Surveying the landscape => A paranormal, religious future?

Has Witch City Lost Its Way?

Kathryn Miles

They’re hip, business-savvy, and know how to cast a spell: How a new generation of witches and warlocks selling $300 wands conquered Salem.

The popularity of witchcraft is a growing national trend. Twenty-first-century witchcraft, including its commercial products and services (such as psychic readings), is big business, netting about $2 billion annually in the U.S. In many ways, Salem has become a mecca for this, with as many as 5,000 of its 43,000 residents identifying as practicing witches and untold thousands passing through as part of a spiritual pilgrimage. Witchcraft also drives much of the tourism in Salem: More than one million visitors descend on the city each year, spending about $140 million annually, a chunk of it at stores like Hex. Officials here also estimate that 35 percent of Salem’s annual tourism revenue is gained in October, when the city hosts Haunted Happenings, a month-long celebration that includes everything from a yoga retreat at the Satanic Temple to an official Witches’ Halloween Ball.