Post by Allan on Aug 14, 2007 17:12:36 GMT -5
What Is a Wicked
Witch?
by Elizabeth Hazel
rC'"icked Witch is an intriguing
~cter. Her ugliness, threat-
UI ~anner, and maliciousness
~ontestable, yet there is more
~L:1cebeneath the obvious and hideous outer shell. Fol-
~ many threads ofliterature, film, and art, I've sought to
;.he truth of this character behind the tattered robes and
socks.
A Quick History of the Wicked Witch
" :r:.e early literature of the Greeks and Romans, Witches
:oung and sexy and got away with murder, literally. The
.f~Iedea's brews and incantations, and Circe's allure to
"'.r:ng men, make for fascinating reading. These two were
}~'Ous, tricky, and sometimes evil, but they had absolutely
",,"""ison their lovely noses. The Greeks and Romans had a
.;;ppreciation for powerful women, possibly because they
~ conversant with various forms of the Goddess.
a.~ time and religion distanced Western culture from a
:-:-spectrum of feminine images. By the fifteenth century,
..:and ugly Witches began to appear in primitive wood-
~e-: are angular and grim, yet paradoxically they engage
I,. ':'rious activities with a goat-like master. These surreal
::::arions seem silly un,til the next page reveals a picture of
.!l being sizzled at the stake. They must have been very,
"¥:ded, indeed.
Some Ideas about Wickedness
.:j~",;ckedness exactly? Is it the embodiment of malice
~~-at in feminine form? Or is it merely a derogatory label
"21cnwho did what they bloody well wanted in spite of
re to conform? A legacy of religious persecution passed
from the Romans to the Inquisitors, and many dissenters and
heretics were burned. But the loss of the full spectrum of feminine
images caused Witches to elicit an especially fierce variety
of harassment.
The traditional Anglo-Euro wicked Witch is a specialized
offshoot of the dark feminine image portrayed in the folklore
and myths of many cultures. This feminine image, once
respected in early civilizations, became demonized in a culture
obsessed with virgins. Literature from the Middle Ages to the
current era paints her as the enemy of the lauded hero. She is
his polar opposite. Her blood mysteries and ecstatic wildness
are anathema to his pristine, rational, masculine persona. She
evokes a crisis, an imperative mission for the knight to defeat
or overcome her traps, lures, artifices, and spells. The hero
must mobilize his resources and allies to win.
The Grimm Brothers wrote many tales that follow this plot
line, only varying to the extent that a couple of snotty older
brothers run into her first and go down hard. The irony of
Grimm is that the hero often possesses his own magic to put
an end to the Witch's design. Apparently it is acceptable if the
heroes use it, but not Witches. That is, being wicked evidently
isn't about the magic-so it could only be about two things:
thwarting the hero, or being a woman.
Modern Witch Visions
Contemporary works presents the full flowering of the wicked
Witch. In The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum created the Wicked
Witch of the West, whose winged monkeys terrorize the skies
of Oz and good old Dorothy. Dorothy joins forces with the
Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man, and destroys the Witch. The
Witches in Disney's Snow "White (1952) and SleePing Beauty
(1959) are also out to kill the title characters. Disney drafted
the tales from Grimm and Perrault, but crafted a modern view
of wicked Witches in animated films. Snow White's stepmother
is conniving and treacherous; but Maleficent in Sleeping
Beauty isa maelstrom of evil powers. She can teleport, curse,.
terrorize, abduct, engulf an entire castle with thorns, and
58
- -'-- -
ima.- ~orph into a dragoness of monstrous proportions. Dis-
11
,
"1"'" -:;.akes clear the line betw
,
een good magic and bad in his
I~- His Witches have no redeeming features, and are obsta-
,-",- IDle love in both stories.
:.::.iliese tales; the juxtaposition of the dark feminine with
}" masculine reaches its greatest extreme: as the hero gets
.:cr, the Witch gets darker. Yet in modern literature, the
li:t;.;;,;.am of bright and dark becomes more muted. In Gre-
J.Iaguire's book, Wicked (1995), the Witch character is
p.ring to restore justice by combating a tyrant. She is
defiled, and trivialized, and blooms into magnificent
- m:rage. Yet Maguire gives her the burden of inexorable
. <{!iting: "When the times are a crucible, when the air is
:i crisis, those who are most themselves are the victims."
!'-e:rl1apsMaguire is correct. The individual driven by rightf"-""
is soon catapulted into ego oblivion. The wicked
~can arise, but her vengefulness leads to a doom of her
~g-a sacrifice for the forces of light. The wicked-
-:C..2t is h~r greatest strength is also her greatest liability,
. :rgher vulnerable to the socially acceptable hero. '
I m,Z rulture of youth and beauty, the wicked Witch, the old
::r crone, is the antithesis of desirability. She is unwanted
-;.and feared by all. Her capacity for polarizing the hero
.~ is decried as evil, but who else will activate his des-
.. The wicked Witch antagonizes human intellect into
:r single-handedly compelling a protagonist into assert-
S!!."" courage. She makes a man into a hero, but is not
11.:-'::'for it.
'l:.e ~onely exception to this attitude is found in Carlos
.eda's wicked Witch, La Catalina. She stalks Carlos, and
':5 to kill him.. Don Juan points out td Carlos how he
'"'Ppreciate her efforts on his behalf. Carlos screws up
I! ::~ounter with her and barely escapes through dumb
;'...:m tells Carlos, "There are some people who are very
in 2bout the nature of their acts. Their happiness is to act
.,11r full knowledge that they don't have time; therefore,
it 3 have a peculiar power." Carlos is not allowed to
,i
I
indulge in hatred toward his opponent. Don Juan insists that
La Catalina is necessary for his development as a sorcerer.
Much like Maguire, Castaneda blurs the lines between
wickedness and nonwickedness. They have found a place and.
a meaning for the dark feminine image, shifting away from
revulsion and rejection to a more thoughtful assessment of the
wicked Witch's role. They are not liked, for no amount of sto-
~elling can change a wicked Witch into a lap cat. But they are
respected as a source of causality, a mechanism of greater destiny.
Perhaps this is a sign that Witches have come full circle,
back to the place they held in the days of Homer some 3,000
years ago.
The wicked Witch cannot be released with impunity: her
realm of authority is fearsome. Her actions result in heroic
efforts, a battle for survival. To encounter the wicked Witch
within the psyche unleashes seething emotions from the
restraints of ethics and ratiomili~m. Opposing the wicked
Witch is a catalyst for resourcefulness, ingenuity, and bravery in
the face of danger. Both are exhausting experiences, but without
her the wheels of fate cannot grind on toward the goal.
Each October, the wicked Witch resurfaces in the mass
consciousness as Samhain approaches. Cartoons of the hag in
black on a broom appear on doors and in yards. This commercialized
image obscures her real meaning and power. But
this year I'll see those images with new respect, and honor her
for the part she may play in a life filled with mundane chores
and daily grinds. When she is doing her worst she is at her
best. She is the hard corner around ,which glorious fate turns.
Witch?
by Elizabeth Hazel
rC'"icked Witch is an intriguing
~cter. Her ugliness, threat-
UI ~anner, and maliciousness
~ontestable, yet there is more
~L:1cebeneath the obvious and hideous outer shell. Fol-
~ many threads ofliterature, film, and art, I've sought to
;.he truth of this character behind the tattered robes and
socks.
A Quick History of the Wicked Witch
" :r:.e early literature of the Greeks and Romans, Witches
:oung and sexy and got away with murder, literally. The
.f~Iedea's brews and incantations, and Circe's allure to
"'.r:ng men, make for fascinating reading. These two were
}~'Ous, tricky, and sometimes evil, but they had absolutely
",,"""ison their lovely noses. The Greeks and Romans had a
.;;ppreciation for powerful women, possibly because they
~ conversant with various forms of the Goddess.
a.~ time and religion distanced Western culture from a
:-:-spectrum of feminine images. By the fifteenth century,
..:and ugly Witches began to appear in primitive wood-
~e-: are angular and grim, yet paradoxically they engage
I,. ':'rious activities with a goat-like master. These surreal
::::arions seem silly un,til the next page reveals a picture of
.!l being sizzled at the stake. They must have been very,
"¥:ded, indeed.
Some Ideas about Wickedness
.:j~",;ckedness exactly? Is it the embodiment of malice
~~-at in feminine form? Or is it merely a derogatory label
"21cnwho did what they bloody well wanted in spite of
re to conform? A legacy of religious persecution passed
from the Romans to the Inquisitors, and many dissenters and
heretics were burned. But the loss of the full spectrum of feminine
images caused Witches to elicit an especially fierce variety
of harassment.
The traditional Anglo-Euro wicked Witch is a specialized
offshoot of the dark feminine image portrayed in the folklore
and myths of many cultures. This feminine image, once
respected in early civilizations, became demonized in a culture
obsessed with virgins. Literature from the Middle Ages to the
current era paints her as the enemy of the lauded hero. She is
his polar opposite. Her blood mysteries and ecstatic wildness
are anathema to his pristine, rational, masculine persona. She
evokes a crisis, an imperative mission for the knight to defeat
or overcome her traps, lures, artifices, and spells. The hero
must mobilize his resources and allies to win.
The Grimm Brothers wrote many tales that follow this plot
line, only varying to the extent that a couple of snotty older
brothers run into her first and go down hard. The irony of
Grimm is that the hero often possesses his own magic to put
an end to the Witch's design. Apparently it is acceptable if the
heroes use it, but not Witches. That is, being wicked evidently
isn't about the magic-so it could only be about two things:
thwarting the hero, or being a woman.
Modern Witch Visions
Contemporary works presents the full flowering of the wicked
Witch. In The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum created the Wicked
Witch of the West, whose winged monkeys terrorize the skies
of Oz and good old Dorothy. Dorothy joins forces with the
Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man, and destroys the Witch. The
Witches in Disney's Snow "White (1952) and SleePing Beauty
(1959) are also out to kill the title characters. Disney drafted
the tales from Grimm and Perrault, but crafted a modern view
of wicked Witches in animated films. Snow White's stepmother
is conniving and treacherous; but Maleficent in Sleeping
Beauty isa maelstrom of evil powers. She can teleport, curse,.
terrorize, abduct, engulf an entire castle with thorns, and
58
- -'-- -
ima.- ~orph into a dragoness of monstrous proportions. Dis-
11
,
"1"'" -:;.akes clear the line betw
,
een good magic and bad in his
I~- His Witches have no redeeming features, and are obsta-
,-",- IDle love in both stories.
:.::.iliese tales; the juxtaposition of the dark feminine with
}" masculine reaches its greatest extreme: as the hero gets
.:cr, the Witch gets darker. Yet in modern literature, the
li:t;.;;,;.am of bright and dark becomes more muted. In Gre-
J.Iaguire's book, Wicked (1995), the Witch character is
p.ring to restore justice by combating a tyrant. She is
defiled, and trivialized, and blooms into magnificent
- m:rage. Yet Maguire gives her the burden of inexorable
. <{!iting: "When the times are a crucible, when the air is
:i crisis, those who are most themselves are the victims."
!'-e:rl1apsMaguire is correct. The individual driven by rightf"-""
is soon catapulted into ego oblivion. The wicked
~can arise, but her vengefulness leads to a doom of her
~g-a sacrifice for the forces of light. The wicked-
-:C..2t is h~r greatest strength is also her greatest liability,
. :rgher vulnerable to the socially acceptable hero. '
I m,Z rulture of youth and beauty, the wicked Witch, the old
::r crone, is the antithesis of desirability. She is unwanted
-;.and feared by all. Her capacity for polarizing the hero
.~ is decried as evil, but who else will activate his des-
.. The wicked Witch antagonizes human intellect into
:r single-handedly compelling a protagonist into assert-
S!!."" courage. She makes a man into a hero, but is not
11.:-'::'for it.
'l:.e ~onely exception to this attitude is found in Carlos
.eda's wicked Witch, La Catalina. She stalks Carlos, and
':5 to kill him.. Don Juan points out td Carlos how he
'"'Ppreciate her efforts on his behalf. Carlos screws up
I! ::~ounter with her and barely escapes through dumb
;'...:m tells Carlos, "There are some people who are very
in 2bout the nature of their acts. Their happiness is to act
.,11r full knowledge that they don't have time; therefore,
it 3 have a peculiar power." Carlos is not allowed to
,i
I
indulge in hatred toward his opponent. Don Juan insists that
La Catalina is necessary for his development as a sorcerer.
Much like Maguire, Castaneda blurs the lines between
wickedness and nonwickedness. They have found a place and.
a meaning for the dark feminine image, shifting away from
revulsion and rejection to a more thoughtful assessment of the
wicked Witch's role. They are not liked, for no amount of sto-
~elling can change a wicked Witch into a lap cat. But they are
respected as a source of causality, a mechanism of greater destiny.
Perhaps this is a sign that Witches have come full circle,
back to the place they held in the days of Homer some 3,000
years ago.
The wicked Witch cannot be released with impunity: her
realm of authority is fearsome. Her actions result in heroic
efforts, a battle for survival. To encounter the wicked Witch
within the psyche unleashes seething emotions from the
restraints of ethics and ratiomili~m. Opposing the wicked
Witch is a catalyst for resourcefulness, ingenuity, and bravery in
the face of danger. Both are exhausting experiences, but without
her the wheels of fate cannot grind on toward the goal.
Each October, the wicked Witch resurfaces in the mass
consciousness as Samhain approaches. Cartoons of the hag in
black on a broom appear on doors and in yards. This commercialized
image obscures her real meaning and power. But
this year I'll see those images with new respect, and honor her
for the part she may play in a life filled with mundane chores
and daily grinds. When she is doing her worst she is at her
best. She is the hard corner around ,which glorious fate turns.