The New Witch of the West

After reading this essay I started thinking about how I perceive witches and goddesses. Just as Rountree said about witches being typically the object of childhood terror, I noticed that most stories, movies, or TV shows I watched when I was younger did portray witches as ugly, old lonely, evil women who casted spells on people and were isolated from society. After all, in "The Wizard of Oz" the Wicked Witch of the West sure was ugly and evil. As for goddesses I always pictured them as being beautiful and supernatural. Movies like 300 and even Hercules portray goddesses as having unattainable beauty. From just thinking about witches and goddesses in that way it is hard to believe they can be related to each other and are similar. Also, I was taken aback when Rountree explained that European witch-hunters of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries claim that the witches had sexual intercourse with the Devil and stole and ate penises. Maybe I was just too grossed out by that, but also I don't really see having sex with the Devil physically possible.

When thinking about the movement itself I agreed with what Rountree said about wondering why any woman would want to call herself a witch. I mean after the history and witch-labeling done during the Salem Witch Trials and all the suffering and bad name associated with being a witch, I would think that people wouldn't want to associate themselves with that. I think that if they want people to take the movement seriously, then that is going to make it difficult. I was kind of confused on how by remembering the witch and goddess they are re-membering themselves. I wasn't sure I would agree with witches and goddesses being able to merge but I see now that, like Rountree said, they are both images of independent female power. Although a goddess is seen more as an unattainable and beautiful thing, both witches and goddesses are different from the rest of society. They are both seen as supernatural and powerful.

I think it is very common for women to want to take a stand and feel empowered, so I don't think that many of the goals of this movement are all that new. I understand that the movement is trying to force a re-evaluation of the historical term "witches", but I just don't think it can be that easy. There is so much history associated with witches that I think a movement will only scare people again. It may even be dangerous.