Melissa Madara was not surprised to receive death threats on Friday as her Brooklyn witchcraft store prepared to host a public hexing of newly confirmed US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh this weekend.
The planned casting of an anti-Kavanaugh spell has drawn backlash from some Christian groups, but support from like-minded witch covens.
“It gives the people who are seeking agency a little bit of chance to have that back,” Madara said.
The ritual was scheduled to be livestreamed on Facebook and Instagram at 8pm yesterday New York time.
Seated at a desk telephone among bird skulls and crystal balls at Catland Books, the occult shop she co-owns, Madara said that the Kavanaugh hex is expected to be the most popular event the store has hosted since its 2013 opening, including spells aimed at US President Donald Trump.
Madara declined to give details of what the ritual would entail.
More than 15,000 people who have seen Catland Books promotions on Facebook have expressed interest in attending the event, vastly exceeding the shop’s 60-person capacity.
Not everyone is a witchcraft fan. Madara said she had fielded numerous irate calls from critics, with at least one threatening violence.
“Every time we host something like this there’s always people who like to call in with death threats or read us scripture,” she said.
Some supporters are sexual assault survivors still angry that the US Senate confirmed Kavanaugh’s lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court.
Believers in mysticism on both sides of the political divide are taking matters into their own hands.
Plans for the Catland Books event have sparked “counter hexes” around the country by those seeking to undo the spell, Madara said.
Even mainstream clergy was joining the fray. Reverend Gary Thomas of the Diocese of San Jose in California said that he would include Kavanaugh in his prayers at yesterday’s Mass.
“I think this is much more serious than people give it credit for,” Thomas said. “Conjuring a hex can be very dangerous.”
Politically oriented witchcraft has seen a renewed surge in popularity since Trump took office.
Magician Michael Hughes drew more than 12,000 “likes” on Facebook when he held a “mass spell” to curse Trump in February last year.
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