WOMEN WHO LEVITATE: A HORROR PHENOMENON

The Craft (1996), Hereditary (2018), American Horror Story: Coven (2013), Saint Maud (2019), The VVitch (2015), Jennifer’s Body (2009), The Conjuring (2013), The Exorcist (1973)

“Female levitators are often maligned as ridiculous, dangerous characters, often by men. This is a very old trait, but was solidified and given shape by the influential Jesuit theologian Martin Delrio, who published ‘Magical Investigations’ in 1599 – 1600. His book popularized the idea that demon spirits could possess or inhabit a female human body. It also suggested how to identify and track them. For the witch-hunters and storytellers of early modern Europe, the levitating, flying witch was a figure of grotesque femininity.”