How society views witches, the history of who they really were
Hands down one of the best courses I took at UT Austin was called "The History of Witchcraft". (Yes, it's a real course, look it up). Brian P Levack has been studying witches, trials, witch hunts, etc for decades. I found his perspective particularly interesting:
"The witch was usually not a foreigner or stranger to her community. The great majority of the witches were older and poorer than average, unmarried or widowed, someone who did not adhere to the traditional behavior standards of her community or of her sex, or someone who physically looked different.”
Women were particularly targeted, especially those who inherited money or land from a dead husband and refused to marry again. Many times they were kidnapped at night, tortured endlessly then presented to the crowd prior to execution as broken, battered, mutilated women. This is where the modern image of the witch came from.
Many of us are descended from witches, who weren't really witches at all but simply naturalists & holistic healers who refused to compromise their beliefs and gifts and bend to societal norms.
I applaud UT for offering courses like this to students, as well as their women's studies electives. Highly recommend looking into options for these courses wherever you may be studying. Stuff like this is out there, y'all. You just gotta know how/where to look. ✨🧚👍
"Here's to strong women. May we know them, may we've them, may we raise them."
