The ‘chaos witch’ who believes every day is magic

HOLLY Cassell has been a witch for as long as she can remember.

Witchcraft for Holly has little to do with broomsticks, black hats and bubbling caldrons.

Her craft traces its heritage not to children’s books but to the ancient pagan spirituality that has inhabited these islands for millennia.

Her forbears were burned for their beliefs and she counts herself lucky to be born in a different age.

“A tiny percentage [of what I do] is ritual and spell work,” she says. “But when I do it tends to be something that is meaningful.”

Holly, who lives in Roath, Cardiff, and reads Tarot cards for a living, says she is what’s described as a “chaos witch”.

She explained: “[It’s] the belief that objects and actions have power and significance that we give to them, no more or no less. It’s not a religion for me.

“For me it’s a practical craft I create day to day.

“We create our own rituals, our own spells from scratch and we don’t copy others because it’s all about working with your unconscious and subconscious so you can’t really take other’s people magic and expect it to work on you the same way.”

Centuries ago it was illegal in the UK to practise witchcraft, with some even hunted down and executed.

Although attitudes have now massively changed and the practice is completely legal, Holly said for a long time she kept it private from others.

Holly, 28, said she also experienced “a lot” of bullying growing up.

She said: “I’ve had whole relationships where there was no mention of it whatsoever, because as soon as someone comes out with that some people will just go “oh.’

“Because they only think of it as supernatural, they think I’m going to claim to have supernatural powers which is not the case so you learn to shut up about it.”

Holly added: “It’s a huge part of who I am now. It wasn’t always, in my late teens and early twenties it was still very much mocked in the mainstream and the only comparison people had in their head was maybe Harry Potter or Sabrina.

“I couldn’t really communicate with them then as I could now.

“It’s not a sob story at all, I recognise I’m hugely privileged to be a young white girl practising witchcraft. I’ve not suffered for my craft like a lot of people have.”

It was when Holly began sharing her experience online that she felt more comfortable being open with her identity as a witch.

With more and more people taking to social media to share their experiences, Holly said people are now becoming more accepting.

She said: “It’s getting a lot easier. It’s only now in the last few years that it’s been much more accepted in the mainstream.

“Then I got to about 20, 21 and I thought I can’t be a***d in hiding this anymore.

“I started a blog and writing about it.