On the Acton Institute Powerblog , Rev Ben Johnson made comment about an article appearing on the Real News Network, ‘Witchcraft, Anarchy and the rise of the Left Tube.’ The article was about Angie Speaks, a ‘libertarian socialist’ who encourages socialists to use ‘witchcraft, spells and hexes’ against the free market.

The article is entertaining for what a crackpot leftist has to say about the Marxist struggle against capitalism. My attention, however, focused on Speaks’ assertions about the influence of the occult and witchcraft. Those who have read my two novels in the Winterbine series (a third novel due early 2020) know that Gnosticism and the occult feature in the story, particularly in its influence among feminists and radicalised Catholic nuns. Here are a few pertinent passages:

Angie Speaks asks the workers of the world to unite around their Himalayan salt lamps.

“Witchcraft is the tool of the oppressed class,” Angie affirms during the Real News interview, in which the camera captures what appears to be a witchcraft altar next to her bed.

“Do you think engaging with Earth goddess religious traditions could vitalize the Left?” asks interviewer Taya Graham.

Speaks says she has found that paganism enhances her political struggle.

“There’s a lot of truth to be unearthed within spirituality, especially because spiritual traditions have always been linked to the fight against capitalism and the fight against coercive systems,” spake Speaks.

In her telling, slaves in the New World who were oppressed by Church and State, turned to “things like Santeria, things like Vodun [voodoo], or here things like Wicca, which has a very strong through line with women’s movements and feminism. It was sort of a reservoir of strength and a reservoir of all the things needed to keep one’s soul intact.”