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Witch or what?
7th July 2008
by Julia Sutherland
“So, how long have you been a witch?” asked Roberto. A lovely gay
Italian man, Roberto posed this question to me in 2006 at a B & B in
Glastonbury, England. We had known each fifteen minutes. I’d never
been asked that before.
“I don’t really consider myself a witch. I’m a bit of a mixed bag… a
bit New Age, a bit Buddhist, a bit Pagan…”
“You love the powers of nature and the Universe, yes?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a witch. Enjoy it. So am I.”
Well may one ask, ‘What’s in a name?’ but when that name is steeped
in centuries of controversy, the answer is actually ‘A great deal.’
In case you are feeling inclined to get out the garlic and wooden
stake and pack me off for an extended rehearsal camp of exorcism,
let me put a few myths to rest.
·
I
am not a devil worshipper.
·
I
do not own a cauldron in which I place children or dismembered
creatures.
·
I
do not put spells on people.
·
I
do not have a boob job, botox or a contract with Aaron Spelling.
And you don’t need to take my word for it. If you prefer your
witchcraft legitimised in musical theatre form, then pop on down to
the Regent and catch Wicked.
I
saw the show in London a couple of years ago, and I was very
pleasantly surprised at how well it weaves good old fashioned
entertainment with a boat load of political subtext. I’m aware that
the book the show is based on does this in far more detail, but even
so, hurrah for the musical! A little like The da Vinci Code, it is
thousands of years of complicated history, conspiracy and propaganda
condensed into an easily digestible piece of pop culture.
 Let’s
look at Elphaba’s story for a moment. Born with green skin, she is a
victim of prejudice from the start. Clearly an intelligent girl with
a big heart, she catches Mrs Morrible’s, and thus the Wizard’s,
attention because of her innate ability to understand the ancient
language of witchcraft. But Elphaba’s interpretation of witchcraft
is to work with the powers of nature to create outcomes for the good
of everybody. Mrs M. and The Wizard’s take on witchcraft is that it
is a useful tool in cementing powers of corruption and self
interest. They wish to imprison and silence the animals and
manipulate the people of Oz into a society that serves the powers
that be without question. Elphaba refuses to comply with the
Wizard’s egotistical agenda. She frees the animals and implores the
people to see past the Wizard’s treachery. In an attempt to keep the
people blinded, Mrs Morrible declares Elphaba to be…that’s right,
you guessed it…wicked.
From this point we see every good deed that Elphaba does manipulated
into a piece of propaganda against her; she turns Boq into the Tin
Man to save him from the cruel spell inflicted on him in anger by
Nessarose. She is blamed for his not having a heart. She frees the
Lion from captivity in the early part of the story, only to be
blamed for his later lack of courage. And she turns Fiyero into the
Scarecrow to stop him being tortured by the angry mob on their witch
hunt to find her.
As for Glinda the ‘good witch?’ She’s not inherently bad, just
superficial and scared of breaking the mould for fear of becoming
unpopular. Written comically as a bit of a Paris Hilton type, she’s
likeable in her imperfection and lack of depth, and provides a nice
juxtaposition for the free-thinking, pro-active Elphaba.
 So,
what can a story book style musical demonstrate about the immensely
complicated history of paganism?
I’ll address the myths and misconceptions I mentioned earlier. Many
of us are reared with the definition of witch or pagan as being
‘devil worshipper’. Contrary to this well-seasoned piece of
political spin, the reverse is true. Pagans in fact worship Gaia, or
the Earth Mother. Who’s she? She’s simply the laws of nature
personified; the lunar and solar cycles, the tides, the elements of
earth, fire, water, air and energy. Hence Elphaba’s love for, and
communication with, the animal kingdom. As for the whole
melted-by-a-bucket-of-water thing, that also gets unmasked in the
Wicked story as a clever disappearing act, not a cause of death.
The other main misconception is that witches put evil spells on
people to harm them, or to serve their own agendas. In fact the
ancient pagan laws of magic are very specific. ‘Whatsoever you put
out will come back to you three-fold’, and ‘Under no circumstances
can you interfere with another living thing’s free will.’ All spells
cast must be for the greater good of all concerned, or woe-betide
the one who casts it! Ah, there go all the magic potions to make the
cute boy in the cast fall in love with you, or have your boss meet
with a nasty hole-punching accident.
So, what is a spell then? You may have heard of ‘The Secret’, a
doco based on the concept of the Law of Attraction. Too New Age for
you? No problem. Speak to your GP about the proof that placebo
tablets are often as effective in curing illnesses as active drugs.
The core concept is all the same; positive mental energy creates a
positive outcome.
 Spells
are simply very focused wishes that then call on the laws of nature
to assist in making the wish come true, always observing the rights
of others to their free will and the law that the wish must be for
the betterment of all concerned. Like Elphaba’s spells. As opposed
to Nessarose, Elphaba’s sister, who casts a spell on Boq to make his
heart shrink, and she ends up getting flattened by Dorothy’s house.
It is Nessarose’s unscrupulous use of her powers and oppression of
the munchkins that end up earning her the title of Wicked Witch of
the East, and lead to her nasty death. In her case, the ‘wicked’ tag
is slightly more fitting. In Elphaba’s case, ‘misunderstood’ would
clearly have been more appropriate.
Regarding the burning of witches over the centuries past, a subject
that is clearly too big to address in much detail here…But have a
glimpse into the Wizard’s persecution of the free-thinking,
self-empowered Elphaba, who refused to play the political game of
follow-the-leader, and see if you can fathom why the powers that be
in times gone by might have feared the independent people who chose
to work with the powers of nature.
So back to Roberto, and my dilemma in Glastonbury. I’ve always been
a bit shy of labels, as I don’t like to be categorised any more than
the next person. But that night I dissolved my residual childish
associations of big warty-nosed, pointy-hatted old hags in the pot
of chai Roberto and I shared. While discussing the true definition
of witch as ‘healer’ and ‘nature lover’, I, like Elphaba, came to
the realisation that it’s not your identity but your actions that
make you what you are.
Call me anything you like, just don’t call me late for the pre-show
Ozmopolitan.
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