What's a Cottage Witch?

I was wandering around the internet the other day and I stumbled across the term ‘cottage witch’. I’d heard it vaguely before but hadn’t given it too much thought. This time though it really struck a nerve.

The word ‘witch’ is a funny one. Ask me a few years ago what it meant and I would instantly have thought of a character in a fairytale with a pointy black hat. I would have said you can’t call yourself a witch. Witches live in stories.

Ask me now however, and I see it a little differently. In the past few years I’ve read everything I can about the witch trials and the history of ‘witches’ in the UK and further afield. After even the tiniest bit of reading you realise the word with is heavy with history. A very dark history.

For centuries, ‘witch’ has been a convenient term for a woman that had a little too much power, someone who used herbs and plants to heal, or even just someone that another person didn’t like.

A woman speaking up for herself in a society where that wasn’t allowed? Witch! Next door neighbour looked at you a bit funny and now you’ve got a stomach ache? They must be a witch! Middle aged woman living in the woods making herbal potions and talking to trees? (hello, that’s me) Definitely a witch!

Such a convenient name to allow a woman* to be repressed, silenced and even killed without any actual evidence, while the patriarchy goes on its merry way.

(*occasionally men were tried as witches too, but mainly women).

I’m sure you know much of this history already, but if you fancy fuelling your outrage a little more, I highly recommend the following:

• Witch, a 13-part podcast by the BBC (this is excellent)

• How To Kill a Witch: A Guide For The Patriarchy by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi (when you read some of the case studies you will FUME)

• The Witch – A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton (a little heavy-going but thorough)

Anyway. So far, so dark.

But…

This is also why I think the huge resurgence of women identifying as ‘witches’ in recent years is such an interesting phenomenon.

Look online today and you’ll see people identifying as hedge witches, green witches, kitchen witches, sea witches (they sound awesome) and all manner of other flavours. There is open discussion of sabbats and altars, of practices, charms and spells. People are sharing knowledge. It feels like the word is being fully reclaimed.

There are of course many strands of witchcraft practice, all with their own history and rituals. Some people follow a solitary path, while others follow a more formalised path, such as Wicca. I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience, or their definition of a witch. It’s all subjective. All I can talk about is my own experience.

Which leads me back to the term cottage witch.

Here’s one of the definitions I stumbled across:

“A Cottage Witch, also known as a Hearth Witch, centers their magic around the home… and the everyday tasks that fill our lives. Unlike witches who might practice elaborate rituals in sacred spaces, the Cottage Witch finds magic in the ordinary—cooking, cleaning, gardening, and nurturing the household.” Mabon House

I mean, you can take out the cleaning - I take no joy in that - but in terms of everything I love, this pretty much sums it up:

“This practice is deeply rooted in the idea that the home is a sacred space. For the Cottage Witch, every meal prepared, every herb grown, and every candle lit is an opportunity to infuse daily life with intention and magic.” Mabon House

I talk a lot about how to bring seasonal living into the home and how to create warm, cosy spaces filled with magic. I protect my boundaries, fill my garden with magical plants, infuse my food with herbs, and light candles for all the ancient seasonal festivals. So I found myself strongly identifying with the term cottage witch.

I should, however, add a caveat here. It probably goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway. Identifying as a cottage witch or hearth witch is not another way of glamorising domestic chores, unpaid domestic labour and a ‘tradwife’ life. If you know me, you know this is not happening. Cottage witches aren’t slaving away at home, trapped inside the house, propping up a patriarchal system. In my interpretation of it, we’re creating cosy, safe spaces, on our own terms, to meet our own needs and no one else’s.

We’re not Snow White, meekly keeping home in the woods. We’re more aligned with Baba Yaga, weaving magic in a hut in the woods on our own terms. We’re Circe with her herbal knowledge and island home, and we’re the wise crone, carving out a space for ourselves, reclaiming the name on our own terms.

Does this resonate with anyone else? Based on the fact that you read these newsletters I’m guessing it might chime for a few of you.

I thought about it some more, and in my own interpretation of the term, I believe a cottage witch might do some of the following:

• Use homegrown herbs in every day cooking

• Decorate seasonally indoors with flowers, herbs and crystals

• Use hearth magic (candles and fire) to create a cosy space

• Infuse cooking and baking with folk magic practices

• Celebrate seasonal festivals at home

• Design their rooms around the path of the sun

• Decorate thresholds and boundaries with intention

• Create a magical garden to wrap around the home

You might think all this talk of witches is a bit silly or fanciful. But the more I think about it, the more important it feels for women to be able to claim back a term that’s been used to cause such harm in the past. And to claim it back in any way they see fit. If someone calls themselves a witch, of any description, I will absolutely respect it.

When you read some of the flimsy reasons that were used as grounds for trying a woman as a witch in the past it’s all too easy to see yourself in their shoes.

Would I have be called in for ‘questioning’ back in the old Witchfinder General’s days?

Let’s look at the evidence:

I grow herbs and use them medicinally. I have a nature altar in my home. I talk to plants, I leave offering under trees on May Day and Midsummer. There are certain plants I’ll never bring indoors and others I’ll never cut. I wash my doors and windows with rosemary water for protection, and celebrate full moons, solstices and equinoxes.

Could I have been tried?

Without a doubt.

Would I like to call myself a witch today, in defiance?

Absolutely.

Ok, that’s all for now. I’ll see you next month for a July edition of the Monthly Notebook. We’ll be diving into high summer rituals, water festivals and coastal living. Maybe a spot of cottage witching too. Look forward to seeing you there.

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Vicky xx

No AI tools were used in the writing of this article, or any other. I am an AI-free zone. All research, typos, rambling thought processes and weird grammar are proudly my own. It took ages to write, but I enjoyed the process and my brain cannot be outsourced to a robot ;) A cottage witch would never!