Salem, Massachusetts and A Witch Hat Manifesto
In most magical news, our Witch Hats are finally available at one of the most beautiful stores I have ever seen: Nocturne in Salem, MA. This exclusive collection of hats was designed specifically to compliment their dark, lush feminine aesthetic, and it's available to shop in-store and online.
So, with this exciting new chapter for Potion23, I’m feeling inspired to share something important with all of you:
Salem, Massachusetts, a small city where I once lived as a student in my early twenties, was also the same place where my ancestor, Rebecca Nurse, was tried and hanged for witchcraft in 1692. My grandmother told me this just before I'd moved there and even showed me her name in our family tree. Without prior knowledge, I ended up moving in an apartment directly across from the building where she was held prisoner during her trial. Salem is a place that I still feel deeply connected to, and I often think of with warm thoughts. It is also a place with which I’ve felt a strong sense of unfinished business for as long as I can remember, even in my brief visits as a child for Halloween. So, as soon as I saw these pictures of my hats being worn around the streets of Salem, tears unexpectedly welled up in my eyes. It was in this moment, that I felt a sense of peace surrounding my relationship with the Witch City and things finally felt clear to me.
Now seeing beyond the Potion23 Witch Hat as just an object, is to see it as something so much more sacred than meets the eye. After all these years of making them and wondering what on Earth called me to do so, I’m now realizing exactly what, if not just for fashion, they actually stand for…
These hats are for the trampled herb gardens and homes burned down under the guise of eradicating evil. They’re for the loved ones ripped from the arms of their families, left alone, powerless and afraid. They’re for the women and queer people, who were forced to live out their magic in the shadows and to dim their light for self-preservation. They’re for the lost sheep that followed the wolf instead of their own inner guidance. They’re for the wise, old crone that tended to the sick with nature’s medicine, who was later condemned by the very people she’d healed. They’re for the cobblestones we walk on in quaint villages, which not long ago were drenched with the blood of innocents, who faced unfathomable horrors. They’re for the caretakers, the lovers of nature, the animal whisperers, the oracles, the dreamers, the artists, the mystics, and the truth seekers whose abilities were viewed more as threats than great blessings. They’re for those of you who’ve made the choice in this life to honor your magic without restraint with absolutely no f***s given. For me, they are a symbol of justice for all those that were brutally tortured and murdered, just for living their truth. Justice for the poor souls that didn’t fit in with the society’s narrow standards, and suffered the consequences. By wearing these hats, you become part of a healing spell which transcends time itself. It echoes into the past, the present and the future for all those who have ever suffered at the cold hands of fear and endured the dreadful fate of the witch.
