Superstition for a digital age

One of the most vigorously studied aspects of the history of early modern Europe is the era of the “witch hunts.” Peaking from the 1560s through the 1630s, areas such as Germany and Scotland witnessed an outbreak of persecution against accused witches with a nearly inexplicable degree of intensity that collectively resulted in the executions of at least 40,000 people. This wasn’t due to a rapid onset of mania, however. It was for most part propelled by everyday superstitions of many Europeans that, when coupled with the elite theories of witchcraft then current amongst those in authority, led to men and women of all social classes and ages being blamed for the suffering and tragedies met in a fallen world. Although Protestant Reformers desperately sought to squelch appreciation and usage of folk magic and other forms of charms, many continued to turn to familiar consolations against entrusting themselves to a comparatively abstract anchor of the mysterious providence of God.

The power of superstition remains alive and well in the 21st century – and for many of the same reasons. So-called “Etsy witches” have lately become a go-to service for those experiencing uncertainty regarding careers and relationships. For others, an ideal weather forecast for special occasions warrants seeking out a conjurer-for-hire.

Witches, fortune tellers, and Tarot readers are not uncommon throughout the United States. Rather, the widespread availability of digitally based witches reveals how a supposedly post-Christian, highly secularistic age still makes room for superstition against all sociological odds.

Many Western intellectuals, perhaps chief among them the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, have indicated how widely disenchantment truncates the collective imagination of modern capitalistic societies. That prognosis serves to promote both negative assessments of the Protestant Reformation and positive appraisals of New Atheists and humanists, who see it as a cornerstone in humanity’s march towards rational enlightenment.

Etsy witches serve to disrupt those simplistic narratives by highlighting one unavoidable fact: For as much as the experts like to think they have their fingers on the pulse of culture, the masses keep the score. Turning to the consoling facade of cheap magical tricks—despite all that atheistic naturalists claim we know about how the world mechanistically works—proves that humanity cannot escape its innate if fallen desire to attempt to have some semblance of control over our lives.

The push of the Protestant Reformers against witchcraft and magic was precisely due to that tendency. John Calvin said that “When men, not content with the laws of nature, would fly beyond them by the help of devils, they are carried headlong by blind curiosity.” Similarly, Heinrich Bullinger declared that “To use charms, amulets, or incantations is to turn from God to the devil.” The Reformers were concerned less with the acts themselves and more with the extent that they discouraged the souls of the faithful from leaning upon Christ and believing His promises.

Early modern Europeans were beset with a whole host of travails, from high rates of infant mortality to a sudden outbreak of plague or the constant possibility of crop failure. It was natural for them to avail themselves of any popular means at their disposal to try and keep evil at bay. With pastoral concern, the Reformers encouraged them to look to the surer foundation of hoping in the sovereign God who always seeks their good even when it might not make sense to us from our own limited perspective.

There’s still plenty to worry about today when we are left to ourselves as we consider the unpredictability of our lives. Advancements in medicine and technology might be able to obscure our immediate need for God by keeping us away from contemplating our mortality as much as our forebears, but misfortunes and setbacks of all kinds bring us back to our own finitude time and time again.

Modern life leaves many searching for salvation in earthly attainment and bliss, its absence causing some to look to the illusion of influence digital witchery provides. We face the opportunity to tell the world that the God the Reformers proclaimed, who intimately involves Himself in all things as one who entered into His creation to redeem it, is far from uncaring. The answer to paganism is Biblical Christianity.