In late August, 25-year-old New York content creator Katie Begley told TikTok viewers that a simple online spell purchase may have helped her land a commercial with Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley. The claim sparked a viral conversation about the growing popularity of Etsy witches, a niche market that offers “quick spells” for a few dollars.
Begley’s Spell-Shop Experience
Begley, who had been waiting for responses to several large-scale work offers, turned to an Etsy witch she found on the marketplace’s “personalized party swag and vintage clothing” section. She bought four spells-a soulmate attraction spell, a powerful obsession spell, glamor magic, and a wealth and prosperity casting-for $60.76. The next day, she received a call confirming her booking for the Barkley commercial.
She laughed that her head was “like, ‘Oh – it was my witch,'” and shared the story in two TikTok videos that amassed millions of views. Her narrative became the latest success story in the cultural phenomenon surrounding Etsy witches.
The Rise of Quick-Spell Commerce
Interest in buying spells online surged in 2025 after several influencers praised their results. The services are typically priced between $7 and $50, sometimes cheaper with discount codes or flash sales, and are often listed as an “entertainment” service-a workaround after Etsy banned the sale of metaphysical services, including spellcasting, in 2015.
In May, New York City-based content creator Jaz Smith posted a video about hiring an Etsy witch to cast a spell for good weather at her influencer-studded wedding. The event was met with blue skies, prompting followers-including Begley-to purchase their own spells.
Four months later, influencer Becca Bloom, who has 4.9 million TikTok followers, posted a video claiming “Etsy witches worked” as she announced her picture-perfect wedding.
Expert Perspective
Emily D. Crews, executive director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said the rise of Etsy witches mirrors a broader shift in American religious life. Institutional religion is in steady decline, with the religiously unaffiliated now making up roughly 28% of the U.S. population. In its place, many Americans-especially millennials and Gen Z-are pivoting toward belief systems that borrow from multiple traditions.
Crews explained, “It makes sense, in this kind of religious landscape, that someone might just as easily seek help from a witch as from a priest or a rabbi or a sacred text, even if they were raised Christian or Jewish or some other more conventionally recognizable religion.”
She added that “selling religion is nothing new.” “People have been paying religious specialists to cast spells or do rituals or hold funerals for pretty much as long as humans have existed,” she said.
Influencer Success Stories
Emily Hanan, the U.K.-based witch and tarot reader known online as NaturalisticBlessingStore, has offered her services for almost two decades but opened her Etsy storefront in early 2020 during the pandemic. After Smith’s TikTok video, her shop “to the stratosphere,” and her custom ritual for good weather became her most requested offering.
Hanan said, “2025 has been by far my most in-demand year. I don’t know if that makes 2025 the year of the Etsy Witch, but since going viral with Jaz in the summer, I’ve seen multiple TikTok’s and short-form content about Etsy witches, mainly about my store but about some others too.” She has since closed her Etsy shop and now takes requests on Instagram, though she is closed for the rest of the year to work through a massive backlog.
She recalled a September wedding after-party where a crowd chanted “Etsy Witch, Etsy Witch,” and said it was a surreal experience.
A Sports-Fan’s Spell
Advertising agency employee Rohit Thawani, 44, from Los Angeles, paid an Etsy witch $8.48 for a New York Knicks win ahead of Game 5 in the Eastern Conference finals in May, using the discount code BLESSINGS2025. The Knicks won, and Thawani’s spell attracted attention from basketball analyst Stephen A. Smith and Desus Nice. He bought a second spell for Game 6, but the Knicks lost.
Thawani remarked, “We have no control over anything around us, and so in many ways, witchcraft feels like a lottery ticket. There is a chance you might win, and if you don’t, you’re not missing out on anything.”
Controversy and Political Debate
Two days before conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah college campus in September, Jezebel published a satirical article about hiring three Etsy witches to place a hex on Kirk, including one to “make everyone hate him.” Jezebel removed the piece and issued a statement condemning Kirk’s death and any political violence. The incident sparked a larger political and social debate.
Journalistic Experiment
After covering Etsy witches, the reporter bought two spells at a desk in 30 Rock for a total of $37.61. One was a weather spell for $13.90, requesting the buyer’s name, birthday, and a request for snow on Christmas Day in the tri-state area. The second was an abundance, wealth, and success ritual candle for $23.71, also asking for the same personal details plus the buyer’s astrological sign.
Three days later, the witches sent messages confirming the rituals were completed. The weather spell seller described a candle that “caught quickly, the flame held steady without sputtering, and the smoke lifted clean,” and instructed the buyer to “crack a window for a few minutes, step outside and take three slow breaths while picturing the weather I wanted.” The reporter performed the ritual in pajamas and noted that New York City received its first snowfall the next day.
Snow continued in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire on Tuesday, and again on Christmas Eve. On Christmas itself, snow was only in the forecast for Friday and into the weekend. The abundance ritual’s results remain to be seen, but the witch advised the buyer to “remain positive, open and ready to receive your blessings.”
Key Takeaways
- Katie Begley credits a $60.76 spell purchase for landing a commercial with Saquon Barkley.
- Etsy witches offer quick spells priced $7-$50, gaining traction after influencer endorsements in 2025.
- Religious affiliation shifts, with 28% unaffiliated, may explain the rise of alternative spiritual services.
- Influencers, athletes, and even journalists have publicly bought spells, highlighting a growing cultural trend.
The trend illustrates how online marketplaces can provide spiritual services that fit modern consumers’ desire for low-stakes, low-cost rituals. Whether the spells truly work is secondary to the belief system they reinforce-a system that has become a mainstream part of many people’s daily lives.
Closing
From a New York content creator to a Los Angeles advertising executive, the story of Etsy witches demonstrates how a simple purchase can spark a viral narrative. As the trend continues, it will be interesting to see how the market evolves and whether the demand for quick, affordable spells will sustain beyond the current wave of online hype.
