Magical Environments, Climate Witchcraft and Ritual Experiences

“Magic is a playful method, a meditation that helps me…build confidence in myself as I prepare to go into the world to accomplish my goals” Justin Norton-Kertson, Atmos Magazine

In January, we remembered 2023 as the hottest year in the last 120,000 years. Sadly, although we have yet to see a heat wave, 2024 promises to be even hotter, showing us how far the climate crisis has advanced. It’s no longer a problem of the future. Though the most affected people and places in the world have been leaders in raising awareness on the drastic and impending impacts of these statistics, sadly, international climate targets have largely failed and oil and gas corporations continue to extract fossil fuels. Grassroots efforts to build more hopeful, radical, and ecological communities are more important than ever.

Any attempts at ‘business as usual’ in our lives now ring hollow, and as we stand on a knife’s edge, it might be time to seriously examine the forms of knowledge that have been hidden and silenced through the processes that have led to global crisis. Now is the time for creativity and connection, to support one another through dark times, and bring to life the ecological stories the climate crisis is threatening to bury.

Hear me out: this is where magic might help.

Magic can both be formally defined -organized stories, performances and rituals- or more generally, can be felt through senses of awe and wonder experienced in our everyday lives) can draw people in by inspiring curiosity. Experiencing something new and mysterious might inspire us to stay with a topic and think more deeply. Forms of communication that engage our senses and draw on our inner values -whether faith-based gatherings, or experiencing our favourite senses that root our shared identities in the world- are more powerful and sustained than reading statistics, news or social media posts. When we are inspired emotionally or creatively, we are also more likely to share our experiences and perspectives with others. Connections encourage greater collaboration and empathetic decision-making.

Magic has many different meanings and definitions, but to me, magic is everywhere. Everything from scientifically-backed “magic” – placebo medication and ritualized habits- to random ecological events, such as the sprouting of mushrooms in unexpected places, are more likely to pull me into moments of mindful curiosity, interest, and attuned engagement with the world around me.

Magic’s feminist histories

I’ve had many conversations with friends who laugh at the idea of magic existing in our lives, or even become defensive at the mention of using tarot and manifestation to make sense of our futures and dreams. Growing up in an education system which teaches us that facts  are solely quantifiable, hard-evidence based (especially having studied science at undergraduate level) and not to mention the rising association of questioning science with conspiracy theories and out-of-touch white feminism, I can understand their scepticism.

However, how we know the world and what we consider to be factual comes from somewhere. Feminist Silvia Federici traces the history of misogyny through Europe’s witch hunts in ‘Caliban and the Witch.’  She argues that as land was privatised and economies were forced into capitalist accumulation in the Medieval period, the concept of “witches” was created by land-owning men to vilify women who were elderly, unmarried, and performing non-reproductive, non-domestic labour such as medical healing and midwifery. In Scotland alone, 2,000 women were killed for witchcraft with no real trial, and 4,000 were trialled in total. With the spread of fear, we lost huge amounts of knowledge traditionally held by women at the time, from medicinal herbalism to local stories and customs. However, the areas of Scotland and mainland Europe that engaged in the least witch hunts were  in regions with the highest Celtic populations, where respect for magic and storytelling of local folklore and tales of creatures such as selkies still exist today.

We should not write off magic’s role in connection and rooting us to care for each other and the world. Assuming hard scientific evidence to be the only truth in fact has roots in misogyny and the capitalist erasure of public land and local knowledge through history. Leaning into rituals such as tarot reading is not in opposition to science, but rather a practice that has been deeply misunderstood and vilified as much as its practitioners through history.

Magical environments?

It is also not entirely true to consider science to only be rational and evidence-based.Indigenous knowledge, as well as the early historical knowledge of women’s communities highlighted above, are examples of rich and complex ways of knowing the ‘scientific’ world without removing awe, wonder, magic, and emotional connection. Ecologies and environments are not just things to be observed from a distance. Ecologies are also spiritual, connecting, and emotional.

I work with children in the environmental politics sphere, and one pathway for socio-ecological connection in childhood is play, awe, and wonder. In fact, adult affinity to nature and higher likelihood to engage in climate-positive behaviour is also strongly linked to distinct experiences of awe. When people feel connected to a specific emotional memory in nature, or a moment of perception that they are a part of and shaped by ecological processes,, it becomes a key determinant in whether they feel desire and ability to participate in climate action in adulthood. Rituals (repeated actions and experiences for some form of faith-based purpose, even if that is just self-confidence or happiness from playing) are therefore very important for fostering people’s connection to environmentalism. Combined with an understanding and respect for these rituals and environmental knowledge as being historically tied to anti-capitalist resistance by women, and indigenous knowledge, violently erased by the onset of capitalism and colonial land clearances and vilification of people closely tied to land and ecology, environmentalism through awe and wonder is also an issue of justice.

Sadly, witchcraft is also increasingly commodified, with tarot readings for corporate decision-makers costing many thousands of pounds and a growing number of ‘trendy’ fast fashion companies embracing ‘fairy-core.’ It’s important that we don’t let the same economic system extract from place-based knowledge, faith rituals, and a history of women’s resistance,and sell it at the expense of people and the planet.

So, magic as understood as ritual, awe, wonder, and spiritual connection in all its forms might be the way to grow a feminist movement of environmental care and action for justice. Next time you see magical ecologies and witchcraft, don’t write these off as strange or out of touch. Instead, maybe think about experiences you’ve had that were mysterious, beautiful, and so connected that they pulled you out of yourself in the moment. These are what we can connect through and with each other.

In these last months of darkness, take comfort in whatever rituals bring you light and hope. I know that I will be cozied up in as many blankets as possible, and my tarot cards! 

Article by Sophia, Environment Writer

Header image by Peggy Mitchell, one of our amazing graphic designers