Halloween is here again, and here’s a post from last year that will hopefully make you think about what’s really behind those pointy noses and black cats. Happy Halloween!
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Most of us are familiar with these words from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and with the gruesome hags that stir the cauldron. They have become the blueprint for the portrayal of witches; ugly, toothless old women; scheming, mysterious and powerful. But is it fair? And why do we see witches in this way – it can’t all be Shakespeare’s fault, can it?
Before the advent of Christianity there were many diverse religions – Druids, Norse Odinists and the witches that had for centuries acted as healers, midwives and wise women and men. However, when the Inquisition was launched, it wasn’t just direct ‘threats’ to the Roman Catholic Church that came under suspicion. Anyone could potentially be accused of heresy, and many of those healers and wise woman came under attack.
Propaganda was a big part of this religious war. The inquisitors sought to portray witches as evil, ugly, dirty, devil-worshippers as these images show:
This left anyone who didn’t conform open to attack – if you lived by yourself, had a wart on your nose or a deformed leg – then watch out! You were probably a witch. The majority of those arrested, tortured, tried, condemned and murdered were not witches; real witches had taken their religion underground.
Of course real witches are nothing like those pointy-nosed, warty child-cookers of Hansel and Gretel fame and seemingly endless Disney adaptations. But the stereotype lingers, as false today as it was back then. Witches aren’t Satanists, and witchcraft isn’t and never has been Satanism. In fact, witchcraft in ancient times was ‘the craft of the wise’. It is a spiritual system that teaches respect for the earth. Witchcraft is also referred to as Wicca, the term most often used today. It is a religion, based on respect for the earth, and the worship of a creator that is both male and female – Goddess and God. Wiccans believe the creator is in everything – the trees, rain, the sea and all other creatures, and this belief fosters a respect and a caring for the natural world and for all life. Wiccans celebrate the changing of the seasons, and the phases of the moon. They are still healers; using natural remedies, and their spells are for harmony, love, creativity, wisdom and healing. Isn’t it time witches were given the respect that we give others? After all, we speak a lot of tolerance for religion and beliefs and yet don’t allow this most ancient of religions any respect at all.
http://wicca.com/celtic/wicca/wicca.htm
Alison Williams Writing 
Great post! My daughters read the particularly well-done and thought provoking Wise Child series by Monica Furlong when they were in early elementary school, and I remember their amazement at the sympathetic portrayal of the witches. Of course, after JK Rowling, we all just wanted to BE witches!
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Thanks Barb. I find the whole history just fascinating. Keep threatening my kids that I’m actually going to become a proper witch one day!
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Enjoyed your post Alison – For me, must say the idea of ‘something other’ being present and worthy of respect in all natural phenomena has more appeal than subsequent belief systems hijacked to become instruments of control by a self-promoted elite. Like you, have (almost) been drawn to becoming Wiccan.
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Thank you Margaret – couldn’t have put it better myself 🙂
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Love the history snapshot! Of course, so-called witches were also the wise healers who threatened male power with their knowledge of herbs and botany. Or someone who just happened to be sitting on a desirable piece of land. Yes, tolerance lessons indeed.
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Thanks Deb. That perceived threat seems to be behind the persecution of women throughout time unfortunately. And it still goes on.
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Loved this post Alison! We have so much to learn from these ancient religions. But fear of them has been inbred for centuries. Its good to see that attitude is finally and slowly changing.
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Thanks Ali – it’s a subject I find absolutely fascinating.
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And me! 😊
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Hear, hear!
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