Newsweek reached out to me to get my thoughts on Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus two. Here are some of the bits they quoted me on in their article:

Mat Auryn, best-selling author of Psychic WitchandMastering Magick, has studied under Laurie Cabot, who previously railed against the way witches were portrayed in 1987’s The Witches of Eastwick.

Auryn wrote to Newsweek that watching Hocus Pocus in October is a tradition for him, and he pressed play on the sequel as soon as it aired. He thinks that the second Hocus Pocus paints witches far more fairly than the first. It helps to explain that the Sanderson sisters in their youth saw witchcraft as an outlet for spiritual empowerment.

The author also lauded Najimy for her 1993 remarks.

“Watching the Kathy Najimy clip fills my heart with delight. As a child of the ’90s, I have loved her ever since I first saw her in Sister Act,” Auryn wrote. “Seeing her advocate her genuine concern for the real-world effects of practicing Witches and Pagans was very touching and spoke volumes about her heart.”

Real witches also praised Najimy’s show of historical knowledge in the decades-old clip. In it, she explains that some of the women suspected of witchcraft were actually midwives and healthcare workers. And the idea that witches eat children dates back to that time.

It’s a point that Auryn applauds Najimy for getting right. He wrote that the baby-eating trope originated from the fact that many accused witches in Europe “were midwives and assisted in handling miscarriages, as well as knowing herbal formulas for inducing abortions, which quickly made them a target of the church.”

Read the full article here: https://www.newsweek.com/real-witches-whether-hocus-pocus-offends-disappointing-best-1751733