Between the Worlds: The Origins of Halloween Final Part: Witch's Wisdom

The figure of the witch is now an integral part of Halloween in our minds, but she may be a relatively late arrival.   How she got there is a story extremely long and complex.

I suspect that originally witches were just another of the various supernatural beings thought to walk or fly about the earth on Halloween.  Witches tended to get confused with sorcerers, who, since they may supposedly used evil spirits to carry out their work, would be particularly active on this night.

The Real Witches - Wise Old Ladies in the Woods?
Some today regard the so-called witches of old Europe as simply survivors from the pre-Christian, nature-focused religions of the ancients; in other words, pagans who revered nature and Her cycles. The idea of older, traditional folks living off in the woods, continuing their seasonal celebrations, magical beliefs, and herbal medicine, is not far from our image of the witch:  The old lady off in the woods, talking to her cats and working her magic spells (recipes and healing potions?)

As Christianity gained ascendancy in Europe, witches were reinterpreted through Church dogma of the time and came to be viewed (incorrectly) as Satan-worshippers.  Many of the popular (and often incorrect) notions about witchcraft derived from supposed "confessions" extracted by torture from the accused "witches" of earlier centuries.  Most who were executed as witches during the "burning times" were most likely "strange" old ladies living alone in the woods, the mentally ill, midwives and herbalists, people who followed the "old ways" of the Celts, women whose remarkable ugliness or beauty brought attention.....those whose "difference" aroused suspicion in a fearful, ignorant, and tumultuous age.

The Witch's Cauldron
The witch's cauldron represents the "cauldron of Cerridwen" of Celtic myth, source of wisdom and rebirth -- and the direct symbolic predecessor of the Holy Grail.  In myth often the seeker was cut up and boiled in the cauldron, to emerge again reborn in wholeness, health & wisdom.  (But thanks to Shakespeare for the line, "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!")

The cauldron and later the Grail were believed to be guarded by a hideous woman-beast.  In many Celtic stories it is through this terrifying creature that the magic vessel is finally encountered, and only the person who can accept and kiss her can gain access to the wisdom and renewal she guards. 

This image of the old witch hovering over her cauldron embodies beautifully the original symbolic meaning of Halloween (and doesn't she remind you a bit of Hestia at her eternal hearth-fire?). 

Here we confront perhaps the ultimate riddle: By embracing the pain and struggle of life we gain wisdom and greater strength.  Embrace the dark to find the light.  At Halloween, as winter approaches, the world comes face to face with the power of death and darkness, which holds within it the promise of rebirth.  On the wheel of the year, the cold stillness of the coming winter will take us around again to the warmth and renewal of spring.

Behind our holiday called Halloween lies the eerie, magical mood of the ancient festival of Samhain and All Hallow's Eve.  Perhaps we would do well to remember some of its original meaning -- not to conjure up real fears again, but rather to rekindle a feeling of wonder toward the great cycle of death and rebirth in nature and in our lives.

Have a JOLLY HALLOWEEN! May fortune smile on you!