Week 1 of the challenge is over and whilst we only have two entries this week, we imagine that the rest of you are still working out your witchy outfits, polishing your broomsticks or figuring out natural medicine cures for your nose warts.
Go give these two some love - the more we support each other, the more we grow!
- @maribelquere97 wrote about spiritual healers in this post, outlining some rituals specific to her country - a blend of herbalism, ritual and prayer.
- @yestermorrow reflects on history in their post, which you can find here, speculating that perhaps Christ might even be considered a witch.
Two other notables must be mentioned as food for thought - although not official entries (they don't declare so in their posts), they still connect to the 'witch' theme and may provoke further thought for your own witch posts:
@bilfilarcoil speaks of the FDA witchhunts of natural medicine practicitoners in this post here, following up on a post they wrote a few weeks ago here on the closing down of Dr Farrah's medical facility in the Phillipines, persecuted for natural cancer treatments.
@crescendofpeace speaks of witchhazel in this post - although officially not an entry, we had to include it because it contained the word 'witch' - why not! Witchhazel were used as divining rods and thus may have influenced the 'witch' part of the name.
In all cultures throughout time, there have been those who are closely connected to the ways of healing. Whether they are lauded or decried is usually based on their cultural context and time. They go by many names, but often we call these people shamans, witches, healers, medicine people, and midwives. In our modern age, they are vilified, labelled as quacks and in many times they have even been burned at the stake and brutally suppressed.
What does the word 'witch' conjure up for you?
- Do you feel a kinship with the title? Do you consider yourself one?
- Do you work in a field of natural medicine that can be distrusted? Do you have someone in your ancestral family that was an outsider to mainstream medicines?
- What do you know of the world of supposed witchcraft and medicine?
- What kind of character and skill set comes up for you surrounding this timeless profession and how do you wish we could shift the concept of it?
- Are there 'witch' traditions in your culture?
- What 'witch' histories do you know of?
Prize Pool is 20 SBD!
We're upping the prize pool in celebration of the wonderful wisdoms that Steemfolk have been sharing on the blockchain these last few months, and recognising that we won't have time for more than one challenge given the silly season!
Guidelines
- Please resteem and/or link back to this post in your entry.
- Post your entry as a comment on THIS post
- Last entries by Dec 21st, but there will be wrap up posts every week to give you more exposure - we encourage you NOT to leave it to the last minute (both for the sanity of @riverflows, and to keep interest up and make it worth doing this contest!)
There is absolutely NO right or wrong answer - we look forward to YOUR spin on the topic and will reward original, interesting and informative posts that capture 'witch' according to YOUR view. We can't wait to read them! With 20 SBD up on offer, it's a sweet deal.
