Women of Power: The Image of the Witch and Feminist Movements in Poland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.33300Keywords:
Witches-image, contemporary Polish Paganism, stereotypes, feminist movementsAbstract
The following article deals with the socio-political image of witches and concentrates on the links between certain witch images and the ideology of some feminist movements in contemporary Poland. The core stereotype of the witch (the dangerous yet very much needed Other in the Christian culture) is first presented, followed by its feminist interpretation (the free, independent woman who lives on the edge of patriarchal culture) and Pagan witch stereotype (which largely agrees with feminist interpretation). In the due course the brief history of intertwining web between modern witchcraft, women’s spirituality and feminism is shown, along with the examples of Margaret A. Murray, Z Budapest and Starhawk. The second part of the article is dedicated to the Polish background: from the feminist-political discourse to the image of the witch in the contemporary arts. Some recent cases – including organizing the First Official Rally of the 21st century Witches as the proclamation of tolerance and the social discussion on the statue of Katarzyna W?odyczkowa, the witch of Czelad? – are presented to show how the image of the witch has been incorporated to the broader feminist discourse, proving that the power of a female witch-figure remains a strong symbol and a core concept.References
“Trina Papisten, s?upska czarownica b?dzie mia?a swoje rondo! To rodzaj jej rehabilitacji!” (Trina Papisten, the witch of S?upsk, will have her own roundabout: It is kind of her rehabilitation!). Slupsk.pl, June 29, 2016, http://www.slupsk.pl/trina-papisten-slupska-czarownica-bedzie-miala-swoje-rondo-to-rodzaj-jej-rehabilitacji-55411/.
Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America. New York: Penguin, 2006 [1979].
Anczyk, Adam, “Kobieta-legenda na tropie legend: ?ycie i dziedzictwo Margaret Alice Murray (1863–1963).” In Czarownice: studia z kulturowej historii fenomenu, edited by Adan Anczyk, Julia Doroszewska, Karolina M. Hess (Katowice: Sacrum, 2017), 49–60.
Bielska, Dorota. Skazane na ogie?. Poland: The Grotowski Institute, 2015.
Booth, Kathy. “Mesmerizing Photos of Poland’s Contemporary Witches and Healers.” Women in the World, June 25, 2015, https://tinyurl.com/y7q5b4oq.
Cooper, Michael T. Contemporary Druidry. A Historical and Ethnographic Study. Salt Lake City: Sacred Tribes Press, 2010.
Cornish, Helen. “Spelling out History: Transforming Witchcraft Past and Present.” Pomegranate 11, no. 1 (2009): 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v11i1.14.
Daly, Mary. Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. With a New Intergalactic Introduction by the Author. Boston: Beacon Press, 1990.
“Dziewictwo.” Trzy kolory: Sabatnik boginiczno-feministyczny 1 (2010).
Enenna, “Lektury po polsku.” (Required reading in Polish), http://wicca.pl/?art=15.
Filip, Mariusz. “Native Faith (Not) Only for Men: Gendering Extreme Right-Wing Slavic Neopaganism in Poland.” Pantheon. Journal for the Study of Religions 10, no. 1 (2015): 56–78.
G?ssowski, Jerzy. “Archeologia o schy?kowym poga?stwie.” [“Archeology on the declining years of paganism”]. Archeologia Polski 37.1-2 (1992): 137–57.
Greenwood, Susan. “Gender and Power in Magical Practices.” In Beyond New Age: Exploring Alternative Spirituality, edited by Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman, 137–54. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000.
——. “Feminist Witchcraft: A Transformatory Politics.” In Paganism Volume III: Gender and Paganism, edited by Barbara Jane Davy, 166–78. Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. London: Routledge, 2009.
Griffin, Wendy. “The Embodied Goddess: Feminist Witchcraft and Female Divinity.” Sociology of Religion 56, no. 1 (1995): 35–48. https://doi.org/10.2307/3712037.
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “From the Devil’s Gateway to the Goddes within: The Image of the Witch in Neopaganism.” In Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age, edited by Joanne Pearson, 295–312. Aldershot: Ashgate. 2002.
Hutton, Ronald. “The Status of Witchcraft in the Modern World.” Pomegranate 9, no. 2 (2007): 121–31. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v9i2.121.
——. The Triumph of the Moon. A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Jacek Kici?ski—Personal Webpage. http://www.jacekkicinski.pl/.
Jelonek, “Warto?ciowe linki.” (Recommended links). http://dzikigon.pl/wspolczesne-czarownictwo/wartosciowe-linki-wicca-czarownictwo-czarostwo/.
Jespers, Frans. “From New Age to New Spiritualities: Secular Sacralizations on the Borders of Religion.” In New Age Spirituality: Rethinking Religion, edited by Steven J. Sutcliffe and Ingvild Sælid Gilhus, 197–211. Durham: Acumen, 2013.
Ko?odziej, Mariusz. “Biskup kielecki Jan Piotrowski krytykuje Sabat Czarownic i wyst?p Conchity Wurst.” (The bishop of Kielce Jan Piotrowski criticizes the Sabbath of the Witches and the performance of Conchita Wurst). Echo dnia, June 4, 2015, https://tinyurl.com/art-8136324.
Kosiek, Angelina. “Wzgórze Zamkowe nie dla ‘czarownic’. Dyrektor odmówi? sali.” (The Castle Hill not for “witches.” The director refused to rent out the hall). Gazeta Wyborcza Kielce, June 20, 2015. https://tinyurl.com/0651018858653.
Leland, Charles Godfrey. Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. London: David Nutt, 1899.
Luff, Tracy L. “Wicce: Adding a Spiritual Dimension to Feminism.” Berkeley Journal of Sociology 35 (1990): 91–105.
McGarty, Craig, Vincent Y. Yzerbyt, and Russel Spears. “Social, Cultural and Cognitive Factors in Stereotype Formation.” In Stereotypes as Explanations: The Formation of Meaningful Beliefs about Social Groups, edited by Craig McGarty, Vincent Y. Yzerbyt, and Russel Spears, 1–15. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Niesporek-Szamburska, Bernadeta. Stereotyp czarownicy i jego modyfikowanie na przyk?adzie tekstów dla dzieci i wypowiedzi dzieci?cych (The witch stereotype and ways of its modifications: in an example of children’s statements and books) Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu ?l?skiego, 2013.
Nitkowska-W?glarz, Jolanta. S?upsk. Miasto niezwyk?e (S?upsk. The extraordinary city). S?upsk: Wydawnictwo O?rodka Informacji Turystycznej i Promocji Miasta, 2001.
Noble, Catherine. “From Fact to Fallacy: The Evolution of Margaret Alice Murray’s Witch-Cult.” The Pomegranate 7, no. 1 (2005): 5–26. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.7.1.5.65372.
Orion, Loretta. Never Again the Burning Times: Paganism Revisited. Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1995.
Pearson, Joanne. “Witches and Wicca.” In Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age, edited by Joanne Pearson, 133–72. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002.
Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representations. London & New York: Routledge, 1996.
Rose, Elliot. A Razor for a Goat: A Discussion of Certain Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.
Sheppard, Kathleen L. The Life of Margaret Alice Murray: A Woman’s Work in Archaeology. Plymouth: Lexington Books, 2013.
Simpson, Scott. “Immanencja i polityka: Dlaczego polscy i ameryka?scy neopoganie s? tak podobni, a zarazem tak ró?ni? (opis zjawiska)” (Immanency and politics: why Polish and American Neopagans are so alike, yet so different?). Nomos. Kwartalnik Religioznawczy 51/52 (2005): 11–33.
——. “Men Constructing Masculinity in Polish Rodzimowierstwo: Tradition and Nature.” Pantheon. Journal for the Study of Religions 10, no. 1 (2015): 3–20.
——. “Strategies for (Re) Constructing Religious Practice in Polish Rodzimowierstwo.” In Walking the Old Ways. Studies in Contemporary European Paganism, edited by Adam Anczyk and Halina Grzyma?a-Moszczy?ska, 11–34. Katowice: Sacrum Publishing House, 2012.
Skazane Na Ogie?—Spektakl, http://czarownice.com/skazane-na-ogien-spektakl/.
Starhawk. The Spiral Dance. A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. 20th Anniversary Edition. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1999.
Szybowska, Antonina. “Czeladzka czarownica: trudne dziedzictwo.” (The witch of Czelad?: a difficult legacy) In Czarownice: studia z kulturowej historii fenomenu [Witches: studies from cultural history of the phenomenon) edited by Adam Anczyk, Julia Doroszewska, and Karolina Maria Hess, 11–20. Katowice: Sacrum, 2017.
Tyra?a, Rados?aw. Bez Boga na co dzie?. Socjologia ateizmu i niewiary. Kraków: Nomos, 2014.
Valiente, Doreen. The Rebirth of Witchcraft. Custer, Wash.: Phoenix Publishing Inc., 1989.
Waldron, David “Post-Modernism and Witchcraft histories.” In Paganism. Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. Volume I: History and Development, edited by Barbara Jane Davy. London: Routledge, 2009.
“Wied?my i czarownice.” Trzy kolory: Sabatnik boginiczno-feministyczny 6 (2011).
Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America. New York: Penguin, 2006 [1979].
Anczyk, Adam, “Kobieta-legenda na tropie legend: ?ycie i dziedzictwo Margaret Alice Murray (1863–1963).” In Czarownice: studia z kulturowej historii fenomenu, edited by Adan Anczyk, Julia Doroszewska, Karolina M. Hess (Katowice: Sacrum, 2017), 49–60.
Bielska, Dorota. Skazane na ogie?. Poland: The Grotowski Institute, 2015.
Booth, Kathy. “Mesmerizing Photos of Poland’s Contemporary Witches and Healers.” Women in the World, June 25, 2015, https://tinyurl.com/y7q5b4oq.
Cooper, Michael T. Contemporary Druidry. A Historical and Ethnographic Study. Salt Lake City: Sacred Tribes Press, 2010.
Cornish, Helen. “Spelling out History: Transforming Witchcraft Past and Present.” Pomegranate 11, no. 1 (2009): 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v11i1.14.
Daly, Mary. Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. With a New Intergalactic Introduction by the Author. Boston: Beacon Press, 1990.
“Dziewictwo.” Trzy kolory: Sabatnik boginiczno-feministyczny 1 (2010).
Enenna, “Lektury po polsku.” (Required reading in Polish), http://wicca.pl/?art=15.
Filip, Mariusz. “Native Faith (Not) Only for Men: Gendering Extreme Right-Wing Slavic Neopaganism in Poland.” Pantheon. Journal for the Study of Religions 10, no. 1 (2015): 56–78.
G?ssowski, Jerzy. “Archeologia o schy?kowym poga?stwie.” [“Archeology on the declining years of paganism”]. Archeologia Polski 37.1-2 (1992): 137–57.
Greenwood, Susan. “Gender and Power in Magical Practices.” In Beyond New Age: Exploring Alternative Spirituality, edited by Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman, 137–54. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000.
——. “Feminist Witchcraft: A Transformatory Politics.” In Paganism Volume III: Gender and Paganism, edited by Barbara Jane Davy, 166–78. Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. London: Routledge, 2009.
Griffin, Wendy. “The Embodied Goddess: Feminist Witchcraft and Female Divinity.” Sociology of Religion 56, no. 1 (1995): 35–48. https://doi.org/10.2307/3712037.
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. “From the Devil’s Gateway to the Goddes within: The Image of the Witch in Neopaganism.” In Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age, edited by Joanne Pearson, 295–312. Aldershot: Ashgate. 2002.
Hutton, Ronald. “The Status of Witchcraft in the Modern World.” Pomegranate 9, no. 2 (2007): 121–31. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v9i2.121.
——. The Triumph of the Moon. A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Jacek Kici?ski—Personal Webpage. http://www.jacekkicinski.pl/.
Jelonek, “Warto?ciowe linki.” (Recommended links). http://dzikigon.pl/wspolczesne-czarownictwo/wartosciowe-linki-wicca-czarownictwo-czarostwo/.
Jespers, Frans. “From New Age to New Spiritualities: Secular Sacralizations on the Borders of Religion.” In New Age Spirituality: Rethinking Religion, edited by Steven J. Sutcliffe and Ingvild Sælid Gilhus, 197–211. Durham: Acumen, 2013.
Ko?odziej, Mariusz. “Biskup kielecki Jan Piotrowski krytykuje Sabat Czarownic i wyst?p Conchity Wurst.” (The bishop of Kielce Jan Piotrowski criticizes the Sabbath of the Witches and the performance of Conchita Wurst). Echo dnia, June 4, 2015, https://tinyurl.com/art-8136324.
Kosiek, Angelina. “Wzgórze Zamkowe nie dla ‘czarownic’. Dyrektor odmówi? sali.” (The Castle Hill not for “witches.” The director refused to rent out the hall). Gazeta Wyborcza Kielce, June 20, 2015. https://tinyurl.com/0651018858653.
Leland, Charles Godfrey. Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. London: David Nutt, 1899.
Luff, Tracy L. “Wicce: Adding a Spiritual Dimension to Feminism.” Berkeley Journal of Sociology 35 (1990): 91–105.
McGarty, Craig, Vincent Y. Yzerbyt, and Russel Spears. “Social, Cultural and Cognitive Factors in Stereotype Formation.” In Stereotypes as Explanations: The Formation of Meaningful Beliefs about Social Groups, edited by Craig McGarty, Vincent Y. Yzerbyt, and Russel Spears, 1–15. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Niesporek-Szamburska, Bernadeta. Stereotyp czarownicy i jego modyfikowanie na przyk?adzie tekstów dla dzieci i wypowiedzi dzieci?cych (The witch stereotype and ways of its modifications: in an example of children’s statements and books) Katowice: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu ?l?skiego, 2013.
Nitkowska-W?glarz, Jolanta. S?upsk. Miasto niezwyk?e (S?upsk. The extraordinary city). S?upsk: Wydawnictwo O?rodka Informacji Turystycznej i Promocji Miasta, 2001.
Noble, Catherine. “From Fact to Fallacy: The Evolution of Margaret Alice Murray’s Witch-Cult.” The Pomegranate 7, no. 1 (2005): 5–26. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.7.1.5.65372.
Orion, Loretta. Never Again the Burning Times: Paganism Revisited. Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1995.
Pearson, Joanne. “Witches and Wicca.” In Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age, edited by Joanne Pearson, 133–72. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002.
Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth Century Representations. London & New York: Routledge, 1996.
Rose, Elliot. A Razor for a Goat: A Discussion of Certain Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003.
Sheppard, Kathleen L. The Life of Margaret Alice Murray: A Woman’s Work in Archaeology. Plymouth: Lexington Books, 2013.
Simpson, Scott. “Immanencja i polityka: Dlaczego polscy i ameryka?scy neopoganie s? tak podobni, a zarazem tak ró?ni? (opis zjawiska)” (Immanency and politics: why Polish and American Neopagans are so alike, yet so different?). Nomos. Kwartalnik Religioznawczy 51/52 (2005): 11–33.
——. “Men Constructing Masculinity in Polish Rodzimowierstwo: Tradition and Nature.” Pantheon. Journal for the Study of Religions 10, no. 1 (2015): 3–20.
——. “Strategies for (Re) Constructing Religious Practice in Polish Rodzimowierstwo.” In Walking the Old Ways. Studies in Contemporary European Paganism, edited by Adam Anczyk and Halina Grzyma?a-Moszczy?ska, 11–34. Katowice: Sacrum Publishing House, 2012.
Skazane Na Ogie?—Spektakl, http://czarownice.com/skazane-na-ogien-spektakl/.
Starhawk. The Spiral Dance. A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. 20th Anniversary Edition. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1999.
Szybowska, Antonina. “Czeladzka czarownica: trudne dziedzictwo.” (The witch of Czelad?: a difficult legacy) In Czarownice: studia z kulturowej historii fenomenu [Witches: studies from cultural history of the phenomenon) edited by Adam Anczyk, Julia Doroszewska, and Karolina Maria Hess, 11–20. Katowice: Sacrum, 2017.
Tyra?a, Rados?aw. Bez Boga na co dzie?. Socjologia ateizmu i niewiary. Kraków: Nomos, 2014.
Valiente, Doreen. The Rebirth of Witchcraft. Custer, Wash.: Phoenix Publishing Inc., 1989.
Waldron, David “Post-Modernism and Witchcraft histories.” In Paganism. Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. Volume I: History and Development, edited by Barbara Jane Davy. London: Routledge, 2009.
“Wied?my i czarownice.” Trzy kolory: Sabatnik boginiczno-feministyczny 6 (2011).
Published
2018-03-07
Issue
Section
Special Section: Paganism and Politics
How to Cite
Anczyk, A., & Malita-Król, J. (2018). Women of Power: The Image of the Witch and Feminist Movements in Poland. Pomegranate, 19(2), 205-232. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.33300
