Original Magic: The Rituals and Initiations of the Persian Magi - Michael M. Hughes 2018

WITCH: Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell
Witches and Occultists versus Kings and Nazis

A group of radical feminists took inspiration from the creative, shocking political theater of the Yippies. When New York Radical Women split over tactical disagreements, several of the members formed WITCH, or Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell. Their inaugural action took place on Halloween, 1968, when the members, dressed in stereotypical witch garb, marched to Wall Street to hex the financial district.

The Dow Jones average dropped sharply the next day—for which the witches were more than happy to take credit.

One of their leaflets stated, “If you are a woman and dare to look within yourself, you are a Witch. You make your own rules. You are free and beautiful. You can be invisible or evident in how you choose to make your witch-self known. You can form your own Coven of sister Witches (thirteen is a cozy number for a group) and do your own actions .… You are a Witch by saying aloud, ’I am a Witch’ three times, and thinking about that. You are a Witch by being female, untamed, angry, joyous, and immortal.” ²⁶

Another memorable action (or zap, as they were called) took place in February 1969 at a bridal fair at Madison Square Garden (with a sister action in San Francisco). The witches of WITCH, this time wearing black bridal veils, infiltrated the event, chanting “Here come the slaves, off to their graves.” They then let loose white mice in an attempt to cause chaos.They changed their name to match each action: Women Interested in Toppling Consumer Holidays (Mother’s Day), Women Incensed at Telephone Company Harassment (at Bell Telephone Company), Women’s Independent Taxpayers, Consumers and Homemakers, and several others. Covens sprang up in cities across the United States but largely disappeared after 1970.

In 2015 covens began to crop up again, and with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, WITCH activists, in their black cloaks and pointy hats, became an increasingly common sight at protests. A new anonymous WITCH PDX, established in 2016 in Portland, Oregon, is more broadly inclusive, embracing antiracism, antifascism, antipatriarchy, indigenous rights, gender self-determination, women’s liberation, trans liberation, anti—rape culture, reproductive rights, sex worker support, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protection, religious freedom, immigrant rights, antiwar, anticapitalism, disability justice, privacy rights, and worker’s rights.

Despite criticism of their tactics from some feminists, and the fact that the members used witch tropes humorously, the group is considered to be a progenitor of feminist witchcraft—which we will examine below

But before we do, one other anecdote:

On Lammas Day 1971, thirty-one years after Gerald Gardner and the New Forest coven cast their spell against the Nazis, several Californian covens gathered to raise a cone of power to end the Vietnam War.

Which just goes to show: witches keep doing what witches gotta do.