I remember being magnetized to any and EVERY thing that had to do with the witch as a child.
If there was a movie that involved ritual, ceremony, magic, spells, or mysticism - I was lured in like a mosquito to blood. Can you relate?
As a child, my dad told me that I had witch energy. Growing up in a Catholic household, at first, this triggered fear that there was something wrong with me. When I asked what he meant by that, he said that I had a strong connection to Earth, plants, and healing.
That was music to my ears. It planted a seed. It opened me up to a whole new paradigm of how to perceive the witch.
I sought to discover who the witch was and how to learn her healing arts. In the modern suburbia Christian belt that I grew up in + the way I saw her portrayed in popular culture - my curiosity was met with warnings of caution, damnations to hell, and vilification.
I always felt in my bones that the portrayal of the evil witch in communion with the devil was not true.
I could feel her magic. I could feel her power. I could feel her harmony with the elements. I could feel how she creates magic in the ordinary - the mystical in the mundane - and I LONGED to find her. A witch, anywhere. A real live witch. Not Hermione Granger, or Piper from Charmed, or Sally from Practical Magic - a real live witch to show me the way.
When I learned about the Salem Witch trials, I was devastated, and then later how it was connected to the Burning Times, even more. I sought guides to tell me more about why these womxn were being murdered, and not just teachers of English Lit.
I could feel how something wasn’t adding up, how something wasn’t right. What was triggering the mass hysteria? What was really going on underneath the surface?
My inner questioning guided me to the Priestess Path. When I heard about the mystery schools and how it trains you in mystical and healing arts - my mind was blown. “Woah, this stuff IS real.”
I discovered the work of Tricia McCannon and Donna Read who spoke about the modern history of womxn and the mass genocide that has been happening to them through the centuries - and there it was - the ‘why.’
Those womxn weren’t being murdered because they were witches or because they were communing with the devil - they were being killed because they had too much power.
Maybe she was a landowner (and that posed a threat to the patriarchal order), maybe she knew how to heal others with her herbs, maybe she was connected to her sexuality and that ‘tempted’ the Christian men, maybe she was a seer and saw between the veils (and therefore she must be the messenger of devil...).
These womxn were outliers in a Christian world, reminders of the old Earth-based ways, and caused a threat to the societal structure of womxn as mothers and subservient wives.
When I remembered this time in her-story that is held within my DNA - it led to a well of grief. It stirred up pain and anger - answers to why I felt cursed to be born a girl, why there were times I wished I could just be a boy in my youth.
I wanted life to feel easier. I didn’t want to carry the collective trauma of the grandmothers. But now I do. Because I've been trained in the art of inner alchemy. I know that I am strong enough - and if not me, then who?
I began to see how witch can live in every womxn and that it’s a badge of honour that says “I am a womxn unto myself.” It says that no-one or no-thing owns me. I am free. I am wise. I am rising rooted, anchored in the wise ways of my ancestors + relations - and I have the power to co-create life.
What does #witch mean to you? Come share with us in Wild Moon Sisters.
#womenempoweringwomen #priestess #embodiedactivism #shadowwork #alchemy #burningtimes #salemwitchtrials #womensrights #womensequality #birththenewearth
Meghan serves womxn through 1:1 work and group programs to come home to their inner knowing and empower themselves. She stewards Wild Moon Sisters as a free temple to support womxn embody their Divine Feminine wisdom and power. She is committed to helping her clients bring their soul's work into the world. You can learn more here.
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