Is Taylor Swift A Witch?

I mean let's be real, you're dying to know, aren't you? Everyone wants to understand how Taylor Swift has most women across the globe from ages 12-35 in a musical chokehold. Both her biggest fans and her loudest critics have theories ranging from her talent and work ethic to her strategic, romantic PR efforts, but after a few weeks in this class, I was curious if anyone had come to a more magical conclusion.

It turns out, a LOT of people genuinely believe that Taylor Swift is a witch, and to be totally fair, their claims are occasionally warranted and in some cases align with common assumptions about witches and their craft. For example, Swift is notoriously a cat lady, even featuring one of her beloved creatures on the cover of TIME when she was named Person of the Year in 2023. Enter the chit-chat about her several kittens serving as her malicious familiars, assisting Swift in her witchcraft.

The global success of Taylor Swift's "The Era's Tour" has escalated the witchcraft accusations to another level. Having attended the tour twice, once in Arlington and once in Houston, I can say with certainty the show was a magical experience. For three and a half hours, the stadiums packed with (mostly) women sang every word to every song, harmonizing together as Taylor performed to flashing lights with shining costumes. The power of the Swiftie community was wild. Would I personally call it witchcraft? No. (By a similar definition, the Super Bowl would have to be its own kind of sabbat as well, which no one bothers to acknowledge on the flip side of the coin.) But plenty of viewers did.

My sister and friends at "The Eras Tour" Arlington

One particular portion of the performance drew the most attention. Swift's song "Willow" made the setlist for the show. Taylor and her backup dancers don deep green hooded capes, pick up golden lanterns, and dance in a circular motion around her as smoke billows across the stage. You can watch the clip for yourself below to see just how cult-like this sequence can be interpreted as.

Once clips started circulating, religious figures were quick to warn against attending the tour and began condemning Swift for practicing witchcraft while claiming to be a Christian. One Instagram user said in response, "So tired of satanic imagery being shoved in our faces. This is not normal, cool, or cute. It is demonic." She went on to invoke the power of Jesus to combat Taylor Swift's influence.

Priests have come out of the woodwork to speak on the issue as well. Father Dan Reehil from Nashville is partially known for his willingness to perform exorcisms, and he felt very strongly about Swift being in cahoots with demons. He believed the "Willow" performance "could spiritually endanger fans and the wider world," and that the "little girls who literally sort of worship [Taylor Swift], are now putting themselves in a position where they could be attacked by demonic forces." He advised against seeing Swift perform live at all, just to be safe.

Other young Christian women also spoke out against the idolization of Swift, warning that her intentions behind the ritualistic behavior don't matter; demons are simply attracted to her. She's just so talented and tasty, they can't ignore her summons...

Perhaps the abundance of cats or the live performance are easy things to point fingers at, but others are sure Swift is a practitioner of sinister acts on the daily:

"Taylor Swift practices witchcraft. It’s obvious. Of course, there are different types of magic. She partakes in black magic. The sacrificial type. Meaning then that she needs attention (energy) to be on her, and then what happens is that the audience, or whatever, is being sacrificed for her personal gain in power. But then, her personal gain in power suits a much larger agenda of the Illuminati/secret societies."

Despite how far-fetched (or fairly accurate) the various accusations are, Swift playfully engages with the idea in her music and on her social media pages. Partially in response to the discourse around "Willow," Swift posted this to Facebook, claiming "I'm witches," and promoted the "lonely witch remix" of the song.

In another post on Instagram, Taylor referenced a crazy coincidence in which she sang a lyric about flying planes as an actual plane flew overhead in Argentina, convincing fans she'd summoned it. In response, Swift simply stated that she'll never beat "the sorcery allegations."

"The Eras Tour" also sparked research into memory loss, with many fans claiming to experience severe amnesia after the concert. This outpouring of stories where girls couldn't recall their entire concert experience caused concern about Swift engaging in witchcraft to place fans in a trance, making them willing victims through her alluring musical spells. Don't worry though, experts quickly debunked this theory at least, stating that post-concert memory gaps are totally normal, and a result of high emotions and stress overloading our memory systems.

Her music and lyrics are spells in disguise. Her status of fame is a front to fuel her attention magic with the energy of fans. Her concerts are cult gatherings (and her fans are part of a cult by extension). Her claim to Christianity is falsified by her fraternization with the devil. She's just "some lady, some girl," that we worship for promoting Satanic rituals. Her favorite number is unlucky 13. Just give it a quick search on YouTube... people have endless opinions.

So, is Taylor Swift a witch? Personally, I don't think so. I think she's a woman with a lot of talent and consequentially a lot of power. I think she's an independent feminist who does what she wants, when she wants, and how she wants. How people explain away her accolades or attempt to convince others that she's corrupt is the freedom of public opinion, but I don't think the extreme accusations of witchcraft hold any real merit. 

Here's a compilation of Taylor's direct references to witches, in case you were curious:

1. Mad Woman

"No one likes a mad woman

You made her like that

And you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out

And you find something to wrap your noose around

And there's nothin' like a mad woman

Now I breathe flames each time I talk

My cannons all firin' at your yacht

They say, 'Move on', but you know, I won't

And women like hunting witches, too

Doing your dirtiest work for you"

2. I Did Something Bad

"They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one

They got their pitchforks and proof

Their receipts and reasons

They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one

So light me up"

That's it. Happy witch-hunting, Hollywood.