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The women they called witches were rarely what their accusers imagined.

Most were not flying through the night sky on broomsticks. They were not gathering in secret to cast curses or make pacts with dark forces (ok, maybe some were). More often, they were healers, midwives, herbalists, wise women, and keepers of traditional knowledge. They knew which herbs soothed a fever, which plants eased childbirth, and which roots could settle an upset stomach. They were the women people sought out when official remedies failed.

And for that knowledge, many paid a terrible price.

Throughout history, women who stood outside accepted norms were viewed with suspicion. A woman who lived alone. A woman who spoke her mind. A woman who possessed knowledge others did not understand. A woman who healed with plants instead of prayers or prescriptions. These women often became convenient targets when communities sought someone to blame for misfortune.

Centuries have passed since the great witch trials, yet the figure of the witch remains strangely familiar.

Today, the modern witch is unlikely to be found stirring a cauldron in a forest clearing. She may be growing calendula in her garden, drying peppermint for tea, making elderberry syrup for winter, or studying herbal traditions passed down through generations. She reads scientific studies alongside old herbals. She keeps chamomile in her kitchen, lavender in her linen cupboard, and perhaps a few crystals in her pocket.

She does not reject modernity. She simply believes that old knowledge still has value.

Yet even now, those who choose a more traditional path are sometimes met with skepticism. Mention herbal remedies, and someone may roll their eyes. Brew a medicinal tea, and you'll inevitably hear that there is a pharmaceutical alternative. Speak about preventative health, nutrition, or traditional plant medicine, and you may find yourself defending choices that generations before us considered perfectly ordinary.

This is not to say that modern medicine has no place. Quite the opposite. We owe countless lives to advances in surgery, antibiotics, emergency medicine, and scientific research. Most sensible herbalists recognize that both traditional and modern approaches have strengths and limitations.

The real question is why we are so quick to dismiss knowledge simply because it is old.

Many modern pharmaceuticals originated from plants. Willow bark gave us aspirin. Foxglove contributed to heart medications. Countless remedies began as observations made by people who spent their lives working closely with the natural world.

The women once accused of witchcraft understood something that modern life often encourages us to forget: humans are part of nature, not separate from it.

Perhaps that is why so many women today feel drawn to herbalism, folk traditions, gardening, foraging, and natural living. In a world of constant noise, these practices offer something deeply grounding. They reconnect us with the seasons, the land beneath our feet, and generations of knowledge that survived despite persecution, ridicule, and neglect.

When I walk through my garden gathering herbs, I sometimes think of those women. Not because I believe I am reliving their lives, but because I am benefiting from the knowledge they helped preserve. Every cup of herbal tea, every homemade salve, every seed planted in the earth carries a small piece of that legacy.

The flames that consumed so many accused witches failed to destroy what they knew.

Their knowledge survived in kitchens, gardens, monasteries, farms, family traditions, and old books. It survived because people continued to find value in it.

If this topic fascinates you, begin with The Mercies and Hex, then continue with Weyward, The Manningtree Witches, and The Familiars for powerful fictional portrayals of women caught in the shadow of witch hunts. For the historical reality behind these stories, The Witch by Ronald Hutton and The Penguin Book of Witches provide invaluable insight into the lives of the women history labeled as witches. Together, these books reveal not only the tragedy of persecution, but also the remarkable resilience of women's knowledge across the centuries.

We Walk in the Footsteps of the Women They Tried to Burn

I've been fascinated by witch hunts since I was a teenager — long enough to have tried, and failed, to write a university thesis on the subject. The professors weren't interested. Apparently the history of women being burned alive for knowing too much about plants had already been sufficiently researched. It may have been explored from a historical point of view, but recently the topic of the so-called witch wound has come to the forefront a lot. For centuries, witches were accused of bewitching people, ruining crops, or curdling milk. Thousands of women and men were falsely accused and burned at the stake or drowned. It is believed that from 1400 to 1775, about 100,000 people were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe and the British America. Between 40,000 and 60,000 were executed. In Germany alone, 16,500 people were tried for witchcraft - 38% of the total across Europe. More than three-quarters of those prosecuted across Europe were women. The UN Human Rights Council's 2023 annual report says hundreds of thousands of people accused of witchcraft in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, India and Papua New Guinea are harmed each year.

So what is a witch wound and how does it manifest itself? Witch wound means having a collective fear of being open and visible as a spiritual person because we may carry within us the ancestral fear of being persecuted or burned at the stake for it.  Even though we live in a world (at least those who live in Western civilization) where we can theoretically do whatever we want, talk about it online, and thereby serve people, we constantly carry the fear that something bad will happen.  We have this idea that if we use our voice, if we're honest about who we are, if we're open about our spirituality or our sexuality or our beliefs, someone will persecute us for it.

The term "get/step out of the broom closet" is relatively new in pop culture. It refers to those who hide their spirituality or witchcraft from the world. You may choose to share this side of you with a select few, but you don't yet feel ready or able to fully express yourself as you feel.

If you are doing the following, you may have the aforementioned witch wound:

- You hide the altar and magical tools when you have visitors

- You tell half-truths about what you're doing and where you've been, such as "I was with my friends" instead of "I had my ritual circle with my girlfriends last night."

- You still attend Christian religious services and pretend to pray/worship in the way expected of you due to social or family pressure

As a descendant of German immigrants who came to the Spiš area in Slovakia in the 17th century, it is quite possible that I also carry my witch wound. It took me a long time to openly say that I was a witch and to step out of my broom closet. I no longer hide the altar and magical tools, but some words and situations are still uncomfortable for me, especially when I'm working with people who are deeply religious.

So how to work with your witch wound?

1. Do not try to impose your spirituality on others. Some believe that if you practice magic, you are worshiping the devil and will go to hell, and they do not understand that the devil himself is a Christian concept.

2. If you are dealing with someone who doubts magic because he is a scientist, explain the concept of placebo and nocebo.

3. If you know it can be difficult to communicate with someone, wear blue kyanite or blue calcite to open the throat chakra for clear and honest communication. You can also eat foods like purple cabbage or blueberries that have a similar effect.

4. Use calming herbs or essential oils before communicating with someone who might be openly against magic/witchcraft/astrology etc - lavender, chamomile and lemon balm are excellent for this purpose.

The so-called witch wound is deeply rooted in the collective subconscious of women for several reasons - the several thousand-year effort of patriarchal society to subjugate women and degrade them to child-producing machines, the so-called burning times, when women were suspected of witchcraft and burnt, drowned or otherwise abused, and finally the current times, when women who are in the leading positions, e.g. in politics, are referred to as hags.

If you're wondering whether the Witch Wound is affecting your life, here are some common signs to look out for:

A deep-seated fear of being seen or heard

Struggling to express your thoughts during work meetings, feeling anxious about creating video content for social media and being afraid of judgment and persecution are hindering your ability to share your opinions.

Shame surrounding your power or abilities

Refusing to trust your own intuition and insights, you rely on others instead. You may dismiss your psychic and intuitive capabilities as nonsense and avoid exploring them. Your inclination is towards excessive logic, rejecting anything lacking evidence, even when your instincts suggest otherwise.

Difficulty setting boundaries or expressing your needs

Feeling guilty when establishing boundaries with others or communicating your needs is common for you. You prioritize other people's needs over your own well-being, often feeling obligated to work late or shoulder most of the emotional responsibilities at home.

A reluctance to trust other women

You might have expressed sentiments such as "I'm different from other girls" and criticized women who are confidently embracing their abilities. You may hesitate to rely on other women and engage in gossip to diminish their accomplishments. You may harbor feelings of envy or encounter envy from other women.

A sense of disconnection from your body

Experiencing total numbness from the neck down may lead to difficulties in achieving orgasm or feeling pleasure. This numbness could also trigger feelings of shame towards your body, possibly resulting in engaging in self-destructive behaviors like overeating, excessive exercising, and not eating enough/ counting calories in pursuit of a specific appearance.

There are many ways to work with witch wound. A nice overview is listed by author Celeste Larsen in the book Heal the Witch Wound. Here are the ones that spoke to me the most.

1. Research your lineage. An old Greek proverb says "Know thyself." What is the origin of your name? Do you know where your ancestors came from? What effect could the environment have on them? In our territory, languages ​​and nationalities were mixed, and changing one's name was a way of voluntary or forced assimilation. What feelings did they experience?

2. Practice mirror work. Mirror work is a practice that involves speaking to oneself in front of a mirror, typically utilizing positive affirmations. The primary goal of this technique is to boost self-esteem and cultivate a stronger relationship with oneself. Consistent engagement in mirror work is particularly advantageous for boosting self-worth. By acknowledging and affirming your value and significance while looking at yourself in the mirror, you start to internalize these convictions, resulting in a favorable self-perception and heightened self-assurance.

3. Honor the divine feminine by embodying feminine archetypes mother, maiden, crone, huntress, queen etc. Start a self love journal. Connect with your menstrual cycle. Celebrate female friendships.

4. Speaking your truth and healing your throat chakra by breathwork, chanting, humming.

5. Connecting to Nature by growing herbs and food, earthing or tree hugging.