Warning: Colossal spoilers ahead! Once upon a time, on a brisk October evening, a family is looking for a movie to watch on Disney+. All of a sudden, Hocus Pocus 2 appears on the screen and fills everyone with joy! The children are intrigued by the colorful thumbnail image while the parents are nostalgic about the original Hocus Pocus. So the family pops some corn, sits on the couch, and puts on this spooky (but children-friendly) movie – one that is sure to put everyone in the Halloween spirit.
Then, it happens: HARDCORE INDOCTRINATION.
Indeed, Hocus Pocus 2 was not made to simply entertain: It drills children on important social agendas. It mixes the concepts of feminism and sisterhood with satanism and witchcraft in an unholy stew that is served to unsuspecting children worldwide.
In many ways, Hocus Pocus 2 is the exact opposite of the original Hocus Pocus. In the 1993 movie, the witches are, without a doubt, the villains. Why? Because they worship the devil and eat children. That’s reason enough right? Then, they wreak havoc on modern-day Salem in their unique and silly way. While they’re entertaining, the witches still need to be banished forever because, like, they keep LURING AND EATING CHILDREN.
In Hocus Pocus 2, things are way more complicated. The witches still worship the devil and eat children … but they have valid reasons to do so. They’re not cursed, depraved hags anymore, they’re strong and empowered women who are misunderstood.
In short, Hocus Pocus 2 wants you to side with the witches. To do so, Hocus Pocus 2 starts with an origin story that makes the witches sympathetic to the viewers.
The Witches’ Origin Story
At the beginning of the original Hocus Pocus, the old, creepy witches kill a young girl by sucking away her life force. As the witches regain their youthful looks, they cackle away like harpies, clearly indicating to the viewers that these wretched characters are the villains.
In Hocus Pocus 2, it’s the complete opposite.
At the beginning of Hocus Pocus 2, a young Winifred Sanderson celebrates her 16th birthday with her two sisters. However, the festivities are cut short when the reverend of the village knocks on their door and orders Winifred to marry some guy she doesn’t like.
When Winifred refuses, the reverend orders the sisters to be separated.
Right from the opening scenes, the viewers are made to side with the witches against the reverend and the Church in general. Everything that follows continues on the same “left-handed path”.
When the three sisters flee to the woods, they hear the creepy song the witches sing to lure children:
“Come little children, I take thee away into a land of enchantment”.
That’s the theme song of the occult elite. Then, the Mother Witch appears.
After attempting to poison and eat the sisters, the Mother Witch realizes that the girls are actually potential witches. So she gives Winifred a birthday gift.
As the three sisters browse through the wide array of powerful spells contained in that book, they realize that they can now exact revenge on the village that banished them. This is when they realize that Satan is cool.
Then, the Mother Witch tells the sisters:
“One day, Salem will belong to us.”
Throughout the movie, there are mentions of the witches “taking back” Salem. That’s because, in real life, Salem was the site of the infamous witch trials.
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (14 women and five men).
As we’ll see, this movie is actually about witches retaking Salem. And doing great PR for them.
At one point, the Mother Witch wonders why the world is “not too fond of witches”. Young Mary answers:
“Perhaps because thou eateth the children?”
The Mother Witch promptly responds:
“How else does one stay young and ridiculously beautiful?”
With this answer, the Mother Witch’s cannibalistic ways are reframed as something fabulous and empowering. What a great way of normalizing the occult elite’s real-life obsession with consuming children to remain youthful (see adrenochrome).
Then, the sisters go back to the village and use the Devil’s spellbook to burn the reverend’s house.
To children whose entire lives are based on their parents not allowing them to do things, watching this scene is cathartic. Black magic gave these girls the power to get back at oppressive adults and the children watching this think that it’s cool.
The Heroes Are Also Witches
In the original Hocus Pocus, the hero is Max Dennison, a smart and courageous teenage boy who takes on the witches head-on.
In Hocus Pocus 2, things are VERY different.
