Bell, Book and Candle

This is a wonderful play and film that got renewed interest when the popular Canadian TV series the Good Witch named the main location store after it. Here’s an excerpt from The Good Wiccan Guide – Part One: Introduction and Popular Mythology.

Bell Book and Candle (1958)

This was a popular Broadway play in 1950 which was adapted for the Big Screen. The romantic comedy starred James Stewart as a man in love with a witch played by Kim Novak who lives in Greenwich Village, NYC. Her familiar cat is named Pyewackett. It was quite influential in terms of the witch look and makeup as noted in the previous section about Cat Eyes. It also introduced the idea of male witches, or warlocks, into popular consciousness.

It’s an interesting film which shows witches casting all sorts of spells to get into and out of trouble. At the end we find that when a witch falls in love, she loses her powers.

Just remember movies are not always true, because a deep and honest love can enhance your powers.

It’s funny how humans invent all sorts of little made-up dramas to tell a morality story. Most of the time such parables serve a good purposes, because they are based on truths. The only problem with Bell, Book and Candle is it isn’t based on truth. A Good Wiccan can develop her powers, fall madly in love, get married and have a happily ever after. Perhaps what the deeper message is here is that once a Wiccan becomes open to the expression and feeling of love, she or he no longer has a desire to perform or devle into learning any more about ‘manipulative’ types of magic or spells. That is the real happy ending!

~anand sahaja