(RNS) — Marvel Studios’ television series “Agatha All Along,” which has its finale on Disney+ on Wednesday (Oct. 30), oozes witchcraft lore, movie references and symbolism.
And modern witches are there for it.
“They are really doing their research,” said Opal Luna, a witch, author and crafter in Florida, “and I appreciate that.”
A spinoff from Marvel’s “WandaVision” miniseries, which ran in early 2021, “Agatha All Along” picks up from that show’s final episode with Agatha, played by Kathryn Hahn, who was magically enslaved by Wanda, known as the Scarlet Witch. The show follows Agatha and her covenmates — among them Lilia (Patti LuPone) and Rio (Aubrey Plaza) — as they seek to recapture their magical powers.
This is all standard television witchy fare, but “Agatha” is drawing real-life witches with an aesthetic that aligns directly with a long legacy of magical storytelling — a teenage witch’s room is littered with witchcraft movie memorabilia — and with modern witchcraft practice. In one episode, the creators imagine the characters as figures inspired by the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot cards, a classic card set first published in 1909, with Agatha as the Three of Swords, Lilia the Queen of Cups, and Rio Death.
Opal Luna. (Courtesy photo)
“The people that wrote this have to have a background in paganism, witchcraft or something,” said Luna. The characters are “not all typical Halloween witches.” (Marvel Studios did not respond to a request for comment.)
Inspired by the show, Luna plans to include its theme song, “The Ballad of the Witches Road,” in her rituals celebrating this year’s Samhain, a pagan holiday honoring the dead that is celebrated between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. Luna believes it will become a pagan staple for years to come.
The song, composed by the Oscar-winning duo Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who wrote “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen” and the tear-jerker “Remember Me” from Pixar’s “Coco,” speaks of a “a dangerous journey” leading to a reward. Agatha and her coven seek their lost power; Luna’s Samhain ritual is a spiritual walk into the underworld to confront death and discover wisdom.
Marshall WSL, a witch and co-host of the podcast “Southern Bramble,” agreed that the song encapsulates “the journey of the (modern) witch” into their own power, he said.
Fans of the show from the witchcraft community also appreciate the complexity of the characters. Many modern witches, Marshall said, find their way to witchcraft through trauma or grief, turning to the practice as an alternative method “to realize their inner strength and power.”
Teen (Joe Locke), left, and Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone) in “Agatha All Along.” (Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 Marvel)
As a “heavily bullied child” and an outcast in a very small town, Marshall sees a parallel between his own story and the character Teen, with his Jewish backstory and queer identity.
“Agatha is complicated,” added Marshall. “None of us as individuals are truly all love and light. … We all have a range of emotions.” Agatha is “every witch.”
Marshall WSL. (Courtesy photo)
Marshall has been moved to create a talisman for himself modeled after a necklace Agatha wears on the show. The necklace, based on an 18th-century Italian brooch, depicts the pagan god Zeus’ daughters, three dancing graces. The show calls the trio “maiden, mother and crone,” another detail that “speaks to modern witches who work with (the triple goddess),” Marshall said.
“Agatha All Along” is not the first show or movie to strike a chord with modern witchcraft practitioners. “Bewitched,” which ran from 1964 to 1972, as well as “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” (1996-2003) and “Charmed” (1998-2006), all inspired modern-day witches.
In the mid- to late 1990s, said David Salisbury, a witch, author and activist in Washington, D.C., witchcraft-related movies and shows were everywhere. “It was very exciting to see all those fantastical witchcraft stories” on screen “and then go online (to the newly growing internet) to research and connect with other witches,” said Salisbury. “It was a perfect storm of inspiration and access.”
Salisbury said “The Craft,” from 1996, is a common movie cited by witches as a source of inspiration. As he studied magic, Salisbury said, he was fearful that his growing knowledge would eventually ruin his love for “The Craft,” but that never happened. “I realized that we actually are calling the elements. We are invoking directional spirits to help us. We are casting spells to improve our lives,” he said, just as the characters in the movie do.
The fidelity of “The Craft” to real practice was no accident. “The Craft” is one of the first films to openly hire a modern witch adviser, Wiccan high priestess Pat Devin. The modern witch community — and young seekers like Salisbury — recognized these details. The film’s cult status remains strong 30 years later and inspired a sequel, “The Craft: Legacy” (2020).
Zoe O’Haillin-Berne dressed as the Wicked Witch. (Courtesy photo)
It is not surprising that “The Craft” movie poster appears in Teen’s bedroom. But “Agatha” goes deeper into Hollywood’s witch trove by featuring MGM’s 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz” in its imagery and themes.
“Every little girl and every queer little boy wanted to be Dorothy, or maybe Glinda because they want to wear the big, beautiful gown,” said Zoe O’Haillin-Berne, a Celtic Christo-pagan and a witch who serves on the board of directors of the International Wizard of Oz club and plays the Wicked Witch of the West at events through her company, the Spirit of Oz.
O’Haillin-Berne was drawn to the Wicked Witch. Some of her magical altar tools are reminiscent of the Oz aesthetic and she wears black robes in ritual. “I’m an old-fashioned witch,” she said. “I love black pointy hat.”
However, her connection to Oz runs deeper than clothing and witchcraft paraphernalia. Her passion is tied directly to her self-empowerment journey. O’Haillin-Berne’s first witchcraft ritual, she explained, was performed the same day she began her gender transition. “Maybe it’s because I was this little trans kid that always felt disenfranchised by the world,” she mused, that she loved the Wicked Witch, “a woman who commands the world around her.”
“Agatha All Along” may never reach the status of “The Craft” or “The Wizard of Oz,” but the show, in its short run, has created a storm of approval from many in the modern witchcraft community. One fan posted on the social media platform Threads, “I hope ‘Agatha All Along’ inspires a whole new generation to explore witchcraft, just like ‘The Craft’ did for mine.”
Another user posted a video showing followers how to imitate the Safe Passage tarot spread, a tricky but slick maneuver performed on the show.
Teen (Joe Locke), left, and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in Marvel Television’s “Agatha All Along.” (Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 Marvel)
Marvel has announced an Agatha tarot deck, published by Insight Editions, the publisher of other Disney-related tarot decks.
Marshall said he’s already preordered the deck, but he’ll have to wait until July for its release. In the meantime, he and other Agatha fans in the community will be eagerly waiting for the next season.
“We (witches) are inspired by mythos. I think we are inspired by song. I think we are inspired by characters, deities, spirits that make us feel something,” he said. “And we are really getting that with ‘Agatha All Along.’”