I used to be a witch. It was far more than a countercultural statement.
Which tradition did you have in mind? The pointed hat is a relatively modern addition to the image of a witch, a mishmash of the astrologer-wise-man image in a conical hat and that slouch-hatted witch sneaking off tot he woods to practice incognito, I believe. The European astrologers wore conical hats to focus wisdom near their heads FWIHH. I’d like to find out what scholarship really exists to explain these symbols. I will be predisposed to dismiss any neo-Freudian sexual interpretation of any of it bc I find there are few reasons to credit Freud with much insight. The broom-flyer image came from a combination of burning broom straw to induce levitation-hallucinations and brooms as altar tools (for removing dust rather than flying). Someone just got it mixed up. The image of a witch as an ugly old woman who lives alone on the edge of town is a legacy from a sad chapter in Euro-American history. Dispel right now any notion of witch hunts as a conspiracy to get rid of women by the Church. Historic records show that laypeople, most of them women, many prosperous women, accused others, some men but mostly women, of casting spells on them. They cited plagues that befell the rich before the poor, women before men. In fact these were almost surely foodborne illnesses, affecting women and the rich because that’s who ate the richest food in that culture then, but the food tasted normal so they didn’t think of it. The only reason the accusers could think of that anyone would curse them would be envy – thus, someone with reason to envy them, who knew them, and who acted unusual, was accused. Most who fit that description were old widowed poor women who lived in the worst land, away from the villages and towns. The signs of senile dementia were little understood then, when so few people lived that long. Almost all Protestant leaders and the Catholic Church defended the accused, assured the accusers they were not cursed, and sought a real explanation for the plagues. It lasted different amounts of time in different places, but was over in Western society 350-400 years after it started. The earliest witch hunts took place in France. The last took place in colonial North America. Today witch trials continue, in primarily pagan societies, and every large Christian community or church forbids anyone to try anyone or punish anyone as a witch. If you know Christians who are punishing people as witches now, I hope you are speaking out about it to your community and demonstrating compassion for the accused.
The word “witch” probably doesn’t actually come from “wicce” (wise woman) but from “weik” (turner, bender, twister).
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