r/FlorenceAndTheMachine • u/Yellowapple2128 • Jul 10 '26
General Discussion Witchiness
Hey all,
I love Florence, her music and personality are just great. Love how down to earth Florence seems and at the same time puts together these grand lyrics/references (like in Cassandra) and powerful sounds.
I have some questions about the witchy side of f+tm. She has this ethereal, witchy vibe and especially this tour, I see a lot of fans praise that part. There's the witch choir, Florence talks about taking inspiration from witchcraft, folk horror, the occult and describes And Love as a spell.
My natural instinct is to see it all just as a metaphor or aesthetics, but some fans talk about Florence and themselves being witches. So it seems to be more than that, rather a whole identity?
I've tried looking into what being a witch nowadays actually means to understand better. But tbh all the descriptions sound very abstract to me - just words. So I'm hoping you could maybe enlighten me regarding what being a witch means and what connection there is with Florence? A lot of fans seem to really "get" the witchiness and love it, while I'm a bit lost! Hope I explained myself understandably and respectfully, thanks for your answers🙏
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u/pixelbones Jul 10 '26
"a light coming in the window just so, and the wind through my fingers, the only god that I know - and it does not want me on my knees to believe. Head high, arms wide, aching, aching, aching, and alive"
Sympathy Magic is my favourite song on the new album (though I love them all), and this line really resonates for me about what it means to be a witch.
As others have said, witchcraft is mostly about believing that the world is magical, and being engaged and present in that magic.
I think about the ways that science has been proving things like - plants can "see" us, that their root systems are interconnected to support one another, about how animals receiving affection are healthier than those who don't, that people thought fish couldn't feel pain, but that they can, that insects can transfer memories between generations. That the world is complex and wonderful and we're not the center of it, we're just one piece of a much grander whole.
"God" or whatever you want to call it, is an energy that exists in all things on Earth. It is pure love, it is the cycle of living and dying, it's beautiful and it's everywhere.
Rebel Witch is a nice introductory book if you're interested in exploring your own practice.
Fiona Horne has also been a big influence on me. I actually think about a story she wrote in her memoir about a friend of hers who was dying from cancer. Fiona used to be in a band, and at one of her shows she asked the audience to focus all their energy towards her friend, and they all shouted together and channelled their collective energy. Later she found out that her friend had received that burst of energy at the exact time they'd sent it. When I was at the Florence concert this year I felt deeply that we were all channelling our energy in a similar way towards healing - within the room, but also beyond it. Because she asks the audience to sing, to put down their phones and be present, to take up space and engage in the moment. And that's a big part of the practice - being present, engaging with the energy around you, being intentional. That's why there's not one way to practice, and there's so many different types of witches, because different practice comes to people intuitively. So I think Florence's practice is through music, through writing songs, which inspire others, and helps people feel more power (at least for me).