“Babylon the Great” in Revelation represents ancient Rome, and first century Christians could readily identify “Babylon the Great”—‘riding a seven-headed beast’ that explicitly represent “seven mountains”—as Rome when Revelation was first written. However, because the grandiose finale presented in Revelation did not come to fruition near the time of writing, various religious groups (including Jehovah’s Witnesses) have superstitiously proposed other ‘identities’ to extend Revelation’s ‘fulfilment’ beyond the ancient Roman era. In reality, it doesn’t actually mean anything for ‘our day’.
Jehovah’s Witnesses (and some others) assert that “Babylon the Great” is not a “political power” on the basis that Revelation 17:2 says it has “immoral relations” with the “kings of the earth”. However, the Roman Empire oversaw various subordinate client kingdoms, each with its own ‘king’. (Judea was itself one such client kingdom, under the jurisdiction of Herod, who is described as a king at Matthew 2:3 and Mark 6:14 using the same Greek term as at Revelation 17:2—basileus, βασιλεύς, Strong’s G935.) Revelation 17:18 accurately describes “Babylon the Great”—that is, ancient Rome—as a city with a kingdom over other kings. The identification of “Babylon the Great” as “the mother of the prostitutes” alludes to the purported licentiousness in Rome being reflected in the empire’s other cities and Revelation 18:3, 9 suggests that the “immorality” of “Babylon the Great” refers to Rome’s interactions with its client kingdoms.
Rome is called “Babylon the Great” in Revelation as an analogy comparing the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in 70 CE with the prior destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BCE. Revelation 18:4–5 therefore warned first century Christians to get out of ‘Babylon’ (that is, ancient Rome).
The Greek term pharmakeia (φαρμακεία, Strong’s G5331) at Revelation 18:23, generally rendered as sorcery, magic or witchcraft refers to the use of drugs or poisons (used in the verse as a metaphor) and the only connection with ‘spiritism’ is a superstitious ignorance of biochemistry.