The Feminine Urge to Become a Witch

Yeah, I mean, it's always tricky when you're looking for stuff that's gone missing, right? Because it's very difficult to like when something's lost, be like, that's exactly what it was, but almost by definition.

But the book is basically divided up into five parts.

So it's Gardener, Gossip, Spinster, Healer, Nymph.

And the way I explored it was, firstly, they went after our ability to subsist from the land.

So, like, it became, you know, the witch was in her garden growing herbs.

She had special knowledge of, like, when to plant things by the stars and the moon and, like, you know, when it was the most powerful time to pick them.

And that is now, all of that knowledge is getting used in regenerative agriculture again and permaculture too.

So that's, like, firstly, very interesting.

And then the second one, gossip.

is the one that breaks my heart the most because gossip used to mean your best friend.

Your best friend was your gossip.

She helped you through childbirth.

She was there for you through everything.

And over the course of The Witch Hunts, we see the meaning of that word change.

That is

so fascinating.

It's so

sad, right? So gossip meant just to give knowledge to a dear friend.

the etymology is like God's sibling, like a God parent, and then gossip.

So it literally was your best friend.

It wasn't a, you know, it was a noun, not a verb.

And so then we see them, that's why the witch's Sabbath was always a thing.

They didn't like women going out late at night and drinking and dancing.

And so that became like, something they were doing with the devil.

And that was also very sad for women's working lives because all of their work was done together.