Reclaiming the Witch: Feminist Spirituality & the Craft

Introduction: From Victim to Icon

The witch who once burned at the stake has become a symbol of female power, resistance, and spiritual autonomy. In the 20th and 21st centuries, feminists reclaimed the witch—transforming her from victim of persecution into icon of empowerment. Modern witchcraft movements honor those who died while creating new traditions of goddess worship, herbalism, and magic practiced on women's own terms.

"We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn," declares a popular feminist slogan. This reclamation is not just symbolic—it's a direct challenge to the patriarchal violence that killed hundreds of thousands of women, and a resurrection of the knowledge, power, and autonomy that the witch hunts tried to destroy.

This is the seventeenth article in our Witch Hunts series, beginning our modern reflections. We now explore how the witch became a feminist icon, how modern witchcraft honors the persecuted, and what reclaiming the witch means for contemporary spirituality and resistance.

The Feminist Reclamation: Timeline

First Wave: Suffragettes as Witches (1890s-1920s)

Context: Women fighting for the vote were called witches, hags, unnatural

Response: Some suffragettes embraced the label

• Used witch imagery in protests
• Reclaimed "unnatural woman" as badge of honor
• Connected women's power to historical persecution

Second Wave: The Witch as Revolutionary (1960s-1980s)

W.I.T.C.H. (1968): Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell

• Radical feminist activist group
• Used witch imagery for protests
• Hexed Wall Street, bridal fairs, beauty pageants
• Manifesto: "You are a Witch by being female, untamed, angry, joyous, and immortal"

Key texts:

• Matilda Joslyn Gage: Woman, Church and State (1893) - argued witch hunts were war on women
• Mary Daly: Gyn/Ecology (1978) - witch hunts as gynecide
• Andrea Dworkin: Connected witch persecution to ongoing violence against women

Third Wave: The Witch Goes Mainstream (1990s-2000s)

• Wicca and paganism grow rapidly
• Witch becomes pop culture icon (The Craft, Charmed, Buffy)
• Witchcraft shops, festivals, communities flourish
• Academic study of witchcraft and goddess spirituality

Fourth Wave: Witches Resist (2010s-Present)

• #MeToo movement: Witches hex rapists and abusers
• Political resistance: Witches hex Trump, Kavanaugh, patriarchy
• Climate activism: Witches for earth healing
• Social media: #WitchesOfInstagram, #WitchTok (billions of views)

Modern Witchcraft Movements

Wicca (1950s-Present)

Founded by: Gerald Gardner (1950s), claiming ancient pagan roots

Key features:

• Worship of Goddess and God (divine feminine and masculine)
• Eight seasonal sabbats (Wheel of the Year)
• Magic through ritual, herbs, symbols
• "Harm none" ethic
• Covens (groups) and solitary practice

Feminist Wicca:

• Dianic Wicca (women-only, Goddess-focused)
• Founded by Zsuzsanna Budapest (1970s)
• Explicitly feminist, lesbian-positive
• Reclaims witch as woman's spiritual power

Reclaiming Tradition (1980s-Present)

Founded by: Starhawk, Diane Baker, others (1980)

Key text: Starhawk's The Spiral Dance (1979)

Features:

• Feminist, earth-based spirituality
• Activism integrated with magic
• Non-hierarchical, consensus-based
• Goddess worship, seasonal rituals
• Witchcraft as political resistance

Quote from Starhawk: "Magic is another word for transformation, for change. To practice magic is to be a revolutionary."

Traditional Witchcraft

Claims: Lineage from pre-Wiccan folk magic traditions

Features:

• Less structured than Wicca
• Focus on folk magic, herbalism, divination
• Connection to land and ancestors
• Often solitary practice

Eclectic and Solitary Witchcraft

Most common form today:

• Individual practitioners creating own path
• Drawing from multiple traditions
• Personalized practice
• Internet-enabled learning and community

The Witch as Feminist Symbol

What the Witch Represents

• Female power: Independent, autonomous, powerful
• Resistance: Refusing patriarchal control
• Knowledge: Herbalism, healing, women's wisdom
• Sexuality: Owning one's body and desires
• Wildness: Untamed, undomesticated, free
• Sisterhood: Women supporting women
• Survival: "We are the granddaughters..."

The Witch in Feminist Art and Culture

• Visual art: Witch as powerful, beautiful, defiant
• Literature: Witch protagonists, witch memoirs
• Music: Witch anthems, goddess songs
• Fashion: Witch aesthetic (black, crystals, moons, pentagrams)
• Tattoos: Witch symbols as permanent reclamation

Honoring the Persecuted

Rituals of Remembrance

Modern witches honor those who died:

• Ancestor altars: Honoring the witch dead
• Samhain rituals: Remembering the Burning Times
• Pilgrimage: Visiting witch trial sites
• Naming rituals: Speaking names of the executed
• Candle vigils: One candle for each victim

Reclaiming Practices

Modern witches practice what was persecuted:

• Herbalism: Reclaiming plant medicine
• Midwifery: Women-centered birth work
• Divination: Tarot, scrying, astrology
• Healing: Energy work, Reiki, folk remedies
• Ritual: Creating sacred space, casting circles

The Goddess Movement

Reclaiming the Divine Feminine

Core belief: The divine is female (or includes female)

Goddesses honored:

• Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone
• Historical goddesses: Isis, Hecate, Brigid, Kali, Inanna
• Earth as Goddess: Gaia, Mother Earth
• The Goddess within: Every woman as goddess

Why Goddess Worship Matters

• Challenges patriarchal monotheism (male God)
• Validates female bodies, cycles, power
• Provides female divine role models
• Connects spirituality to feminism
• Heals religious trauma from patriarchal religions

Witchcraft as Political Resistance

Hexing the Patriarchy

Modern witches use magic for activism:

• 2017: Mass hex on Trump (thousands participated)
• 2018: Hex on Brett Kavanaugh
• Ongoing: Hexes on rapists, abusers, oppressors
• Protection spells: For activists, protesters, marginalized people

Debate: Is hexing ethical? Does it work? Does it matter?

Witchcraft and Social Justice

• Intersectional witchcraft: Addressing racism, classism, ableism in witch communities
• Decolonizing witchcraft: Respecting indigenous practices, avoiding appropriation
• Queer witchcraft: LGBTQ+ witches reclaiming magic
• Disability justice: Accessible rituals and practices

Criticisms and Controversies

Historical Accuracy

Critique: Modern witchcraft is not ancient, accused witches weren't practicing Wicca

Response: Reclamation is symbolic, not literal; honoring spirit, not claiming lineage

Cultural Appropriation

Issue: White witches appropriating indigenous, African, Asian practices

Examples: Smudging (Native American), voodoo (African diaspora), chakras (Hindu)

Solution: Respect, credit, compensation; stick to own cultural traditions

Commercialization

Critique: Witchcraft becoming consumer product (crystals, tarot decks, witch kits)

Concern: Capitalism co-opting resistance

Response: Accessibility vs. exploitation; support small, ethical businesses

Gatekeeping

Issue: Who gets to be a witch? Who defines "real" witchcraft?

Debates: Wicca vs. traditional, initiated vs. self-taught, religious vs. secular

The Witch Wound

Concept

Witch wound: Ancestral trauma from witch hunts, carried in women's bodies and psyches

Symptoms:

• Fear of being visible, powerful, different
• Hiding gifts, knowledge, intuition
• Fear of other women (internalized misogyny)
• Distrust of own power
• Silencing self

Healing the Witch Wound

• Acknowledging the trauma
• Reclaiming power and voice
• Supporting other women
• Practicing witchcraft openly
• Honoring ancestors who died

Conclusion: The Witch Lives

The witch who burned has risen. She is reclaimed, honored, and embodied by millions of women (and some men) worldwide. Modern witchcraft is not a perfect reconstruction of the past—it's a living, evolving practice that honors those who died while creating new traditions of female power, spiritual autonomy, and resistance to oppression.

In the next article, we will explore Modern Witch Hunts: Persecution Continues Globally. We will examine how witch accusations and killings continue in parts of Africa, Asia, and Papua New Guinea, and what this reveals about ongoing violence against women and marginalized people.

We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn. And we remember.

For the witches who died. For the witches who live. For the power reclaimed. Blessed be.