I recently followed a virtual course on the Witch archetype and it was exciting and eye-opening.
We often think it were the healers and oracles of the communities which got burned at the stake all those years ago – but those ‘midwives’ of society weren’t necessarily the ones affected.
The woman who was truly seen as the ‘Witch’ was believed to communicate with the Other world (and making love with the devil…) and often lived at the fringe of the community.
To me, the knowledge of accurate facts around this important history (or as close to accuracy as you can get) is crucial. In modern day female spirituality, we find ourselves reclaiming the word Witch and finding empowerment within that – I do too.The meaning of an archetype is meant to change and flow over time, just the meaning of folklore tales, other narratives and societal norms and values change. But to reclaim the Witch is not necessarily just rooted in reclaiming our connection to the land, honouring our bodies and listening to our intuition. The course has shown me that it is also the start of reclaiming the archetype of the ‘Outcast’. Of being differentiated from the community because you don’t behave a certain way or have no interest in keeping up appearances.
My mission in life is to bring together as many of us in community and heal & rise up together. But within that, I now feel inspired to acknowledge not necessarily just what makes us similar, but also what makes us so beautifully different.
It’s about a reclaiming of your authentic Self. About choosing what’s true for YOU, no matter whether this or any community you find yourself in agrees with that.
“I feel called to celebrate this community not just for our similarities, but for our beautiful differences”
It takes tremendous courage to reclaim the Outcast archetype. It is within our bones that being judged for being different has dangerous consequences.
But just as our view on the Witch shifts and changes over time, we have the opportunity to reclaim this as well. To find true liberation in redefining being outcast. To see it as a badge of honour (radical rebellion!) and find safety within our own bones, rather than in the embrace of a society which has been designed to suppress us in the first place.
How do you feel called to go within? To reclaim elements of yourself? To rewrite narratives of history in the process? I’d love to know!