Ri Kallady has been a self-described witch for 25 years.
Each day, he makes offerings to pagan spirits. A couple of times a month, his group meets to perform secret rituals. Sometimes the witches gather at a temple or a forest – other times, in someone’s spare bedroom.
“[It’s] a lot of cleansing and banishing unwanted energies…it could be things like prosperity or for love or for fertility,” he told The Feed.
“Sometimes it can just be to help get rid of all the bullsh-t.”
Ri has been a practising witch for over two decades. Credit: Ri Kallady
Growing up, Ri loved nature and was inspired by witch-themed films and TV shows such as The Craft and Charmed. He started delving into witchcraft and now practises traditional Cornish folk magic and Haitian Vodou.
"I believe that everything does have a spirit. So trees have spirits and rocks have spirits," he said.
Ri owns a witchcraft store in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, offering supplies like ethically sourced crow hearts, owl wings and Ouija boards. He also does spell consultations – from love spells to curses.
"If somebody comes in and they say that they need help with their partner who is physically abusing them … I would definitely try to help. Sometimes curses are necessary," he said.
The Craft, a 1996 film about teenage witches, inspired a generation of witches. Credit: IMDB
"I did a spell that included a beef tongue … for somebody who was verbally abusing and physically abusing children … to make him stop actually talking to them.
"He went away," Ri said.
Wait – witches exist?
Witches aren't just the stuff of Halloween. In Australia, there are thousands of people participating in witchcraft.
Carole Cusack is a professor of religious studies at the University of Sydney. She defines a witch as "someone who practises magic and believes in the pagan gods".
Cusack said modern witches have their origins in the 1950s, when English author Gerald Gardner popularised Wicca – a pagan religion that’s one of the most well-known forms of witchcraft.
Ri is the owner of Elfhame, a witchcraft store selling magic supplies in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. Credit: Elfhame
"We had a lot of Irish settlers in Australia … so some of the kind of more folk remedy and folk magic ideas were probably already there," Cusack said.
For many, witchcraft is tied to their religious practice. But for others, it's an art form – or even a social justice movement.
Emma Quilty is an anthropologist at Monash University, and a self-described witch. She says witchcraft has strong ties to the feminist movement – feminist and lesbian witch covens have been around for decades.
"Both the witch and the feminist are these super provocative cultural figures," she explained.
"People think about evil crones conspiring over a cauldron, and the term ‘feminist’ kind of conjures this kind of similar image, of a very vexed and spiteful kind of killjoy."
Emma Quilty researches the witch community and practises witchcraft herself. Source: Supplied
"You have these protagonists facing down oppression and violence and misogyny, all while refusing to conform to the traditional gender roles that are assigned to them," Quilty said.
"Witches are the perfect metaphor for women today."
How many witches are there in Australia?
The number of people identifying as Wiccan jumped by more than 17 per cent between 2016 and 2021, according to the census. Over 7,500 Australians put down "Wiccan (Witchcraft)" as their religious affiliation.
With so many other varieties of witchcraft, it's hard to estimate how many witches there are in Australia. People need to be initiated into some types of witchcraft, like Wicca and Vodou, while others can be practised by anyone.
Ri said the community "would have at least doubled, if not tripled" since he became a witch over two decades ago.
"It has become more widely accepted as well…they're able to express that a lot more, and people are a lot safer now as well."
But Cusack believes witchcraft is actually falling in popularity in Australia.
"The overwhelming census data in Australia is towards ‘no religion’, not towards fringe or different religions," she said.
Witches still face stigma and persecution
We might think witch trials are a thing of the past – but Ri said some people have lost their jobs for identifying as witches.
"A lot of people … have not been able to share their religious beliefs or their practices with a lot of people, the fact that they might get fired or … bullied," Ri said.
Quilty said witches are still facing violence and persecution in other countries, like Papua New Guinea, India and parts of Africa.
"They're definitely happening in pockets, but they are violent. Acid attacks, fire, being exiled from your community," she said.
Witchcraft is a multi-billion dollar industry
Witchtok – a growing community of witchy content creators on TikTok – has attracted billions of views and entranced young people to the world of witchcraft.
Witchcraft is now a multibillion-dollar industry – with sellers hawking witchy clothes, jewellery and colourful crystals on Etsy. Even big corporations like Sephora are cashing in on starter witch kits and witch-themed home goods.
Sephora pulled these starter witch kits off their shelves after copping online backlash. Credit: Sephora
"It's very much corporations using marketing to convince young people that for you to feel like a legitimate witch, you need to spend your hard-earned cash on spell kits, altars and these aesthetic outfits," she said.
"I think the commercialisation of witchcraft is quite dangerous and it's something that we need to be really critical of."
Some local small businesses offer spell kits - including this Fast Money Spell Kit for $60. Credit: Muses of Mystery
"That’s like saying you can communicate everything about the Catholic Church in 15 seconds … it doesn't quite capture the complexity and the nuance."
Ri said he avoids selling mass-produced products in his store, and items are made by practitioners of witchcraft.
"It is a very fine balancing act from obviously needing to make money so we can pay bills and things, but we don't want to be making too much where our products lose their potency and their virtue," he said.
He said items like white sage, which is used in Native American cultural ceremonies, have been over-harvested due to overwhelming demand, and are contributing to destruction of the environment.
Some are worried about the future survival of the white sage plant, due to over-harvesting. Source: Getty / Anna Efetova
Witchy scams
Ri warns people to be wary of scam artists impersonating witches. A common tactic involves copying a witch’s Instagram profile and asking people to pay for tarot readings.
"Witchcraft, because it is a spiritual practice, does draw a lot of amazing people, but it also does draw a lot of people who are going through things like grief or tragedy or mental illness," he said.
"I think because of that, some people do take advantage of people."
