Black Women and Witchcraft
On Aleia's Hot Take, I empower Black women on their journey for self love, healing, and liberation in 15 minutes or less. In episode 3, I discuss taboos, misconceptions, and the personal power of Black women in witchcraft. Read this article in honor of #HoodooHeritageMonth.
I was talking with one of my good friends today about a course I'm teaching, Free Your Spirit: Examining Roots, Fears, and Beliefs of Black Spiritual Practice. We shared how as women, we've been taught to fear being labeled a "witch." That led to me pondering where that fear comes from and what does that fear mean for those of us that call ourselves "witches" today.
I don't know about y'all, but when I was growing up, "witch" is what folks called the old woman in the neighborhood that people didn't know a lot about. It's what people called the woman that might have been a little bit peculiar and had certain ways about them (those "ways" usually being independence, shooting straight from the hip, sexually free, or generally unbothered with tradition). "Witch" was also used as a slur to talk about a woman who was either overly confident or who didn't follow societal norms. No matter which meaning, "witch" was always a bad word.
One doesn't have to look further than Hollywood, the movies, the costumes, and everything around us to see that "witch" is always seen as this dangerous thing. If a person grew up in the Black church (particularly evangelical sects), they especially heard all the reasons why witchcraft was demonic and why a person should be afraid of it. Heard that a person shouldn't play with cards or throw dice? It wasn't just because of the "evil" of gambling. It was because historically those mediums were used as divination tools and the Old Testament Bible frowns on that (see Leviticus). Even modern church leaders have taken to admonishing the use of sage, oils, and crystals (even though those are in the Bible too but folks don't read..).
What does “witch” even mean?
Let's breakdown what "witch" even means and why it's something so vilified and demonized. A "witch" coming from the Hoodoo religion (yes, RELIGION) means a person that is able to use the mundane elements of the world such as herbs, crystals, dirt, oils, threads, words, prayer, bones, paper, and more to affect change. It's about using the mundane as magic to change reality for ourselves and others. Sorcery. It's also about using those tools to heal one's self, their community, and Black people collectively. It's also about protection and retribution. Our ancestors gave us all the tools for survival and for thriving.
Why do folks get so mad at witchcraft?
If you've gotten this far, you might be thinking that being a witch doesn't sound like such a bad thing and wonder why there's such a stigma. Let me hip you to this. Lean in closely. Miss Celie taught us that, “Folks don't like nobody being too proud or too free." Because then they won't be needed and then, they can't control you. They pretend that it's because they don't believe a person should compete with YHWH, and anyone who could change the course of history and affect reality is doing just that.
However, if a person is coming from an Abrahamic religious background, they will see many instances in the Bible, Torah, Qur'an, and other texts about people who used natural elements around (herbs, medicines, etc.) to effect change. One doesn't have to look further than the story of Jesus' birth to see that he was visited by three magi bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In doing cursory research on the original language and historical context about biblical magi, here are a few quotes:
"Originally they were a class of priests among the Persians and Medes who formed the kings privy council, and cultivated as trology, medicine and occult natural science. They are frequently referred to by ancient authors. Afterward the term was applied to all eastern philosophers." --Schaffs Popular Commentary.
"These wise men from Persia were the most like the Jews, in religion, of all nations in the world. They believed in one God, they had no idols, they worshipped light as the best symbol of God.” — Biblestudytools.com
These three "wise men" also followed the stars (*cough* astrology *cough*).
"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it," Shug Avery declares. I make the same declaration about having powers, access to materials, and not use them. Our Ancestors endowed with knowledge and opportunity to care for ourselves, and it's our birthright to claim them. Black folks, particularly Black women and non-men, are too often afraid of being self-possessed and empowered. It becomes easier, safer, to abdicate control over one's life to an external source-- a distant god who acts on whims, the government, chance. Truly free people are able to work with their Ancestors, with divinity, with all the tools at their disposal to challenge power structures that seek to destroy, cripple, and subjugate. Any system that teaches using one's talents skills, and materials in order to sustain life and to protect one's self, is a "sin" should be seen as the complicit abuser and oppressor that it is.
My own journey
I remember when I was on my own journey, embracing who I am and what I am. I few years ago, I asked my Facebook friends what word should I call myself. Even though I hadn't been Christian for awhile, I was still afraid of the stigma of being associated with a term that was considered "dark," considered bad and evil. I had to do my own work to figure out why African derived beliefs are the only ones considered evil. Why "dark" magic is shown as inherently evil. I had to examine these messages and unshackle myself from a script that said, "This life soon be over, heaven last always" (Celie, The Color Purple). It was only then, that I could be completely free.