Witch Trials to Today: Why We Sti...
Witch Trials to Today: Why We Still Fear the Word

Practically Magick w/ Courtney Pearl by Ride The Wave Media

Episode notes

Show Notes: The Word Witch — Reclamation, History & What It Really Means

The word "witch" carries centuries of weaponized fear. In this episode, Courtney traces its etymology from Old English wicca (magic, sorcery) back to German roots meaning "bending and shaping reality"—a definition that mirrors the actual work of energy healing, intention-setting, and neural rewiring that modern practitioners do every day.

But somewhere between medieval Christianity's spread and King James's demonology texts, the word became a tool of control. Women who were healers, herbalists, independent, or simply in total control of themselves were burned and hanged. The witch trials weren't about devil worship. They were about silencing women's power, their livelihoods, their autonomy.

Courtney refuses to sanitize her work anymore. She' ... 

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