Must be the season of the witch(core) (2024)

New Zealander sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon are draped in black hoods with smeared scarlet lips and smudged eyeliner. They lilt “Where are you from and what’s your sign / and do you think you could guess mine / I am fire three times through” over chiming guitars and cyclical percussion. In the chorus, they chant: “Are you sensing me now? Are you vibe-ing me out?”. The duo then unravels to a more harried state culminating with blood-tearing eyes in their music video for ‘Sensing Me’. The Nixons perform their mystic music as Purple Pilgrims, who, in a self-described bio, “explore the concepts of synthesised nature and ancient futurism in their music, evoking ethereal beauty and wisdom that sounds both futuristic and eternal.”

Closer home, Mumbai-hailing music composer Sanaya Ardeshir, under the moniker Sandunes, explores similar genre-agnostic sonics. On collaborative tracks with chilling synth lines like ‘Mother Figure’, one can hear ancient summons and murmurs that seem to respond to a call of the divine feminine or masculine—a binary that is robustly referenced on astrology and spirituality meme pages. Both Purple Pilgrims and Sandunes’s verbal and visual cues align with the zillennial resurgence of astrology girlies who compare Co—Star charts, light candles, have a tarot reader on speed dial, burn sage and keep an eye out for angel numbers.

Purple Pilgrims’ and Sandunes’ music join Fiona Apple’s Grammy-winning debut album Tidal, Lorde’s Maori language Solar Power companion EP, June Marieezy aka (((O)))’s body of work, and most of Björk and WILLOW’s self-affirming anthems such as ‘Venus as a Boy’ and ‘Feminine Energy’ to make up the witchcore genre of music that has been winning over a swarm of listeners to their side. Witchcore borrows from folk, art pop, alternative and electronic music with cogent references to pagan practices, seances and consciousness of nature. A revived interest in paganism, natural healing, lunar phases, mysticism and occult objects has aided in reclaiming the once-condemned association with anything witchy. The iconic ‘Balenciaga scream’ from American Horror Story: Coven, A24’s perennial run of supernatural scream queens, Netflix’s adaptation of Sabrina The Teenage Witch franchise, Lana Del Rey’s call for witches to hex Trump—all of it falls in line as fantastical pop culture points for a generation raised on Harry Potter, Narnia and The Vampire Diaries.

24-year-old Nehal from Thane, Mumbai always knew she was a witch. A practitioner of “earth and fire magick and tarot”, she believes all women are witches; only some are more attuned to their power than others. Her witchcore playlist consists of experimental and indie artists, and her go-to music for rituals is ‘Astral’ by Landikhan feat. Niña indigo. The Spanish lyrics hypnotically intonate about dancing to the moon and the stars while moving your spirit.

Disciples of witchcore celebrate everything femme and their songwriting expresses a universal yearning and calling out to the powers that be, with repetition for effect. This movement is seeping out of the indie and into the mainstream pop landscape as heard in Taylor Swift’s ‘seven’ and ‘Colour Me In’ by Paramore’s Hayley Williams. Both tracks embody a femme folk rawness with minimalist arrangement, wispy crooning in cadence and verses evoking witchcore imagery of towering skies, rolling hills and tall trees.

Karishma Shah, a Mumbai-based divination witch who goes by ‘Celestine’ for her spiritual and tarot guidance, calls AURORA’s ‘Runaway’ “super witchcore”. The lyrics conjure visions of the ocean, trees, sand, heaven and rain as the Norwegian singer yodels delicately over swirling synths. Another composition Shah associates with ‘witchcore’ is the opening theme of Outlander season 1—a folksy tune that employs female vocals in sensual tones. These songs feature on her daily inspo playlist, but for grounding purposes during her witchcraft practice, she prefers music with no lyrics. No plucky acoustics or heavy bass, please.

Shortly before the 2020 lockdown at the Control ALT Delete music festival in Mumbai, avant-garde metal act Serpents of Pakhangba opened their performance with the meditative frequencies of a singing bowl. Piquing the attendees’ curiosity, vocalist Aruna Jade joined them to release what can only be described as sounds invoking a mystical higher power. Their set sampled sounds of birds and animals as Jade layered folk whisperings and occult calls over the charged live bass and drums. Stunning and spellbinding, their eponymous debut album is a great exhibit of heavy witchcore.

In India, acts that channel witchcore often segue into indigenous instrumentation and local musical styles. On Gangtok-raised, Bangalore-based songwriter Yuhina’s 2023 track, ‘For Chenrezig’, tribal rhythms and ancient Buddhist chants create a mystic trance. In Yuhina’s enchanting music videos, she is seen traipsing through foggy woods with lavender hair in black robes with metallic embellishments and delicate, silver-chained face veils. Her sartorial choices speak to both medieval and futuristic sensibilities as part of her ethereal charm.

Electronic music producer Anushka Manchanda aka Kiss Nuka made her allegiance to the genre more evident as she recently dropped a 4-track EP called Witches Brew in which the lyrics allude to spellcasting and song titles mention the blood moon. Amongst zillenials, rituals related to the waxing and the waning of the moon such as setting intentions, moon bathing, manifesting, herbal cleansing, making moon water and charging crystals are no longer considered as niche or absurd as they were once. In fact, there are now several WhatsApp group chats dedicated to the occult where everyone from seasoned witches to newbies interested in alternative spirituality advises each other on customs for the lunar cycles.

Vandana from Pune has been a witch for the last ten years and practises cartomancy (fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards), geomancy (divination by the random figures formed when a handful of earth is thrown to the ground), astrology, runes and dream walking. As someone who uses a lot of music in her own practice, she says, “I find music to be very useful in crafting rituals for people who approach me to ask for my help with whatever is ailing them. What will help ground someone to the magic is different, based on who they are and what comforts them.”

On the occasion of Halloween, the supernatural and witchcore haven’t just been amped up but also paid tribute to as parties, coven meets and Wicca have taken centre-stage at commercial and community events. Mumbai-based WENCH Film Festival dedicated to the horror and fantasy genres just hosted a gig called ‘Disco Blood Bath’ which featured a vampire wedding complete with a wedding band and DJ. Singer Suman Sridhar performed the ‘Opera of the Vampyr’ for the vampire nuptials, narrating a horror story in operatic style. In the run-up to Halloween night, this is just one of countless spooky events scheduled across metro cities with equally witchy music to boot.

Being a witch is no longer characterised as being a dark, brooding ‘crone’ but as an empowered way of being, the art and culture around it accepted more willingly than before. Especially in a post-pandemic world, where we turned to other forms of spirituality to understand the new world into which we had emerged. With a longing for a female community in this new world order, destigmatising the word ‘witch’ for which women were once burned at the stake has been a fierce way for millennials and Gen Z to reclaim their identity and autonomy. The soundtrack for a new era with feminine intuition embedded as a spell for uplifting soul energy, it sure seems like we’ve only scratched the surface of everything witchcore can be.

Also read:

How ‘moon breathing’ helps Yoga teacher Sita Sunar lead a better life

What is a moon phase? Understanding moon cycles could empower you–here's how

How to manifest your goals with the help of the moon cycle