23/11/2021
We witches painted on the cave walls thousands of years ago.
Conjuring on a full moon, calling the wild ones, the bison, the deer, the antelope to gallop across the cave walls, to gallop across the plains so that we could hunt for the long winter, so we would not starve.
It was us witches calling the invisible ones to walk through the cracks on the walls and sing us secrets of making millet beer and charcoal medicine to heal the weak.
It was we witches calling the Great Mother to watch over our daughters that were giving birth, to let them live and the young ancestor that was coming back to have a chance of growing old.
We witches calling the bees to pollinate the plants and bless us with their honey.
We were calling the rains to pour forth upon the thirsty earth to allow the plants to drink.
It was me and my witches painting on the cave walls. It was our handprints that were left behind.
It was women’s magic and this magic fed the clans, it was women’s hands digging the roots, it was women’s hands weaving the clothing, it was women’s hands catching the babies, it was women’s hand’s making the herbal medicine, it was women’s hands doing everything they could possibility do to keep their families alive.
Call it witchcraft, we stand proud, we called it taking care of our children, our families; we called it tending to the Great Mother Earth. The priests called it evil, called us pagans, called us devil worshippers because we did not need their god, we did not need their black robe male defined religion.
We were a direct channel to the wisdom of the heavens, the stars, the earth, the underworld. We were powerful! And we still are!
~Bonewoman~
~Words and Art by Reda Rackley~
