Witch: Woman in Total Control of Herself. A Journey into Words, Wounds, and a Way Forward.

Listen to the podcast episode.

For the last few months, something kept showing up in my circles—women referring to themselves as witches. Owning it. Claiming the title boldly and with reverence. I found myself reacting to it. And not in a subtle way.

I’ve come to recognize that when I feel that kind of discomfort, it’s usually an invitation to investigate—not to double down on what I already know. Staying put in my familiar beliefs is easier, safer. But life has taught me that growth only happens when I lean into that discomfort and let curiosity lead the way.

So that’s what this became—a journey of inquiry into the term witch, what it meant, and what it means now. Because witches have long fascinated humanity. From fearful folklore to modern media icons, their imagery has evolved. But so much of what we “know” about witches is distorted—shaped by historical prejudice and myth. As I talked with women, watched documentaries, and revisited 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 root of the word, wicce (feminine) and wicca (masculine), comes from a word that means to bend or to shape. A witch, then, is one who can bend reality, not just with intention, but also with surrender. This duality—of action and allowance—feels deeply spiritual.

But even this term is often misunderstood. Many people associate witches immediately with Wicca, which is a specific religion or dogma 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 stems largely from the Christian Middle Ages, when fear and control drove a narrative that anything outside church doctrine was evil. As Sandra explained, the concept of Satan didn’t even exist in pagan spirituality. Instead, witches traditionally worked with natural deities—sun gods, earth goddesses, elemental spirits.

Another symbol often misjudged is the pentagram. It’s commonly associated with dark magic, but in many traditions, it represents the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. 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 explored further, I came across the idea of the witch wound—a collective trauma particularly experienced by women. This trauma stems from centuries of persecution, from the European witch hunts to the Salem trials. Tens of thousands—some say 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 all struck chords in me. I felt them deep in my body. The way we’re taught to silence ourselves, to fear stepping out, to distrust other women. Sandra and Courtney both spoke about 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, 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 bring connection—to the land, to the past, to the self.

Courtney told me, “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 hit me. Sovereignty. Power that doesn’t need permission.

Earth, Ritual, and Ancestral Memory

A core theme that kept surfacing was earth connection. Witches were and are often herbalists, midwives, people with deep knowledge of the land. That connection was seen 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, spirits of place. Courtney reflected on the grief of not knowing the stories of the land she lives on. Colonization stripped so many of us from our ancestral ties—and with that came a longing to belong.

We borrow from indigenous practices because we’ve forgotten our own. That realization brought grief but also motivation: to reconnect, to remember, 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 taken on many forms in popular culture. Sometimes feared, sometimes revered, sometimes trivialized.

But the narrative is changing. 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 because of spellwork, but because they were widows, single, healers, midwives, or financially independent. In other words, women who didn’t “stay in their lane.”

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

That hasn’t gone away. 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: a witch. Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, was a man and called himself a witch. The word “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. But society tends to value only the Maiden and the Mother. The Crone—older, independent, often unbothered by societal norms—is reduced to a Halloween caricature.

But the Crone is wisdom embodied. And many women feel that as they age, they begin to care less about approval—and more about truth. Society doesn’t like that. But witchcraft embraces it.

Final Thoughts

This journey helped me name a bias I didn’t realize I carried. It helped me see that the women I once judged were actually doing something incredibly brave: reclaiming a title, a practice, and a power that had been suppressed for centuries.

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

And maybe, deep down, we are all witches—men and women alike—when we stand in our truth, connect with the natural world, and own our creative power.

So if someone calls themselves a witch, ask them what they mean. You might just find they are a healer, an artist, a guide, a wise woman…or a woman in total control of herself.

And that is something worth celebrating.