If 2020 wasn't already crazy enough, a community of beginner witches online claim to have cast a negative spell on the moon. In a unique social media drama, members of the spiritual scene have warned that new and inexperienced members—known as "baby witches"—may have angered multiple deities with dark magic, or hexes.
The outrage has been traced back to TikTok, a platform recently described by Wired as being "the home of modern witchcraft." Niche, but not small; the "WitchTok" hashtag alone has attracted more than 2.1 billion views at the time of writing.
Typically, it is filled with users who share an interest in spells, spirits, magic, horoscopes, crystals, tarot readings, occult or folklore—and has enjoyed a boost thanks to TikTok's "For You" page, which uses algorithms to promote alternative content.
So far so normal for a community on social media. However, chatter from those who are in the scene indicates the vibe has taken a darker turn this week.
The current situation was outlined in detail on Twitter over the weekend by a user called Jupiter (@heyyadoraa), who revealed that a hex—"a collection of negative energy"—was directed towards two targets: the fae and our closest celestial satellite.
"In the past few days, a group of FRESH baby witches decided to band together, and hex the fae, and then the moon, and they did!" Jupiter wrote in a tweet that has since gone semi-viral, as dissected by The Cut.
For those not in the know, it is a complex situation. Broadly, hexes were placed on some supernatural "non-human creatures" known as fae—beings that "do not abide by human morals" and could steal your soul or curse your bloodline if wronged.
After that, these "newbie" witches then turned their attention to the moon. This is a big problem, Jupiter said, as the moon not only "fuels spells and provides power" but is also controlled by multiple gods who may not appreciate being messed with.
"In case you don't know—Artemis and Apollo are twins. Artemis is the goddess of the moon, Apollo is the god of the Sun. As siblings, they are VERY intertwined and as his SISTER has been HEXED, he's P****D," Jupiter said.
"Apollo WILL take action for his sister, even though she is entirely capable of taking action for herself. But Apollo? He's the god of health and medicine. They hexed his sister. In the middle of an increasingly dangerous pandemic."
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE HEXERS?
— jupiter ✿ ☍ (@heyyadoraa) July 19, 2020
if the gods are merciful, their hex will be sent back to them AND they will be hexed BY the gods. yeah, that’s mercy.
if there’s no mercy? a curse. lifelong, at least. probably on their bloodline.
The Twitter user—whose real identity is unknown—updated the thread today to say one of the people who claimed to hex the moon appeared to actually have more experience and was "making a couple of other harmful claims," without elaborating.
Jupiter wrote: "Not all witches on TikTok are like this... mostly WitchTok is educational and jokey content. No one knows the real origin of the group of hexers."
But in the wider community, the hex fears have grown to the point that one user of the Reddit page r/Witchcraft has posted a "moon blessing" for people to recite.
Jupiter said the moon will not be physically harmed but the two deities will not be happy with the spells, meaning "energy will likely be out of wack for a while."
"How will this affect you?" the viral thread continued on Sunday. "I don't know. People don't usually hex the moon, gods aren't usually mad. There could be effects on you [and] your energy because of this, but the gods aren't mad at YOU."
Alice Gorman, an associate professor at Flinders University in Australia who specializes in space exploration, told Cnet that the general population on Earth has little to worry about about such spells or hexes.
"In reality, you know the moon isn't going to fall out of the sky, tides aren't going to stop happening. It won't turn blue or green, but it does demonstrate that there are continually new ways that people find emotional connection to the moon," Gorman said.
TikTok, owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, is hugely popular with teenagers and often used to share short-form content including dances, songs or comic skits.
It has been criticized as a potential threat to national security by U.S. politicians who say it may face a ban over fears it could be exploited to surveil or steal private data from American users, a claim that has been repeatedly rejected by the company.
