A Florida law graduate got a free Etsy tarot reading on his stalled job hunt, interviews exploded afterward, then dropped hard after he joked the witch should chill.
William Rath, 26, spent two years after law school chasing work with almost nothing to show for it. He put the slog on TikTok under @william.rath. Commenters turned it into a running joke: hire an “Etsy witch.”
After another rejection, he answered one of those comments. The video took off. An Etsy seller operating as “Mystic Tarot Guide” messaged him. Rath figured he had nothing left to lose.
The U.S. Sun later heard his account of what followed, a free job-prospects reading, a sudden surge of interviews, and a sharp reverse that left him wondering whether he had jinxed the whole thing.
Rath did not buy a spell. He asked for a reading on his job prospects. He sent his name and birthday online. The seller shot a photo of her table setup, complete with magical stones that included a Libra stone, and turned around a three-page write-up within a few hours.
The same style of “when will I get a job” reading lists for $32.50 in the shop. Other services there often run more than $100. Rath’s came free in exchange for a TikTok post.
He went in doubtful.
"Going into it, I was very skeptical. I think when I got the reading, I was like, yeah, okay, this person could just be saying whatever."
The prediction pointed to the week of October 14, around his 27th birthday, when “a door will open” or he would “suddenly get a response.”
What he noticed next was not subtle. Before the reading, he said he had roughly five job interviews for the entire year. In the first week after contacting the seller, he counted 14.
"I saw a huge influx after I reached out to the Etsy witch. I think I had 14 job interviews the first week."
He also started advancing further in the process than he ever had on a steady basis.
"I just got a lot more responses and a lot more interviews, and now I’ve been actually advancing to the next stage of the interviews since then. I’ve never made it this far this consistently."
The turn came after Rath posted about the crush of interviews and said the Etsy witch needed to chill. After that line, the volume fell off.
"I think one thing that was creepy was when I made a video talking about the job interview process and I said the Etsy witch needs to chill because I’m getting so many job interviews and after I said that it stopped."
A few interviews continued. The flood did not.
"Like, I still have a few interviews, but the amount of interviews I was getting dramatically decreased."
He still frames it as coincidence more than curse.
"That’s not spooky, I guess, it was just, again, a weird coincidence that that happened, and I was like, did I upset the Etsy witch or something?"
Viewers immediately reached for the plot of the coming horror film Obsession, the “careful what you wish for” story of instant luck that twists. Rath heard it enough to push back.
"People keep saying they’re like, this is going to turn into the Obsession plot."
"That creeps me out. I’m like, I hope not. But, I didn’t do a spell. It was just a reading. So hopefully I’m protected from that stuff."
On October 1 he sat for a final-round interview on a job he wants. He was still waiting on the result when he spoke. He has not declared himself a believer.
"I’m not saying I don’t believe in that, I’m just unsure, but it’s a weird coincidence, for sure, that since that reading, I’ve gotten all these job interviews and it’s looking like it is a very realistic possibility that the witch’s prediction of when I’ll get a job is going to come true."
TikTok commenters inspecting the seller’s write-up were less mystical. Several said the tone felt machine-made.
"I use em dashes like crazy- but this feels ChatGPT: it’s so non personal. But I hope you get that job!!"
Another simply wrote that it “feels a little GPT.”
Rath is not the only public face tied to this corner of Etsy. Actress Maisie Williams recently said at a premiere for Practical Magic 2 that she once paid an Etsy witch to help land a film role, repeated assigned phrases at night, and got nowhere.
Etsy barred metaphysical sales in 2015. Sellers offering tarot, psychic guidance, and manifestation services kept right on listing. The U.S. Sun reached out to both Etsy and Mystic Tarot Guide for comment.
Hard job markets push people toward long shots, placebos, and paid superstition. Confidence can open doors. Magic stones and three-page PDFs do not replace a résumé that finally clears the stack, and no serious hire should depend on whether a stranger on Etsy got her feelings hurt.
