witch

Universal Landscape: Archetypal Character Aspect: Purveyor of magic.

Dreaming Lens: What was the witch doing in your dream? Was she frightening or fascinating? How dangerous did she seem? Was she able to do magic? Were you the witch? How did the witch relate to you in the dream?

Personal Focus: The witch is a creature of relatively modern invention with little, if any, origins in the older mythologies that have shaped Western culture. They are most likely a product of the emergence of Christianity and the growth of European cities. Any woman with Pagan-based knowledge of the healing arts might have been considered a witch by the ever-expanding political powers of the last two millenniums. To avoid punishment, such people lived away from urban centers, often in the woods, adding to the mystique and burgeoning fables of witches as evil, forest-dwelling hags. Today, the witch figures prominently in contemporary fairy tales and folklore, and she is a staple character of Halloween. She no longer heals and ministers; now she casts evil spells and eats children.

Since this is an Archetype, how she appears in your dream is important to your understanding of your own personal development. The areas of life ruled by this Archetype are mysticism, healing, and magic, primarily in the feminine principle, which relates to creativity, receptivity, nurturance, and caretaking. Examine your witch for character, skill, and motivation. Her character will inform you of the levels of good versus evil within your psyche. The power of her skills will inform you of your personal access to the magic in the universe. Understanding what inspires her will get you in touch with your own movement toward integration and away from manipulation.

Any number of hag-like, female characters could be considered the Witch Archetype. In fact, some may be evil, while others may be disenfranchised healers. Given her origins in mysticism and a preponderance of misunderstandings over the centuries, it is important to consider this duality when interpreting the Witch as a symbol. Though she may inspire fear and dread, the witch has powerful magic which, if understood and properly used, can be invaluable to the human experience.

This is an archetypal character aspect that connects you to magic, the occult, and the mysteries of life.

The witch is a creature of relatively modern invention with little, if any, presence in the older mythologies that have shaped Western culture. Today, the witch figures prominently in contemporary fairy tale folklore and is a staple character of Halloween.

The witch no longer heals and ministers to people—now she casts evil spells and eats children. Since this is an archetype, how the witch appears in your dream is important to your understanding of your own personal development.

The areas of life ruled by this archetype are mysticism, healing, and magic, primarily in the feminine principle, which relates to creativity, receptivity, nurturance, and caretaking. Examine your witch for character, skill, and motivation. Her character will inform you of the level of good versus evil within your psyche.

The power of her skills will inform you of your personal access to the magic in the universe. Understanding what inspires her will get you in touch with your own movement toward integration and away from manipulation. Any number of haglike female characters could be considered the witch archetype. Some may in fact be evil, while others may be disenfranchised healers. Given the witch’s origins in mysticism and the history of misunderstandings over the centuries, it is important to consider this duality when interpreting this symbol. Though she may inspire fear and dread, the witch has powerful magic that, if understood and properly used, can be invaluable to the human experience.

To understand the symbolism of witches you must bear in mind both that witches are priestesses of the Earth Mother and that they are popularly seen as malevolent. This popular view, perpetuated by those children’s writers and teachers who know nothing of the history of witches, derives from the Christian persecution of witches as devil- worshippers, which in turn derived from a Christian tendency to separate God from Nature and to worship a transcendent (sky-)god rather than an indwelling (earth-)goddess. A witch in dreams may therefore represent either of the possibilities below.

(1) A witch may be an internal source of wisdom, healing and growth.

(2) Alternatively, a witch may be a destructive unconscious force: for example, a repressed part of yourself. In a man’s dream a witch may symbolize the negative aspect of his anıma (on anim a, see Brother / Sister, section (4)-(6)). Do you suffer from moodiness and a conviction that nothing can ever come right for you? This may be because you feel in some way let down by your mother. The character of a man’s anima is as a rule shaped by his mother5 (M.-L. von Franz, in Man and His Symbols) (on ‘femme fatale’, see Woman).

NB Seemingly destructive forces in the psyche invariably reveal themselves, on fuller acquaintance, as positive and life-enhancing.

See also Demon, Devil, Evil.