It Wasn't Witchcraft. It Was Wisdom.

The recipes, the bones, the cauldrons - we’re still using them. But now we call it biodynamics!

They didn’t burn witches. They burned women!

Taken from a recent lecture I went to, given by Dr Jennifer Farrell, on the History of Witchcraft and Feminism.

And in our most recent teachings at The Apricot Centre, on soil and plant ecology, we were told about a biologist called Juanfran Lopez who regenerates the soil using ‘recipes’ that wouldn’t be out of place in a witch’s spell book…

Bones. Pig blood. Pineapple juice. Stirred in a vortex.

No, it’s not a ritual sacrifice or the opening scene of The Craft.

It’s biofertiliser!

Juanfran uses these powerful concoctions to bring land back to life.

And it made me think - this sounds a lot like “witchcraft” - I certainly grew up with the image of the witch stirring a cauldron…A bubbling brew, full of strange ingredients like bones and blood.

That’s the story of the witch, isn’t it?

Only it isn’t dark magic. It’s soil medicine!

And let’s be honest, it was never really witchcraft in the first place. That was the name given by the Church - to make people fear the women who knew the land.

But really, it was land-based wisdom.

The kind of wisdom we’re now being taught again in biodynamics, agroecology, and regenerative farming.

Biodynamic Farming

What we call biodynamic farming today, stirring mixtures in a vortex, burying preparations in the ground, syncing with moon phases, is often dismissed as “woo woo.”

But when you actually look at it, it’s science (but I personally love the ritualistic nature).

Take bones, for example.

They’re full of phosphorus, which is a vital nutrient that supports strong root growth, energy transfer, flowering, and fruiting.

Stirring a mix in a vortex? That’s aeration. It brings in oxygen and boosts microbial life.

And the moon? It’s been influencing tides and soil moisture for millennia.

The so-called witches weren’t casting spells. They were women who held the wisdom of the land. Who understood the cycles of nature.

They knew which plants to use, when to pick, and when to brew.

And they shared that knowledge - there was no separation between food and healing, farming and medicine.

It was all part of the same field of life.

And the “cauldron” was just a pot. A vessel. A tool of transformation.

So what changed?

Power.

Back at said talk, The History of Witchcraft and Feminism, I was told how the story of the “witch” wasn’t based on evil at all, but on fear, control, and patriarchy.

As the church rose to dominance, it needed to discredit anything that gave women autonomy.

Healing, land ownership, herbal knowledge, intuitive wisdom, all of it had to go.

So it reframed those women as dangerous and as the witches we know and have grown up with.

Not wise women, but wicked.

Not skilled in herbalism, but seducing tricksters.

Not healers, but heretics.

The witch wasn’t real. She was a construct.

Designed to replace feminine power with church authority.

And now we’ve come full circle.

The same rituals that were once feared, the herbal mixtures, blood brews, moon cycles, are now repackaged as science, and as farming techniques.

We’re allowed to stir the cauldron again, and now we call it soil regeneration.

The rituals haven’t changed. Just the language.

We’re remembering.

We’re tapping into something that’s always been known.

And that’s what those so-called witches had.

Not power over others, but a relationship with the land.

So no, it was never witchcraft. It was wisdom.

Practical. Embodied. Deeply intuitive.

And it was burned, silenced, mocked, and turned into myth.

But it didn’t die.

It just went underground, like a seed.

And now it’s sprouting again, in the hands of farmers, herbalists, growers, and anyone who listens when the land speaks.

The cauldron is still bubbling. Only now, it’s in the field.

And maybe, quietly, that’s where it always belonged.

With gratitude to Dr Jennifer Farrell, whose talk on the history of witchcraft and feminism helped me connect these threads—and to the Apricot Centre, where I’m learning so much about the land.

If you’ve felt this too, this rising sense that nature, nourishment and energy are all connected, I’d love to hear from you.

What old knowledge are you remembering? What magic are you stirring?

You can find me on Instagram @fields_of_imagination_ or leave a comment below