You can buy just about anything on Etsy: handmade candles, vintage jewelry, personalized dog collars… and now, spells. Real spells. For love, for money, for revenge.
Over the past few years, the platform has seen a quiet explosion in sellers offering magical services – everything from custom incantations to “binding rituals” to keep your enemies in check. Some buyers seek blessings. Others want curses. All it takes is a credit card and a leap of faith.
This growing trend has raised eyebrows and questions alike. Are these spells real? Are they ethical? And perhaps most importantly: what does it say about us that so many people are willing to pay a stranger to change their fate?
Let’s explore.
What Is an Etsy Witch?
On Etsy, listings for spiritual services are often tucked into the "metaphysical" category, with tags like “white magic,” “witchcraft,” or “custom spellwork.”
From these shops, you’ll find everything from “return a lover” spells to hexes designed to sour someone’s luck – alongside detailed descriptions, star ratings, and buyer reviews.
This isn't exactly new. Folk magic, ritual, and spell-casting have existed for centuries across cultures and faith traditions. But Etsy witches have taken those deeply personal, often secretive practices and made them commercial. Spiritual aid is now a transaction – a service you can shop for, read testimonials about, and receive as a digital download.
Some witches on Etsy frame their services as symbolic, for entertainment purposes. Others speak with conviction. Many view their work as a modern extension of long-held traditions that are rooted in intention and ancestral wisdom.
Etsy (and other platforms like it) have tried to regulate this gray area, sometimes banning “supernatural” services altogether… only to reverse course when enforcement proved tricky. As a result, the magical marketplace has continued to grow.
The trend of hiring witches has shown many different uses for the service, including brides paying witches to cast spells for good weather on their wedding day:
But that’s far from the only example.
Witchball for the Win
Earlier this month, MLB’s Seattle Mariners were in a slump. A losing streak had fans demoralized and playoff hopes fading. That is, until someone online had an idea: hire a witch.
A Mariners fan posted a screenshot confirming he had paid $19.99 to an Etsy witch to help the Mariners “get their act together and start winning baseball games again, and hopefully make their way to the World Series and win.”
Within 24 hours, the Mariners were playing some of their best baseball all season. Over the weekend, they won a game with the eye-popping score of 18-2.
Fans soon began paying tribute:
The official team account even gave credit to the “etsy witch” in a post on X:
Coincidence? Maybe. But the story caught on. Sports blogs ran with it. Mariners Twitter exploded. Even the players seemed aware that something… mystical… might be afoot.
However, some folks took issue with witches being celebrated in professional sports:
What Does It Mean to Curse Someone?
But in addition to boosting a positive outcome, magic can instead be used against someone or something.
In recent years, witches have cast targeted spells – also called “curses” or “hexes” – against world leaders, including President Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Such curses are also available for purchase from Etsy practitioners.
That fact led to controversy this week when the news outlet Jezebel disclosed it had hired several Etsy witches to place curses on conservative media figure Charlie Kirk. The spells reportedly included titles like “Make Everyone Hate Him” and “Powerful Hex Spell.”
Then, two days later, Kirk was assassinated during a speaking event at a Utah college.
The timing was enough to spark outrage. Critics accused Jezebel of inciting harm against their target.
Defenders of the outlet called the piece satire – arguing that it was purely for entertainment and wasn't meant to be taken literally. An editor’s note was later added to the piece:
This story was published on September 8. Jezebel condemns the shooting of Charlie Kirk in the strongest possible terms. We do not endorse, encourage, or excuse political violence of any kind.
Regardless of intent, the controversy has continued to grow. For some, it raised old questions about spiritual responsibility. Even if you don’t believe in curses – should you pretend to cast one? And if you do believe in magic, does that come with moral weight?
Magic in the Marketplace
In every faith tradition, there are stories about the power of words, rituals, and intentions. Whether it’s a prayer, a blessing, or a hex, people have long believed that what we say – and how we say it – can shape the world.
What’s new is the platform.
Today, spellwork isn’t passed down in secret or performed in candlelit rooms. It’s advertised online, packaged like a product, reviewed like a restaurant. And that raises real questions.
If someone claims to sell “magical justice,” who decides what’s fair? If a curse “backfires,” who is responsible? And if something bad happens after a spell is cast – even unintentionally – who carries the blame?
Those questions are now more relevant than ever. Whether you see spellwork as serious spirituality, or playful performance, it’s hard to deny its growing influence. Even in an age of algorithms and instant delivery, people still find fascination with forces beyond this spiritual realm.
What do you think? Would you consider hiring an Etsy witch? Or does the commodification of witch culture lead down a dark path?
0 comments