Witch Dream Interpretation

Universal Landscape: Archetypal Character Aspect: Purveyor of magic.

Dreaming Lens: What was the witch doing in your dream? Was she frightening or fascinating? How dangerous did she seem? Was she able to do magic? Were you the witch? How did the witch relate to you in the dream?

Personal Focus: The witch is a creature of relatively modern invention with little, if any, origins in the older mythologies that have shaped Western culture. They are most likely a product of the emergence of Christianity and the growth of European cities. Any woman with Pagan-based knowledge of the healing arts might have been considered a witch by the ever-expanding political powers of the last two millenniums. To avoid punishment, such people lived away from urban centers, often in the woods, adding to the mystique and burgeoning fables of witches as evil, forest-dwelling hags. Today, the witch figures prominently in contemporary fairy tales and folklore, and she is a staple character of Halloween. She no longer heals and ministers; now she casts evil spells and eats children.

Since this is an Archetype, how she appears in your dream is important to your understanding of your own personal development. The areas of life ruled by this Archetype are mysticism, healing, and magic, primarily in the feminine principle, which relates to creativity, receptivity, nurturance, and caretaking. Examine your witch for character, skill, and motivation. Her character will inform you of the levels of good versus evil within your psyche. The power of her skills will inform you of your personal access to the magic in the universe. Understanding what inspires her will get you in touch with your own movement toward integration and away from manipulation.

Any number of hag-like, female characters could be considered the Witch Archetype. In fact, some may be evil, while others may be disenfranchised healers. Given her origins in mysticism and a preponderance of misunderstandings over the centuries, it is important to consider this duality when interpreting the Witch as a symbol. Though she may inspire fear and dread, the witch has powerful magic which, if understood and properly used, can be invaluable to the human experience.

To understand the symbolism of witches you must bear in mind both that witches are priestesses of the Earth Mother and that they are popularly seen as malevolent. This popular view, perpetuated by those children’s writers and teachers who know nothing of the history of witches, derives from the Christian persecution of witches as devil- worshippers, which in turn derived from a Christian tendency to separate God from Nature and to worship a transcendent (sky-)god rather than an indwelling (earth-)goddess. A witch in dreams may therefore represent either of the possibilities below.

(1) A witch may be an internal source of wisdom, healing and growth.

(2) Alternatively, a witch may be a destructive unconscious force: for example, a repressed part of yourself. In a man’s dream a witch may symbolize the negative aspect of his anıma (on anim a, see Brother / Sister, section (4)-(6)). Do you suffer from moodiness and a conviction that nothing can ever come right for you? This may be because you feel in some way let down by your mother. The character of a man’s anima is as a rule shaped by his mother5 (M.-L. von Franz, in Man and His Symbols) (on ‘femme fatale’, see Woman).

NB Seemingly destructive forces in the psyche invariably reveal themselves, on fuller acquaintance, as positive and life-enhancing.

See Also: Demon, Devil, Evil.

The witch in your dream could represent evil and ugliness or something more desirable such as enchantment.

The word witch is usually used to describe a mean and heartless person, and in your dream you may be making associations in regard to yourself or someone else that fits that description.

A witch could also represent power, magic, and goodness. “White magic” is as popular and culturally significant as darker witchcraft. However, whether good or evil, the witch always tries to defy natural law and uses a short cut to accomplish a task. Ask yourself questions about the general message in the dream; is it about revealing negative characteristics or about solving your problems and getting what you want out of life by using shortcuts? The most positive connotation of this dream could be that it encourages you to solve difficulties by using creativity and intuition and brings you closer to finding powerful and magical parts of yourself.

Originally, witches were priestesses who possessed great wisdom and healing powers. With Christianity, witches began to get a bad rap, so, in dreams, they are associated with the destructive part of the unconscious. That is, with those feelings caused by the repression of your true self (moodiness, disappointment, jealousy . . .). For children and adolescents, this dream reveals unfulfilled desires and a fear of the unknown and mysterious aspects of life. In turn, for an adult it indicates the possibility that someone close attempts to take advantage of you for their own benefit. In general, this dream is a warning that obstacles and problems will soon appear in your environment, whether at work or in your personal relationships.

Witches often presage diseases.

Hedge.

A negative symbol for Mother, the overpowering, malevolent woman who is feared. Often points to a mother who does not care properly for her children (particularly in children’s dreams). Less often, the image of a witch points to the wise woman (particularly in women’s dreams) who exudes great magnetism.

The witch is almost always a symbol of the power of the unconscious—Magic. In fairy tales as well as in dreams, the witch plays an important, archetypal role, because she separates the hero or dream-self from his (usually royal) origin, which can then only be recaptured after he passes a certain test.

If the dreamer is a woman, dreaming of a witch could represent her own senex, or that part of her psyche that is older and wiser. Thus any message that she receives from the witch is important, and should be written down immediately upon awakening.

If the dreamer is a man, he needs to take a good, long, honest look at his attitude toward women. He may be caught up in the notion that all women are out to get him.

If the witch is friendly in the dream, whether the dreamer is a man or a woman, it augurs an increased social life.

If the witch is the ominous Halloween figure, rough times in romance lie ahead.

If a woman you know in your waking life transforms into a sorceress, priestess or witch in your dream, this means that some woman in your waking life inspires feelings of uneasiness or mistrust in you.

If you dreamed of stumbling upon a coven of witches in your dream, did you recognize any of them in waking life? If you did you may suspect them of being in a secret pact in waking life that is either benign or malignant.

If you do not recognize them, this suggests a need for protection, concealment or togetherness in real life.

See Also: SPIRITS AND GHOSTS.

The Mystical Arts

Example: ‘1 talked about my mother, she was stand­ing before me in full anger and blaming me for bringing out the witch in her. She said “Look at my eyes”, they were horrid to see, all red and angry and she was dark’ (Lesley M).

The fears or difficult feelings and habits we have developed in relationship with our mother. Because these feelings are now pan of ourself, if female, we can of course become the witch in relationship to someone else. Also vindictiveness, jealousy, etc.

Vision: Dreaming about a witch: plans you have made are proceeding well.

Depth Psychology: The witch represents people with ill intentions—and perhaps also your own nastiness.

It is a sign of your fear of the irrational, and suspicion of the unconscious forces that often influence your actions. Was the witch in the dream good or evil? Is there a witch inside of you? If so, what part of you does she represent? The witch might also stand for certain, strictly sexual emotions.

Spiritually a witch is someone who has come to understand the intrinsic power they have and learnt to use it properly. Because this power, which is based in strongly held beliefs and codes of behaviour, is perceived as dangerous there are many ideas as to the protection necessary, such as hanging garlic. Consult the entries for magic / magician, wand and wizard as well as the information on witch in archetypes in the introduction.

Psychological / emotional perspective: The conventional picture of the warty-nosed old crone is actually a personification of malevolence. Any blemish that comes to our attention in dreams can be accepted as evidence of there being a distortion in our view of the world. In dreams we have the opportunity to confront our fears, overcome them and use the power thus generated successfully.

If you feel empowered by this dream, then a witch signifies your irreverent power and ability to create magic in your life.

If you feel weakened or scared by this dream, then you are running from your power, and are afraid of the negative influence it could have. Keep in mind that the shadow aspect of you is only a shadow until it is embraced by the light of your being.

See Also: Crone.

From a Christian perspective, witches represent evil. From a more “New Age” perspective, the witch is the mother earth goddess. From a Walt Disney perspective, there is an evil witch, a good witch, and the fairy godmother who grants wishes.

The meaning of this symbol depends on the tone of the dream as well as how the dreamer relates to a certain kind of witch.

Material aspects: In mundane terms we may dream of witches when we do not fully understand the use of personal power.

Dreaming of warts, which are often associated with witches, links with that part of ourselves which remains superstitious and afraid of an energy we have not fully comprehended.

Ugly fearful part of self that needs to be changed. Manipulative, controlling; self-hating, loathing. Not seeing own inner beauty, the diamond inside. One must not use power to manipulate or mislead. There are karmic payments when one uses energy destructively instead of creatively.

Gives gender-specific: In dreams a woman will recognize the appearance of the witch as the opportunity to come to terms with the sacred duty she has to pass on her knowledge.

A man may use the appearance of the witch to overcome his fears of the powerful woman.

To dream of witches, denotes that you, with others, will seek adventures which will afford hilarious enjoyment, but it will eventually rebound to your mortification. Business will suffer prostration if witches advance upon you, home affairs may be disappointing.

These haggy characters in your dream indicate gay social times ahead, but if you’re involved in a love affair, they are a symbol of disenchantment

Dreaming about a witch means that the answer you seek to a current problem is within yourself. Also see “Witchcraft”, below.

1. Someone who is evil, heartless.

2. A person with seemingly magical powers.

Dreaming of a witch represents supernatural ability and wisdom.

Symbolic of a person involved with the Occult, Deut. 18:10

(Bat.

See Also: Hyena)

An ill-omen in every way.

See Also: People metaphors.

See Also: Archetypes