I’ve been thinking about the concept of the witch wound recently and how I’ve seen and heard it has manifested in many people’s lives including my own.
To sum it up, a witch wound is a genetic, familial, or societal fear of being different as well as embracing your power, especially but not limited to women. It is the fear of being punished that runs through our veins or lurks in the backs of our minds if we stand out as something different or embrace who we can be or dream of being.
Genetic witch wounds can be due to your ancestors having been burned, drowned, or hung for being accused of witchcraft — whether or not they actually were witches. A genetic witch wound could also come from witnessing someone being put to death after being accused of being a witch, or even being in a nearby village, city, or country and hearing the stories of people who were accused of being witches being punished and killed for their supposed crimes. Our ancestors could have learned to hide their gifts and abilities to not stand out and it became a way of life passed down through the ages.
Familial witch wounds could be due to religious upbringing and how your family has viewed the “other” whether it be related to magic or some way of being that is different enough from the accepted familial expected behavior that shunning the person reinforces within you that being different or thinking differently than what you were taught by your family is wrong.
As for societal created witch wounds, people, especially women, were frequently punished or blamed for things going wrong which tended to coincide with people coveting someone else’s power or property, and sometimes people just wanted someone to blame other than something they themselves did or something totally out of their control.
For example, their child died in the night because it rolled over onto its stomach and suffocated or one of their cows got ill and died. The thought process very well could have been that it wasn’t their fault in some way for not taking precautions when it came to how their baby slept or not making sure to clean out the barn with regularity where the cow slept. It could be that the helpful wise woman kept herself apart from the rest of the village for whatever valid reasons she had, yet when some little thing went wrong, someone used their dislike of the wise woman to label her a witch. It could even be because a free-thinking woman spoke up to a vulgar and rude man who treated her with contempt.
People in general don’t like to be wrong or make mistakes, so they turn to external sources to blame as long as their don’t have to face their own failings or poor choices. Finding a scapegoat and pointing a finger can give someone a little bit of imagined power.
“I would never have cheated on my wife as a dutiful and god-fearing husband. It was witchcraft which captured my heart and turned it away from my beloved, sweet wife.” How has society treated someone who has not just cheated on their spouse, but got caught?
One of the coping mechanisms people have used is to paint themselves as a victim.
- “She must have cast a spell on me!”
- “They were a witch in our relationship and I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
- Or how I’ve painted myself as a victim before — “I would have been here on time, but traffic was insane.”
Being a victim makes life easier because it isn’t your fault if some other person or an external thing caused your misfortune. If their true thoughts were spoken when a person blame someone or something other than themselves for what happened, it would sound more like:
- “I cheated on my wife because I feel entitled to do what I want and shouldn’t be held responsible for my own actions, so I’m blaming her for casting a spell on me.”
- “I’m unhappy in my relationship with my partner because I have treated my partner like crap, and I don’t want to be responsible for how I’ve treated them which has caused hurt and damage to my partner, so I’ll label them as a witch and blame them for the demise of our relationship.”
- Or what I’ve done before, “I goofed off until the last minute before leaving the house and left a few minutes late, but if traffic had been ideal, I would have made it right on time, but because I didn’t value my commitment to be at the place on time, I didn’t leave early to take into account unforeseen traffic issues, so I’ll blame traffic rather than admit I didn’t plan well.”
I also view creativity as being part of the witch wound since the act of creation of art can be seen as something magical that people can be envious of. Some people have natural talent while others have worked to get to the level of ability with words, music, or other forms of art. Being gifted either through hard work or having some natural talent can seem like witchcraft to some without either the talent or the desire to put in the work to be great.
Given being a victim or wanting to punish someone else for what someone doesn’t want to see within themselves — it’s easier to point fingers at someone exceptional or someone who has spoken up for what they see.
As I mentioned above, it also shows up as being afraid of being different or standing out too much because others might judge you for not keeping yourself small.
So, we don’t let ourselves speak up when we should, we don’t accept our magical and creative gifts, and we don’t embrace who we truly are and could possibly become frequently because of our witch wounds.
And sometimes, we had something traumatic happen when we were attempting to express ourselves or display how we are called deep within ourselves to be different or magical which caused a witch wound in us.
I plan on writing more about the idea behind the witch wound and my own thoughts on this more in the future. I find it to be a fascinating topic and one that I want to explore through my writing.
For further detailed reading, look for a copy of either “Heal the Witch Wound” by Celeste Larsen or “Heal Your Witch Wound” by Annalise Oatman.
