Sugar witch on Facebook is a term used to describe a phenomenon that has become increasingly common on the popular social media platform. A sugar witch refers to a person, usually a woman, who carefully curates and presents her life on Facebook in a way that is sugar-coated and seemingly perfect. This individual is adept at creating an image of themselves as flawless, with the aim of garnering attention and admiration from their online friends and followers. The term "sugar witch" is a play on words, combining the idea of a fairy tale witch with the sweet and saccharine nature of the sugar-coated representation. Similar to a fairy tale witch, the sugar witch employs a certain level of artifice and manipulation to present a version of themselves that may not necessarily be reflective of reality. These sugar witches often utilize carefully selected photos, filters, and captions to create an idealized and seemingly perfect portrayal.
When someone mentions the word "coven," you might envision thirteen black-clad, pointy hat-wearing witches dancing around a fire or cackling around a cauldron. I'm not sure that was ever the norm, but even if it was, times have changed. And covens have changed with them.
After all her followers but Dollie were hanged, Mercy gathered outcasts from the outskirts of Salem her children to counter Mary Sibley and the Elders. During the years when Wicca was the most common form of group Witchcraft practice or at least the one you were the most likely to find if you went looking , covens usually followed specific outlines.
These sugar witches often utilize carefully selected photos, filters, and captions to create an idealized and seemingly perfect portrayal. From extravagant vacations and luxurious purchases to impeccable style and a seemingly blossoming social life, their Facebook profiles are meticulously crafted to create an envy-inducing image. Despite the seemingly perfect life presented on Facebook, the reality behind the sugar witch may be quite different.
The Many Faces of Women Who Identify as Witches
My first encounter with the figure of a witch in popular culture—apart from those in kids’ movies like Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” and M-G-M’s “The Wizard of Oz,” or in books like Tomie dePaola’s “Strega Nona” and Roald Dahl’s “The Witches”—was in a campy scene from Oliver Stone’s 1991 bio-pic, “The Doors,” depicting Jim Morrison (played by Val Kilmer) and one of his lovers, a Wiccan witch (a character played by Kathleen Quinlan, and based on the rock journalist Patricia Kennealy, who reportedly married the singer in a Celtic handfasting ceremony, in 1970). In the flickering light of dozens of candles barely illuminating a high-ceilinged chamber, the two peruse an esoteric sorcery tract in the nude, snort cocaine, slit their wrists with a dagger, drink each other’s blood, and have wild sex to the shrieking strains of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”
More than a quarter century later, the often paradoxical grab bag of clichés tied to the contemporary figure of the witch is not that far off, I think, from those shown in Stone’s movie. The witch is often understood as a mishmash of sometimes contradictory clichés: sexually forthright but psychologically mysterious; threatening and haggish but irresistibly seductive; a kooky believer in cultish mumbo-jumbo and a canny she-devil; a sophisticated holder of arcane spiritual knowledge and a corporeal being who is no thought and all instinct. Even more recently, the witch has entered the Zeitgeist as a figure akin to the so-called nasty woman, who—in the face of a Presidential Administration that is quick to cast any criticism as a “witch hunt”—has reclaimed the term for the feminist resistance. (This latter-day witchiness has often been corralled to commercial ends: an Urban Outfitters shirt bearing the words “Boss Ass Witch,” say, or the women-only co-working space the Wing referring to itself as a “coven.”) The muddled stereotypes that surround witches nowadays are, in the end, not so very different from those used to define that perennial problem: woman.
“Shine (New York, NY)” “Deborah (Nyack, NY)”In her portrait series “Major Arcana: Witches in America,” which will be shown at the ClampArt gallery, in Chelsea, beginning October 4th, the photographer Frances F. Denny seeks to explore the figure of the contemporary witch beyond the cultural chestnuts that have shrouded and obscured it. In the course of the past two years, Denny, who holds an M.F.A. in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design (where I taught her for a semester a number of years ago), has travelled in California, Louisiana, and along the East Coast, taking the portraits of dozens of women who identify as witches. Her subjects are of diverse age, social class, and ethnicity, and practice a range of rituals, often drawing on “mysticism, engagement with the occult, politically oriented activism, polytheism, ritualized ‘spell-work’ and plant-based healing,” according to Denny’s exhibition notes. Among them are “self-proclaimed green witches, white witches, kitchen witches, hedge witches, and sex witches.” The series as a whole aims to avoid easy formulas and, instead, to exhibit the heterogeneity and individuality of modern-day witches, Denny told me recently, adding, “I’m not pinning these women down.”
“Kir (Brooklyn, NY)” “Instruments”In one photograph—“Randy (Plainfield, VT)”—a grandmotherly woman is standing in a lush green meadow, wearing a flower-sprigged sack dress, her hair arranged a bit girlishly in tousled white ringlets. In one hand she casually clasps a pair of divining rods, while in the other she holds up a pendulum, her gaze raised toward it, her lips upturned in a slight, self-possessed smile. In another—“Kir (Brooklyn, NY)”—a young, lithe woman is dressed in tight black jeans and a tank top, her booted feet planted firmly on a city street, a large, inquisitive-looking tabby cat on a leash at her side. And in “Shine (New York, NY),” a statuesque black woman, posed against a wall of ivy, is dressed in an elaborately embroidered coat, gazing piercingly at the camera. These subjects are all self-identified witches, and yet that fact would not be immediately or necessarily obvious to the uninformed viewer. When she first started the project, Denny read a book by Margot Adler about witches, in which the late journalist and Wiccan priestess argued that “witch” was not just a word but “a cluster of powerful images,” Denny said. “So I thought, I want to make this cluster of images.”
“Sallie Ann (New Orleans, LA)” “Luna (Oakland, CA)”Denny asked the women she photographed for the series to wear an outfit or bring along an item that they felt would represent their practice and identity as witches, and some of the portraits do answer more readily to our expectations of what a witch might look like. More than one woman wears a voluminous cape; some subjects’ fingers are crowded with ornate, sculptural rings, and others’ makeup is goth-y and exaggerated—lips crimson, eyes dramatically shaded. They brandish mysterious implements—a crystal ball, a bow and arrow, a wooden staff; one woman reclines, entwined with a snake—and most are dressed in black. Still, Denny said, it was important for her to make portraits that diverge from the ways she had seen witches typically photographed. “In what I saw out there, there was a lot of low lighting, and a lot of use of colored gels, usually purple or green. There was an immense theatricality,” she told me. In her photographs, Denny used natural light whenever possible, and the women are posed straightforwardly, facing the camera. Like other portraitists, such as the contemporary Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra, or the twentieth-century German master August Sander, Denny captures her subjects suspended delicately between performativity and naturalism. These self-identified witches are positioning themselves before us, fully conscious of our eye, and Denny is allowing them a lovely three-dimensionality.
Mab: "You've come here to kill me?" John Hale: "It would be within my right to do so. The code of the hive is clear. But, no, we have agreed to spare you. I would allow nothing else. Still, to the issue at hand. He will interrogate you." Mab: "And I will give him nothing. I will swallow the blackened pill before I betray the cause." — Departures Mary Sibley: "If there is one thing you should take away from this conversation, child, it's this. You are in my hive, I'm your Samhain, and you are an Essex witch. You can not hide anything from me." — The Wine Dark Sea Countess Von Marburg: "I will admit you're impressive for a common Essex witch." Mary Sibley: "Has our hive not survived when so many others have perished?" — The Wine Dark Sea Countess Von Marburg: "Your strength is also your weakness. You are, as you said, a hive filled with lovely, little bees, but no true queen. You are, in reality, mere sister drones, little, meek equals whose power is shared. Why? You're like the foot of a pyramid. But you will make a fine and mighty base for one more naturally designed to rule." — The Wine Dark Sea Cotton Mather: "My father was the very scourge of witches in the old country not only in Old Essex, but also in Germany. There, he stopped this tribe of Germanic witches, led by this ancient pagan siren that he sent back to Hell. He often told me that was his proudest moment." — Ill Met by Moonlight Sebastian Von Marburg: "O’ brothers and sisters, gathered here from every dark place on the Earth. We have so long been orphans of the great gone gods, but no longer. Our Father has come home. Their God is dead or lost in senile slumber. But not ours. Our God, their devil, is alive. Awake. And now, finally, he’s here." — After the Fall Dark Lord: "What tribe of witches is so exalted that they will not bend the knee before me? " Good Mother: "The Essex witches, my Lord. It is we Essex who brought you forth to walk the earth again." — After the Fall
Behind the curated photos and glamorous events, there may be struggles, insecurities, and imperfections that are conveniently left out of the narrative. The rise of the sugar witch on Facebook can be attributed to a number of factors. One possible explanation is the social pressure to appear successful and happy in a society that places great value on external validation and material wealth. By presenting an idyllic life, these individuals hope to receive affirmation and admiration from others. However, the prevalence of sugar witches on Facebook has also sparked a backlash among those who believe in authenticity and vulnerability. Many internet users are now advocating for a more transparent and genuine representation of oneself on social media. In conclusion, the concept of the sugar witch on Facebook is a reflection of the social media era, where individuals carefully curate their online personas to appear flawless and idealized. While this may garner attention and admiration from some, it also raises questions about the authenticity and transparency of these online representations..
Reviews for "The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Sugar Witch on Facebook"
1. Sarah - 1 star - I was really excited to try Sugar Witch on Facebook, but I was extremely disappointed with the game. The levels were repetitive and the gameplay felt stale. Additionally, the in-app purchases were pushed so aggressively that it took away the enjoyment of the game. I found myself constantly bombarded with pop-ups and notifications to buy more lives or power-ups. Overall, it was a frustrating and unenjoyable experience.
2. Michael - 2 stars - Sugar Witch on Facebook started off promising, but quickly became a chore to play. The difficulty level spiked drastically after the first few levels, making it near impossible to progress without spending money on boosters. The game also lacked innovation and uniqueness, feeling like a carbon copy of other match-three puzzle games. I was hoping for something new and exciting, but instead, I got a monotonous and money-driven game.
3. Emma - 1 star - I found Sugar Witch on Facebook to be a tedious and pointless game. The levels were repetitive, the graphics were lackluster, and the overall gameplay was uninspiring. It felt like a cheap knock-off of other popular match-three puzzle games. I quickly lost interest and uninstalled it from my device. I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on this game when there are much better options available.
4. James - 1 star - Sugar Witch on Facebook was a huge disappointment for me. The game was riddled with bugs and glitches that made it almost unplayable. The developers seemed more interested in pushing in-app purchases than fixing the technical issues. Additionally, the levels became extremely difficult and felt unbalanced, leading to frustration and a lack of motivation to continue playing. Overall, it was a frustrating experience that I do not recommend.