Cover Photo: Promotional still via A24
Promotional still via A24

The Occult, Fear, and Crises of Faith in ‘The Witch’

According to ‘The Witch,’ there’s no surer way to invite evil in than by being reckless enough to try to play God.

23 Minutes in Hell

The Witch: A New England FolktaleThe Witch

The Witch

I here confess I’ve lived in sin. I’ve been idle of my work, disobedient of my parents, neglectful of my prayer. I have, in secret, played upon thy Sabbath and broken every one of thy commandments in thought. Followed the desires of mine own will and not the Holy Spirit. I know I deserve all shame and misery in this life, and everlasting hellfire. But I beg thee, for the sake of thy Son, forgive me, show me mercy, show me thy light.

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Natasha Oladokun (she/her) is a poet and essayist. She holds fellowships from Cave Canem, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Jackson Center for Creative Writing, Twelve Literary Arts, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was the inaugural First Wave Poetry fellow. Her work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, The Academy of American Poets, Harvard Review Online, and Kenyon Review Online. You can read her column The PettyCoat Chronicles—on pop culture and period dramas—at Catapult. She is Associate Poetry Editor at storySouth, and currently lives in Madison, WI.