Witch Craft by James Robinson

As we transition from horror to fantasy in our college class, we find ourselves halfway in-between: witches. As in classic horror, and modern horror, females are often portrayed as the victim, someone who blunders and gets in the way, or plainly as a helpless thing that is easily seduced and tricked. Witches, however, take that archetype and spit on it. Witches are women that often take revenge on men because they’ve misused the power that they’ve taken.  We see other examples in literature where women have taken prey to men: mermaids, spirits, etc. Witches are able to turn the tables and say no to the status quo. This time, women have the power and can make drastic effects.

This week I read a 1994 comic called Witch Craft, about the goddess Hecatae, and how she tries to get revenge over three reincarnations for one of her followers, Ursula, who was raped and slain by a man, Cooth, and his band.  Hecatae is made up of three goddesses, each representing the stages of a woman’s life: maiden, mother, and crone. Throughout Ursula’s reincarnations, Hecatae each make a plan in which she can find Cooth’s reincarnation and kill him. In each generation, the goddesses manipulate and twist Ursula’s fate to make sure she is pushed towards the way of revenge. For example, in the first reincarnation of Faith Armatage in the 1300’s represents the maiden, and as a young child, her life is influenced in that she must grow up in a with community. Here, she learns skills that will help her in her revenge, and also exposes her to the knowledge of Hecatae.

In each of her stages she is given the chance to avenge her death and kill the man that started it. The witch gave power to the woman, which is the whole idea of a witch. It's pre-modern feminism.