Magick holds an interesting place in our culture right now. To be a witch, to claim the title, to walk a Pagan path, or to practice the magickal arts are all still fringe activities that label the person an outsider, a weirdo. Yet the actual practices of the witch – crystals, herbs, tarot cards, meditation, manifestation work, the lunar cycle & astrology, and more – are enjoying a sort of renaissance among New Age, pop culture types looking for ways to bring a little power and mystery back into their lives. Fluid, new age spirituality is the new cool thing to do.

And yet, for those of us who have been practicing all along, listening and learning and living, it’s much more than a fad. Magick is a way of life, a method of living and surviving with some semblance of meaning and purpose. Its a religion, a practice, a belief system, and an art all rolled into one. We may all look different, practice differently, but we are all connected by the magick that runs through us all.

And this is where the new age magickal movement gets it wrong. Do a search through Facebook or Google for magick and spirituality, and it’s all the same – boho hippies in flowing skirts and lots of jewelry, shunning modern conveniences for the “old ways”, talking about crystals and chakras and manifesting your best life in ways that seem watered down, white washed, and weak. Its not the avatar of the “modern witch” that’s wrong, but the assumption that this is the only way to do it. Because truly, if the crunchy chic aesthetic is your vibe, then go for it, girl – but it’s not the only way to witchcraft.

There’s a distinctive line between those who’ve recently found “new age spirituality”, and those who remember the times when hiding books and tools was necessary for survival amongst family and friends – when crystals and oracle cards would get you disowned at best – when witchcraft was still actively persecuted. Lifetime members look at the influx of “Hipster Witches” with contempt, muttering “Back in MY day…”, while the new blood can’t understand the jaded cynicism many have for magick’s new spotlight. Its time to stop segregating the shiny newbies from the rest of the old hats, and embrace each other for what we are – brothers and sisters in the craft, working our magick in all sorts of new and different ways.

Modern Day Magick is all about taking the age old wisdom of our ancestors and graduating it into modern times. We’re reinventing the idea of the witch as a powerful symbol of what stood before, and what needs to stand again. On the surface, it’s about using technology and science as the tools they are to bolster our practices – not shy away from anything seemed “not natural enough”. We’re charting the cycles of the moon (and the womb, for those with one) with apps and tools in addition to (not in place of) the old ways of looking and feeling. We’re creating digital rituals and worldwide circles and casting a web of magick from every corner of the globe, using technology to bring us closer together, not farther apart.

Deeper than that, it’s about reclaiming the archetype of Wild Warrior Wise One, living with the ancient wisdom and using it to pursue change in a powerful, deliberate, active, and rebellious way. Our magickal ancestors were rebels, activists, and fighters in their own right; fighting for the ability to do what was always done, fighting against the status quo to bring about a better present and future. They embrace and develop that natural power within, not allow it to be dampened, ignored, marginalized, and forgotten. They fight for what’s right, using the power of the universe around us to do it.

Sound familiar?

Magick, witchcraft, and paganism are seeing a revival in today’s culture because we forgot about that power, and we’re seeing the consequences of it. We’re realizing its time to reclaim what was once ours, what always was with us, and what will be ours again – the power to enact change within ourselves, our communities, and the world. Modern Day Magick is a community to facilitate that reawakening as we shift into a new dynamic of personal power, growth, and change.

Welcome home, magick makers. You are safe here.