I am a witch, a Woman In Total Control of Herself.
When we think of witches, we think of bubble, bubble toil and trouble, three wicked women huddled over a cauldron, casting nasty spells.
We think of the evil witch in snow white with her ugly crooked nose, hunched back and menacing smile.
We think of black dresses and pointy hats.
But how often do we think of the healers, the midwives, the herbalists, the surgeons, the unmarried, and the wise women of the village?
How often do we think of the empowered woman — commanding her sexuality; who influenced, intrigued, and inspired admiration?
Long before being called a witch became an accusation, it was a title of respect. In ancient cultures — from the priestesses of Mesopotamia to the healers of Celtic and Norse tribes — these witches were the keepers of knowledge: body, earth, life and death.
Suppression of The Woman In Total Control of Herself
But knowledge is power. And power is dangerous.
As a new belief systems spread across Europe, those in power sought control — not only of people’s souls, but of their stories. Above all, it is our stories that shape society, culture, and obedience. So they needed to change the narrative surrounding these powerful women.
Women who healed with herbs instead of prayer, who spoke to spirits instead of priests, or who lived by their own rhythm instead of a man’s command, became a threat to the hierarchy.
The first systematic witch hunt began in Switzerland in 1428, but they reached their peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, lasting approximately 300 years! 300 years of murdering women, an estimated 40-60 thousand of them, and we are still feeling those impacts today.
The burning of a witch in Vienna, Austria in 1538 by Ullstein Bild (from Little, 2018).
Prior to these witch trials, women had power over their fertility, knowledge on how to track their cycles, avoid conception and herbs and techniques to safely support labour.
Silencing of Knowledge
When control of medicine shifted from women to men, that ancient wisdom was lost — with fatal consequences.
This still shapes the way we treat women today, from a lack of research in female health, to calling them hysterical rather than taking their pain seriously, to poor birthing practices.
Even today, women are denied autonomy over the very thing we are biologically programmed to do — rushed, induced, interrupted, and removed from many of the things that allow for a safe and supportive birth. Women should be empowered to deliver babies without her autonomy being questioned, her intuition challenged, and her power diminished.
The idea of ‘a witch’ was built to shame, subdue and suppress female autonomy. It removed sisterhood, it reduced wisdom, and ridiculed anyone who held knowledge.
The Modern Witch Reawakens
It is incredible to imagine that it has taken us over six centuries for us to get to a point where women can be witches again, and I don’t mean the ones casting spells, I mean being a woman in total control of herself.
Over six centuries ago, witches were someone to look up to, to ask advice of; women held power and knowledge.
Yet just six decades ago, my grandmother never knew what a period was until she thought she was dying. She was raised in a world of feminine guilt and shame.
My mother wasn’t allowed to do woodwork in school, only secretarial studies, and later worked as the only woman on a mine with three hundred men, and in childbirth, she was dominated, and traumatised by male doctors. Her autonomy stripped, so far removed from her female power she didn’t even know she had.
Growing up, I didn’t know what feminine power was either. I didn’t know how to be a woman in total control of herself.
I saw women gain power two ways, by being the perfect wife so that a man would love you, or by being a promiscuous woman, so that a man would want you.
Seeing The Witch Story
From the moment we start socialising, we’re taught that being an empowered woman is to be a witch.
Disney is filled with wicked witches, it was the witch who stole snow white away from her charming prince, who saved her! Or would the story be more accurate if it was the witch protecting the innocent young girl from the predatory man who kissed her in her sleep. It was also a witch that stole the little mermaid’s voice, maybe because it is witches who use theirs.
And just for good measure, every advertisement sells us on the idea that we’re not naturally powerful. All the advertising that reminds women we are not good enough without buying this and doing that. The articles written in the magazines about how you need makeup to be considered professional in the workplace, and titles reading ‘are you mom enough?’.
Every aspect of our media reinforces over and over again to our young women, you are not independent, you are not wise, you are not to trust your intuition, you are not enough.
Becoming A Woman In Total Control of Herself.
Well, I am enough. I am a woman in total control of herself.
I no longer accept doctors telling me what’s best for me after years of being gaslit about my endometriosis. When I give birth, I will trust my body, my intuition — because as women, we know.
I honour my cycle, planning my social life, diet, and energy according to its rhythm — not a 24-hour day like a man. Consistency isn’t daily for women, it’s monthly.
I give myself space to be and not do, breaking free from the masculine ideal that my worth is measured by what I achieve.
I dance, I express myself freely like no one is watching, I move my energy through my body – all the frustration, the anger, the joy, the love, I jump and spin and move and don’t let any social expectations hold my body back.
I love my husband fiercely, but I do not make him healthy meals to earn his love or because it is the ‘wifely’ thing to do. I make them because I choose to love and nurture him — using my knowledge of food and herbs as healing.
And most of all, I speak, loud and brave and clear. I do the most witchy thing I can possibly do. I share my knowledge, my power, with other women.
I tell women it is okay to have their feelings fluctuate with their cycle, that it is okay that they weren’t the epitome of productivity, that it is okay to feel the depth of their emotions.
Women, you are enough. You are powerful.
You are a woman in total control of herself.