Real witch explains what Agatha All along thinks is right and wrong in the field of witchcraft

Since its release in late September, Agatha All Along has enchanted critics and Marvel fans alike.

The latest chapter in the MCUs The ever-expanding spellbook currently holds a respectable 82% on Rotten Tomatoes and drew a impressive 9.3 million views worldwide within the first seven days on Disney Plus.

So it’s clear that Agatha’s magic has managed to break through the world superhero apathy that has supposedly cursed Marvel fans in recent years.

But as I watched Agatha, Teen and her friends walk down the street Witches’ RoadI wondered what a real witch thought of the show. After all, according to 2021 Census Datamore than 74,000 people in England and Wales identify as modern pagans, while a further 13,000 people explicitly identify as witches. So what do they think about their religion being used as a basis for another religion? superheroes tv show?

On the Witches’ Road

Disney

Enter Sarah Kerr, the president of the Pagan Federation in Britain and a self-proclaimed witch. Sarah has been practicing the craft since she was 16 years old and currently works as a professional healer and witch.

So what did she make of it Agatha all the time? Well, it’s good news for Kevin Feige and the team behind the show, because Sarah was quite enamored with the whole thing.

“I enjoyed it,” she told me. “It was a great performance. I love these kinds of shows, even if every now and then I look at them and say, “Oh God, here we go again.” But I actually really liked this, because they depicted the generation of energy for magical work very well, and they understood that witchcraft is at its core about self-exploration.’

“It’s about growing as a person,” she continued. “It’s about exploring and understanding the world around you, and I think while it’s a bit sensational, they’ve captured that idea quite well.”

Sarah was also quite taken with Agatha’s character, admitting that she admired the witches’ confidence (something Agatha has in spades) before adding that one of the most important parts of modern witchcraft is building confidence and becoming more confident of yourself. Her favorite thing, however, was the idea of ​​the Witches’ Way.

“I think my favorite thing was that they got the metaphor of the journey you go on, because it really is a journey when you start crafting. It is a lifelong journey that you make and in which you explore yourself further and deeper. So I think that was very important to me, and the Witches’ Way is clearly the symbolic metaphor within that series for that journey.”

Get behind me Mephisto!

Marvel/Disney

“I think that was really interesting. I’ve never seen that in film before. There’s an awful lot about rituals and spells and all that stuff. However, the actual journey witches take when they begin practicing is very rarely depicted. I found that really interesting.”

Before Kevin and the other Marvel bigwigs get too confident that they have the witches on their side, it’s important to note that Sarah did have some criticism of the show. Sarah was concerned about how sensational it was – no, we’re not talking about the way Marvel’s witches throw fireballs or fly – this has more to do with darker aspects of witchcraft in the MCU and their connection to MephistoMarvel’s Satan equivalent.

“I mean, first of all, Satan doesn’t appear in most witchcraft practices,” she explained when I asked about Satan’s connection to witchcraft. “I can’t say that for every witch, because it will be true for some witches. But I think there’s a lot of emphasis on this dark entity, this dark lord, which for many practitioners, especially in the Western world, is just not true.

For Sarah, this is part of a larger problem with the media’s portrayal of witches, which has created a negative stereotype around her religion. “I think it’s (a stereotype) that’s been around for centuries, and I don’t just mean that we necessarily have to go back to the historical witch hunts,” she said. “It goes back further than that, you know. And I think it’s not just based on witchcraft; it is based on control over women.”

“I think we’re now at the point in the Western world where it’s less of an issue. Women are no longer hunted because they are witches. But it is laughed at and misunderstood. There is still discrimination, that is why my organization exists.”

Sarah expanded on this idea a little further when we talked about the general portrayal of witchcraft in the media and the difference between what we see on the big and small screen. She said that witchcraft is very often portrayed in the press and media as “this evil because it has to do with the dark side of life, with the unknown, with the side of life that people find difficult to explain”, but that is not her experience. of the craft at all.

What Marvel should do next

Marvel/Disney

Fortunately, Sarah believes that shows like Agatha All along and characters like The Scarlet Witch help tackle this problem. “I think the more witches are portrayed in a positive light, it will have a positive effect. We have seen a huge increase in the number of people practicing witchcraft… because people want something they can believe in and something that is within their control. Witchcraft offers that.”

So, if Marvel wants to keep the witches and warlocks around the world happy, what does it think Kevin Feige should do?

“Don’t change it because they really did a fantastic job. Continue to explore the metaphors that are real within witchcraft. Ignore the tropes, ignore those stereotypes, because a lot of them aren’t true anyway, but keep going, because you’re actually doing this really well.

It looks like the critics aren’t the only ones falling under Agatha’s spell!

Have you already started on the Heksenweg? It’s never too late to start, but you should read our information Agatha all the time episodes 8 and 9 streaming guide to know where to start. We celebrate it too Terror-Tober at Dexerto and have compiled lists detailing the 102 best horror movies and the scariest moments in video game history. Enjoy!