The Importance of Writing the Historical Witch Poem
So-called “witches” fared even worse since their lives were extinguished by others due to Britain’s Witchcraft Acts or the 1692 persecutions in Salem, Massachusetts when at least 200 men and women were on trial for practicing “the devil’s magic.” Twenty were executed.
What saved Tituba’s life was her willingness to “confess,” giving testimony about “a coven” in Salem. Eventually set free and sold again, Tituba’s story ended. “She disappeared from the historical record from that point on,” according to historian Veta Smith Tucker.
Reclaiming the life history of long-ago witches is never an easy matter for researchers. Nevertheless, this has merit for its own sake and might even counterbalance the injustice. Poets, writers, musicians, and historical societies can make a difference.
Fortunately, others share my viewpoint about the need for legacy management.
Poetic lyrics of “Sarah Good” by the South Carolina metal band "Buried Voices" commemorate the 39-year-old woman who died in her prison cell instead of “confessing.”
Fortunately, even modern storytellers refused to let Hulda’s deeds go unnoticed. Her reputation grew with the popularity of current books such as Jonathan Kruk’s “Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley” (published in 2011), which devoted a chapter to the “witch of Sleepy Hollow.” Tourists would congregate at Old Dutch Church, puzzled that Hulda had no memorial there, irate that no sign was posted near her former cabin by Spook Rock.
Finally, the historical society made amends. According to The Times-Union newspaper: In 2019, a headstone, crafted in the style of an 18th-century monument with a winged soul soaring above her name, was erected at the Old Dutch Church burial ground, remembering “Hulda of Bohemia” who “died c. 1777. Herbalist, Healer, Patriot. Felled by British while protecting the Militia. Buried here in gratitude for her sacrifice.”
Take a moment to appreciate the irony herein.
Fictional witches come in many forms—good and bad, Witches of the East and Witches of the West, Baba Yaga, Sabrina, etc. — and yet all are appreciated because of supernatural abilities invested in them by wordsmiths. When a poem or story includes a witch, power is the key factor that sets the character apart. In contrast, society did Hulda and others wrong because they had no power.
In her article for Tor, Sarah Gailey expanded upon this concept: “When we write witches, we are writing about our expectations of women, and what we hope—and fear—they would do if they had access to power. Fictional witches act as ciphers that help us understand something that seems at once mysterious and brilliant and sinister: a woman’s ultimate, unlimited potential… realized.”
Bewitchment is also on the mind of Fire Lyte, a Simon and Schuster author who has interviewed self-identified witches as well as fairy experts, paranormal investigators, etc. on his podcast “Inciting A Riot.” In an article for Writer’s Digest, Fire Lyte explained: “The witch is typically portrayed as having eschewed societal norms and found power elsewhere that allows them to right wrongs and reach an equity they’ve previously been denied.”
Several poems on historical witches are in my manuscript, “Always Haunted.” The pen is mightier than life stories crumbled into anonymous dust. The act of writing resuscitates a historical witch. I encourage readers to dig into the archives, find your witches, and let them breathe, dance, and charm on the page.
LindaAnn LoSchiavo, and David Davies
18th October 2022
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Nat 1 Publishing LLC
ASIN: B0B3NK7QG6
Number of pages: 49
Word Count: 6,400 approx.
Cover Artist: Benyamin Agum
Your portal to the dark side
All Hallows’ Eve, Samhain, Day of the Dead… during this interval, the barriers between the two realms are thinnest. Normal turns paranormal; what's natural becomes the supernatural. That's when the messengers of the macabre are in their rightful element.
Step inside this collaborative chapbook and embrace a haunted harvest of verses embracing bewitchment, boneyards, and all things that go... BOO!
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Native New Yorker LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a Pushcart Prize, Rhysling Award, Best of the Net, and Dwarf Stars nominee, is a member of SFPA, The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild.
Elgin Award winner “A Route Obscure and Lonely,” “Concupiscent Consumption,” “Women Who Were Warned,” and “Messengers of the Macabre” by Audience Askew [October 2022] are her latest poetry titles.
Up next: a tombstone-heavy collection in hardcover by Beacon Books.
She has been leading a poetry critique group for two years.
Her Texas Guinan film won “Best Feature Documentary” at N.Y. Women’s Film Fest (Dec. 2021).
