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Childless Witch

Writer's picture: Misbah WolfMisbah Wolf

I'm a childless witch. I wanted to have children at some point. It was a long arduous journey for the heroine of this story. But it was not for me in this life--instead I have found ways to connect to the idea of mothering, of nurturing through everything I interact with. I had of course looked at the murky history of my own family on both sides to determine witch lineage. Celts--very clear on my mother's side- mostly Scottish and Irish and Viking, and Indian and Egyptian on my father's. As the days move like saliva trails on hot cement I try to trace the lineage. I recently read a beautiful book by Camelia Elias--The Childless Witch, which gave me succour ( I found the witch's teat) to embrace the dimensions of magic and power of being a childless witch. Something is lost, and something is found. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of it shall we?

Frida/Frida
Frida/Frida

I am ensconced in a world where women are somehow of value in the gifts they present from their bodies, and even these gifts are poor substitutes, maligned, repressed and cruelly curated by the patriarchal overseeing consciousness.

We grow children and for thousands of years, these babes are sent into war, bartered,

and sometimes become part of the overseeing patriarchy. Motherhood is a complex and deeply profound transformation for many women. It can also be an experience that holds nothing much more than a duty, a lack of choice, or an expected and fauned response to the pressures of society. Again, it is complex, nuanced, and the borders are patrolled by guards who change visages frequently but whose energetic imprints are carried across from each guard to the next. BUT--I realise in my own deep reverence for those I love who are mothers--I have neglected to tell my story.


Me as childless witch with my first cat Babooshka Bast
Me as childless witch with my first cat Babooshka Bast


I have not re-centred back in on the powers, pleasures of being a childless witch. So much egregious harm can be levelled at such women, for not fulfilling their 'natural' duties for those of us 'womb bearers', and I have scoured my darlings--I have scoured far and wide, through deserts and deep Inanna-like caves to find the source material to validate, to enrich and to bring secrets to the light about the childless witch- herstorical, mythological, energetic--I ask 'what is her role?' 'what is this

dappled light she brings-- a bearer of barreness, a cup holder of bitter herbs, a cauldron that is seemingly empty (cauldron as womb)?



Vali Myers
Vali Myers

I return to my images of Kahlo, Vali Myers, Rosaleen Norton--who all coincidentally were the cup bearers of the barren, the empty, the void in the womb, all of them artists, all of them considered themselves ( or were bestowed/labelled) as witches.





Rosaleen Norton
Rosaleen Norton


All of them I love. There are many more. Even more in fairytales.. Rest assured I will begin to explore this issue, I will begin a manifesto, I will write from the great tomes, and shadow books about the childless witch. I will tell you stories about them. I will let you, indeed if you identify as a childless witch, find your way to these connections, find that what is indeed empty is gloriously powerful. Please don't think I am assuming from the get-go that other childless witches are starting from 'lack'. But I am reclaiming this world 'less' 'lack' 'void''barren'. These words of lamentation--as Elias might say. Let's lament in a way that screeches in the night, let's sup in the void where galaxies are formed, where perhaps our power resides?


I am now 47--I have never been 47 before in this body. It is a curious thing. I've entered into the Maga stage. The storms overhead are loud. I can literally hear the clashing of clouds, the building of energy and outside it has begun to rain. It is a very much needed rain. Last night in my bedroom I waved my arms and called for rain, desperate for it, I prayed for it.

It has come.


47 year old childless witch-
47 year old childless witch-

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