WitchyWoman

Say the word ‘witch’ and it may conjure up an image of a hunchbacked old crone with a warty hooked nose and a black pointed hat, cackling over a bubbling cauldron of suspect ingredients. Or maybe just the green-faced Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz pointing a bony long-nailed finger in Dorothy’s direction and warning, “I’ll get you, my pretty!” just before vanishing in a cloud of red smoke. Although vilified throughout history, many witches were originally natural healers. Known as wise women, they were essentially herbalists, who treated injuries and illnesses with tinctures and remedies found in nature, occasionally mixed with amulets, charms and spells. With the rise of Christianity, these traditional practices were misunderstood and given darker connotations which grew into a hysteria that prompted witch hunts that continued for centuries. In modern societies, witches are no longer persecuted, and most are practitioners of Wicca, a nature-based religion whose motto is “harm none.” Our fun luminary depicts a good witch, flying through the night and reveling in the moonlight.