A Dangerous Occupation
The way of the Modern Witch
A Dangerous Occupation
The way of the Modern Witch
Season 7 of The Modern Crone Podcast: The 21st Century Witch has been my most listened to season to date. It explores the lives and stories of generational and working witches today. It’s a fascinating season!
The word ‘witch’ elicits a variety of responses and associations across cultures and time. From the dark arts and harm to trite social media posts, to fear and for others, intrigue. In my lineage, the witches were the wise ones – offering healing, counsel, divination and connection with the spirit realm–always in service to the sovereign and community.
The systematic vilification and attempted eradication of witches during the witch trials across the British Isles, Europe and the US, spanning 15th to 18th centuries, still echo in the views of many today. An estimated 60,000 people died during what is referred to as ‘The Burning Times’ and these numbers don’t include: those who died in prison awaiting trial, were tortured but not executed, fled their homes or communities under threat or fell victim to vigilante witch hunts.
And who were these people who were so viciously rounded up, humiliated, tortured and murdered?
The people most often killed during the witch trials shared certain social, gender and economic traits that made them vulnerable, visible, or inconvenient in their communities. Around 75–85% of executed witches were women.
Accused women were often: Widows or spinsters, the elderly and sometimes mentally or physically disabled, the poor or dependent on charity or the outspoken or otherwise non-conforming to social norms. Most of these women were healers, midwives and herbalists, owning traditional knowledge of healing and childbirth, which was feared or envied. The marginalised or socially isolated also ranked high in the numbers murdered, as they were less likely to be defended.
Joan of Arc at the Stake, 1430 by Frederic Theodore Lix
People in personal or land disputes also featured in the records as accusations were often motivated by jealousy, revenge, or inheritance conflicts. Accusing someone of being a witch was a convenient way to exact revenge or attain their lands during the height of the trails.
In some places like Iceland and Finland, men were the majority of those accused. Men were also targeted when they were related to or defended accused women, they practiced folk magic or were seen as ‘cunning men’ or they were seen as heretics or political threats. And horrifically, occasionally, children were accused, especially if they confessed under pressure or torture.
Sometimes whole families were wiped out, especially in mass trials.
The horror, fear and frenzy of the Burning Times, left an inedible mark in the collective mind, that the witch is evil, ugly, unnatural and should be feared and wherever possible, shunned. This message was reinforced in art, story and from the pulpits. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a popular example. Torture scenes and burnings appeared in chronicles, marginalia, and pamphlets during mass witch trials as propaganda to justify trials or warn others.
Albrecht Dürer Germany, 1500
Witches’ Sabbath, 1798 by Francisco Goya
And still today, in our pop culture, the witch is portrayed in exactly the same way as 600 years ago.
The Witches: movie based on Roald Dahl’s story of the same name
Wizard of Oz
The more I explore the worlds of these incredible guests in Season 7 of The Modern Crone podcast, and hear their stories, the more I am seeing the sustained echoes of the intentional fear-mongering of the inquisitions and often self-appointed ‘witch hunters’ who cashed in on the craze all those years ago.
Only recently I received a message from an unknown follower on Facebook something along the lines of ‘Blah blah blah…in league with the devil…blah blah blah…evil…blah blah blah…repent and save yourself….blah blah blah’. The fear with some is real, and yet claiming the identity of ‘a witch’ is somewhat trendy and rebellious on social media currently with beautifully curated and evocative reels and cries for the ‘rise of the divine feminine’. (Shamanism was super trendy pre-covid. Witches are totally ‘in’ currently).
Yet, under the noise, quietly and reverently, the Witches continue today – guiding, healing and weaving magic into the lives of those who seek their help.
Speaking with the beautiful witches in Season 7, it has got me thinking of the privilege of the work that I do, in relative safety, with wonderful teachers and support, and extremely fabulous clients who continue to seek my counsel and support. I am busier than ever with long waitlists and enquiries every day, and the guests on The Modern Crone are reporting the same. It seems that the unique gifts and support of witches are desired by many.
But it has made me think that my activities today would have, without a doubt, attracted the attack of the inquisitors and witch-hunters in the past. Here’s a little breakdown of just how dead I would be.
I am a psychic medium, connecting people with their loved ones in spirit in front of large rooms of people and in private sessions.
☠️ Charge: Necromancy
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
I am a psychic, and teach a global community of psychics – perceiving non-obvious information as patterned possibilities within another’s auric field –
☠️Charge: Divination
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
I am an Usui Reiki Master (energy healer) and every week see incredible transformation and healing physically, psychologically, emotionally and energetically with my clients –
☠️Charge: Pact with the Devil
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
I am engaged by influential people for counsel and coaching – diplomats, industry leaders, doctors, psychologists, teachers, parents, media heads, C-suiters which, by extension, means I have influence –
☠️Charge: Undue influence of a woman
PUNISHABLE BY TORTURE and confiscation of land and assets
I gather groups of women in circles – privately on the Sabbats and in large groups each month on the New Moon and have done so for years –
☠️Charge: Attending Sabbats
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
I have a reputation – all of my work is via referrals –
☠️Charge: Undue influence of a woman
PUNISHABLE BY TORTURE and confiscation of land and assets
I have a voice and advocate for people to explore the spiritual arts and know their own power – no requirement for the broker with the Divine –
☠️Charge: Outspoken Woman and Heresy
PUNISHABLE BY TORTURE and confiscation of land and assets
I teach people to generate new potentialities in their lives through their minds and rituals that incorporate botanicals, minerals and the elements –
☠️Charge: Use of potions and spells
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
I love and communicate with two cats (one of which is black) and know they are sentient and intelligent –
☠️Charge: Animal Familiar Use
PUNISHABLE BY DEATH
(BTW Black cats in Asia are the largest breed left languishing in cat adoption agencies because of superstitions about their links to dark forces). Pffft!
My work today would have had me interrogated, tortured, publicly humiliated and executed only as little as 300 years ago.
We have come a long way in understanding that the sacred and the unseen worlds are equally as relevant and causal to our life experience in modern life…yet there’s still a long way to go.
That is why I created this podcast season. By giving the real Witches voice and attention, we can continue to break down the biases and fears that have carried down generations, just as the Craft itself has continued.
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And if this blog post resonates with you personally and you are ready to give yourself permission to uncover your own spiritual gifts please visit my Spirited Living community to explore courses and useful content to guide you on your path to healing, self-discovery and mindful living. You could also read more about your psychic senses in my book, ‘Spirited – A guide to your innate spiritual design to transform your life’, which is now available. See stockists here.
**Feature image sourced from Artist Marco Melgrati