CONFERENCE SUMMARY AND COMMENTS

Of Covens and Spells: The Revival of the Traditional Witch in the Television
Series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Nagore Sánchez Ruiz, UPV/EHU

Serie: V International Conference on Myth in the Arts

In this conference, Sánchez analyses the characteristics of the traditional witch

shown in the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018). I chose this
presentation first because I have seen the show and I was curious about what Sánchez
had to say about it; secondly, because the figure of the witch is something that I enjoy
seeing represented in media. Many of my favourite movies and series include witches
and it was interesting to see Sánchez’s take on their media representation.

Sánchez first describes the very first representation of witches as a stereotyped

old woman flying. This image was created in Martin le Francis’ Le champion des
Dames which was the first known representation of a witch flying a broom. Later in
1939, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz presented The Wicked Witch of the West with black
clothes, a pointy hat, and a green ugly face. This portrayal has been very popular, as it
can be seen in posterior works like The Witches (1990) and Hocus Pocus (1993). These
representations of witches are very different from what a witch was considered to be in
the Middle Ages and the early Modern period. In fact, the traditional witches were evil,
they made pacts with the devil, served him unconditionally, ruined harvests, killed
people etc… Black clothes or ugliness were not part of their characteristics.

Hollywood has changed the image of the witch on many occasions. Firstly, the
traditional characteristics disappeared, the newer witches did not serve the devil and
they used their magic for good. Examples of this are the series Bewitched (1964) and
Charmed (1998). Nevertheless, the recent changes in cinema and television have
brought forth a new generation of witches. These new witches include the
characteristics of traditional witches, as it can be seen in the following tv series:
American Horror Story: Coven (2013), American Horror Story: Apocalypse (2018),
Salem, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I found it amusing that Sánchez
mentioned all these tv series as examples, as I have watched almost all of them.
 Going back to Sánchez’s analysis, she first deals with the representation of The
Coven and The Devil. As mentioned before, witches have been said to gather in groups
and make pacts with the devil. Covens usually met to praise Satan and deny God at
night, in forests or caves, always in secret. They also committed anti-natural actions like
killing children or cannibalism. In some countries like Spain and Italy, witches were
said to mock Christians and their god. In Sabrina, the coven is called the Church of the
Night, and similarly, their meetings happen at night. In the show, we have the Dark
Baptism, a ceremony in which a witch or warlock signs Satan’s book in exchange for
new powers. During this, they chanted in Latin and there were blood and sacrifices of
goats. Like traditional witches, the witches of the show also mock Christians, God and
some Catholic beliefs, like exorcisms.

Then, Sánchez goes on to analyse the representation of Satan. Traditionally, he

is a monstrous creature with horns and a goat’s body, very important in the witches’
lives. Satan’s appearance can be traced back to old pagan religions. During the coven’s
meetings, the devil was present as half human, half goat. Likewise, in the show we also
have Satan (The Dark Lord or Lucifer) as half human, and half goat.

Afterwards, Sánchez talks about the familiar of a witch, which is a figure that
represents the relation between demons and animals. Familiars are spirits in shape of
domestic animals that are provided to the witches by the devil in exchange for blood. In
Sabrina, the familiars are cats, mouses, iguanas, spiders etc. Later, Sánchez analyses
cannibalism, which is one of the most important characteristics of witches and the
clearest example of this would be Hansel and Gretel by the Grimm brothers.
Cannibalism is a feature that is very present in the show, as it is considered a custom;
they celebrate the Feast of Feasts, where one member is sacrificed and eaten by the
coven.

To conclude, Sánchez states that most of the representation of witches omit the
traditional elements. These elements, however, are very popular in horror films like
Suspiria (1977, 2018) or The Witch (2015) a new England folktale set in 1630.
Personally, I believe that The Witch (2015) is an enlightening production, from which I
would highlight Anya Taylor Joy’s delivery of such an incredible performance. Witches
were later represented as good; Sánchez exemplifies this with Bewitched (1964) and
Charmed (1998). I would also add The Vampire Diaries (2009) a teenage show that
centred around vampires but also presented interesting stories about witches that were
good. Although I do not consider this show to be of exceptional quality, I believe it is
interesting to see the relationships between many supernatural creatures. Sánchez
concludes by saying that nowadays, the productions are introducing traditional
characteristics and creating morally dubious witches. 2018’s Chilling Adventures of
Sabrina, in comparison with its predecessor Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996), presents
darker elements of witchcraft and is much closer to the traditional witch.

In conclusion, even though Sánchez makes a great point in analysing the

representation of traditional witches in Sabrina, I personally would have chosen to
analyse American Horror Story: Coven (2013), which is a show that portrays traditional
characteristics of the witches that descended from Salem. It takes place in 2013 New
Orleans and there are also flashbacks to 1692 (Salem Witch Trials), the 1830s, 1910s,
1960s, 1970s, and 1990s. The witches have different powers which is interesting to see,
and the show also includes different social struggles like racism and sexism. Overall, I
believe it does a better job at presenting the history and characteristics of witches. In
addition, the show also includes many horror and terror elements, which is always a
plus. I would also add that a comparison between the two adaptions Chilling Adventures
of Sabrina (2018) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) and the representations of
different aspects of witchcraft in both shows would be a nice project to carry out. To
finish, I think Sánchez has provided an engaging presentation of Chilling Adventures of
Sabrina (2018) and has made interesting points regarding the representation of
traditional witches.