Why Witch?

Why Witch? - I sometimes get asked.

I cannot think of a stronger and more engaging Feminine Archetype than a Witch. Witches occupy the world of fantasy: from dark fairy tales (think Witch in “Hansel and Gretel”) to the realm of rather kitschy fiction (“Wizard of Oz”); but their presence is equally strong in the real world: it was an idea of a Witch, after all, that sent generations of men into total fear and frenzy and resulted in thousands of women burned on the pyres. She walks this thin line between fairy-tale and reality, and her accessories like brooms and pointy hats to this day feed culture, poetry and collective imagination. 

She is the first Wise Woman, intelligent enough to understand complexities of the Universe and trustworthy enough to be granted access to this knowledge. She explains mysteries of the world, she heals members of the community stricken by the disease. She lives on the peripheries of the village, in a tiny house with a garden, on the fringe right between community that she serves and the mysterious world she is a part of. She walks this thin line between real and magical, earthy and sacred. She is alone but not lonely. She understands how to crush herbs to heal and how to commune with Divine. She is powerful but humble enough not to overuse her powers. She understands changes in life and circular/cyclical nature of everything. The new Moon, the full Moon, the waning Moon. The Birth. The Death. The Rebirth. She embraces femininity and walks us thru the stages of women’s life, threading them into one continuous journey: The Maiden, The Mother, The Crone. 

On the edge between known and unknown, she may become a mirror and darkly reflect all the fears, suppressed desires and paranoias of the world – mostly men’s world. The fear of feminine, the fear of mysterious, the fear of sexual, wild and liberated. The desire to control and to rule. Witch may get reduced to caricature of herself for a while, but sooner or later she will reappear again. Stronger. Wiser. Bolder.

(Not a bad Archetype to be inspired by, huh 😊)