SB: Why do you think people have been, and are still, so fascinated with the subject?
GP: It builds into people’s desires. Books have been written hundred years ago and are back in print again. People seem to still get something from them. And why do millions of people go to Stonehenge over the years? Because they want to feel a connection with something, they want to know what it is about it, there’s a bit of mystery in there. People like a mystery. And witchcraft has that mystery.

SB: I’ve seen quite a ‘pop culture magic’ phenomenon online, would you say there’s a comeback of sorts?
GP: A year or so ago there were a lot less people interested. Again, when you go through tough times – societal or personal – witchcraft offers a sense of safety to people. They want to go and stand in a wood and hug a tree. They want to feel closer to nature. In fact, now is probably the highest point of popularity for witchcraft since the 70s. People latch on to something that feels comfortable and are looking back to the 70s version of it. There’s a sort of nostalgia of being in that comfort zone.

SB: What made you get into it in the first place?
GP: It was mixture between my love for old horror movies and the feel and look of witchcraft. It also spoke to me ‘inside’. There was just something about it that I can’t really explain. I also grew up in the 70s and it was everywhere on TV, there were tons of books and magazines about it, and I used to buy lots of them back when I was around eleven-years-old. I was about eighteen when I started to make connections with people involved in witchcraft, then the films came a lot later on. I remember thinking no one was making films like this anymore and so I just went ‘OK, lets give it a go and if ten people like it, well then good!’

Memphis Casablanca Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass (1981) $22,560

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