The Influence of Witchcraft on the Music of the Late 1960s and Early 1970s

Have you ever noticed that there seems to be quite an abundance of songs from the late 1960s to early 1970s mentioning witches? As I was putting together a little playlist to help get me in a spooky/fall mood, I realized that many of the songs I added to the playlist regarding witches happened to be from that era. As I started to look into it more, it turns out that there is certainly a reason for it.

When most people think of the late 1960s, they usually think of the Civil Rights Movement, the Summer of Love, Woodstock Music Festival, or the Vietnam War. However, along with those notable events was the rise in individuals practicing or being interested in witchcraft. During this time in the world, the generation behind the Summer of Love and the various countercultures were hell bent on questioning any and everything regarding the current status quo. These individuals, while upset with the idea of the Vietnam War and looking for more out of life, looked for ways to live differently or seek out a different lifestyle than their parents. Everything about life as they knew it was up for questioning and new ideas were worth exploring. Psychedelic drugs were heavily experimented with in efforts to give individuals a chance to try and expand their minds, while also opening up room for sexual exploration and expression. This generation also rejected the traditional belief systems held by their parents and explored different lifestyles and spiritual ideas such as Buddhism, cults, and of course, witchcraft.

The idea of witchcraft was able to thrive within that generation for many reasons. The most obvious is the idea of pushing back on traditional spiritual practices such as Christianity and people starting to be open to other ideas of religion. However, witchcraft’s incorporation of astrology and nature also sparked the interest of these counterculture individuals wanting to feel more connected with the earth. Of course, another big attraction to witchcraft was the aesthetic. Similar to the hippies, witches usually had long hair, wore various flowing fabrics, and seemed to almost overlap the hippie style of that time. This time in history also experienced the second-wave of feminism and a rise in female liberation, causing women to feel more confident in exploring different lifestyles outside of the typical housewife, producing more attraction to witchcraft as a sort of extreme opposite of what was expected of them. The idea of being a witch acted as a symbol for resistance and the anti-establishment movement for women.

And while this time period was certainly not the first rise in witchcraft, it did however, happen to occur during a time where music was playing a significant part in the countercultures of that time. Because of this rise in witchcraft, artists of this era became increasingly inspired by the ideas, imagery, and taboo aspects of the practice. Also during this time, a well known psychic and writer, Louise Huebner, was appointed the “Official Witch of Los Angeles County” in 1968 due to her extensive knowledge and practice of various occult arts. Because of the rise in recorded music during that time, Louise Huebner put out an album of spoken spells titled “Seduction Through Witchcraft,” with her new “Official Witch” title giving credibility to the album. Before that time, there wasn’t much evidence of spoken spells or obvious witchcraft in the media, and as noted in the title of her album, the idea of witches and witchcraft took on a sort of sex appeal. Louise wasn’t the only person to put out bodies of work centering on witchcraft, but she definitely increased the appeal. Because of the added sex appeal given to witchcraft, artists were even more drawn to the idea of creating imagery and entertainment from the inspiration of witchcraft. This connection also created a sort of cycle where artists were inspired by witchcraft in their work, to their work creating more appeal towards witchcraft, therefore creating an even bigger rise in the craft and the aesthetic that came with these sexy witchy women that were being glorified in music.

So that brings us to the actual musical influence of witchcraft. The type of mystic feeling and imagery that goes along with witchcraft blends seamlessly with the sounds of psychedelic rock and bluesy guitar riffs. Probably one of the most notable songs that features this sort of occult theme is Donovan’s “Season of the Witch.” Some other earlier examples of this theme in music are “Strange Brew” by Cream, “My Girlfriend is a Witch” by October Country, and “Voodoo Chile” by Jimi Hendrix. These types of songs were heavily enjoyed by the crowds of people gathering at music festivals, living these various alternative lifestyles, and of course, dabbling in different types of psychoactive substances, including marijuana, which is used among with other herbs in the practice of witchcraft. It quickly started to become apparent that hippies and witches often ran within the same circles, which also happened to be the target audience behind mainstream music at the time.

Some other examples of occult or witchy music that followed this phenomenon include “Black Magic Woman” by Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green) but later made popular by Santana, “Witchy Woman” by The Eagles, and of course, “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac. And while many people know Stevie Nicks as “The White Witch” along with her extensive catalog of witchy songs, she actually is the perfect example of becoming a product of that heavy witchcraft influence that started in the late 1960s. She, of course, took it and ran with it, but certainly wasn’t the start of that aesthetic.

So all of that to be said, it is no secret that the 1960s countercultures had significant influence on the mainstream music at that time, but the not-so-obvious influence of witchcraft played a huge part in one of the most noteworthy eras of music history as well.

I hope you all have a safe Halloween and don’t be afraid to embrace your witchy side!