Resistance and Re-envisioning the Archetype of the Witch
A witch hunt signifies the persecution of the historically marginalized and vulnerable. The witch herself, in an empowering reversal of centuries of systemic and institutional oppression, is turning into an emblem of resistance. To this day, witchcraft is often disregarded as a legitimate religion, although a resurgence of interest in Pagan themes has been emerging in Europe and the U.S. Outside of the spiritual and into the secular realm, some view the reclamation of the witch as a “positive outlet for collective catharsis” and a means to resist “the rampant misogyny, white supremacy, and bigotry” of our current political leadership. One doesn’t have to be a witch to identify with this archetype.
What is a “Witch,” Really?
Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon, defines a traditional witch as someone who draws inspiration from the shamanistic nature traditions of Pagan Europe, who celebrates seasonal rites, and who honors the three aspects of womanhood: maiden, mother, and crone. The word witch shares the same root as the word for wisdom. Historical accounts of so-called witches document remarkably talented women who were wise, indeed, in the curative arts — herbalism, midwifery, and natural healing. Women in early matriarchal societies were revered for their abilities to create life and give birth.
Traditional Pagans attended to the cycles of the moon and sun, and looked to deities such as the Celtic Cernunnos, the god of the lush forest who dons stately stag horns, who was said to have married and impregnated the fertile Earth mother. Perhaps it is the veneration toward this horned symbol of fertility that explains how witches were later accused of dealings with the devil. Theologian W. Holman Keith sees Paganism and witchcraft as an opportunity to see nature as “divinely feminine,” although it is important to note that defining the feminine can be increasingly complex when we acknowledge the gender realities beyond a strict binary. Adler argues that “we do know that whatever a woman is, it is hidden under thousands of years of oppression.”
The Oppression of the Feminine
Leo Martello writes that in medieval times, “the only liberated woman was the witch…The witch was totally independent. She slept with whom she damn well pleased. She was a threat to the establishment and the church. Of all the religions, especially Western, Witchcraft is the only one that didn’t discriminate against women.” Ultimately, the facts we know about the New England trials cement the idea that witch hunts were not simply a way to persecute non-Christians, but were the Puritan’s conclusive method of subjugating women. In The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Carol F. Karlsen estimates that “78% of 344 alleged witches in New England were female. And even when men faced allegations of witchcraft, it was typically because they were somehow associated with accused women.”
A History of Persecution
Despite the fact that St. Augustine in the early Christian church held that witchcraft was “impossible” because “God alone could suspend the normal laws of the universe,” suspicion and animosity toward pagan-practicing peoples increased until the 13th century, around the time of the Spanish Inquisition. It was then that the first medieval trials against witches were held, and witchcraft became conflated with any Pagan (i.e., non-Christian) or heathen (i.e., rural and traditional) practices. Conspiracy theories claimed that anyone still devoted to traditional practices was trying to overthrow the Christian church.
The apex of the witch trials throughout the Holy Roman Empire was around 1450, resulting in mass hysteria. The Malleus Maleficarum (“The Witches Hammer”), which was a guide to identifying a witch, was distributed widely — 29 editions of it being published in total. The guide allowed courts to accuse definitively those in question, with over 90% of trials resulting in conviction. In England in 1682, the last witch to be officially executed in Europe was a senile elderly woman named Temperance Lloyd. Meanwhile, the Salem witch trials still had yet to take place — from 1692–1693, over 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft — all originating from a strange illness that doctors could not otherwise explain. Most historians reason that many of the accusations were sparked by “personal vendettas, fear of strong women, and economic competition” (Brooks).
Outside of the Binary
While the victims of historical witch hunts were primarily women, we must take into account the establishment’s targeted take on what constitutes a witch in contrast with how witches view themselves. Within the practice itself and outside of the dominant paradigm, gender can be regarded as more fluid. Isaac Bonewits, author of Gnostica, reflects on the fuller gender spectrum of the Pagan pantheon. He writes that the traditional Pagan goddesses represent women in their full scope, rather than the dominant Puritan view that categorizes women as either “virgin mothers or whores.” Bonewits reflects on the priestesses of Artemis, Morrigan, and Kali, who are “likely to be strong, domineering, combative intellectual[s].” Likewise, he speaks of male priests of the Gods Apollo, Oberon, or Balder, who might be “gentle, intuitive, receptive, and very creative.” He argues that it was easier to deem this deviance from societally-accepted gender roles as “unnatural” or “queer” than to admit one’s fear of their prismatic complexity. Famously, William Shakespeare penned his titular character in Macbeth as questioning the three witches’ gender normativity: “You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so.”
Witches and Halloween
American Halloween is derivative primarily of the pagan Celtic holiday, Samhain (“SOW-win”), which has little to do with witches and more to do with ushering in the darker half of the year. October 31 through November 1 marks the halfway point in the position of the Earth between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, so as that darkness draws near, the veils between this world and the next are thin. Nonetheless, the many variants of the holiday that have emerged between then and now (including the Christian church’s adaptation of this Pagan holiday into “All Saint’s Day”) have evolved through transculturation into a modern fusion that explores and celebrates the forces of the inexplicable and the macabre — skeletons, black cats (a throwback to the ancient Egyptian’s beliefs that cats have a Bastian mysticism), ghouls (which actually originate from pre-Islamic Arabic mythology), and witches alike.
Modern Witchcraft
As the original Samhain’s focus was on liminal spaces, and the transition between worlds, we too are approaching transitions as a society. We get to decide what the world ahead of us will look like. What shape will America take through the election? What changes will we enact as we move through a global pandemic? Who will be sitting in the Supreme Court? Approaching witchcraft through the lens of anti-oppression, we can imagine ways of using it as a “vehicle for the transformation of society” (Adler).
Altogether, drawing inspiration from the archetype of the witch is a chance to imagine our communities outside of the societal paradigm. It is an opportunity to liberate the self and others, or, as Ryiah Lilith describes, a way to take back a “personal responsibility for one’s own spiritual development and expression.”
Sources Cited:
Adler, M. (1979). Drawing Down the Moon. New York, New York: Penguin.
Brooks, R.B. (2015, August 19). The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who Were They? Retrieved from https://historyofmassachusetts.org/salem-witch-trials-victims/.
Costello, E. (2019, October 23). Most Witches are Women, Because Witch Hunts Were All About Persecuting the Powerless. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/most-witches-are-women-because-witch-hunts-were-all-about-persecuting-the-powerless-125427.
Karlsen, C.F. (1998). The Devil in the Shape of a Woman. London, England: W.W. Norton & Company.
Kelly, K. (2017, July 5). Are Witches the Ultimate Feminists? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/05/witches-feminism-books-kristin-j-sollee.
Lilith, R. (2006). “Challah for the Queen of Heaven.” In Women’s Studies in Religion. Oxfordshire, England: Routledge.
Shakespeare, W. (1623). Macbeth.
