Witches are casting spells for a Labour victory in the election

There’s less than a week until the general election, so it’s time to turn up the heat on campaigning. Enter: witches. The Culture Witch – AKA Charlotte Richardson-Andrews – has urged Labour supporters to join a mass spell to bring about a Jeremy Corbyn victory.

In a post on Tumblr, the writer said: “After ten years of crushing austerity,” she wrote, “we defy more Tory rule. We refuse to cede to their greed and their cruelty. We refuse them our labour, our land, and our lives.”

Richardson-Andrews then shared a list of ingredients, timings, and actions involved in her ‘Corbyn Victory Spell’, which should be performed over seven consecutive days – starting yesterday (December 5). Suggested ingredients include: a red candle (for Labour), a red ribbon, oils associated with positivity, objects relating to Labour (e.g. a red rose), incense, and images linked to justice, liberation, and change.

Those executing the spell should invoke their chosen spirits before carving the candle with the words, ‘prime minister Corbyn’. They should then take the ribbon in both hands, gaze into the flame, and visualise a Labour victory – from millions of people queuing up to vote for the opposition, to the results being announced, and Corbyn arriving at Downing Street. Though Richardson-Andrews asserts that the steps can be followed or omitted according to personal preference.

On the final night of performing the spell, the ends of the ribbon should be tied together to create a circle and complete the spell, and then carried until the results are announced the following day.

“People responded to the spell as soon as it went live, sending me messages of support and enthusiasm,” Richardson-Andrews tells Dazed. “Fellow witches sent me photos of their altars, before and after performing the spell: beautiful, creative, and inventive interpretations of my instructions that really moved me.”

She continues: “After ten years of the Tories, we’re desperate for change, and the spell invites us to embrace that hope, to share it, and articulate it in a tangible way.”

Richardson-Andrews also says it’s not just UK witches getting involved, with people from Canada and the US offering their support too. “We’re a global community,” she explains, “connected by the same universal needs: justice, co-operation, liberation, a sustainable habitat. What happens here in the UK has a knock-on effect everywhere.”

“After ten years of the Tories, we’re desperate for change, and the spell invites us to embrace that hope, to share it, and articulate it in a tangible way” – Charlotte Richardson-Andrews

The writer is supporting Corbyn at the upcoming election because she “believes him when he says he’ll deliver a government that works for the many, not the few”, adding that “his manifesto offers not only an end to toxic Tory austerity but also a fighting chance at survival in the face of climate breakdown”. 

“As a queer, working-class woman, I recognise Corbyn as an ally,” Richardson-Andrews reveals. “His political career to-date is proof that he walks the walk.”

Urging those practicing the spell to focus on positivity – a Labour victory as opposed to a Tory loss – Richardson-Andrews says she wants us to concentrate on “what we’ll gain under Corbyn, rather than focus on the ever-present fear of what we’ll lose if the Tories stay in power”. This is a sentiment that many Labour supporters have adopted during the election campaign, with journalist Tristan Cross previously writing for Dazed: “It’s tempting to be pessimistic, to not allow yourself to be vulnerable to disappointment, but a generally demoralised Labour support is precisely what its opponents want.”

So, get your candle and your ribbon, and cast the fuck out of that Corbyn Victory Spell.