Witches Get a Bad Rap: Practical Magic 2

Witches really do get a bad rap.  Think of the poor Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. You would be pissed off too if a house fell on your sister.  Or what about the witch from the Grimm fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel? You might also shove children in the oven if they were nibbling on your pretty house of gingerbread.  

When both movies, Wicked (2024) and its sequel Wicked: For Good (2025), were released, I don't remember many critics, other than a few mean body-shaming remarks about how Arianna Grande "needed to eat a sandwich." Yet with the release of Practical Magic 2, critics seem louder; not only that, some Practical Magic fans didn't like the story, but some religious groups suggested that if we watch the movie, we're going to burn in hell.

The first Practical Magic movie was released in 1998. The movie, by the same name, is from a series of four books by author Alice Hoffman. I am not sure what Hoffman fans expected from the continued story of Practical Magic 2, like 28 years later. Even with advances in cinematography and videography over the years, the second movie was bound to appear different on today's screen than it did in 1998. 

The story follows two young orphaned sisters, Sally and Gillian Owens, who are sent to live with their eccentric aunts, Jet and Frances, after their parents die, and are victims of a 300-year-old family curse. The story continues in both movies as the Owens sisters grow up and try to break the curse for the next generation.

Religious critics gave Practical Magic 2 negative reviews because they feel the movie uses spells, hexes, and generational witchcraft to solve problems instead of biblical teachings. They claim there was "sexual content," such as innuendos of premarital sex and a brief scene of nudity. Nudity? The very handsome Professor Wright was lying naked in his bed, but we just saw his chest, and maybe a brief - very brief and blurred half view of a lump that was supposed to be his genitals. Trust me, you had to be looking for it, - - and I wasn't. But apparently the good Christians were looking for it. Trust me, I have seen more of the male package on an Olympic swimmer wearing a Speedo than I did from this particular "nudity" scene. 
 

Now about these spells and hexes...

Thousands of years ago, and aside from the fairy tales, the history of women and witches has been a series of unfortunate events: from the 1400s- 1700s in Europe, where executions of women, like burnings at the stake, took place for practicing "witchcraft." It continued even into our own continent at colonial Salem, MA, where they hanged women for missing church, including an invalid. 

Many moons ago, modern medicine was a luxury, and wise women learned the value of healing herbs and other types of homeopathic treatments. Many families depended on these women in their villages to help them through illnesses and even assist with childbirth. The mass hysteria of accusations started when religious zealots and the new male chemists, still uneducated about human physiology, became suspicious of these women who prescribed herbs.  

Many women also share a common bond: our intuitions, that sixth sense. That inner voice often breaks through and guides us on whether something is right or wrong about a situation or even a person. Ask any mother, and she will tell you how important the inner voice is when she has concerns about her child. 

Many of us can think back and share an instance about our grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and even old aunties who were known for their homeopathic treatments and old "wives' tales." In my family, we had tales of a local midwife and elderly women who used herbs for medicinal purposes. One of my grandmothers kept a large and very old aloe vera plant near her kitchen for burns and cuts. She knew its healing properties long before aloe vera was commercialized.

She and my grandfather purchased the yearly edition of the Farmer's Almanac every fall. It guided planting by the moon based on the lunar cycle and how the moon affects soil moisture and seed germination, much like the ocean tides and women's menstrual cycle. Today, this planting by the moon is known as biodynamics. A fancy name for witchcraft? 

Another grandmother followed old Appalachian folklore: if her palm itched, money was coming her way. If her nose suddenly itched, it meant company was coming. If it was the left side of her nose, it meant a male visitor, and the right side meant a female visitor. Over 90% of the time, she was right, not counting the uncles that she knew were expected any moment. 

We practice "witchcraft" almost every day. Be careful out there when you make a wish on a birthday candle or spill salt and toss it over your shoulder for good luck. There's also "knocking on wood" when tempting fate. And think again when you toss a coin in a fountain while making a wish. After all, we wouldn't want you to find yourself being burnt at the stake. 

"Witchcraft" has always been around, and with our current status of being told women may lose our vote to the men of the household, women losing rank in the Armed Forces, and the restrictions on how to conduct their own healthcare, many women are finding their "inner witch" as a symbol of taking back their power. And those elderly women in our families - the legacies - are often honored by the men who grew up admiring the strength of their mothers, grandmothers, and aunties, the women who kept them well nourished and protected. 

So men have their Vikings, wizards, and dragons. Let women have their witches.