Who Were the Witches?
Who were the witches?
Where did they come from?
Maybe your great, great grandmother was one.
Witches were wise, wise women they say.
And there’s a little witch in every woman today.
Witches knew all about flowers and weeds.
How to use all their roots and their leaves and
their seeds.
When people grew weary from hard-working days,
They made them feel better in so many ways.
When women had babies the witches were there
To hold them and help them and give them care.
Witches knew stories of how life began.
Don’t you wish you could be one?
Well, maybe
you can.
Some people thought that the witches were bad.
Some people were scared of the power they had.
But power to help and to heal and to care
Isn’t something to fear, it’s a pleasure to share.
Who were the witches?
Where did they come from?
Maybe your great, great grandmother was one.
Witches were wise, wise women they say.
And there’s a little witch in every woman today.
— words by artist, songwriter, and activist Bonnie Lockhart
— photographs by Terence Spencer, taken in 1964 for TIME magazine entitled "Real Witches at Work.” This piece included photographs of modern-day British pagans- doctors, housewives, nurses, teachers- celebrating their rites as they have for thousands of years.
