The internet is spiraling after Jezebel published an article about cursing Charlie Kirk just two days before the far-right commentator died.
On Sept. 8, Jezebel ran a piece titled We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk. The article — clearly written as satire — described its contributor buying spells with names like “POWERFUL HEX SPELL” and “MAKE EVERYONE HATE HIM.” One Etsy witch, going by “Priestess Lillin,” even burned a photo of Kirk to cast a spell on him. In total, the contributor allegedly bought three different curse spells.
Nobody paid much serious attention to the article until Sept. 10, when Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University. Graphic videos show him answering a question about gun violence when a gunshot suddenly rang out. Hours later, news outlets confirmed his death, stunning people from both sides of the political spectrum.
Turning Point USA and Kirk’s Brand
Kirk was best known for founding Turning Point USA, which Jezebel once called a “conspiracy theory factory.” The nonprofit gained notoriety for its “Professor Watchlist,” which named educators accused of promoting leftist agendas.
Kirk seemingly thrived on controversy. He regularly toured college campuses, daring students to “prove him wrong” on hot-button issues, then uploaded clips to YouTube where he claimed to have “owned” his opponents.
One of his most viral moments came in 2023 at a Utah church, when he said, “It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
The article about the Etsy witch curse blows up
After his death, Jezebel’s Sept. 8 article resurfaced and immediately went viral. Some people saw the timing as creepy, while others accused the site of manifesting his demise. TikTok exploded with takes over the Etsy witch curse. “If you’re having a bad day at the office, just know you weren’t the person to post this article two days ago,” creator @rebmassel said.
One witch, Celeste Mott, shared her two cents on the incident as a practicing witch. According to her, it is “unusual” for a curse to have that quick a turnaround time. That being said, she clarifies that she cannot confirm that Kirk’s demise was directly the cause of a curse.
One commenter said, “Magic during eclipse season uses chaotic energy and activates in unexpected ways. This is why I don’t practice or manifest until both eclipses are over,” referring to the spiritual side of the issue. Many spiritual people raised a point that casting three different spells on Kirk may have been overkill, questioning the manifestation while genuinely thinking it caused harm.
@celestemoth This is a good time to remind y’all that witchcraft is, in fact, real. #etsywitch #witchcraft ♬ original sound – ✨ Celeste Mott ✨
In her TikTok, Mott issued a PSA telling folks that “witchcraft is real” and witches are out here “throwing curses.” She suggested having a cleansing and protection ritual in place if you are concerned about being cursed by an Etsy witch.
Jezebel Responds
On Sept. 10, Jezebel added a disclaimer: “This story was published on Sept. 8. Jezebel condemns the shooting of Charlie Kirk in the strongest possible terms. We do not endorse, encourage, or excuse political violence of any kind.”
The original piece itself also stressed that no real harm was intended. “I want to make it clear, I’m not calling on dark forces to cause him harm.”
The contributor continued, “I just want him to wake up every morning with an inexplicable zit. I want his podcast microphone to malfunction every time he hits record.”
Even with the disclaimer, the piece left a bad taste for some. Outlets like Variety, Newsweek, and Just Jared picked it up, while Breitbart blasted it as “bizarre,” publishing the headline: “Far-Left Website Jezebel Paid ‘Etsy Witches’ to Curse Charlie Kirk Just Two Days Before His Assassination.”
In a statement to Variety, Paste Media Group president Josh Jackson, who owns Jezebel, defended the article as satire. “The article was a tongue-in-cheek exploration of people selling hexes on Etsy, and intended as a satirical response to Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric over the years. The writer was very clear that she didn’t want real harm to come to Kirk. What happened today is tragic and becoming all too commonplace, and we condemn this awful act of violence.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Paste Media Group and Turning Point USA via email for comment. We also reached out to Mott.
Update Sep. 11, 2025:
In a message to the Mary Sue, Mott shared more about the significance of lunar and solar eclipses in witchcraft.
“Eclipse season refers to the two weeks between a lunar and solar eclipse, a period of time considered very unstable, energetically speaking,” according to the occult practitioner. “Most occultists abide by the work of Renaissance occultist and polymath Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa when it comes to the treatment of eclipses.”
“Agrippa states many times in ‘Three Books of Occult Philosophy’ that eclipses are malefic and exert a poisonous, evil influence,” she continued. “He does not recommend magic be practiced during an eclipse, and warns that practitioners ought to spend these periods protecting and cleansing themselves.”
Mott added that while “eclipses can be used for curse work if the practitioner is experienced and well prepared, such work is likely to yield explosive, unpredictable, and unwieldy results.”
She explains this is “because magic works via a sympathetic system, where symbolic elements affect material outcomes in kind. So, because during eclipses the light sources we rely on are literally being obscured and cast into shadow, it’s not a great time to practice magic that seeks clarity, stability, bright or benevolent outcomes. Think of it like trying to bake a wedding cake in total darkness. You might manage it, but will it look like you wanted it to? Maybe not.”
“It’s unusual for magic of any kind to hit within a two-week time period. Not unheard of, just unusual,” Mott observes. “Curses, especially, usually take quite a bit longer to unfold in a target’s life. My understanding is that the witches who cursed Mr. Kirk absolutely did not intend to cause him physical harm. The work appears to have been more about turning the public against him.”
However, Mott explains that “with a public figure like Mr. Kirk, there are a lot more avenues by which a person’s life might be impacted by magic. Magic will always choose the path of least resistance to flow through. While a regular person might have only a few true enemies, Mr. Kirk was making public statements to an audience of millions. That’s a much bigger energetic signature than your average Joe, and it creates a lot more potential pathways for magic to move through, for better and for worse.”
When asked directly about Kirk’s death, Mott [stated], “Do I think Charlie Kirk died because of a curse? I don’t think it’s that simple or straightforward. But I do believe magic is a force working in the background programming of the universe at all times.”
Mott also expressed concern “for the wellbeing and safety of the Etsy witches, and for all practitioners of magic, especially when we’ve recently seen such an uptick in violent attacks on metaphysical shops and spiritual workers. I do worry that we are heading down a path where such attacks—physical attacks, but also attacks on our freedom of speech and freedom of religion—will increase.”
Regarding her previous criticism of Etsy practitioners, Mott acknowledged that’s “probably a bit uncharitable and snarky of me, and is really just based in a sort of cognitive dissonance between doing serious witchcraft and selling those services on a platform designed for arts and crafts. Then again, witching is a craft I suppose, so maybe the Etsy witches are onto something.”
She noted that “Etsy explicitly prohibits the sale of Spellwork or ritual work on their site, so I’m honestly surprised people are still doing trade over there. Most occultists I know work more quietly, ‘in the shadows’ if you will, especially when offering services like cursework or hexes. But in this economy, I guess people are doing what they have to to stay afloat.”
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