Unraveling the Magic: The Real Lives of Witches

For the last few months, I’ve noticed something intriguing in my circles—women proudly identifying as witches. They own this title boldly and with reverence. My initial reaction was one of discomfort. It was not subtle.

I’ve learned that discomfort often invites me to explore deeper. It’s tempting to cling to my familiar beliefs, as they feel safer. However, I’ve discovered that true growth occurs when I lean into that discomfort and allow curiosity to guide me.

This journey became an inquiry into the term witch, its historical significance, and its modern interpretation. Witches have long captivated humanity. From fearful folklore to contemporary media icons, their imagery has transformed. Yet, much of what we “know” about witches is distorted by historical prejudice and myth. Through conversations with women, documentaries, and revisiting cultural references like Bewitched and The Good Witch, I found my perspective shifting.

Starting with Curiosity

Two women, in particular, guided me: Sandra from Australia and Courtney from the U.S.. Their openness helped me understand something that once made me recoil. What does “witch” really mean?

The Old English roots of the word, wicce (feminine) and wicca (masculine), derive from a term meaning to bend or to shape. A witch, then, is someone who can bend reality—not just through intention, but also through surrender. This duality—action and allowance—feels profoundly spiritual.

However, this term is often misunderstood. Many people immediately associate witches with Wicca, a specific religion within modern witchcraft. Not everyone who identifies as a witch practices Wicca. I learned that witchcraft, for many, is a deeply personal practice involving healing, honoring the earth, intention-setting, and reclaiming power.

Courtney described spells not as hocus-pocus but as rituals created with intention—using will, words, and a way. “Anyone can do it,” she said, “because we’re all creating energy every day. We’re all engaging with it, whether we realize it or not.”

Unpacking the Misconceptions

One major misunderstanding is the link between witchcraft and Satanism. This misconception largely stems from the Christian Middle Ages, when fear and control shaped a narrative that anything outside church doctrine was evil. As Sandra explained, the concept of Satan didn’t even exist in pagan spirituality. Traditionally, witches worked with natural deities—sun gods, earth goddesses, and elemental spirits.

Another symbol often misjudged is the pentagram. Commonly associated with dark magic, it represents the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit in many traditions. Like the five seeds inside an apple when cut crosswise, it symbolizes wholeness and balance.

Freshly sliced apples reveal their star-shaped cores, set on a wooden surface.

As Sandra put it, “Most witches are deeply aware that what you put out returns to you. To curse someone is to lower your own vibration and attract more of the same. It’s self-defeating.”

Rediscovering the Roots—and the Wound

As I delved deeper, I encountered the concept of the witch wound—a collective trauma particularly experienced by women. This trauma arises from centuries of persecution, from the European witch hunts to the Salem trials. Tens of thousands—some estimates suggest over 60,000—were executed, most of them women.

The witch wound manifests as:

• Fear of persecution for standing out or embracing spiritual gifts.

• Self-doubt and suppression of one’s voice or intuition.

• Fear of being seen—a reluctance to fully express oneself.

• Generational grief over lost ancestral traditions, land, and wisdom.

  
  

These resonated deeply with me. I felt them in my body. We are often taught to silence ourselves, to fear stepping out, and to distrust other women. Sandra and Courtney both discussed how this history leads to modern divisions among women and even within ourselves. Healing that wound requires curiosity, compassion, and reclamation.

Heal Your Witch Wounds

Healing Work

Sandra and Courtney both described their practices as rooted in healing—Reiki, EFT tapping, energy work, herbalism, and ritual. Some of it looks simple: a walk in the garden, offering thanks to a plant, or hanging dried orange slices to welcome the sun in winter. These rituals foster connection—to the land, to the past, and to the self.

Courtney shared, “When I call myself a witch, it’s because I’m a woman in total control of herself. W-I-T-C-H. It’s who I am when I take off all the labels—mother, daughter, wife—and stand in my own sovereignty.”

That struck a chord with me. Sovereignty. It’s power that doesn’t require permission.

Earth, Ritual, and Ancestral Memory

A core theme that kept surfacing was the connection to the earth. Witches have often been herbalists, midwives, and individuals with deep knowledge of the land. This connection was perceived as threatening when it fell outside sanctioned institutions.

Sandra described how modern witches incorporate earth energy into rituals—invoking the four elements, connecting with trees, herbs, mountains, and spirits of place. Courtney reflected on the grief of not knowing the stories of the land she inhabits. Colonization has stripped many of us of our ancestral ties—and with that comes a longing to belong.

We often borrow from indigenous practices because we’ve forgotten our own. This realization brought both grief and motivation: to reconnect, to remember, and to reclaim.

The Media’s Role in Shaping Our Views

From the Wicked Witch of the West to The Craft, Charmed, Practical Magic, and The Good Witch, witches have appeared in various forms in popular culture. Sometimes they are feared, sometimes revered, and sometimes trivialized.

However, the narrative is shifting. The witch is being reclaimed—not as a villain, but as a figure of resistance, autonomy, and wisdom.

The Witch as a Feminist Icon

During the height of the witch trials, many women were targeted not for spellwork, but because they were widows, single, healers, midwives, or financially independent. In essence, they were women who didn’t “stay in their lane.”

Witchcraft became a label used to strip them of rights, silence them, or seize their land. Capitalism and patriarchy found convenient scapegoats in women seeking autonomy.

As Courtney noted, “Capitalism doesn’t work without an oppressed group. Women’s labor—whether in the home or in professions like teaching and nursing—is undervalued. The witch trials were part of that structure.”

What About Male Witches?

Many ask: what do you call a male witch? The answer is simply: a witch. Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, was a man and identified as a witch. The term “warlock” actually comes from a Scottish word meaning “traitor” or “liar.” Some might say “wizard,” but that often feels fictional.

Interestingly, culture tends to glorify wizards—Gandalf, Dumbledore, Merlin—while vilifying witches. It’s worth questioning why the male practitioner is wise and revered, while the female is feared or mocked.

Reclaiming the Crone

In pagan traditions, the Triple Goddess—Maiden, Mother, and Crone—represents the cycles of a woman’s life. However, society tends to value only the Maiden and the Mother. The Crone—older, independent, and often unbothered by societal norms—is reduced to a Halloween caricature.

Yet, the Crone embodies wisdom. Many women find that as they age, they care less about approval and more about truth. Society may not appreciate this, but witchcraft embraces it.

Final Thoughts

This journey has helped me identify a bias I didn’t realize I held. It has illuminated the bravery of the women I once judged, who are reclaiming a title, a practice, and a power that has been suppressed for centuries.

The witch is no longer something to fear. She is something to honor.

Deep down, perhaps we are all witches—men and women alike—when we stand in our truth, connect with the natural world, and embrace our creative power.

So, if someone identifies as a witch, ask them what it means to them. You might discover they are a healer, an artist, a guide, a wise woman…or simply a person in total control of themselves.

And that is something worth celebrating.