Need a raise? Get back with your ex? There’s a spell for that

Do you have an enemy at work who is blocking your growth? Well, bad news for them, there’s a fix now. All you need is dollops of salt, dried rosemary leaves, black pepper, and three weeks of time to reclaim your energy. At least according to Deeksha Guglani, a witch and priestess from Chandigarh, who wears a pointy black hat while sharing her wisdom with her 7k followers on Instagram. In case you’re in a rush, you can just slip into her DMs for a quick discussion and she will cast the spell for you. The chant options can be wildly specific ranging from the ‘salary increment’ and ‘career road opener’ to ‘business expansion’.

In case burnout is lurking, you can ask Guglani for a spell that ‘banishes exhaustion and heaviness’ too. But India’s working class is not her sole target audience. If you’re still in school or university, you can outsource your ‘exam success’ to her spell. Pick your poison, rant a little, treat the witch as your agony aunt and watch her present a fix. The swish of the wand may cost you many thousands depending on the ask, but hey, it’s basically a business investment.

Guglani has been performing healing spells for strangers for the last decade, primarily online and sometimes from people’s homes, but she believes she was born with the magic inside her. “From when I was 10, I would warn my mother when a natural disaster was about to occur or if there was danger on a road,” the witch shares. “It’s just my intuition, a memory awakens inside me and I know what’s coming.”

Guglani is not alone, Mumbai-based Angel Sarao also carries the gift. As a child, the witch and high priestess had vivid dreams about Goddess Kali. The years after drove him to be trained as a priest, then chase success in finance at Bank of America in San Francisco before he ricocheted back to magic in Mumbai.

In 2017, Sarao began The Wiccan Shop, a store in Mumbai’s Mira Road where he sells potions, oils, candles and crystals specially created by him and blessed by the Triple Moon Goddess. There’s a Saturn Oil for karmic healing, the Mars oil with hints of blood resin, ginger and black pepper to draw vitality and the Fast Luck potion which you can spill in your lotion or perfume to draw money or love quicker. A traditional set of tools will typically set you back by about ₹9,000 but if you want Sarao to practice the spell for you, the energy and time needed often adds up to ₹50,000 per session.

Yet enthused audiences come in droves. “When I started the shop nearly a decade ago, people thought this was about blood sacrifices and hypnotising,” he says. “Today they are more aware and accepting, there’s a lot of interest and trust in finding solutions.”

Look around and there’s probably a witchy store in your neighbourhood. Tourists fly to Hongkong to see villain-hitting sorcerers, who sell curses for US$ 5 under a busy flyover. Closer home, in Kolkata, Witch Way Out sells an Elixir of Desire oil and interestingly, a potion titled ‘Do As I Say’. In Bengaluru, The Ostara Shop calls itself a metaphysical store selling crystal skulls that awaken unseen knowledge and hope in homes. The proof also lives in the digital ether, if you know where to look.

With Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullocks’ Practical Magic 2 coming out soon in cinemas, Instagram is full of witchy dinner parties as a moody pregame for the screening. You can find blood red cocktail recipes with ice cubes that resemble eyeballs and dress codes where everyone looks like an eerie tarot card. Meanwhile on Etsy, young people are shelling a few dollars to ask witches to bring them love, abundance or, in the age of our lord and saviour AI, a recession-proof job. Even Pinterest shows that searches for crystals are up by 606 per cent while herbal apothecary has increased by 595 per cent in 2026.

Clearly, when world leaders are propagating war, and climate change is reshaping nature as we know it, people are looking for signs in magic. For a clear picture of the cauldron, we asked Guglani and Sarao to tell us what it’s like to be a witch in 2026. What makes people most desperate for answers? Which potions are they willing to invest in again and again?

Drop your party-store pointed hats to the side and make space for these spellcasters to weigh in. To be clear, it took many requests, reschedules and planetary alignments to ensure that the energy around the witches felt just right for this information to be spilled, so savour it.

To cast the right spell, you need…

Guglani: “I have not learnt witchcraft from someone, it’s in my soul so I don’t know the technical terms. For me the protocol is simple: the person should explain the situation to me so I understand their psychology and the energy stored in their body. I also ask for their name, date of birth and their photograph, without any filters on it.”

Sarao: “We use olive oil or fragrance-free coconut oil as the base and then add herbs, essential oils and crystals. The potion is charged based on the pattern of the moon cycle. I ask the client for their date and time of birth and see which oil or potion their energy is most attracted to. Then I customize a spell or affirmation based on the need and decide how many times in a day they need to chant it. They usually apply our oils on their chakras or pulse points based on the chart we pull so that the chants align.”

Rain or shine, the most in demand spell…

Guglani: “There are requests for generational trauma healing, for money and health but most of my clients come to me for love spells. This could be ‘third party removal’, in case your partner is moving towards someone else and you want them back. Or to eliminate negativity from a relationship if you think it’s heading towards a breakup.”

Sarao: “About 90 per cent of people want a love spell, either to get back a man they have lost or to find new love. We have to remind them that their ex is gone and they need to use the love potion to find the right person.”

In a recession, just love doesn’t cut it…

Sarao: “Off late, along with love spells I get a lot of requests for money and jobs. Whether it is someone looking for reconciliation with a business partner or confidence to show up for a job interview. Recently, this man who works in casting and production came to me. He had spent a lot of money buying bracelets and crystals which turned out to be fake. I gave him the right oil and affirmation and asked him to quit smoking. This was in April, in five months his life has transformed. We recommend people stop smoking because it puts you in a trance where your spiritual and subconscious side quietens.”

Even a witch says no to…

Guglani: “When a couple wants to be together but the parents are against it because of caste or some power issues, I work with them to cast spells. But I get a lot of Gen Z, people between the age of 16 and 24, who start off in a situationship with someone but soon enough one person develops deep feelings. This is always one-sided and then they want ‘obsession and domination’ spells where the other person thinks about them 24/7. They don’t even understand what they’re asking for. Healers should never cast spells on someone without their consent or knowledge, I would not remove freewill. But sadly, most people who claim to be witches online don’t follow this.”

Sarao: “We have people who really overdo tarot reading and potions. I directly tell them now is not the time. There was a client who used to buy the Lord Shiva oil in excess. It is used to open up the third eye chakra but when you apply it too much, it can distort the chakra and bring out a negative impact. It can even cause severe side effects with migraines.”

The internet is not telling you the whole truth about…

Sarao: “If you see, August has been a crazy month of spiritual ups and downs. People think the Lion’s Gate Portal is only about positivity but it also symbolises the great judge, who sees people for their rights and wrongs. Not just in this life, but their karmic effects are very high in this period too. A cousin of mine met with a fatal accident on the night of the full moon. I will not interfere with the karmic ties but I’ve been performing a healing spell for him from afar.”

People are rushing to magic for solutions because…

Guglani: “It’s FOMO. On the internet everyone swears by manifestation, it’s become a race for instant gratification. People think spells are the easiest way to get what you want without doing anything. They don’t want to practice remedies, they just want to pay someone, light a candle and boom! But that’s not how transformation works. You can’t just focus on karmic healing without seeing what actions you’re committing in the present.”

The universal spell that works its charm on everyone…

Sarao: “The power is within you, you just have to believe in the divine and stop looking for answers around. I have a very strong spell. When you wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say I love you. When you love yourself, money, success, love will all follow you. And the second most important spell to chant and remember is: you come into the world alone and you will leave alone.”