Do you love herbal teas, trust your gut, talk to your plants, or find yourself strangely at peace under a full moon?
If so, you’re already practicing habits that centuries ago would have put a target on your back.
Before you start imagining pointy hats and broomsticks, let’s set the record straight. Being called a “witch” back then wasn’t about magic — it was about power, wisdom, and knowing things that threatened the status quo.
Grab your chamomile, and let’s walk through history to uncover the truth behind the label.
The Original Witches: Herbalists, Midwives, and Village Healers
Long before urgent care centers and pharmaceutical jingles, there were the women.
The quiet ones who knew how to use roots and flowers to soothe a fever. The grandmothers who delivered babies by moonlight, the aunties who whispered prayers over tinctures and salves.
These women were the medicine cabinets, the emergency rooms, and the mental health counselors of their communities—wrapped up in aprons, knowledge, and intuition.
They knew when to harvest mugwort, how to poultice a wound, how to ease heartache with soup and sage. They weren’t witches in the storybook sense—they were simply wise.
And that, dear reader, was their downfall.
From Healers to Heretics: When Power Got Nervous
As patriarchal structures grew and organized religion gained control, something unsettling happened.
Wisdom in the hands of women became a threat.
The Church (with the help of politics and fear) began demonizing these once-respected healers. Midwives, herbalists, widows—any woman who didn’t fit neatly into the system or held too much knowledge—suddenly became suspicious.
The accusation? Witchcraft.
The crime? Being powerful, intuitive, and independent.
From the 15th to the 18th century, thousands of women (and some men) were accused, tortured, and executed—burned, drowned, or hanged—not for casting spells, but often for owning an herb garden, knowing how to heal with plants, or simply being “different.”
It wasn’t magic that scared them—it was wisdom that couldn’t be controlled.
The Witch Rises Again (In You)
Fast-forward a few centuries, and here we are.
Women are lighting candles with intention again. They’re turning to herbalism, essential oils, and energy healing. They’re following lunar cycles, listening to their intuition, planting gardens, and questioning what they’re told.
The witch isn’t rising from the ashes. She never left.
She just put on jeans, raised a family, started a small business, and learned to stir her “potions” in a Vitamix.
The modern “witch” doesn’t always wear black or read tarot (though she might). She’s the woman who says, “I feel like something’s off,” and trusts it. She’s the woman who knows her grandmother’s soup recipe can heal more than just a cold. She’s the woman who’s not afraid to stand in her truth—even if it makes others uncomfortable.
So… Are You a Witch?
Let’s see. Answer honestly:
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Do you feel more at home in nature than in a mall?
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Do you own essential oils and actually use them?
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Do you make tea when something hurts—physically or emotionally?
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Do you sense energy in people or places?
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Do you love the smell of rosemary and believe soup can fix just about anything?
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Do you ask bigger questions, dig deeper, and refuse to blindly follow?
If you nodded at even two or three of those, congratulations—you’re probably a little witchy.
And that’s not a bad thing. That’s a deeply human thing. A deeply woman thing.
Reclaim the Name
They tried to burn the wise women.
They tried to shame their knowing, silence their voices, and erase their remedies.
But we are still here.
We’re brewing teas, growing herbs, blessing doorways, teaching our daughters, and gathering in circles again—whether in living rooms, online spaces, or under stars.
So if someone calls you a witch—smile.
And say, “Thank you.”
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