The Once and Future Witches
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The Once and Future Witches
Alix E. Harrow's "The Once and Future Witches" presents a compelling argument for witchcraft as a lineage of female power, a concept that shines brightest when the narrative focuses on the interconnectedness of its three protagonists. The depiction of the Daughters of Belladonna and their clandestine meetings, particularly their use of coded language and shared rituals, offers a glimpse into a potent, imagined secret society. However, the ambitious scope, spanning multiple generations and historical periods, occasionally leads to a diffusion of focus, making some narrative threads feel less developed than others. The strength of the novel lies in its evocative prose and its sustained engagement with the idea of magic as a tool of personal and collective liberation, especially evident in the passages describing the young witches learning to harness their will. It is a book that, despite its sprawling nature, ultimately delivers a resonant message about inherited strength.
📝 Description
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Alix E. Harrow's 2020 novel connects three generations of witches across centuries.
The Once and Future Witches, published in 2020, examines the history of witchcraft and the ways it has been suppressed. It follows three women from the same family as they navigate their connection to magic and the forces that try to stop it. The story moves from the late 1800s into the near future, showing how women's secret knowledge continues to hold power.
This book appeals to readers of historical fiction who enjoy speculative elements, especially those interested in feminism, rebellion, and occult themes. It suits readers who like stories about changing social norms and how traditions persist, even when pushed aside. Those who appreciate character focused stories with a strong sense of place and a touch of magic will find it engaging.
The novel is set against a history of persecuting women accused of witchcraft, a practice that grew significantly during early modern European witch trials. Harrow links these past oppressions to current pressures on women and queer people, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries. The book's focus on hidden practices and whispered knowledge reflects the secret nature of many historical women's groups and their methods of passing down knowledge outside formal structures.
This novel positions witchcraft not solely as supernatural power, but as a method of self-possession and resistance against patriarchal control. It views magic as an inherited birthright, passed down through women. The narrative echoes the clandestine ways historical women's communities preserved and transmitted knowledge, often outside established institutions. This reflects a modern interpretation of ancestral magic and female spirituality.
💡 Why Read This Book?
• Gain insight into the concept of "witchcraft" as a historical and ongoing form of female resistance, distinct from sensationalized portrayals. You will learn how Alix E. Harrow frames this in the context of societal pressures faced by women in the early 20th century. • Experience a narrative that connects historical persecution with contemporary struggles for liberation, understanding how the book uses the generational saga to highlight enduring themes. You will feel the weight of history through the interwoven lives of the Griffiths sisters. • Explore the idea of magic as an inherited power and a means of self-discovery, particularly as depicted through the "Harrowing" ritual. You will appreciate the symbolic significance of this ritual as a reclaiming of agency within the narrative's framework.
⭐ Reader Reviews
Honest opinions from readers who have explored this book.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What historical period does "The Once and Future Witches" primarily explore?
The novel spans several generations, with significant portions set during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly around the 1910s and 1920s. It also includes a near-future perspective, creating a broad historical sweep.
Is "The Once and Future Witches" based on real historical events?
While the book is fiction, it draws heavily on the historical context of women's rights movements and the enduring legacy of historical witch trials. It reimagines witchcraft as a form of inherited power and resistance, a concept rooted in historical anxieties and feminist interpretations.
Who are the main characters in "The Once and Future Witches"?
The central characters are three women from the same family: the young suffragette James Juniper "June" Griffiths, her mother, and her grandmother. They represent different generations and approaches to reclaiming their ancestral magic.
What is the significance of the "Daughters of Belladonna" in the book?
The Daughters of Belladonna are a secret society of witches to which the Griffiths women belong. They represent a lineage of female magic and resistance, operating outside mainstream society and preserving ancient knowledge.
What themes does "The Once and Future Witches" explore?
The novel explores themes of feminism, witchcraft, female inheritance, societal oppression, generational trauma, and the power of collective action. It examines how women have historically found and wielded power.
What is the "Harrowing" in the context of the book?
The "Harrowing" is a ritual described in the book that signifies a young witch's initiation and full embrace of her inherited magical abilities. It represents a crucial moment of self-discovery and empowerment for the characters.
🔮 Key Themes & Symbolism
Inherited Witchcraft
The novel posits witchcraft not as an acquired skill but as an ancestral birthright, passed down through matrilineal lines. This concept is central to the Griffiths family's story, where each generation grapples with their connection to this inherited power. The "Harrowing" ritual signifies the full acceptance and manifestation of this legacy, linking personal identity to a broader history of female magic and resilience. It challenges the notion of magic as solely individualistic, emphasizing its communal and generational aspects.
Feminism and Resistance
"The Once and Future Witches" frames witchcraft as a potent form of feminist resistance against patriarchal structures that have historically sought to control or suppress women's autonomy and power. The book explicitly connects the historical persecution of witches to the struggles of early 20th-century suffragettes and contemporary women's rights movements. Magic becomes a metaphor for women finding their voices, asserting their agency, and reclaiming power in a world designed to disempower them.
Generational Legacy
The narrative structure, following three generations of Griffiths women, underscores the theme of legacy and its complex inheritance. Each woman's story—from the early 20th-century suffragette June to her mother and grandmother—explores how past experiences, traumas, and strengths shape the present and future. The book suggests that understanding and reconciling with ancestral history, including suppressed magical traditions, is vital for personal and collective liberation.
Clandestine Knowledge
The existence of secret societies like the Daughters of Belladonna highlights the theme of clandestine knowledge and its preservation. In a world that often marginalizes or demonizes women's wisdom, these groups represent a vital space for maintaining and transmitting esoteric understanding outside of dominant cultural narratives. The book emphasizes the power found in shared secrets, rituals, and the quiet, persistent cultivation of forbidden arts.
💬 Memorable Quotes
Direct passages from the work, attributed to the author.
“We are the witches of the Daughters of Belladonna. We are the witches who have always been.”
— This statement captures the novel's central thesis: witchcraft as an unbroken, inherent lineage of female power that transcends historical periods and persecution. It asserts a continuous presence and reclaiming of identity.
“The world was not made for women. It was made by men. For men.”
— This interpretation highlights the book's critique of patriarchal society. It frames the historical and ongoing struggle of women as a direct consequence of systems and structures designed by and for men, necessitating alternative forms of power.
“Magic is the art of the possible.”
— This concept, often associated with various occult traditions, is presented in the book as a practical, achievable force. It reframes magic not as the impossible, but as the potent realization of potential through will and understanding.
“They tried to burn us. They tried to bury us. They forgot we are seeds.”
— This powerful metaphor speaks to the resilience of suppressed knowledge and identity. It suggests that attempts to eradicate women's power were ultimately futile, as the essence of that power persists and has the potential to regrow.
💡 Key Ideas
Editorial paraphrase of the work's core concepts — not direct quotes.
Every woman is a witch. The trick is to get them to remember it.
This paraphrased concept suggests that magical potential is innate within women. The challenge lies in overcoming societal conditioning and historical suppression that causes them to forget or deny their inherent power and intuition.
🌙 Esoteric Significance
Tradition
While not strictly adhering to a single historical tradition, "The Once and Future Witches" taps into the broader currents of Western Esotericism, particularly modern paganism and feminist spirituality that emerged in the late 20th century. It reinterprets "witchcraft" not as a dogmatic system but as an intuitive, ancestral force connected to nature and feminine power. This aligns with contemporary movements that seek to reclaim and redefine witchcraft outside of patriarchal religious frameworks, emphasizing personal experience and immanent divinity.
Symbolism
The book utilizes potent symbols such as the "Harrowing," representing the initiation into one's inherent magical power, and the "Daughters of Belladonna," symbolizing a lineage of secret, empowering female knowledge. The motif of seeds, particularly in the context of being "forgotten" but capable of regrowth, signifies resilience and the enduring nature of suppressed traditions. These symbols collectively articulate the novel's themes of inherited strength, resistance, and the cyclical reclamation of power.
Modern Relevance
Contemporary practitioners of modern witchcraft, ecofeminist thinkers, and scholars of gender studies draw on narratives like "The Once and Future Witches" to explore the symbolic and practical dimensions of female empowerment. The novel's reframing of witchcraft as a potent, accessible force for self-discovery and resistance appeals to current discussions on reclaiming agency, challenging societal norms, and connecting with ancestral wisdom in a secularized or devalued spiritual landscape.
👥 Who Should Read This Book
• Readers interested in feminist history and speculative fiction who want to explore the symbolic power of witchcraft as a metaphor for female agency and resistance. • Students of comparative mythology and folklore who are examining how historical narratives of persecution are reinterpreted through contemporary, empowering lenses. • Individuals seeking narratives that explore generational trauma and healing, particularly how ancestral legacies, including suppressed spiritual practices, can be understood and integrated.
📜 Historical Context
Published in 2020, "The Once and Future Witches" emerged during a period of renewed feminist activism and a growing public interest in witchcraft and paganism, often framed through a modern lens. The novel implicitly engages with the historical suppression of women, particularly during the witch trials that intensified in Europe from the 15th to 18th centuries, a period that saw thousands executed under accusations of witchcraft. Harrow's work positions itself within a contemporary literary landscape that often re-examines historical narratives from marginalized perspectives, a trend seen in works by authors like Madeline Miller and Naomi Novik, who also retell myths and histories with a feminist consciousness. Unlike the straightforward historical accounts of the Salem witch trials, Harrow's novel uses the concept of witchcraft as a symbolic anchor for female empowerment and resistance against societal constraints, resonating with intellectual currents that explore the intersection of gender, power, and belief.
📔 Journal Prompts
The concept of "witchcraft" as inherited power and its manifestation in the Griffiths family.
Reflect on the "Harrowing" ritual and its significance for personal empowerment.
Analyze the "Daughters of Belladonna" as a symbol of clandestine feminist knowledge.
Consider the metaphor of women as "seeds" and its implications for resilience.
Examine the connection between historical "witch hunts" and societal control over women in the book's timeline.
🗂️ Glossary
Daughters of Belladonna
A secret society of witches to which the protagonists belong. They represent a lineage of inherited magic and a network of mutual support and knowledge preservation against societal oppression.
Harrowing
A significant ritual in the novel, signifying a young witch's full embrace and manifestation of her inherited magical abilities. It marks a crucial point of self-discovery and empowerment.
Witchcraft (as interpreted in the book)
Reimagined not solely as supernatural ability, but as radical self-possession, intuition, and a form of resistance against patriarchal control and societal limitations placed upon women.
Suffragette
A member of an activist women's organization in the early 20th century who campaigned for the right to vote. The novel connects their fight for political rights with the magical reclamation of personal power.
Matrilineal
Describing a social system or lineage in which descent is traced through the mother's side. This is central to the transmission of witchcraft in the novel.
Seeds
A metaphor used in the book to represent resilience and the enduring nature of suppressed power. Despite attempts to eradicate it, the essence of witchcraft persists and has the potential to regrow.
Patriarchal Control
A social system where men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. The book critiques this system as the antagonist to women's power.
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