One of my favorite traditions among my friends is to talk about the roses and the thorns of our days. When we do this, we go around the room and discuss our highs (roses) and our lows (thorns). It is one of my favorite ways to reflect on the day, practice gratitude for the good things and to learn from the more difficult parts. As the semester winds down, I thought it would be nice to reflect on my roses and thorns of my semester in Witches class!
Roses
One of my favorite aspects of this course was getting to learn about witchcraft as a reflection of culture. One of the ways that this was relevant was through the popular media presentations. As I observed in one of my other blog posts, it was interesting to watch the ways that popular representations of witches have changed over time and how those changes may reflect the type of society that exists in that specific time period. Times seem to always be tough, and at any moment in history there may be a million different things happening. As such, I find it interesting to see how the role of the witch in media in helping us to escape or reflect these realities has changed over time. In the 60’s and 70’s it was more popular to see a light-hearted witch to make you laugh as an escape, but in today’s age you see a much darker witch that makes the world we live in seem not as scary by comparison.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about this course were the connections that I found to my own life. Throughout the semester, I would continue to have different witch-y experiences that would relate back to class materials. I got to talk to my mom about why she enjoys her crystals so much, and what inspired her to start our New Year’s saging the house tradition. These conversations coupled with the information that I gleaned from class discussion and textbook readings gave me a much richer understanding of the roots of these things and different practices associated with these things. I also enjoyed getting to witness some divination practices when I visited New Orleans and in class during presentations. I always love to see classroom learning apply to my real life! Overall, I have enjoyed the learning that has taken place in this course and always value time spent in a small-numbered, discussion-based classroom.
Thorns
Although I have enjoyed my semester in this class, it remains true that some days were better than others. Especially in the beginning of the class, I struggled to find the relevance that this course would have to my life. I did not come in to this class particularly interested in witches, witchcraft, or witch hunts, so the first few classes were difficult for me to connect with. I did enjoy the fancy textbook and getting to discuss it with my peers, but I struggled to find its application to my life. A bit further in, I was finally able to connect with the material when we discussed the concept of Othering. When connecting to witches in the context of this, I was able to see how witchcraft and witch hunts were intricately tied to the way that outcasts were seen in society and the ways in which societies throughout time have dealt with them. I was able to see how the concept of othering applied not only to witches, but to several groups of minorities and societal outcasts across the board. The application of this concept helped to turn around my attitude about this course. After all, the thorns are an equally important part of the rose!
I am so thankful for the learning experiences that I have had this semester and the fun that we have been able to have as a class. Thank you, Dr. Williams for a great course!
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