Religion for Breakfast presents:
RFG LectureÂ
with Thorn Mooney, PhD
[Date]
RFG Lecture
What Does it Mean to Be a Witch?Â
Whether it’s tarot decks at Target or magic spells on TikTok, contemporary witchcraft is everywhere, and there’s a good chance you’ve got people in your life who call themselves witches. But what exactly does that mean, and why does the witch seem to be more popular than ever?
In this lecture, religious studies scholar and author Thorn Mooney describes four modes through which contemporary witches understand and articulate their traditions: as religion, as spirituality, as practice, and as identity. These modes intertwine and overlap to give rise to a rhizomatic movement that challenges many of the assumptions we have about the boundaries of “religion” today.
We’ll also consider how witchcraft exemplifies wider patterns documented by scholars: the rise of individual, personal spirituality as an alternative to “organized” movements, the increasing emphasis on marginalized voices in religion (especially queer voices), and the long-touted assertion that people turn to magic in times of crisis and upheaval.
By completing this course, students will be able to:
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Meet Your Instructor
Thorn Mooney, PhD
Thorn Mooney is an author and academic living in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is completing her PhD in religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specializes in religion and culture. Thorn studies the messy spaces between secularism, magic, and religion, with an eye for where those things overlap and blur. She writes and lectures about new religious movements, American religions, paranormal communities, and contemporary witchcraft for a wide variety of audiences. Her latest book is Witches Among Us: Understanding Contemporary Witchcraft and Wicca.
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