Wow! I'm almost speechless. Even as a Wiccan male, I've observed virtually everything you pointed out. So many of my friends identify as "witch" while most of the time being totally unaware that there are thousands of true witches who have their own story. Thanks for this!!!
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, they really resonate with me! I feel like this surface level concept of witchcraft goes hand in hand with capitalism, I hate to see some of these practices become so commodified. One of the unfortunate aspects of pop feminism in general I guess :,)
This is well done and needs to be said. It is not an easy task to communicate the nuanced issues here without coming across as condescending, but you've done it. So much of this is why have always been, and will remain a very private, solitary practioner. I sacrifice connection for the distance and freedom to just be me and do my thing. There is just so much noise.
The secular claiming of witchcraft & goddesses by pop feminists really annoys me, I admire your generosity of spirit, I'd probably just rant about it! There's waves of dabblers in every decade & some stay & delve further while many others drift off after they get bored. I've been thinking of making a class about spiritual practice for ", spiritual but not religious" folks. Particularly people in lefty & queer communities.
Thank you! The thing I try to keep in mind is the very real problem of gatekeeping. It’s something younger witches have called out in the community, and while I don’t completely agree with how it gets framed (another post for another time), it’s a fair point — I don’t get to decide what anyone else’s craft looks like but mine. It’s a hard line to walk but I feel
I know that witch is a very easy and common way to identify people who do those things I don’t like, but I would never call myself one.
I practice in the tradition of my Slavic ancestors and there isn’t a word for what I do because I’m too far removed from Poland to claim any title. There are many different types of practitioners and some are very specific.
If I were there, I would probably be closest to a koldunya (sorceress) but that is far too strong a term for what I do. It describes someone who uses the forces of chaos to create disorder. Think of Nyx or Set.
I prefer to use the word spellcaster to others, but to myself, I’m an agitator. I mix things up a little bit to manipulate energies.
To be honest, I just want people to stop equating witch with Celtic mythology and Wicca. That would make my heart sing with joy.
In a lot of cultures, there’s several words for magical practitioner (or something adjacent to magic) & the one that translates as “witch” is considered someone who curses & does harmful magic. Culturally Anglo witches will just go “oh, I’m a bruja, a strega” etc and waltz on in, which is a great way to alienate people who practice folk magic (or they might not even call it magic) within various cultures. Random people dressed in Celtic knots prancing at Stonehenge burned so many bridges with natives of Celtic traditions that it’s better to just shut up about explicit paganism if you’re an outsider & not use any such words for yourself.
I have some personal practices based on pagan tradition, conduct rituals, use divination tools (although my tarot decks are tired LOL) but don't really like to use word witch. I think I have a bugaboo about it, and the subject matter you write about certainly doesn't make me want to embrace the word. Co-oping the word in the way you describe dilutes the idea, and then becomes a stereotype that I don't want to be associated with. I'm happy I stumbled on your substack. Subscribed
Thank you! Words matter, but they are also just symbols pointing to something beyond themselves. I think having a practice that works for you is as important than (and perhaps more important than) the word you use to label
I have thoroughly read your well thought of article and am now digesting. I don't have a compulsion to label myself yet. At 70 I know I have practiced my beliefs for more than 6 decades. Consciously. The event names and concerns you mention are part of my history. I think labeling what I do alongside of who I am is more for others to put me in a catagory so they can make a decision how to respond to me. I am a nature worshiper, I am magic practitioner. I am herbalist,I am the divine feminine, I am a potion maker,I am a plant medicine maker,I am an observer.
The current regime of right wing ( can i use that term to describe the upsurge? )Christian peoples is a concern for the safety of all peoples outside of this faction of Christian worship. I know they will come for us all that don't ascribe to their practice. This is their way. Fear control labeling and punishment.
I have enjoyed reading your article and while i welcome all that wish to include themselves as witches I do understand that knowing the history is important in their growth into Becoming.
Being Wicca runs in my family a few women possess abilities that are sensitive, I myself consider myself more of a green witch, I focus on what’s good for the planet and the people. I’ve definately gotten my fair share of hate for being a witch.
This is a great grounding and refresher course at a time we’re all at a bit of desperation to ‘belong’ to an alternative who-why-how we find ourselves in this terrible position. (Without getting political, you get my drift. Loved the McConnell visual, btw.)
My first role, in the first play I was ever in was as The Little Witch. I was 6. So whatever my life has been since then, it has been comforting to hear the moniker in my direction. It not only reminds me of my cute, early stardom but how the Universe calls us out before we do, ourselves.
The article I found you on, Alythia, was in particular a mashup of rah-rah for the Witch Archetype, which I actually don’t have a problem with— the Archetype, not the article. That’s because I studied Jung and I know what an archetype is. Unfortunately, as the article gets passed far and wide, there is enough slippage in there without taking the time to define and defend the thesis clearly, to lead many down the exact path you outline here: Labels for a word-power-play without understanding the ramifications to real communities. I can truly see the moral divide coming. Witches will burn again. Books will burn again. You think I am kidding? WAIT.
Thank you for sharing this, your depth of care for the integrity of witchcraft is palpable, and I truly respect the way you’re holding both history and community accountability with such thoughtfulness.
I also want to gently offer another perspective, not in contradiction, but in addition, something I feel often goes unnamed in these conversations.
I’m English. I live on the land where many of the traditions that informed Wicca, modern witchcraft, and European folk magic were born. For me, and for many here, witchcraft isn’t a rebellion against Christianity or a feminist aesthetic, it’s a deep remembering. A return to something older than empire. Older than the witch trials. Older even than the binaries of modern discourse.
The Celts, the druids, the cunning folk, these are my ancestors. The land I walk holds their stories in the stones and rivers and hedgerows. So when I engage in witchcraft, I’m not reaching for something borrowed or symbolic. I’m reclaiming something that was systemically stripped from my lineage by the same forces that colonised so much of the world, including the country you now live in.
When you speak of white feminist women adopting spiritual identities without understanding the depth behind them, I really hear you. I agree that there’s a pattern of appropriation and superficiality, particularly in settler-colonial contexts. But I think there’s a difference between adopting something outside of one’s lineage, and reclaiming something that is ancestral.
The roots of modern witchcraft are deeply woven with the practices of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and other pre-Christian European peoples. And while “whiteness” has indeed caused harm, not all white women practicing witchcraft are doing so from a place of disconnection or consumerism. Some of us are simply trying to remember what our grandmothers weren’t allowed to pass down.
And at the same time, I want to be clear: I don’t want to gatekeep witchcraft from anyone.
Not from women of colour, not from new witches, not from those who connect with the archetype for political or symbolic reasons. This path is wide, and it belongs to all who walk it with reverence, not just those with a particular lineage or depth of study.
But I do think the conversation is richer when we make space for the nuance. Not all white witches are cosplaying. Not all claims to witchcraft are shallow. Some are ancient. Some are rooted. Some are born from the land under our feet.
So while I fully agree with the need to approach this path with respect, awareness, and care, especially around appropriation and community, there’s also a quiet grief that arises when I see people speak of witchcraft as if it only belongs to those who’ve had to claim it from the margins. For some of us, it’s not about claiming power. It’s about coming home.
Thank you again for the wisdom you’ve shared. I see your love for the craft, and I’m grateful for the conversation you’ve opened.
Thank you for the extremely thoughtful reply. I agree that for many, taking up the Craft is about reclaiming something vital from ancestry. The truth is every people and every spirituality humans have ever been has contained within it a group that uses magic of one stripe or another. To pursue your ancestral magical roots (however they descend from you) is as valid a frame for seeking magic as any other. Thanks again, sister. And blessed be.
Well said. I am one of those white women who has dabbled in the craft and have a much clearer idea of who and what I am. The tools of craft were taught to me through a Dianic path which did not work for me. My mind has been opened and broadened to my own shortcomings and preconceived ideas.
Loved this post so very much! I have been walking this path almost 30 years now and I have seen so much of this in action. I echo the sentiments that if being a witch calls to you great. But I do think that they should take it upon themselves to truly understand what it is that they are claiming or reclaiming for themselves. Thanks again for penning this in a beautiful way.
"I have a personal fantasy that involves a huge flash mob of women in bare feet and long black dresses gathering outside Mitch McConnell's office at the Senate and singing "I am my mother's savage daughter" at the top of our lungs until Moscow Mitch shits himself. A girl can dream.....”
That’s sad. I had no knowledge of that. I hope it was settled justly. The song is powerful. I was just reading Wyndreth’s (Karen’s) bio. I haven’t heard or read mention of The Society for Creative Anachronisms in many years. . My kids were friends in the 90s with Renaissance Faire folk who also belonged to the society.
I think I probably have a little bit of lingering butthurt from the lawsuit. Hester originally released the song without crediting its author, and Wyndreth had to sue Hester to have her rights recognized.
Wow! I'm almost speechless. Even as a Wiccan male, I've observed virtually everything you pointed out. So many of my friends identify as "witch" while most of the time being totally unaware that there are thousands of true witches who have their own story. Thanks for this!!!
Thank you for sharing these thoughts, they really resonate with me! I feel like this surface level concept of witchcraft goes hand in hand with capitalism, I hate to see some of these practices become so commodified. One of the unfortunate aspects of pop feminism in general I guess :,)
This is well done and needs to be said. It is not an easy task to communicate the nuanced issues here without coming across as condescending, but you've done it. So much of this is why have always been, and will remain a very private, solitary practioner. I sacrifice connection for the distance and freedom to just be me and do my thing. There is just so much noise.
Thank you!
The secular claiming of witchcraft & goddesses by pop feminists really annoys me, I admire your generosity of spirit, I'd probably just rant about it! There's waves of dabblers in every decade & some stay & delve further while many others drift off after they get bored. I've been thinking of making a class about spiritual practice for ", spiritual but not religious" folks. Particularly people in lefty & queer communities.
Thank you! The thing I try to keep in mind is the very real problem of gatekeeping. It’s something younger witches have called out in the community, and while I don’t completely agree with how it gets framed (another post for another time), it’s a fair point — I don’t get to decide what anyone else’s craft looks like but mine. It’s a hard line to walk but I feel
It’s important.
Ive been a pagan for over thirty years, and I’ve never felt like the word witch applied to me. Healer, goddess worshipper maybe.
I know that witch is a very easy and common way to identify people who do those things I don’t like, but I would never call myself one.
I practice in the tradition of my Slavic ancestors and there isn’t a word for what I do because I’m too far removed from Poland to claim any title. There are many different types of practitioners and some are very specific.
If I were there, I would probably be closest to a koldunya (sorceress) but that is far too strong a term for what I do. It describes someone who uses the forces of chaos to create disorder. Think of Nyx or Set.
I prefer to use the word spellcaster to others, but to myself, I’m an agitator. I mix things up a little bit to manipulate energies.
To be honest, I just want people to stop equating witch with Celtic mythology and Wicca. That would make my heart sing with joy.
In a lot of cultures, there’s several words for magical practitioner (or something adjacent to magic) & the one that translates as “witch” is considered someone who curses & does harmful magic. Culturally Anglo witches will just go “oh, I’m a bruja, a strega” etc and waltz on in, which is a great way to alienate people who practice folk magic (or they might not even call it magic) within various cultures. Random people dressed in Celtic knots prancing at Stonehenge burned so many bridges with natives of Celtic traditions that it’s better to just shut up about explicit paganism if you’re an outsider & not use any such words for yourself.
I have some personal practices based on pagan tradition, conduct rituals, use divination tools (although my tarot decks are tired LOL) but don't really like to use word witch. I think I have a bugaboo about it, and the subject matter you write about certainly doesn't make me want to embrace the word. Co-oping the word in the way you describe dilutes the idea, and then becomes a stereotype that I don't want to be associated with. I'm happy I stumbled on your substack. Subscribed
Thank you! Words matter, but they are also just symbols pointing to something beyond themselves. I think having a practice that works for you is as important than (and perhaps more important than) the word you use to label
It.
I have thoroughly read your well thought of article and am now digesting. I don't have a compulsion to label myself yet. At 70 I know I have practiced my beliefs for more than 6 decades. Consciously. The event names and concerns you mention are part of my history. I think labeling what I do alongside of who I am is more for others to put me in a catagory so they can make a decision how to respond to me. I am a nature worshiper, I am magic practitioner. I am herbalist,I am the divine feminine, I am a potion maker,I am a plant medicine maker,I am an observer.
The current regime of right wing ( can i use that term to describe the upsurge? )Christian peoples is a concern for the safety of all peoples outside of this faction of Christian worship. I know they will come for us all that don't ascribe to their practice. This is their way. Fear control labeling and punishment.
I have enjoyed reading your article and while i welcome all that wish to include themselves as witches I do understand that knowing the history is important in their growth into Becoming.
Being Wicca runs in my family a few women possess abilities that are sensitive, I myself consider myself more of a green witch, I focus on what’s good for the planet and the people. I’ve definately gotten my fair share of hate for being a witch.
This is a great grounding and refresher course at a time we’re all at a bit of desperation to ‘belong’ to an alternative who-why-how we find ourselves in this terrible position. (Without getting political, you get my drift. Loved the McConnell visual, btw.)
My first role, in the first play I was ever in was as The Little Witch. I was 6. So whatever my life has been since then, it has been comforting to hear the moniker in my direction. It not only reminds me of my cute, early stardom but how the Universe calls us out before we do, ourselves.
The article I found you on, Alythia, was in particular a mashup of rah-rah for the Witch Archetype, which I actually don’t have a problem with— the Archetype, not the article. That’s because I studied Jung and I know what an archetype is. Unfortunately, as the article gets passed far and wide, there is enough slippage in there without taking the time to define and defend the thesis clearly, to lead many down the exact path you outline here: Labels for a word-power-play without understanding the ramifications to real communities. I can truly see the moral divide coming. Witches will burn again. Books will burn again. You think I am kidding? WAIT.
Thank you for sharing this, your depth of care for the integrity of witchcraft is palpable, and I truly respect the way you’re holding both history and community accountability with such thoughtfulness.
I also want to gently offer another perspective, not in contradiction, but in addition, something I feel often goes unnamed in these conversations.
I’m English. I live on the land where many of the traditions that informed Wicca, modern witchcraft, and European folk magic were born. For me, and for many here, witchcraft isn’t a rebellion against Christianity or a feminist aesthetic, it’s a deep remembering. A return to something older than empire. Older than the witch trials. Older even than the binaries of modern discourse.
The Celts, the druids, the cunning folk, these are my ancestors. The land I walk holds their stories in the stones and rivers and hedgerows. So when I engage in witchcraft, I’m not reaching for something borrowed or symbolic. I’m reclaiming something that was systemically stripped from my lineage by the same forces that colonised so much of the world, including the country you now live in.
When you speak of white feminist women adopting spiritual identities without understanding the depth behind them, I really hear you. I agree that there’s a pattern of appropriation and superficiality, particularly in settler-colonial contexts. But I think there’s a difference between adopting something outside of one’s lineage, and reclaiming something that is ancestral.
The roots of modern witchcraft are deeply woven with the practices of Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and other pre-Christian European peoples. And while “whiteness” has indeed caused harm, not all white women practicing witchcraft are doing so from a place of disconnection or consumerism. Some of us are simply trying to remember what our grandmothers weren’t allowed to pass down.
And at the same time, I want to be clear: I don’t want to gatekeep witchcraft from anyone.
Not from women of colour, not from new witches, not from those who connect with the archetype for political or symbolic reasons. This path is wide, and it belongs to all who walk it with reverence, not just those with a particular lineage or depth of study.
But I do think the conversation is richer when we make space for the nuance. Not all white witches are cosplaying. Not all claims to witchcraft are shallow. Some are ancient. Some are rooted. Some are born from the land under our feet.
So while I fully agree with the need to approach this path with respect, awareness, and care, especially around appropriation and community, there’s also a quiet grief that arises when I see people speak of witchcraft as if it only belongs to those who’ve had to claim it from the margins. For some of us, it’s not about claiming power. It’s about coming home.
Thank you again for the wisdom you’ve shared. I see your love for the craft, and I’m grateful for the conversation you’ve opened.
Blessed Be Sister 💚
Thank you for the extremely thoughtful reply. I agree that for many, taking up the Craft is about reclaiming something vital from ancestry. The truth is every people and every spirituality humans have ever been has contained within it a group that uses magic of one stripe or another. To pursue your ancestral magical roots (however they descend from you) is as valid a frame for seeking magic as any other. Thanks again, sister. And blessed be.
Well said. I am one of those white women who has dabbled in the craft and have a much clearer idea of who and what I am. The tools of craft were taught to me through a Dianic path which did not work for me. My mind has been opened and broadened to my own shortcomings and preconceived ideas.
Loved this post so very much! I have been walking this path almost 30 years now and I have seen so much of this in action. I echo the sentiments that if being a witch calls to you great. But I do think that they should take it upon themselves to truly understand what it is that they are claiming or reclaiming for themselves. Thanks again for penning this in a beautiful way.
Thank you for saying it.
You say it right, Sister! )O+
"I have a personal fantasy that involves a huge flash mob of women in bare feet and long black dresses gathering outside Mitch McConnell's office at the Senate and singing "I am my mother's savage daughter" at the top of our lungs until Moscow Mitch shits himself. A girl can dream.....”
🖤🖤🖤
That’s sad. I had no knowledge of that. I hope it was settled justly. The song is powerful. I was just reading Wyndreth’s (Karen’s) bio. I haven’t heard or read mention of The Society for Creative Anachronisms in many years. . My kids were friends in the 90s with Renaissance Faire folk who also belonged to the society.
Yes. I love Wyndreth. I posted Sarah Hester’s cover for the lyrics! It’s a very fine song. This one is wonderful too.
https://youtu.be/PAuC6gX36tc?si=x_9KWxUToVsyUIOR
I think I probably have a little bit of lingering butthurt from the lawsuit. Hester originally released the song without crediting its author, and Wyndreth had to sue Hester to have her rights recognized.
https://youtu.be/wiRnVmR6fJQ?si=UPksovaziU6u9AWh
Yes, Sarah Hester popularized the song. But it's not hers. Meet Wyndreth, the woman who wrote the song. https://www.womenofthewater.org/wow-blog/savage-daughter