Two men in armour stride across a foggy landscape. Suddenly, three mysterious-looking women clad in long black cloaks appear in front of them, standing on the edge of a pool. "By the pricking of my thumbs," croaks a sinister voice against the sound of loud knocking, "something wicked this way comes."

This is the trailer for a new film, The Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Joel Cohen and starring Denzel Washington. Based on Shakespeare's play, it harks back to an age when people saw witchesThe term derives from an Old English verb meaning to practise magic. It is related to the adjective wicked. as an everyday threat.

Today there is a revival in witchcraft - or at least, in people who believe in it. But instead of avoiding witches as agents of the devil, they see them as a healing force for good.

Claire Askew is a poet who has written a book called How To Burn A Woman, inspired by the Salem witch trialsA series of hearings held in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693 in response to a moral panic about witchcraft. More than 200 people were accused and 19 executed., in which one of her ancestors was among the accused.

"Today's witches are hip, mostly millennial women with slick social media profiles and soothing advice about manifestingRevealing. As an adjective, manifest means obvious.       your dreams," reports Kate Willis in the Evening Standard. "Instead of capes they wear what's known as 'witchcore': black dresses, lace tights and black boots." They draw tarotA pack of 78 cards used for fortune-telling. Originating in Italy in the 14th Century, it is the forerunner of modern playing cards. cards on Instagram, while the "eye of newt" used by the witches in Macbeth "has been replaced with essential oils and energy-cleansing sprays".

Willis visited Semra Haksever, who calls herself Mama Moon, on an industrial estate in Hackney. Haksever got her to write all her negative thoughts on a piece of paper and burn it in a cauldronA large pot for cooking over an open fire. The name derives from the Latin word for hot., to which dried herbs were added. She learnt that people often ask for love spells, or ones to help them find a job.

Witchcraft does not come cheap - Haksever charges £150 a session - and Willis warns that "modern witchcraft attracts young, often vulnerable, women to 'healers' who have little or no training or qualifications". The industry is booming. TikTok's #witch hashtag has over 10.5 billion views, #witchesofinstagram has almost 8 million posts.

According to Rebecca Beattie, author of a book called Nature Mystics: A Literary Gateway To Modern Paganism, "Interest in witchcraft and spirituality tends to increase in periods of upheaval. We're in a big period of transition now and we're all looking for a sense of enchantment in the world, but also to have some control over it."

Historically, it was women considered odd or malevolent who were labelled as witches. Some modern feminists take a different view. "Being a witch is a beautiful thing and a covenAn assembly of witches. is just women coming together to help other women," says one.  

But even those who advocate witchcraft admit that it can be dangerous. Another witch called Castanea claims that she once cursed her family by mistake. Everything that could go wrong did: "My dad lost his job, my sister broke up with her boyfriend." Now they have a strict rule: "No hexingCasting spells. in the house."

Some say, yes: according to Castanea, you can "just gather some tools and start researching spells". A stick rolled in herbs will do as a wand, and you can easily buy accessories such as crystals. But be careful where you do it: in some countries people are still killed for witchcraft.

Others argue that only people who are seriously dippy could possibly see themselves as witches. It involves buying into a lot of New Age nonsense and believing that you are more special than you actually are. You need money to waste on pointless objects, and nothing better to do with your time.