How To Be A Witch in Los Angeles
I am from coastal Massachusetts. Usually, by this time of year, I’m sipping cider at Salem’s town common. The leaves change, the season turns, and the light is golden. Houses from the 1600s still stand, and I prance around New England wishing all the ghosts well. What’s more? I love it. I am not federally recognized, but for all intents and purposes, I am a witch, indeed. The plight of being a precocious young woman. I have a way of being… highly intuitive. Puritanism runs straight through me, and it conflicts with every part of my witchy persona, leaving me the one on trial. My context is neither here nor there because I live on the West Coast now and I am coming face-to-face with an entirely different kind of witch - completely manufactured, but no less powerful. These days, witchiness sells. I have a feeling Ann Putnam’s rolling in her grave.
So here are the ingredients for a specific kind of spell, one that will transform you into a witch of Los Angeles. Happy haunting!
Know your zodiac “big three”
Find out with Co-Star; it’s fast, it’s easy, and they’ll read you to filth.
Find some elder witches to follow
I suggest @hoodwitch and @oracleofla
Worship at the altar of Stevie Nicks. Period.
Rhiannon (Live): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQAK6sVovUk
In fact, here’s a playlist. You can fly away on your broom with this one, right down Sunset Boulevard.
Watch Suspiria (1977) and (2018).
Then, watch Practical Magic (1998) as a palette cleanser.
Have tequila and sage on hand…for proper smudging.
Identify your signature brew.
Here are a few coffee shops with tasty offerings:
Cafe Niña (Boyle Heights)
Obet & Del’s (Hollywood)
Scary Good Coffee (Long Beach)
Klatch Coffee (Redondo Beach)
Sip & Sonder (Inglewood)
The Trails (Griffith Park)
Skip the spooky horror nights
pro tip: you can catch a glimpse of Hogwarts while driving south on the 101.
Conduct spells…
…alongside other witchy, feminist rockstars. I suggest gathering at the Hollyhock House.
Own a collection of tarot cards, crystals, and incense.
Don’t have any, need more? Check out House of Intuition, with locations across Los Angeles.
Commune with nature.
Find your perch, overlooking this vast city of magical folx. Or speed along Mulholland on your favorite broom.
Know the history.
Los Angeles has its own dark history with witch hunts, feminine revolt, witchcraft, and all sorts of ghoulish happenings. Sink your teeth into some truth.
some other digital goodies:
This book of poetry is about acknowledging where you came from, accepting the inherited strengths and flaws, and finding a way to use that unique set of traits and lineage to forge a path forward. This book is for the black folks, the queerdos, the ones trying to make peace with childhood traumas, those looking for love, and those trying to make magic in a broken world.
Buy a physical copy on Amazon here.