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As the world faces existential crises and the codes of success falter, witchcraft offers more than a nostalgic aesthetic—it’s a call to rethink brands, creativity, and connection. Holly Kielty explores how.
Witchcraft. It’s a word that’s had a visible, powerful rebrand throughout the ages, going from a byword for healing in ancient times to being branded as evil during the witch hunts and now representing positive spirituality and feminine energy. Looking beyond the Wicked merch, this aesthetic can be seen everywhere from Primark to TikTok (or WitchTok, if you prefer), but I’m not sure it’s just a ‘trend’.
As society is entrenched in fear, the planet is on fire, and the codes of ‘business success’ come increasingly unstuck, I believe we’re at a pivot point where we can look to witchcraft to guide us as brands, creatives and thinkers. Maybe it could even change behaviours and systems to create a commercial world that’s more magical, more truly connected and more readied for the future.
Thinking about the notion of spirit, this can mean whatever you want it to – be it God, the Universe or just a general guiding force that’s not your CEO. Similarly, masculine and feminine energies are not owned by their respective genders. They are simply modes that differ and can exist in both men and women.
Find your brand’s spiritual soul
Too often, brands are relentlessly focused on growth and profits, with little thought for the world beyond. Even ‘brand purpose’ is starting to feel more like a soulless gesture fuelled by external pressures than a heart-led intention. It’s my belief that many brands require a re-evaluation of their motivations and internal drivers, starting with rethinking the brand compass or its equivalent, giving space for more soulfulness, intention and the natural world.
Analysing what truly motivates a brand’s reason for being – like the witch, thinking about lineage and legacy, atmosphere, moral focus, energy, and the resulting emotional resonance – means it will act more authentically, appealing to an audience that wants to be in conversation with rather than subject to the brands they buy from.
As people look more towards the spiritual in times of uncertainty (sales of crystals are rising astronomically, excuse the pun) where organised religion is predominantly absent, brands must do the same to prove they can bridge the gap between the modern, secular world and the natural, ancient one. Brands need to act as healers, conduits, antidotes and comforters amidst the fear and overwhelm we feel.
Spells, not spreadsheets
Taking cues from the instinctual creative thinking of the witch sisterhood, we need to rethink our spreadsheets, campaign calendars and marketing plans in favour of a more intuitive approach, one focused more on behaviours and energies than box-ticking.
With Gen Z craving more immersive and emotional thinking, brands must leave room for mystery, surprise and coincidence, acting as provocateurs and creatrixes. We could even call it a conjuring – bringing brands to life with more opportunistic energy and, dare I say, wildness.
More brands are leaving room for the unexpected and the magical. Think back to Mango’s in-store cosmology evenings last year and Charlotte Tilbury’s emotion-led fragrance range launch. Consumers crave more sensorial, instinctive and memorable brand experiences like this in a world dominated by the digital and the coded.
Embrace the divine feminine
Historically, branding has been firmly rooted in the masculine. Even the terminology of a brand’s foundations (targets, missions, aims) can feel warlike and bullish, failing to offer us real fulfilment. Instead, it’s caused damage to our planet, lowering our self-esteem and fuelling the uglier aspects of our society.
On the other hand, we’re entering an era when the divine feminine will rise and retake its space within society. There should be more emphasis on the communal, knowing, and untethered aspects of our souls and on nurture and protection. Every brand needs to reflect that—from its foundation to its expressions.
Brands that create space for people’s lives and minds will tap into people’s need for human connection and collaboration. For example, beauty brand Fluff positions its products as emotionally intelligent with blush shade names like ‘nervous’ and ‘shy’. Any brand that adds more of the sensorial and mindful will resonate.
Ask yourself how your brand could collaborate with healers, therapists, neurologists or community groups or create ranges that suit natural cycles and seasons as well as taste profiles. Then reframe your company’s aims and performance measures – how can your culture foster a more feminine energy? After all, individualism, aggression and dominant masculinity have run their course; it’s time for a more nurturing, intuitive and communicative power to rise.
Rites and Rituals
A fundamental part of a witch’s existence is leaning into rituals through a spiritual calendar. Today, war, destruction and division have only highlighted our human need for a sense of control through rituals and predictability. Even Covid triggered a turn toward prayer, spells, and new kinds of fan-ship. Rituals have even been proven to lower cortisol levels, so, as in any spiritual framework, communal and personal rituals should be at the front of every brand’s mind.
Rituals can be integrated into internal daily practices, like sharing knowledge or gathering daily for food, or instilled into your product or service through your pack opening ritual, an inviting loyalty scheme or how you manifest your physical retail experience, for example. Ritualising your brand positions it as a supportive and mindful presence in our lives rather than just an ‘add-on’, giving it more resonance and longevity.
Make more magic
With the emergence of AI, the metaverse, and other technologies, things can feel threatening and ‘other-worldly’. Let’s learn from that other-worldliness, as we did with the emergence of space travel and the invention of the computer, and, like our witch ancestors, let’s foster our own ACTUAL human creative magic more avidly.
We can still recognise the magic and wizardry of AI as both master and apprentice, employing it for good while leaving room for ourselves rather than bypassing our own mystical, innate authenticity and power. Witchery is a craft, after all – and a reversion to the irreplaceable facets of our artistry – and is defined by deep thinking, hands-on making and immersive creativity, which will help us navigate this new age.
Soul and storytelling over ‘stuff’
It’s time to choose what relics, artefacts, and talismans we truly use, connect to, and need. As we become more conscious of our consumerist burden on the planet, we will be forced to recognise that a more mindful approach to purchasing is the better choice.
Melanie Rickey’s ‘Enoughness’ movement exemplifies this less accumulative attitude, urging us to find our ‘just right’ when it comes to what we use, own and consume. Alongside this, I think we’ll see a new affection for a product’s tactility, brands with more naturality built in, and a love for things that foster human connection, compassion and emotional health. Jewellery maker Alighieri is a great example, making pieces with an emphasis on storytelling to act as talismans rather than simply accessories.
Convene with nature
From wars to the wonder of invention and evolution, nature has witnessed it all. The witch knows that nature is a constant; it won’t be governed but must be embraced and adored. Considering the climate crisis, we must strive to be more adaptive and self-reflective as a species and a consumerist society, learning that true harmony comes from behaving with consciousness, awareness and intention.
That’s the witch’s way: acting in communion with Earth, following its cycle, and connecting with its power. This is already evident in a new wave of brands; Clif, makers of the energy bar, have an ethos of ‘think like a tree’, while Rebel Energy donates to restorative projects that will repair the Earth with every customer it gains.
Instead of focusing on ‘survival of the fittest’ in a commercial sense—defeating competitors by being bigger, louder, stronger—let’s follow nature’s example, being both resilient and flexible and fitting into new contexts. Brand values must also fully acknowledge nature, putting the planet at the heart and soul of every business’s behaviour, foundations, and aims.
The bottom line
Having written all of the above, I’m completely aware that in a recession and a brutal climate crisis, anything ‘woo-woo’ can sound like a flighty, misinformed gimmick. But I’d guess that if you’ve done any delving into what gives us as humans purpose, you’ll have seen a glimmer of why thinking beyond the secular, the material and the commercial is so vital.
Witchcraft, considering the universe, and simply looking for more meaning, compassion, and connection isn’t just for the tie-dye or crushed velvet-wearing among us. Post-pandemic, the spiritual inner work and moral realigning we all need to do as human beings to answer the loneliness and division we all sense must echo into the work we do as creatives, strategists, and brands. Our earth, society, and human race demand it of us. Now, where’ve I put my sage?
