EMBRACE OF THE INEXPLICABLE

Navigating a heady mix of symbolism and stigma, designers big and small are pondering their orbs as occult and neo-paganism find mainstream appeal

- NIDA NAEEM

TV static, lightning, and ominous Renaissance artwork set the scene for Doja Cat to play an all-black demon with flashing red eyes. Hanging upside down from the ceiling, she terrorises Christina Ricci in her music video for Demons. On home turf, a bald green witch with a poignant backstory has taken over desi Reels. The Ganji Chudail series, originally intended for kids, has garnered a dedicated base of viewers who keep coming back for more of her campy countryside mayhem. In 2023, OTT releases with women protagonists include horror-comedy Toothpari: When Love Bites, chronicling the tales of witches and vampires in modern-day Calcutta, and Megan Suri-starrer It Lives Inside, where an Indian-American teen unwittingly releases a malevolent entity that feeds off her negative feelings, also known as a pishacha in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

What’s with pop culture’s sinister preoccupations lately?

IN THE SHADOWS 

It’s what trend forecaster Agus Panzoni calls the ‘Cult Of The Occult’, and it’s here to stay. While ‘occult’ conjures images of Satanic sacrifices and cabals of witches chanting spells over a cauldron, it encompasses a lot more. Occult is an umbrella term for all that’s paranormal and falls beyond explanations offered by science or organised religion. In the present day, it manifests in a range of esoteric ways, from tarot card and birth chart reading by astro girlies to new-age spirituality that draws from pre-Abrahamic belief systems.