Can we please talk about the way witchcraft has been gentrified over the last 15 years?

I have been practicing witchcraft for 22 years, have always grown my own herbs, make my own candles, and brew my own potions. Put a rabbit’s foot in my altar and do not buy into the whole “witchy aesthetic”. I have been studying folk magick since 2008, and have been a part of countless witchy communities, most of who are “alt-right” leaning now. I grew up listening to black metal, doom metal, industrial, and evolve to trap metal and hyperpop. I also have a big interest in the occult and left hand path practices. I have been an outspoken anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-Zionist for half my life.<br><br>In the mid 2000s, witchcraft was still heavily associated to black metal and death metal. The music, the aesthetic, and the philosophy were still very rooted in the dark, raw, and unapologetic. Witches were still seen as misfits, and the general population feared us and saw us as devil worshippers. The books that were considered “bibles” were books that talked about folk magick, traditional witchcraft, and Satanism. Books like “The Book of Lies” and “The nine books of Baneful Magick” by E.A. Koepping were must haves for those of us in the occult scene. We were also heavily influenced by early Christianity mysticism.<br><br>Then, around 2008-2010, something shifted. Wicca and new age practices started gaining more popularity. The aesthetic started to shift, and the new age movement started to reclaim witchcraft and rebrand it. Suddenly, people like Marina Diamandis and Lana Del Rey were seen as “witchy”, and the aesthetic started to shift to be more “girly”, more “soft” and more commercial. The raw, dark, and raw energy that witchcraft was known for was replaced for a commercialized and gentrified version where people like Emma Roberts and Julianne Hough were selling “magic kits” full of sage and quartz roses. Witchcraft stopped being associated with metal and became associated with bubblegum pop and the commercialized “suzy homemaker” aesthetic.<br><br>Fast forward to today, and witchcraft is seen as something commercial, and the folk magick scene is pretty silent because of the fear of being associated with the “gentrification” of witchcraft.<br><br>What happened?