Herbalism as Heresy: When Healing Became Witchcraft
Share
Introduction: The Criminalization of Healing
For thousands of years, women were the primary healers in their communities. They knew which herbs stopped bleeding, which eased childbirth pain, which brought down fevers. This knowledge was passed from mother to daughter, grandmother to granddaughter—a living tradition of botanical medicine that predated written history.
Then, during the witch hunts, healing became heresy. The same herbs that had saved lives were reframed as poisons. The same remedies that had cured illness were called demonic magic. The same women who had been honored as healers were burned as witches.
This is the tenth article in our Witch Hunts series, beginning our examination of the accused "crimes." We now explore how herbalism was criminalized, how female medical knowledge was destroyed, and how the witch hunts served to eliminate women healers and transfer medical authority to male doctors.
The Medieval Healer: Women's Medical Domain
Who Were the Healers?
- Wise women: Village healers with herbal knowledge
- Midwives: Assisted childbirth, women's health
- Herbalists: Grew and prepared medicinal plants
- Bone-setters: Treated fractures and injuries
- Cunning folk: Combined healing with folk magic
Their Knowledge
- Herbal remedies: Hundreds of plant medicines
- Wound care: Poultices, salves, bandaging
- Pain relief: Willow bark (aspirin), poppy (opium), mandrake
- Childbirth: Ergot for contractions, herbs for pain
- Contraception: Queen Anne's lace, pennyroyal
- Abortion: Tansy, rue, pennyroyal (dangerous but used)
Why Women?
- Women gathered plants while foraging
- Women cared for sick family members
- Women attended births
- Knowledge passed through female lineages
- Men were excluded from women's health matters
The Shift: From Healer to Witch
The Reframing
Before witch hunts:
- Herbalist = healer, valued community member
- Herbal knowledge = wisdom, gift
- Successful healing = skill and experience
During witch hunts:
- Herbalist = witch, dangerous criminal
- Herbal knowledge = demonic pact, forbidden magic
- Successful healing = proof of supernatural power
The Catch-22
- If patient recovered: Witch used demonic power to heal (guilty)
- If patient died: Witch murdered them with poison (guilty)
- If healer refused to treat: Suspicious behavior, hiding powers (guilty)
The Malleus Maleficarum on Healers
The Infamous Quote
"No one does more harm to the Catholic faith than midwives."
Why midwives were targeted:
- Controlled women's reproductive knowledge
- Knew contraception and abortion methods
- Had power over life and death (birth)
- Worked in intimate, private settings (suspicious)
- Unbaptized babies who died were blamed on midwives
Accusations Against Healers
The Malleus claimed healers:
- Made pacts with Devil to gain healing powers
- Used herbs as cover for demonic magic
- Poisoned patients while pretending to heal
- Sacrificed babies during difficult births
- Stole body parts for magical ingredients
Specific Herbs Demonized
Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum)
Medical uses: Anesthetic, pain relief, sleep aid
Why demonized:
- Root resembles human form ("homunculus")
- Powerful narcotic effects seemed magical
- Associated with fertility magic
- Mentioned in Bible (Genesis 30:14-16)
- Folklore: screams when pulled from ground
Witch accusation: Using mandrake = proof of witchcraft
Belladonna (Atropa belladonna - Deadly Nightshade)
Medical uses: Pupil dilation, pain relief, antispasmodic (in tiny doses)
Why demonized:
- Highly poisonous (deadly in large doses)
- Causes hallucinations and delirium
- Name means "beautiful woman" (used cosmetically to dilate pupils)
- Associated with "flying ointments"
Witch accusation: Possession = intent to poison or make flying ointment
Ergot (Claviceps purpurea)
Medical uses: Inducing labor, stopping postpartum bleeding
Why demonized:
- Could cause abortion if used early in pregnancy
- Fungus on rye, causes hallucinations (ergotism)
- Midwives' use seen as controlling reproduction
Witch accusation: Using ergot = murdering babies, causing madness
Pennyroyal, Tansy, Rue
Medical uses: Emmenagogues (bringing on menstruation), abortifacients
Why demonized:
- Gave women control over reproduction
- Threatened Church's control of sexuality
- Abortion seen as murder
Witch accusation: Possession = intent to commit abortion (murder)
Case Studies: Healers Accused
Agnes Sampson (Scotland, 1591)
Who: Elderly midwife and healer from Keith
Reputation: Skilled healer, respected in community
Accusations:
- Using herbs to heal (called witchcraft)
- Predicting outcomes of illnesses (called prophecy)
- Attending births (accused of sacrificing babies)
Torture: Rope twisted around head, sleep deprivation, body searched for devil's marks
Fate: Strangled and burned (1591)
Mother Shipton (England, 1488-1561)
Who: Ursula Southeil, prophetess and healer
Reputation: Famous for predictions and herbal remedies
Why she survived: Died before major witch hunts began, but later demonized in folklore
Alice Kyteler (Ireland, 1324)
Who: Wealthy woman accused of witchcraft
Accusations included: Making ointments and potions from herbs
Fate: Fled to England, escaped execution (her servant Petronilla de Meath was burned instead)
The Rise of Male Doctors
The Professionalization of Medicine
Timeline:
- 12th-13th centuries: Universities begin training male doctors
- 14th-15th centuries: Medical guilds form, exclude women
- 15th-17th centuries: Witch hunts eliminate female healers
- 18th century: Male doctors monopolize medicine
The Methods
Legal exclusion:
- Universities barred women
- Medical guilds prohibited female members
- Laws required licenses (only available to university graduates)
- Practicing without license = illegal
Witch accusations:
- Female healers accused of witchcraft
- Successful healers especially targeted (competition)
- Herbal knowledge reframed as demonic
The Irony
Female healers:
- Used effective herbal remedies
- Understood hygiene and wound care
- Had centuries of empirical knowledge
- Lower mortality rates in childbirth
Male doctors (15th-17th centuries):
- Used bloodletting, purging, mercury
- Ignored hygiene (didn't wash hands)
- Relied on theory, not experience
- Higher mortality rates, especially in childbirth
Result: Medical care worsened as female healers were eliminated
The Lost Knowledge
What Was Destroyed
- Oral traditions: Thousands of years of herbal knowledge lost
- Effective remedies: Treatments that worked, forgotten
- Women's health: Female-specific knowledge erased
- Contraception: Methods of family planning lost
- Pain management: Natural analgesics replaced by nothing
The Rediscovery
Modern herbalism:
- 19th-20th centuries: Revival of herbal medicine
- Ethnobotany: Studying surviving folk traditions
- Pharmacology: Many modern drugs derived from plants healers used
- Validation: Science confirms effectiveness of traditional remedies
Examples:
- Willow bark → Aspirin
- Foxglove → Digitalis (heart medication)
- Cinchona bark → Quinine (malaria treatment)
- Opium poppy → Morphine
The Gendered Violence of Medical Monopoly
Control of Women's Bodies
What was lost when female healers were eliminated:
- Women's control over reproduction
- Knowledge of contraception and abortion
- Female-centered childbirth practices
- Women's health treated by women who understood
What replaced it:
- Male doctors controlling women's bodies
- Criminalization of abortion and contraception
- Dangerous medical interventions in childbirth
- Women's health knowledge in male hands
The Economic Motive
- Female healers worked for barter or small fees
- Male doctors charged high fees
- Eliminating competition = monopoly profits
- Medical profession became lucrative male domain
Conclusion: The Burning of Wisdom
The witch hunts were not just about killing women—they were about destroying women's knowledge, eliminating women's economic independence, and transferring control of healing from women to men. When herbalists burned, centuries of medical wisdom burned with them.
In the next article, we will explore Midwives & Witch Accusations: Controlling Women's Bodies. We will examine why midwives were specifically targeted, how childbirth became medicalized, and how the witch hunts served to control women's reproduction.
They burned the healers. They called it justice. We call it femicide.
For the wise women who knew the herbs. For the healers who saved lives. For the knowledge that was lost. We remember and we reclaim.
As you reclaim the sacred wisdom of plant medicine, remember that every herb you work with carries the whispers of those who came before you, daring to heal in the dark. To deepen your alignment with this ancestral path, explore the 40 manifestation rituals intention to reality to weave intention into your herbal practice, or ground your studies with the tarot journaling prompts 100 questions for self discovery to unearth the stories your remedies tell. For a gentle way to clear any lingering shadows from your workspace, the sacred space cleanse printable energy clearing ritual kit offers a simple yet powerful ritual to honor your healing as the art it always was.
