witchcraft

To me, witches are the quintessential ecofeminists.

“Witch” is a word that was sullied by various groups of long ago, but it's been reclaimed by herbalists like me. Witches and the word "witch" have many meanings in many cultures, but for the purposes of this post, I will touch on just one context, one dark moment of history: The suppression of witches—or healers who were mainly women—in medieval Europe that went on for centuries, and the themes behind those witch hunts that still appear in society today.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out last week, and it's pretty safe to say that most of the universe has witches (and wizards) on the brain. The blockbuster success of the Harry Potter franchise is not all that surprising, though, considering that humans have been obsessed with witchcraft both real and imagined for millennia. One of our favorite things to do throughout history has been to accuse social outliers of one form or another of being witches, whatever exactly that means. 

You know those stickers that say, "Well-behaved women rarely make history"? Well, they also rarely get into the history books without getting called a witch at some point along the way. Go figure. This week, I've rounded up some historical figures of varying degrees of renown who would, according to their detractors, have fit right in at Hogwarts with Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

Andromeda Klein is the second YA novel by Frank Portman, aka Dr. Frank of East Bay punk band The Mr. T Experience. Even the simplest plot description showcases how truly weird Portman's latest creation is: she's a high school student/magic disciple attempting to decode the dream messages she is receiving from her dead best frenemy. This isn't harmless, whimsical, nose-wrinkly "Bewitched"-style magic, and Andromeda isn't just quirky or offbeat – think more along the lines of deeply alienated and borderline schizophrenic.