Edward Dutton - Witches, Feminism, and the Fall of the West

Introduction

We begin with a folktale. Once upon a time , there were peoples known as the Europeans. We inhabited a world that was cold and harsh, and our various bands battled for survival and dominance. The groups that won out were the best suited to the struggle: bonded to one another and hostile towards outsiders. We were spirited, fertile, and hardy, as this was Gods will. Soundness of body and soundness of mind went together. We lived lives of toil, even tragedy, but we reached the pinnacle of health, intelligence, and organization. We spun a connecting thread between ancestor and offspring.

Sometimes, though, the witches would come around. When they did, they were persecuted with a vengeance. The witches poisoned everything they touched. They formed communities apart. They disobeyed God with their spells, magic healing, and lives away from men. These women bore marks that announced them as unholy. A persons face can tell you quite a bit about her soul: Monstrum in fronte, monstrum in animo . Witches were at the bottom of society because that is where they belonged. Upright people rose to the top.

The Industrial Revolution, with all its marvels, changed everything. In 1800, half of all those born died as children; two centuries later, almost none did. More and more people who would not have survived in the old times walked among us. They were mistakes made flesh. They no longer uplifted the established rules; they endlessly criticized and undermined them, like the witches of yore. Unwell in body and mind, they were, at best, selfish and impulsive; at worst, they promoted depression and despair.

Some of these villains were born into societys highest ranks, or rose there due to their cleverness. The really spiteful ones advocated for ideas that were catastrophic. Worse still, people listened to them, since most are born to obey. The nature of our communities changed, including our outposts and colonies around the world. We all went mad, you could sayeveryone, except those who were naturally resistant or too slow to conform. Deviancy became the norm; patriarchy was overturned. Those who were brightest were the first to accept the new religion, as they could talk themselves into anything. They even talked themselves into having small families or no children at all.

These new witches lived out in the open and were even celebrated. So many women were taken in by their spells: they behaved like men; they cared about careers more than children; they raised boys as girls. Even men listened to the witches. Our societies were feminized, though that didnt mean they became kinder and gentler. The persecuted became the persecutors, the judged became judges, the last came first. Everything was out of joint.

These are dizzying times... but nothing lasts forever. Those susceptible to the witches spells are cursed with barrenness; those who are religious still multiply. We Europeans thus stand at a fork in the road. Some say that the children will bring about a revival of the old ways, though in a population that is much dimmer than in previous times. Some see a civil war or breakdown over the horizon. Others warn of a return to the harsh conditions of the past. Whichever way destiny takes us, the witches, and those under their spell, are not long for this world.

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This book, Im afraid, wont answer the question of whether we will live happilyor unhappilyever after. That will be the subject of future writing. But it is an attempt to tell a story about European evolution, how it was affected by religion, climate change, and the industrial revolution. In particular, its a story of how the figure of the witch fits in to all thishow she went from being persecuted and despised to acting as a leader and bad conscience of postmodern society. In both cases, witches were not the stuff of nightmare or fantasy; they were all too real . And they impacted people and society in ways that have previously been misunderstood.

The Wicked Witch

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Western adults do not generally believe in witches anymore. But the historical significance of witches is attested to by the way in which adults pass on the folk memory of them to their children through fairytales: Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty , Snow White , and many more. This is significant, because fairytales are more than just interesting bedtime stories. Evolutionary psychologists, those who study the evolution of the human mind, generally agree with American evolution-focused literary scholar Joseph Also, these stories have been vetted across generations to be maximally informative and engaging, meaning they are likely to be very useful guides to life, including guides to how to deal with strangers. And this raises the question of what kinds of strangers, in particular, you should avoid. Fairy tales consistently provide children with the answer: Witches.