No? So what does a witch look like exactly?
Any and all witches have or will hear this many times in their lifetime. And chances are we will reply with the sentence above. There are plenty of misconceptions as to what physical attributes we should have, and how we should dress.
We can safely assume that most of the negative images associated with witches stem from medieval times, when certain religious groups wished to turn people against them for their own agendas. (I’m not going to go into historical facts for this post).
Add to that the media. For example, lets look at some of the witches we know well from tv/film.
We have the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz – green skin, black robes, pointy hat and a hooked nose with a wart at the end. Obviously she is so hideous she can only be the villain. And then we have Glinda the good witch, dressed in a beautiful white gown with long golden hair and a glistening crown – she is the epitomy of all that is good and pure!
Ursula from the Little Mermaid – a hideous sea creature, she wears black, is rather rotund and far from attractive. With a personality that really makes you want to smack her in the face with a cauldron!
For those of you reading this in the UK you might (if you’re old enough) remember a character in a BBC kids show called Grotbags – she was a rather nasty witch that loved being mean to everyone. She had green skin and a wart on her cheek and missing teeth. She too dressed in black, with the pointy hat and stripey tights.
Then we have the Old Hag/crone – perfect example of this “look” is in Snow White when the Queen transforms herself into a withered old lady. It makes sense that someone that is no longer beautiful, and is rapidly approaching death would be targeted as being evil. Surrounded by young beautiful things, she would become bitter and twisted, possibly trying to find a way to stay young and beautiful herself. But this is where a mistake has been made, in witchcraft the Crone phase of life is celebrated! The Crone is a source of wisdom and often sought out for advice. She can teach us many things due to her knowledge and power that has been accumulated over a long lifetime.
It is only relatively recently that witches have been portrayed as looking like “normal” people. Bewitched is the earliest thing (yes I watched it on repeat) I remember seeing, where a witch wasn’t disformed in some way. Then, the likes of The Witches Of Eastwick (film), Charmed and Practical Magic came along. However for myself, I do find that a lot of these shows portray younger witches (anything below 40) as being scantily clad and perfectly toned in body shape. Which again is not an accurate or fair representation of witches or the female population in general!
So, when most people find out i’m a witch they are generally surprised that i’m not wearing all black, and a pointy hat. I mean there are days when I do and if i’m honest I would live in purple and black if I could. However, my pointy hat is saved for Samhain (Halloween), when I purposely dress up as the stereotypical witch – minus hooked nose, warts and green skin.
The other question I am often presented with by non magical folk is: “Why do so many Pagans go out of their way to be alternative with their look?”
What people mean by this, is why do we have so many tattoos and/or piercings. Why do some of us dress so differently to what they see as “normal”. Well now, i’m pretty certain a lot of people would agree with me here, but it isn’t that we go out of our way to be in other people’s faces with the way we choose to dress or whatever. It is that we embrace our individuality, we wear what we want for the same reason most people wear jeans and a t-shirt. It is what we feel most comfortable in and we are happy to celebrate our individuality!
I will admit that some people choose to merely for the shock value and attention they generate. And you get both types of people in all walks of life not just the pagan community.
For the witches reading this, considering the hype generated around the stereotypical witch, being either ugly or evil – or both. It isn’t any wonder that people are surprised when they realise we look just like everyone else. They are not being offensive, just naive perhaps. But, we can show them we are not something to fear.
For the non magical folk that may have stumbled across this, witches are everywhere and we do not all look identical, but we certainly don’t look like the images you see at Halloween, or in old movies, or cartoons. We are not the big bad evil many have portrayed us to be. So get to know us a little bit first! There are more of us than you think.
And no one should be judged for how they dress or decide to adorn/decorate themselves.
☆Ravenstar☆
Wickedly Wytchy 