“Witch’” is a beautiful word. It means a wise woman..
Photo Copyright Suresh Gundappa 2006
Intellect happens easily to men because intellect, again, is in the same direction as aggression, argument. Women are more intuitive; they live by hunches. They suddenly jump to the conclusions — that’s why it is very difficult to argue with a woman. She has already arrived at the conclusions; argument is not needed. You are simply wasting your time. She knows all the time what is the end result. She is just waiting to declare it. You go on arguing this way and that… it is all futile. She is conclusive.
Intuition is conclusive. That’s why women are more telepathic. Women are more visionary, and many intuitional things happen to them. All the great mediums are women. Hypnosis, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, all belong to the world of women. Just let me tell you one thing about the past history.
Witchcraft was a woman’s craft. That’s why it is called witchcraft. The whole world of witches was intuitional. Priests were against it; their whole world was intellectual. Remember, all the witches, almost all the witches, were women; and all the priests, almost all the priests, were men. First, priests tried to burn the witches. Thousands of women were burned in Europe in the Middle Ages because the priests could not understand the world of intuition. They could not believe in it — it looked dangerous, strange. They wanted to wipe it out completely.
And they wiped it out completely. They tried to destroy one of the most beautiful instruments of receptivity, of a higher knowledge, of higher realms of being, of superior possibilities. They destroyed completely; wherever they could find a mediumistic woman, they killed her. And they created such fear that even women lost that capacity, just because of the fear.
Now again the same continues to be the case. Psychoanalysts are against witchcraft — they are all men. Now the psychoanalysts have taken the place of the priests — they are all men. Freudians, Adlerians, they are all men. Now they are against the woman. And do you know? All their patients are more or less women. This is something. And when the witches existed, all their patients were more or less men. I am surprised, but it looks as it should be. When the witches existed their patients were all men: the intellect seeking the help of the intuition, the man seeking the help of the woman. Now just the reverse has happened. All the psychoanalysts are men and all their patients are women. Now intuition has been so crippled and killed that it has to seek the help of intellect.
In the middle ages the women who were called witches and were burned were really very perceptive women. It was not really against witchcraft, it was against woman. One day or other when history is written rightly, it will be shown that the movement was not against witchcraft. Witchcraft has nothing to do with it; it was man against woman. It was intelligence against intuition; it was reason against something which is irrational but very powerful.
Those witches were burned, killed, murdered, tortured, and out of fear the woman shrank from the world into her own self. She became afraid! If she showed any kind of talent she was thought to be a witch. If the man showed the same kind of talent he became a saint. He was worshipped as a miracle-man and the woman would become a witch. She was in the hands of the devil and the man was a specially sanctioned person from god himself… and it was the same quality!
the word `witch’ is a beautiful word. It means a wise woman; there is nothing wrong in it. But these wise women were dangerous to the priests, who could not allow any competitors; hence the very word `witch’ became derogatory. They must have burned thousands of beautiful women, forced them to confess that they were witches. And the meaning of witch they managed to concoct was that the women were in a sexual relationship with the devil.
The devil does not exist; how can you have a sexual relationship with him? But in the middle ages they tortured these women day in, day out. Finally the women gave up, seeing no hope — unless they confessed they will be tortured, and once they confess, then they will be burned.The torture must have been tremendous, because nobody would choose to be burned alive unless the torture was more painful than being burned alive. They confessed: yes, they had been sexually connected with the devil; once they had admitted this they were burned alive.
Look at history of the enlightened ones. Their whole lives have been intrinsically woven with women who were not approved by society, Magdalene - the prostitute was closely associated with Jesus. Kamala another prostitute taught Buddha art of living. It is not accidental two enlightened souls of our times were associated with prostitutes. Prostitution was just a mask to prevent to keep so called learned away. In-fact all witches had parallel profession or disguised living for same reason. To keep away from the glare of the public. I always believed both Jesus & Buddha graduated in love from these women. Both of them went against the whole society to stay with them and lived with them. When biography of Jesus and Buddha is rewritten properly these women will get their due credit.
This article is dedicated to every woman who was burned alive in the name of ” Witchcraft”
Every man needs a witch. Every Man needs wise woman. That’s what I call witchcraft.
Love and lots of it dear ones
Suresh
witch craft….. hmmm interesting post
Suresh, can not agree on every point but many things are very, very true!
I would trace it all back to the Christianity where - because of the post-Christ development, all these celibate-laws and general discrimination of a feminine nature. They could not even admit that the Holy Ghost is actually the Mother! - Though it is so obvious if there is the Father and the Son
Anyway, interesting enough that the witch-hunting had such a great impact on the European nations that even to be beautiful has been long considered a sign of a witch! Therefore the genetic base of the Europeans suffered a lot and it is only now that there are more beautiful women coming out of intercultural couples.
I love your mark on psychoanalysts - great!
Floating…momentarily in con-scientific thought. No, this is not intuitive. But I smile at the words you choose. I had fun playing with the thoughts of incense and air dancing the other day…watching, thinking about the wise women of the Hopi and Other Nations. God knows how good life is…perhaps difficult. But Oh-So-Good!
Thank you for the interesting and original observations on witchcraft!
In the Hindu tradition we believe in Women Power…SHAKTI..Divine Power
Whilst there are numerous male astrologers in INDIA personally I have yet to come across a famous woman astrologer from INDIA
Look forwad to comments from all corners of the globe
Best wishes
Hey man, thanks for your comment on my blog.
You have very impressive photos!
My cellphone is a sony w810…
Your photography is stunningly beautiful, and I will be sure to stop back often in the future.
I also very much enjoyed your discussion of witch craft. The tension between intellect and intuition and the ways that intellect is lauded over intuition always seemed a very tangible aspect of the relationship between Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir. He is generally considered the father of existential philosophy, and she is the founder of French feminism. They were long time lovers. He contended that it was impossible for women to transcend, a key component of enlightenment in his philosophy. Her book, “The Second Sex,” was supposed to be a response. Her revolutionary answer can be summed up as: it’s not that women can’t transcend, it is just that they do not. (It hardly seemed revolutionary to me.)
In the terms of your debate, it seems as though she had already accepted his premise, and that she was allowing intellect to rule the day.
If you ever find yourself in Durham, NC, I’d be more than happy to share the bounty of my kitchen with you.
I love your photos!
Thank you - on behalf of all women throughout the world who call themseves witches.
I concur with Nicola
As a woman, who is a Witch I thank you for your post
Blessed Be
Mama Kelly
Your post actually opened up the floodgates for me and I cried, I think for two reasons: firstly because I was overwhelmed by the beauty of your words and secondly because it encapsulates the very essence of what being a witch is all about.
Blessings and thank you,
NightSky
Nicola,Lady Rose and Mama Kelly,NightSky -
Thank you so much for your comments. I never knew that such a wonderful work is happening on withcraft. Pls keep up the good work and I promise to visit your blogs often.
Lots of love - suresh
[...] Yesterday I read the most beautiful description of what defines a witch - and the most surprising thing is, it was penned by a man! Please read it and enjoy the stunning photographic images produced by Suresh G. [...]
There are certain indigenous tribes whose traditions held The Crone in highest esteem, and recognized the inherent worth of every female. It is unfortunate that in today’s Western World, ‘age’ is considered the bane of society and is fought tooth & nail, rather than embraced as one of the richest seasons in a woman’s life.
However, one does not need to be labelled “Witch” in order to be a Wise Woman…a Crone. It is the birthright of every woman who uses her life path to gain (and share) wisdom, compassion and healing.
In fact, it would do well to help along a new way of peaceful existance for all people if we could drop some of the gender-labelling long enough to celebrate and embrace the Yin and Yang energies contained in every human spirit.
Lovely site, Suresh…your photography is breathtaking…
I like your photographs. Just a clarification, the Bible doesn’t call Mary Magdalene a prostitute but it says she had 7 demons, Jesus drove them out of her and then she became his disciple. So Jesus actually healed her and taught her, and instead of saying he learnt his wisdom from a woman I’d like to say he gives wisdom freely to men and women.
Blessings,
Diana
Your photos are great !! I love them … And your thoughts are familiar to me, maybe just because I’m a Balinese which share root with India ?
Interesting thoughts to consider. Diana is correct historically. Mary Magdalene has been called a prostitute, however, the women who was forgiven for sleeping with men is never identified as the same woman as Mary Magdalene…an incorrect correlation most people make.
Responding to shaktipower, the Holy Spirit is not called “Mother” for a special reason. Scripture calls followers of Christ, the church, the bride of Christ. We are to be married at the Great Feast, share in his throne at that time. The Holy Spirit is clearly defined as the Spirit of Christ who will live in anyone who believes on his name and confesses their sin without Him.
There is a great and tender balance between knowledge and discernment. Men and women need to cultivate both. I would say that an intuitive woman who refuses knowlege would probably be as imbalanced and foolish sounding as a man who refused to see past “facts” to feeling.
A witch is someone who claims to have spiritual direction from a direction other than Christ, or God necessarily. This is why they were attacked as they were. It is a spiritual thing, not just an emotive thing.
Scripture tells us that Satan is real. Many people out there who have been harassed and tricked by him, including me, would tell you that he is real, in great conflict with God…wanting his throne, and will do anything to deceive our minds to believe that we can be a god unto ourselves…just as he is.
That is why the Bible is such a precious source of truth. It keep us from being deceived into thinking we can doing anything on our own apart from the God and creator who made us and has and AWESOME purpose and plan for our lives.
Great thoughts to work through. Thanks for posting.
Maggie
I agree with Maggie a lot with her definition of witch, a witch can be a wise woman but one whose wisdom is claimed by directions that conflict with God’s perfect wisdom. The Bible brings about such wonderful love and a desire to submit ourselves to him in obedience, hating the rebellious flesh that seeks other things.. because there is no joy greater than God, whom we know through Jesus Christ.
Yep thanks for posting!
Diana
I agree completely with you summary. Me has form ages been afraid (?) of women. Why? That is the burning question. Why isn’t there a women president in the supposedly democratic USA? Why are women barred from positions of power? It is a decree (no women in power) that underlies every decision that the men do everyday in their lives - everywhere.. At home, at the office, in goeverment, the boy with his sister. Even smaller boys have a say on their bigger sister’s fates many times… Because the parents allow it. Even the mothers are swept into beliveing that the boys have more rights than girls.
I will tell you a story. My father never wanted to allow me to have a driving license. The forst driving license in my hoem went to my brother, second in line, because he was male. Next year, one year late, I did it on my own and looked at his frownign face. Fromt he moment my brother had hsi licenzse. He was the authorized person to drive the family car. Do you think I ever forgot that I was intentionally kept from having a driving license to go places? My brother used to keep me waiting at college to pick me up late at night when I had examns or late classes an dI felt humilliated. Did it affect my self esteem? I think it did. Did it affect the way I felt about men? It certainly did. Small decisions, greta impacts. Same that went along with witches went along in the 1960’s. I grew up to be a sucessful engineer, wealthy and with a bettered life. I knew I was worth more than I was credited for. I grew out of it. There was also a sense of inferiority in my brother since I excelled in all the intellectual matters he could not. My father wanted his first child to be a boy and had aname for me that he could not use… and he got a girl. Was he showing preference for the male child? He did. What an horrendous situation!!!
You see, It does not matter whether the decision is small or big, since it ads up at the end of the days and years to a feeling of divissiveeness and intellectual, human inequality that leads to deprivation of the enjoyment of life.
I feel happy to see a man that knows how to value the female sensitivity and our qualities. You are a definitelly a man of the future.
Thank you Heliocentric! for your wonderful comments and insights. I guess we all can learn something here while handling our childhern and sisters!
A forwarded SMS joke… that reminded me of your post:
Husband: Do u know the meaning of wife ? It means ‘without information fighting everytime’
Wife: it could also mean ‘with idiot for ever’
Surfed here from the link at Ms Demmie, and I’m glad I did. Beautiful, well-written, heartfelt post! Blessings
i wish i am a witch but not to be burned.
I am learning a lot from your blogs and from the comments that you were receiving. Am so thankful that i found your blog. It makes my time with my pc worthwhile. KEEP POSTING!!!
I was supposed to answer a question when i bumped to your page. I was flabbergasted with this history. too bad we arent still allowed to touch philosophy. but im graduating in high school soon. hopefully my opinions can jive with yours not that far from now.
Many moons have passed since this was posted, but I feel like adding my comment.
I like your analysis here and wanted to ask if you have read the book ‘When God was a Woman’ by Merlin Stone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_God_Was_a_Woman). Its an interesting read. It talks about a concerted effort way back in the Babylonian times to convert the matriarchal power structure within a family to a patriarchal and how it was executed successfully with the coming of Christianity. It puts a perspective not found commonly among many.
However, if it were up to me, I’d not discount intellect nor intuition. The notion that both of them are at opposite ends of the spectrum, to me, is a misunderstanding. If intellect is skill, I’d call intuition art.