‘Season of the Witch’ Star Donovan Says Christianity Murdered So-Called Witches

Some classic rock songs have more layers than you might expect. For example, Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” might seem like a light song for Halloween, but Donovan actually has some very strong opinions on witchcraft. He also doesn’t seem to have the most positive appraisal of Christianity. 

‘Season of the Witch’ singer Donovan follows his own cocktail of spirituality

First, a little background. During a 1997 interview with South Coast Today, the “Mellow Yellow” singer said his personal belief system combines Buddhism, goddess worship, and Celtic paganism. Many modern pagans do witchcraft or at least hold a sympathetic view of it. Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for modern pagans — particularly those living in the Western world — to be critical of Christianity.

During a 2018 interview with Goldmine, Donovan said he got a lot out of books about meditation. “These books were hidden in the West,” he said. “They were not available. The reason why this kind of teaching was lost in the West, buried, hidden, gone underground, was because of the enormous job that the new religion called Christianity had done for well over a thousand years destroying the old religions of Europe while murdering, torturing and burning thousands of female teachers who they called witches. 

“In actual fact, they weren’t witches!” he added. “They were natural healers, women who were part of nurturing future children. That was the old religion in the West. It was almost destroyed. One can only learn from these books of the East how to actually enter the inner world without taking psychedelics. They spoke very clearly and very simply. They spoke of the psychosis. So did Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. They too spoke of the mental illness suffered by the human race.”

‘Season of the Witch’ wasn’t a hit at 1st

“Season of the Witch” might be Donovan’s most popular song today, but it wasn’t a single in the 1960s, much less a hit. The tune appeared on the album Sunshine Superman, which reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and spent 29 weeks on that chart. Sunshine Superman remains one of Donovan’s most popular albums. The title track from Sunshine Superman was massive, reaching No. 1 for one of its 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Official Charts Company reports that “Season of the Witch” was not a hit in Donovan’s native United Kingdom either. However, the album Sunshine Superman reached No. 25 and charted for seven weeks. Meanwhile, the tune “Sunshine Superman” reached No. 2 and charted for 11 weeks.

Donovan’s song received some belated appreciation

“Season of the Witch” gained a new life in the 2010s. “Season of the Witch” appeared in an episode of American Horror Story: Coven. Ever the 1960s revivalist, Lana Del Rey covered the tune for the soundtrack of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Now, “Season of the Witch” has become a staple of Halloween playlists. Alongside other tracks like “Atlantis,” “There Is a Mountain,” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” “Season of the Witch” shows that Donovan was among the most spiritual of all pop stars.

“Season of the Witch” is one of the most famous songs about witchcraft — and Donovan has a lot of opinions on that topic.