How Magic and Feminism Came to Intersect
It’s okay to be a little witchy.
When the word witch comes up, whether it evokes the image of the Wicked Witch of the East or Sabrina the Teenage Witch, what is usually envisioned is a woman. Part of the reason for this is that while witches as practitioners of magic were often used as scapegoats for the various ills that befell people, they were also sometimes the only recourse for marginalized folks in Early Modern Europe, particularly women. It makes sense then that magic and feminism came to intersect.
Witches and the magic they practiced served as a subversion of the patriarchy and therefore lent themselves to the ideals of feminism. Power and strength have always been considered the realm of men with their physical strength that overpowers women and the violent ruthlessness with which they lead. Magic, as it was understood, did not operate by the same laws that the patriarchal system did and it granted marginalized people a way to take power into their own hands.
This inevitably led to the persecution of magic itself and those who practiced it. It is estimated that 75–85% of the 60,000 people who were killed during the Witch Craze that lasted from 1490 to 1750 were women. Magic and witchcraft being associated with women therefore also came as an inevitable result of the misogyny of the witch hunts. It’s possible they started as a tendency of society to scapegoat actual witches, as magic was an unknown force and there was little understanding of why famines happened or babies died, so it was easy to blame the magic.
The witch hunts, however, stopped being about confronting the use of magic itself and became another way to scapegoat women, particularly older women past childbearing age. Women who existed outside of societal norms were seen as a threat to the patriarchy because they didn’t fit into prescribed gender roles. They were also more vulnerable because their status as outsiders meant they didn’t have community ties to protect them from persecution.
In The Malleus Maleficarum, a medieval treatise on witches, the two Dominican priests who wrote it claimed, “All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which in women is insatiable.” This led to the creation of a stereotype surrounding the idea that it was women who primarily engaged in magic dealing with love and sex because women themselves were often associated with illicit sexuality. The persecution of women as witches came down to misogyny and slut-shaming. It may also have been a result of the threat magic and witchcraft presented to the patriarchy because of their natural intersection with feminism.
Witches were able to offer help to women during a time when they struggled to maintain any autonomy and power over their own lives. They could provide folk recipes that could abort fetuses, or attract husbands in a time when women needed to be married to secure themselves financial stability, or exact vengeance on those who hurt women, such as abusive husbands. These are issues that affect even modern women as they relate to reproductive rights, financial security, and seeking justice against abusers.
Women have also often had to seek alternative treatments for their health issues because of how the medical field often dismisses them as hysterical, especially BIPOC women who see higher mortality rates as a result of medical negligence. This can perhaps lend itself to women being more curious about subjects involving spirituality and astrology in a way that is often dismissed by men. Men typically dominate STEM fields, so women often have to turn to other means to address issues relating to mental health and personal health.
Because astrology and magical belief systems often offer guidance for personal relationships and mental health, they can therefore work as a coping mechanism for people like women, queer folk, and BIPOC who may not have access to conventional professional help.
The belief in magic also leans into women’s more empathetic capabilities, as much of it relies on intuition and feelings. As such, women are more likely to believe in magic than men. This belief can be empowering, because so often women find themselves lacking power in the world, and magic allows them to take back that power so they can feel more in control of their lives.
So while magic has always been a contentious subject and the practice of it and belief in it has led to the persecution and death of many women, it has also brought them a sense of personal strength and power. Magic has often been the realm of women; it makes sense that it can be a tool for feminism.
