The Fascist Playbook: How History Repeats Itself
Common Patterns in Installing Authoritarian Regimes and Strategic Resistance Witchcraft Rituals
Fascist and authoritarian regimes don’t emerge fully formed; they creep in, embedding themselves in the folds of society like a slow-moving terminal illness. The process is eerily predictable, as if dictators across history have been working from the same manual. Economic crisis, political instability, social unrest—these are the fissures through which authoritarianism seeps, promising “safety” while delivering control.
And yet, recognizing the patterns is not enough. What good is hindsight if it’s only used to eulogize lost freedoms? The past is not a museum; it is a map, and if we read it correctly, we can see exactly where we are headed.
The Cultural Revolution: A Case Study in Control
The Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976 are the official years but the set up existed for decades prior) is often framed as a period of ideological fervour, but at its core, it was an exercise in authoritarian consolidation. Mao Zedong, faced with waning influence after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, ignited a movement that pitted neighbour against neighbour, child against parent, friend against friend. Intellectuals/thinkers, artists/creatives, teachers, and spiritual practitioners were denounced as enemies of the state, their knowledge and traditions branded as threats to the so-called “new order.”
This wasn’t just about political ideology—it was about obliterating historical memory, severing people from their cultural inheritance, and ensuring that only one monocrop narrative remained. The Red Guards, young zealots fueled by state propaganda, carried out violent purges, while public humiliations, forced confessions, and labour camps became the machinery of control. And though the Revolution formally ended, its impact lingers. Families were fractured. Generations grew up afraid to ask questions. Even now, descendants feel its echoes in their bones, in the way silence becomes instinctual.
[In Taiwan, my family watched in horror as newspapers and news broadcasts detailed the violence unfolding across the mainland. My Gong Gong, who had fled during the Chinese Civil War and the rise of Mao’s regime, feared that the reach of Communist authoritarianism would extend to Taiwan soon enough. Unwilling to relive more loss, he began preparing for the possibility of fleeing once again, this time to Canada. (My diasporic friends all over the world, do you, like me, also still feel this in your bones? Where is home? Can you call home home when you no longer recognize it? And should you return to those lands some years later, does it still recognize you?)
This is how authoritarianism works: it doesn’t just seize power; it rewrites the past and colonizes the future. It embeds itself in the mind, as it did with my Gong Gong, keeping him ever vigilant, ever burdened, unable to undress the fatigue from his body and psyche, even when life later became safer.]
And if this all sounds like history, this is a serious error. These tactics are alive and well; right here, right now.
The Playbook: Tactics of Authoritarian Regimes
1. Exploiting Crises and Instability
Authoritarian leaders thrive on chaos. Economic collapse, political dysfunction, social unrest—these moments of vulnerability become their golden opportunities. They position themselves as the only solution, offering stability in exchange for control.
How this is relevant today:
Political polarization, economic precarity, and rising civil unrest in North America create the perfect conditions for leaders to justify expanded state power. Fear makes people easy to govern.
2. Demonizing Political Opponents and Minority Groups
Dictators don’t rule alone; they need an enemy. Historically, this has meant scapegoating political opponents, migrants, religious minorities, LGBTQ+ communities, intellectuals, artists, witches, or anyone who disrupts the narrative.
How this is relevant today:
In both the U.S. and Canada, creatives, LGBTQ+ communities, and activists are cast as threats to national security and “traditional values.” Fascism never stops at one target—it expands, consuming everything in its path.
3. Undermining Democratic Institutions
Courts, legislatures, and the free press are dismantled piece by piece, often under the guise of “reform.” Legal loopholes become weapons, granting leaders sweeping powers that override checks and balances.
How this is relevant today:
Judicial independence is under attack. Media consolidation erodes press integrity. Voting rights are restricted under the false pretense of “security.” When the rules no longer serve those in power, they change them.
4. Controlling Media and Information
Propaganda is about censorship and saturation simultaneously. Flood the public with disinformation, muddy the waters so thoroughly that truth itself becomes meaningless.
How this is relevant today:
Corporate media consolidation, AI-driven disinformation, and social media manipulation create an environment where bias dictates belief and public trust crumbles.
5. Expanding Surveillance and Policing Powers
Authoritarian regimes rely on surveillance to preempt dissent. The justification is always the same: national security, crime prevention, public safety.
How this is relevant today:
The militarization of police, expansion of digital surveillance, and use of financial warfare to cripple activist groups (search up the lawsuit against Greenpeace) are all tactics designed to suppress resistance.
6. Encouraging Nationalist and Militaristic Ideology
Fascists manufacture a crisis, making citizens believe they must choose between patriotism and danger. This results in a population willing to defend the state, even at the cost of its own freedoms or personal integrity.
How this is relevant today:
Populist rhetoric pits “true citizens” against outsiders, whether through anti-immigrant policies or nationalist economic protectionism. Unquestioned obedience is equated with patriotism.
7. Weakening or Co-opting the Left
The Left, when organized, is a powerful threat. Authoritarian regimes either crush it outright through violence, imprisonment, infiltration, decoys or co-opt it, turning progressive movements into hollowed-out rhetoric.
How this is relevant today:
Unions are gutted. Social justice movements are divided from within or drowned in bureaucratic stagnation. Revolutionary energy is rerouted into endless discourse (and self righteousness) instead of action.
8. Legitimizing Repression Through Lawfare
Everything is done under the pretense of legality. Protest rights are restricted, education is dismantled, and executive power expands, all while maintaining the illusion of due process.
How this is relevant today:
The dismantling of the Department of Education in the U.S., the criminalization of dissent, and the erosion of free speech protections are all happening under the guise of “legal reform.”
9. Weaponizing Exhaustion and Overwhelm
As much as regimes rely on force, they rely on fatigue. Flood the public with crises, legal battles, scandals, and manufacture confusion until resistance feels impossible.
How this is relevant today:
The constant barrage of attacks on women’s rights, environmental protections, and civil liberties creates a sense of helplessness. The goal is less about repression, it’s submission through exhaustion. Fascism thrives on burnout. (This is why activism isn’t just resistance, but endurance. Pacing matters. Rest isn’t surrender; it’s preparation).
Where We Are Now
As spirit workers and magic practitioners, now is the time to act.
None of what I’ve listed are abstract or hypothetical. In the U.S., political extremism, voter suppression, and the erosion of judicial independence are accelerating. Canada is seeing police overreach, corporate media consolidation, and a rise in the ideology of “real Canadians” exploited by politicians, all early hallmarks of authoritarianism.
If history teaches us anything, these shifts don’t happen overnight—they arrive by degrees, small enough to be ignored until it’s too late.
Resistance has always been a part of witchcraft. Those who practise magic exist at the margins, moving against the grain of dominant power structures, working with forces unseen. Yet in the face of oppression, systemic violence, and rising authoritarianism, how we approach resistance matters. If we build our magic only on opposition, on what we reject, despise, and wish to destroy, our spellwork and spiritual practices risk being reactive, unstable, and ultimately unsustainable. This imbalance stems not only from a disharmony of Yin and Yang but also from the need for resistance witchcraft to be rooted in something deeper than rage alone. To materialize something that lasts, it requires a foundation built on affirmations, not just defiance.
Why Resistance Must Be Built on More Than Opposition
Rage and grief are powerful catalysts. They clarify what is unacceptable. They ignite the fire of change. But fire, unchecked, consumes everything—including the ones tending it. Resistance magic cannot rely solely on anger or opposition, because to define oneself only in relation to what is wrong is to remain bound to it. The most effective spells do not just curse injustice; they conjure alternative realities. They plant new possibilities. They make space for joy, love, and liberation to thrive, not just for destruction to clear the way.
This is the year of the Snake, an energy that teaches us to move strategically rather than reactively. Stealth, patience, and transformation are its gifts. Resistance must be long-term, adaptable, and capable of outlasting oppressive forces. This means weaving magic not just to break, but to build.
What Resistance Witchcraft Built on Positive Grounds Looks Like
1. Work with the Land Spirits
The land is older than empire. It holds memory, wisdom, and the knowledge of what came before colonial rule. Building relationships with local land spirits—whether through offerings, listening, or direct communication—grounds resistance in something enduring. The land remembers justice; it can be an ally in our spells, dreams, and strategies.
2. Call on the Dead
Our ancestors resisted before us. Whether they were witches, revolutionaries, or simply those who survived against the odds, they hold knowledge we need. Resistance magic can include ancestral veneration, asking the dead for guidance, or working with past activists who pushed against systems of control in their time. We are not alone in this work.
3. Weave Protections
Protection magic is an act of love. Warding ourselves, our communities, and our movements ensures that resistance is not easily dismantled. This means spells for psychic shielding, physical safety, and maintaining secrecy when needed. It means strengthening personal and collective resilience so that those fighting for justice are not drained into burnout.
4. Disrupt Through Spellwork
Magic bends reality. It obscures what must remain hidden, redirects attention where needed, and shifts the flow of power. Resistance spells may involve confusion workings, hexes against harmful structures, or glamour magic that allows practitioners to move unseen. The goal is not chaos for its own sake, but to create pathways where there were none.
5. Cultivate Resilience
Remember, exhaustion is a tactic of oppression. Authoritarian regimes, capitalist systems, and colonial forces wear people down until they cannot fight back. Resistance magic must include practices of renewal—rituals for rest, spells for stamina, and enchantments that make space for pleasure, connection, and most of all capacity. We do not just want to survive; we want to thrive.
If you’re keen on learning about witchcraft practices, such as engaging in resistance through magical practice, I offer HOMING COVEN and my 12-part spellwork series, CRAFTING THE ARCANE. Both spaces are designed for learning, strategizing, organizing, and pushing back—together, and with joy. We are what we dream into being.
Following the spirits,