How about October 13 to be Witch Day?
There are numerous days of remembrance and action, but so far I have not been able to find one that deals specifically with witches. So I came up with this idea.
Why in October?
This month is traditionally seen as „Season of the Witch“, especially with the Wheel of the Year festival Samhain (or Winter Night/Vetrnóttablót in Heathenry or other pagan festivals at the end of October or the beginning of November). And of course, there is also Halloween, though it often gets critized for being too commercial.
Why on the 13th day?
In the Christian overculture in Western Societies, 13 is considered to be a deeply unfortunate or even evil number for a variety of reasons, one of which being that the 13th apostle Judas betrayed Jesus. (1)
Superstition has it that especially Friday 13th is very unfortunate (2). However, a lot of witches have reclaimed the number 13 to be a lucky number and also view Friday 13th as a special day.
Another reason for choosing this day is that there are not many international memorial or action days on October 13. It is also roughly in the middle of the „Season of the Witch“.
I am aware of the fact that this mainly is about western cultures and that in other cultures, the month October and the number 13 may have quite different meanings.
What is Witch Day about?
This is for all the modern witches of all genders out there.
For celebrating being a witch and taking pride in it.
For celebrating witchcraft and magick.
A day to come together with siblings in the craft (offline or online).
A day to do some witchcraft for yourself or your community.
You can also enjoy the witches in fantasy fiction and pop culture.
This day is also for remembering the people who have been wrongly accused of witchcraft in the past (the historical witchcraft trials).
It is also a day for thinking about the people in some countries who still get wrongly accused of witchcraft and get persecuted. If it is possible for you, you could spread awareness about this or donate money to an organisation supporting such people.
And maybe you have more or other ideas on how to celebrate this day ?
About me: I am a solitary eclectic witch and a pagan polytheist. I am not part of any coven or witchcraft-related association, shop, company or else. I have come up with this idea on my own. Pass it on if you like.
Update in December 2024:
Someone mentioned that apparently November 16th is “International Witches Day”
but I could not find much about this except for one website and a facebook post that basically just copied the info from the website (3). So I am not sure if that day gets celebrated much. I never heard about it so far.
Footnotes:
(1) You can read more about this for instance here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(number)#Bad
(2) See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
(3) this website: https://bimcal.com/calendar/international-witches-day