The word witch seems to be based on the variations for the word Wicca. The word does not seem to have any traceable proto-Germanic or celtic roots. It just sort of pops up in old Medieval English and became a staple description or insult.
Over the centuries, the witch has been both revered and reviled. Because the word is relatively new, the connotations associated with it are also relatively new, and inextricably linked to Christianity. Due to the word being relatively new, there are not that many versions of witches. Witches are overall described as women who have supernatural powers of some kind, and are usually accused of using these powers for evil. These powers can be very diverse depending on the culture, but usually boil down to cursing people, flying, and consorting with the devil. In some tales there are good witches, but these are usually considered fairies, or some other kind. Before the word ‘witch’, and the Christian association with the devil, women who were said to have supernatural powers, were not seen to be directly evil and were usually reffered to as sorceresses. Then there are of course the witches that are referred to in the real life witch trials of medieval Europe. Unlike the fairy stories, these were real women who were accused of fairytale-like evil behaviour. Some of these witches were simply herbalists, or women who fell foul of an accuser.
As previously stated, the witch is known for evil and immoral behaviour. Witches are supposed to represent the very worst aspects of femininity. Witches are supposed to be consorts of the devil, who see it as their duty to continue the devil’s will on earth. To do this, witches are said to curse and cause harm to people over any sort of perceived slight. They cause mischief, by causing harvests to fail, wells to be poisoned, animals to go lame and people to fall sick. Witches are also said to eat children and use these infants’ knuckle bones for spells and divination. In most legends, witches are said to fly to great meetings with the devil at night, on yarrow stalks and broomsticks. Some witches are also said to be able to shape shift, taking the shape of hares, famously. Usually witches live alone, far enough from civilisation for privacy, but close enough for interactions with people. Some witches are known to make money to sustain themselves by making potions and cures for illnesses, from love sickness to the flu. Witches also get payed to tell people’s fortunes and midwifery. The witches from legends were basically weird elves, but Most real witches are simply small scale wise women who have unique skills and use them to cater for the needs of her local community both good and bad.
Many small things were said to stop or trap witches, or drain their powers. Some people put witch bottles and shoes and small spiked items hidden around and above doorways to distract, or put the witch off coming in. General good luck charms like four leaved clovers, and covering yourself with garlic on certain days, are said to help. In other cases, saying certain rhymes are ways to protect yourself. There are many many different ways of protecting yourself, too many to count. It is best to ask your grandma for what might work with your specific brand of local witch. There is always the Malleus Maleficarum of course, written by James 1st of Britain, in the C17th. This lists specific ways of spotting witches and getting rid of them. Of course this book’s solutions are usually more painful than covering yourself in garlic
The following was taken from a diary of a C16th English shopkeeper’s wife. She tells the tale of Old Biddy Crathorne, a very old spinster who lived at the end of her small Northern village. The old woman was bent, and lame. She had most of her teeth missing and was cripplingly poor. Biddy had been the village midwife, but due to her eyesight deteriorating, she had to stop. She lived on the charity of the villagers, and sometimes sold lotions to heal various small scale ailments. Biddy was also, everyone knew, a witch. The children told tales of her blind eye being able to see the future. They said she could curse you and put the evil eye on you. Biddy, in fact, would curse the children, but usually this was due to them throwing sticks and stones at her. Many of the tradesmen’s wives owed some aspect of their marriage success to this old woman’s advice or lotions, so they begrudgingly would give her food or coins as she begged, and would half heartedly tell off the children for bothering her.
One day though, the son of the local farrier became sick with seizures. It was found that he had been with a group of boys taunting the Old Biddy Crathorne and that she had cursed him as he had been the slowest to run away. They begged old Crathorne to come take away her evil eye. The old woman came with a drink that she said, would hopefully revers the curse. The boy’s mother gave it to the child, and he died that night. The farrier was driven mad with grief. He rode to the Old Biddy Crathorne’s house roaring that she had killed her son. The old woman said with a glint in her eye and said “ well it lifted the curse didn’t it?”
The men that had come with the farrier managed to drag the man away from her, as his being charged with murder would not help. They sent a man to fetch the local magistrate and told him to bring a witch hunter. The next afternoon old Buddy Crathorne was put on trial for the curse and the poisoning of the farrier’s son. The shopkeeper’s wife, who recorded this in her diary, goes on to list the witnesses that they brought forth to give evidence of the old woman’s evil doings. She was quite disapproving of the tales that were told, of shape changers, demons, flying across the moon etc. Old Biddy Crathorne was sentenced to execution for the murder of the boy by witchcraft. The old woman was dragged from the court, as she spat at the feet of the townspeople cursing them to the devil. In the diary writer’s opinion, old Biddy was simply a poor, demented old woman who knew her time was coming and had decided to take at least one of her tormentors with her. Although the farrier’s son had been known to be easily taken ill with fainting fits.
The witch in this tale is rather a sad one. She does not have great power, nor had she seemed to benefit from her supposed contract with the devil. Instead, she is a mad old woman that may have aided in the death of an already sickly child.
