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Stereotypes of witches. That whole broom schtick... Though I'm not in a coven I come from a feminist pagan background, so it's startling that my dreams still echo the slander spread by Christians for centuries. Funny how most Christians have come around on anti-Semitism, yet blithely ignore an equal-sized Holocaust (and a literal one: "Burn, witch, burn!" The showers were merciful by comparison), a Holocaust the Church perpetrated directly--none of this "OK, we were a bit soft on Hitler" stuff! Christianity WAS Hitler. And unapologetically so, even today.

Given all that, it's interesting that my dreams contain just as many wicked witches as Oz. Just as many good ones as Oz, too, but it's as if the cliches and the real witches I know are two separate species. I guess the witch stereotype is so handy a symbol that my dreams can't bear to give it up. All those fears (and wishes?) around magic, especially the self-indulgent wish-fulfilment of freely cursing, snooping, gossiping, exacting revenge... all wrapped up in one cackling package! Why, it's emotional one-stop shopping! Convenient.

I do dream of complex, ambivalent witches, as in the peculiar epic Starhawk the Witch. But the shallow images persist--as they do around me. What does Glinda ask Dorothy? "Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" It's only the Wizard of Oz, a man, who can be complex, ambivalent, in between: "Oh, no, my dear, I'm a very good man... just a very bad wizard."

It's Halloween in America as I write. Everyone's out partying, with masks on. No Greedy Jew masks, no Uppity Nigger masks. Just hordes of pointy-hatted, hook-nosed, warty... well, you know.

RELATED TOPICS: real witches (pagans and Goddess worshipers) - prejudice - religions - shamanism - Buddhism - Hinduism - science as a faith - Christianity - Islam - Judaism - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

The World Dream Bank has 1500 dreams and dream images plus 500 other pages on dreamwork and shamanism, creativity, genius, art, surrealism and fantasy. Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright Chris Wayan, 2001-2006.

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	BUMBREE SYNDROME: by Wayan; 2 images, 1984/3/14, a comic dream about dreams. Princess Chinchilla and I use an umbrella to escape the Wizard. Now to escape the Dream Researchers!...
	THE CROWS OF OZ: by Wayan; 1984/8/23, a moral dream on darkness. I learn from the crows of Oz why loneliness and even tragedy are vital for a living universe...
	THE DEER PARTY: by Wayan; 1986. A magical dream, Chapter 1 of a nine-story series: UNICORN TAG. A sentent factory shows me a genetic future where the Deer Party agitates for liberty, equality and fertility. Where I learn that I too may not be human...
	DOME: by Wayan; 250K, 1999/1/31, a dream peeling off a lie. I'm actress Nicole Kidman, clinging to the dome of City Hall like King Kong, ripping it to shreds! Why? CAUTION: VANDALISM, REVERSE SEXISM, EXHIBITIONISM
	THE OLD WITCH: by Wayan; 1991/8/1, a dreamtale on abandon. A Hollywood sex goddess confronts the Ingenue who's supplanting her. Just how far will she go? CAUTION: EXHIBITIONISM
	WHY PROGRESS IS SLOW: by Wayan; 1991/1/26 and 2/16, a sociological dreamtale. Time-hopping through centuries, I learn how slow deep social change is. How we cling to our worldviews!
	THE SELL-FISH WITCHES: by Wayan; 1983/6/29, a dreamtale. My sister and I are runaways, developing psychic powers. A cult of fish-selling witches wants to use us... CAUTION: SIBLING INCEST, SPELL ABUSE
	SPIN-WITCH, or, THE MAGIC LIGHTER: by Wayan; 1985/8/10, a dream on defensiveness. Leona's a fighter--she rejects compromisers like her husband, her friends, that girl she's been sitting on...
	STARHAWK THE WITCH: by Wayan; 1983/8/19, an epic dream. I'm forced to become Time Pilgrim, warning history of the dangers of community--indeed, of unity...
	TWO BISHOP CANDIDATES: by Wayan; 1984/11/21, a dreamtale. My mind and my soul both apply for a job in Stanford Cathedral. Their rivalry grows to a shamanic duel...
	WITCH, FLY FREE!: by Wayan; 1997/5/3, a predictive dream. A castle of witches in Europe. Persecuted for centuries, they're wary. Can I find a good witch to love? CAUTION: PAGANS CRIPPLED BY SIEGE MENTALITY...
	MERRY WITCHMAS!: by Wayan; 1990. Digital dreamy image Just a witchmas card spreading love and paganism to all, and to all a good night...

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