As we’re barreling headlong into fall, there’s a portion of our culture that gets to come out of the woodwork and celebrate being “witchy.” In many cases, this means specific fall fashion statements, more macabre humor on display as Halloween approaches and, of course, the opportunity for practicing witches to be more open about themselves!
In other words, it’s very cool in our culture to have what I like to think of as “Big Witch Energy.”
Friends, I do not have “Big Witch Energy.” At most, I am as outwardly witchy as Samantha on Bewitched. Which is to say, I am someone with a classic personal style and a goody-two-shoes attitude who cannot pull off the mysterious aura of my witchiest buddies.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate all the extra witchiness in our culture as autumn approaches! I figured it would be worthwhile to round up a list of “Big Witch Energy” examples to celebrate here at Frolic!
The Sanderson Sisters
I make no secret of the fact that I love the movie Hocus Pocus, and the Sanderson Sisters still manage to crack me up to this day.
Winnifred is the de facto leader with her creepy book of spells and penchant for revenge. Sarah is gorgeous and boy crazy. And Mary…well, she rides a vacuum cleaner instead of a broom, so you have to appreciate her weirdness.
They sing and dance! They turn people into cats! Sure, there’s that teeny tiny matter of their plan to suck the lives out of all the children of Salem in order to stay eternally young…but that’s a minor detail. These witches are awesome!
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
It’s true that Kiernan Shipka is the newer, edgier Sabrina in town. But my heart will always belong to Sabrina the 90’s teen icon, played by Melissa Joan Hart.
Sabrina follows in the footsteps of Bewitched’s Samantha. She’s a witch who has to hide her powers from many of the folks in her life. She still got up to plenty of antics, though! Along with her zany aunts Hilda and Zelda and Salem the talking cat, Sabrina’s world is one with plenty of excitement.
Professor McGonagall
Truly, the Harry Potter series is packed with incredible witches to admire. In my mind, though, Professor Minerva McGonagall is the witch to top them all.
In the movies, she’s portrayed with sass and sophistication by Dame Maggie Smith. While the modern witch in our culture might have a much simpler, earthier style, Professor McGonagall drapes her body in old-school robes and rocks the look!
In addition to her magical style, Professor McGonagall is also the transfiguration QUEEN and can spend her free time in her animagus form as a tabby cat! Even though I’m as Muggle as they come, I still revere Minerva McGonagall!
Hannah and Veronica from These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
I’ve just started listening to this audiobook, because if you can’t read an LGBT+ inclusive YA book about witches in the fall, then what’s the point of enjoying fall at all?
This story is a cool mash-up of lots of the witchy themes I’ve covered so far. The main characters live in Salem, which is the setting for Hocus Pocus. They’re teen witches who are supposed to hide their power from “regs” like Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
One neat twist to these popular story beats is that these two are elemental witches which, among other things, means that fire can’t hurt them! So the title isn’t just a badass power statement…it’s actually true!
I’m a little old for this book’s target demographic, but who cares? I’m just happy that there are new teen witch icons out there for the next generation–even better that they’re also increasing lesbian representation in popular literature!
Whether you feel a special kinship with some of these witches or you’re more of a “reg” like me, I hope we can ALL appreciate these witchy figures that make the fall season so fun!
