🧙🏽‍♀️ The Rise of the Etsy Witch: Why There Are No Shortcuts to Love

(Image credit: Marian Femenias-Moratinos / Getty Images)

As the air turns crisp and pumpkin spice makes its yearly return, it’s officially spooky season — a time for ghosts, ghoul costumes, and everything mystical to take center stage. But this year, the real buzz isn’t about haunted houses or horror movies — it’s about Etsy witches.

Yes, you read that right.

From TikTok to Etsy, thousands of self-proclaimed “modern witches” are offering to cast love spells, manifest soulmates, and cleanse bad energy for a fee. Their digital storefronts are filled with listings for “Twin Flame Attraction Rituals” and “Get-Your-Ex-Back Spells,” complete with five-star reviews and promises of overnight transformation.

It’s a fascinating — and unsettling — look at how spirituality, commerce, and the human desire for love have collided in the digital age.

But here’s the thing: the idea of consulting someone else to help with your love life isn’t new. The Etsy witch might just be the modern, Western remix of something South Asians have done for centuries.

🔮 From Astrology to Algorithms: Our Timeless Need for Guidance in Love

Image Credit: Etsy

In South Asian culture, few life decisions are made without consulting the stars. From determining the right time for a wedding (muhurat) to assessing compatibility through birth charts (kundli matching), astrology is deeply woven into how we approach love and marriage.

Parents often speak with astrologers or priests before making introductions, and many couples time their engagement or wedding ceremony according to the alignment of the planets. It’s seen not as superstition, but as a way to align human intention with divine timing — to invite auspiciousness into something as sacred as marriage.

So, in many ways, today’s “Etsy witch” is tapping into that same timeless human instinct: the desire to seek control, reassurance, or meaning in the face of love’s uncertainty.

Whether it’s a pandit reading your chart or a “witch” charging $59.99 for a spell, both offer comfort — the illusion that love can be guided or guaranteed.

But there’s a vital difference between seeking insight and seeking interference.

✨ The Fine Line Between Guidance and Manipulation

When we consult an astrologer, the goal is usually understanding — to gain perspective on our strengths, emotional patterns, or relationship tendencies. Astrology invites reflection, not coercion.

Love spells, on the other hand, cross an ethical line. They promise to influence someone else’s emotions or actions — to create attraction, break up an existing relationship, or make someone stay. And while it might feel harmless, even playful, it carries an undercurrent of manipulation.

At its core, it’s an attempt to control what’s meant to unfold naturally.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: Whenever love begins with control, it rarely lasts.

Real relationships are built on honesty, consent, and emotional readiness — not energy work, coercion, or algorithms designed to “hack” human emotion.

💫 Why People Still Look for Shortcuts

We live in a world obsessed with efficiency. We can have groceries, entertainment, and even therapy delivered on demand. Why not love, too?

The rise of the Etsy witch isn’t just about witchcraft — it’s about impatience. About wanting results without vulnerability. About wanting to skip the awkward first dates, the rejections, and the waiting.

It’s also about the illusion of control. When dating feels chaotic — when ghosting and burnout are real — even a $20 spell feels like a small way to reclaim power.

But love doesn’t thrive on control. It thrives on surrender.

💍 Lessons for South Asian Singles

In the Shaadi world, the same temptation exists in subtler forms — rushing introductions, relying solely on astrology to make decisions, or trying to “make it work” with someone who isn’t emotionally available.

But whether it’s a priest, a profile, or a potion, the same principle applies: no one else can do the inner work for you.

As a matchmaker, I often remind my clients — love isn’t something you manifest through shortcuts or rituals. It’s something you cultivate through self-awareness, emotional maturity, and integrity.

Stock photo of tarot cards with crystals and candles. Credit : Getty

If you want divine intervention in your love life, pray for clarity, not control. Pray for patience to wait for the right person and for discernment to recognize them when they appear.

Because while timing and destiny may play their roles, character and effort will always carry more weight.

🕯️ This Halloween, Light a Candle for Clarity

As we lean into spooky season, it’s tempting to romanticize the mystical — to imagine that a spell, a ritual, or a perfectly aligned chart could reveal the secrets of love. But the truth is simpler, and perhaps more magical:

• Love grows where two people choose honesty over illusion.

• Where intention replaces manipulation.

• Where patience becomes the real spell that transforms lives.

So this Halloween, instead of lighting a candle to summon love — light one for self-awareness.

For faith.

For the courage to love authentically, without shortcuts or spells.

Because in the end, real love isn’t cast. It’s cultivated.