Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Etymology of "Witch" and witches





De Lamiis et Phitonicis Mulieribus, 1493 [Cornell]


Non-Iberian Romantic languages use the pure latin form of the striga, from which Italian Strega descends.  The etymology of this word originates most likely with strix, the screech-owl and possibly a sacred grove.  This word descends from Proto-Indo-European streyg (line) and includes in its descendants the word 'strike'.

I'm curious if streyg is related to another dark PIE work stug- or steu- from which the river Styx derives its name, being a gloomy boundary between worlds.  The root of that word suggests striking as well.  Maybe the image of primeval claden black, old flying crones "daughters of the Earth and night" derive from a particular conception of the Erinyes or Furies, having a special association with Athena.

To make this fully circular and removed from any sort of logic and accountability, the etymology of Erinyes is suspiciously interesting as to suggest 'raise, stir and excite', which is also a title of Demeter, mother of Persephone and giver of life a cereal corn.










  1. The stereotypical witch's hat is very akin to that worn by Tocharian women in the Tarim Basin and probably by other women of the South Eurasian Steppe, suggesting that witches were associated with the Indo-European superstrate population.

    Also notably, all of the places where you provide a "witch" etymology are places where the Indo-European languages probably arrived ca. 1300 BCE or later, rather than ca. 2000 BCE as they did in the Eastern part of the Indo-European range.

    This suggests that it may not have merely been old women in grain societies, but Indo-European old women who had access to superior Indo-European metal work facilitating brewing, like large iron cauldrons, who gained the association as witches that was passed down in collective legendary history. These old women might have been not just brewers but priestesses in Indo-European society dispensing the Indo-European paganism that replaced the religion and culture of Old Europe.

    1. Also, there are words in Celtic that also have a root with the word 'owl' as in latin 'Striga'. That Italo-Celtic connection with owls, beer, moon, omega and mother goddess has parallels elsewhere.

  2. According to linguist Roslyn Frank (private conversations), Spanish "brujo" ("warlock" and by extension its femenine form "bruja" = "witch") should come from Basque buruzai, meaning leader. This has nothing to do with the genuine Basque word for witch, which is sorgin, from sor-gin = creator, which is genderless but usually applied to women.

    Per Basque mythology, which is clearly at the origin of many "witch" related symbols like the black he-goat (documented as deity since Aquitano-Roman times but mythologically rather an animal icon of the Goddess Mari = Gaia), sorginak (witches) are both spiritual beings (and as such aides of Mari) and human beings - and as such surely "priestesses" of the old religion, which was a gender-dualistic monotheism similar to Shiva-Sakhtism or Daoism, or also the primitive gods described by Hesiod emerging from Chaos: Gaia and Eros (notice that Gaia is a word that makes total sense in Basque, meaning: matter, substance but also ability/potential: "gai izan" = "be able", "ezkon-gai" = "marriage-able" = "bride/groom", etc.).

  3. Note: Belagin (=beragin) would translate as herbalist. Grass and herb are called similarly in both Basque (belar, bedar) and Spanish (hierba). Sorgin seems to translate literally as "creator" (sortu = to create) but it may well be related to birthgiving, in which case it could just mean midwife.

    While sorginak are most commonly perceived as humans (typically but not always women), some mythology supports a double role as mythical servants of goddess Mari, what surely imply some ancient religious role. In some legends they are associated with selfish sorcery, in most with pagan celebrations (akelarre=sabbat) but occasionally they appear imparting social justice against those who cheat the community.

    1. The most likely origin of the word 'witch' is Welsh gwich: a shrill noise; a crack, a crash; a squak or squeal; the weazand. (Owen-Pughe dictionary). The first witches in Britain and Ireland were necromantesses who in initating the spirit of the dead who possessed them would squeak and gibber like bats and rodents. Homer in The Oyssey describes the dead as squeaking and gibbering. Not enough homage is given to Welsh as the real origin of many British words and phrases.

    2. I think it's highly likely that "mom" and "dad" are Brythonic vestiges, and probably other family ties as well.