norse magic, which draws on their own heritage and cultural roots; they do a mix of traditional witchcraft, herbalism, ceremonial magic, shadow work (working with the repressed and unconscious parts of our identities), and more modern methods. The gods and goddesses that Plouf works with are Freyja, Hekate, and Odin. Because they teach witchcraft to other people, they get a lot of questions about other kinds of practices, outside of their own, and that leads Plouf to learn and grow constantly.

This Día de los Muertos altar in my home is one example of how my witchcraft practice intersects with other traditions within my culture and heritage. For many witches, honoring your ancestors and those who have passed is an integral part of witchcraft.

From here, the topic turned to cultural appropriation of different spiritual practices in witchcraft. Plouf believes that the appropriation of Native American spirituality is probably the biggest ethical misstep that people make when exploring witchcraft and magic. They pointed to the practice of burning white sage, stating that “calling it ‘smudging’ is cultural appropriation, because it comes from a living tradition that is largely closed to non-Natives” and that the same could be said of palo santo, which is now critically endangered. Although Europeans have also used sage to smoke cleanse for centuries, Plouf notes that the key differences are that they used a different type of sage and used it differently. The big takeaway here is that if the spiritual practice isn’t from your culture or heritage, don’t use it. In even simpler terms: stay in your lane.

Plouf believes that a lot of the cultural appropriation of different practices stems from the commodification of witchcraft and people trying to “buy [their] way into a witchcraft practice.” Plouf note that,s most often, the best magic comes from using what you already have. “It comes from working with the land, spirits, et cetera, all around you, and understanding your desires on a deep level,” they explained. But while the commodification of witchcraft is troubling to them, they don’t believe in gatekeeping. “Everyone has an entry point, even if it’s buying a book at Barnes and Noble and exploring further on their own from there,” they said. It would just be nice if those entry points were a bit more natural and less focused on sales.

If you are interested in learning more about witchcraft from Siri Vincent Plouf, you can follow them on Instagram, become a member on Patreon, or visit NorthernLightsWitch.com. There are also a vast number of other witches offering both services (such as tarot and rune readings or spell work) and education online.

Here are a few resources for further reading:

• Cassandra Snow: A Minneapolis tarot teacher and reader and the author of Queering the Tarot and Queering Your Craft
• Llewellyn’s 2021 Witches’ Companion: A guide that is similar to the Famer’s Almanac, but for witchcraft rather than farming; Llewellyn publishes many books on witchcraft and is based here in Minnesota
• Millennial Soul Food: Content that focuses on Hoodoo, its cultural history, and its relevance today
• Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards: A book focusing on conjure and folk magic rooted in Appalachia, going through the history of the region and how that history has influenced the magic practiced there

Whatever you choose to explore and however you do it, there is one common theme of importance: keep in mind that these practices are sacred, treat them with respect, and stay true to yourself and your heritage.