the witch wound

Healing The Witch Wound (with Tarot Spread)

Woman… wo-man… woe-man… woe to man when woman wakes up and allows herself to feel the witch wound. Woe to any man who does not voluntarily wake up and admit how conditioned he is by patriarchy and what role he has been playing.  Woe to us all if we don’t wake up in time and shake off the shackles of patriarchy.

The witch wound* goes deep and it is in all women. It is the wound inflicted by patriarchy on any woman who dared to trust her own power and intuition. Reading WITCH by Lisa Lister is making me realise just how deep it goes in me and that I had only started to scratch the surface of this ancient wound. For that, I will always be grateful to her even though I have huge reservations for the blame she apportions Christianity in more or less giving birth to patriarchy.

Christianity Was Hijacked

You see, I believe it’s the other way around: patriarchy hijacked Christ’s message and bastardised it almost beyond recognition.

I would say that being a Yeshua-loving Witch… but the fact remains that patriarchy precedes Christianity and that the world leaders of the day had an agenda in marrying the Church to the State… an agenda that had absolutely nothing to do with the gospel or establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Everything else she says I am 100% on board with. I even went to Glastonbury to self-initiate a few years back, just like Lisa (yes, same name even)… but back then I was not fully ready to stand in my power as a woman. There was too much self-hatred going on and there are still layers of that particularly unsavoury onion that I’m busy peeling off… But I’m doing it in a spirit of acceptance today. I’m also doing it trusting and wanting to trust other women, which is what patriarchy has always tried to prevent us from doing. You see, divided we fall… but together we RISE!

Rebuilding Trust

That wedge between you and I… That glance of yours at the picture of me in the sidebar to see if I’m too old to be a threat or if I’m prettier than you… yes, that bullshit we have been fed about our self-worth, that’s not from Spirit… It’s from the Father of Lies, Overlord of Patriarchy.

We build each other up. But we cannot do this until we heal or at least fully accept our own witch wound.

While the witch wound may look slightly different in you than it does in me, the weapon to inflict it is always wielded in service to patriarchy. These wounds come from having been told to not trust our own power and intuition but instead surrender to our patriarchal leaders. If we didn’t submit in the past, we were often violently made to do so. Our souls and bodies carry memories from past lives… For those of us who were abused by the men who were there to protect us in this incarnation, there is an even more acute burden and the scars have a long way to go before they heal…

Now that patriarchy has adverts to make us submit and conform it doesn’t very often have to use violence, at least not here in the West.

Shadow Dreams

Three shadow dreams of significance in the space of the last few days:

  1. Hannibal Lechter becomes my lover (in the guise of Mads Mikkelsen, so no complaints) and I wake up horrified… until the penny drops and a broad smile brightens up my face as I realise that this is about accepting and embracing my shadow self.
  2. I’m getting a reading and ask the reader to clarify the message. She pulls out The Devil and the 5 of Swords and laughs out loud in the dream because of how true the cards feel. I wake up knowing that I’m deep in denial and internally conflicted about something…
  3. I’m thrown into an underground reservoir. It is black and the water is freezing. I detach from my body and watch it float in the water. I wake up knowing that I have been internally conflicted about my own femininity and the right to even grieve the wounds inflicted by others that made me hate myself and my own body. I wake up knowing that I will never forgive the Witch Wound and that the Goddess is totally OK with that. ‘Use that rage,’ she whispers… ‘Use it for the Highest Good!’

And so here we are… and here is the spread I made to help you heal your own witch wound

THE HEAL THE WITCH WOUND TAROT SPREAD

The Witch Wound Tarot Spread
  1. How the witch wound has crippled me
  2. Which area of my life it affected most
  3. How I kept the wound alive through self-destruction
  4. What I must do to heal
  5. What power and/or possibility will open up to me once I heal

SAMPLE READING WITH THE SWEDISH WITCH TAROT

sample reading with the swedish witch tarot
Swedish Witch Tarot

1. How the witch wound has crippled me

Am I surprised to see a Major Arcana card here? No. And I’m even less surprised that The Fool showed up because my entire journey in this life has been affected. My sense of freedom of self-expression has been seriously impinged.

2. Which area of my life has it affected most?

More than anything it has affected my ability to stick with anything for long enough to yield fruit or be of use to anyone. I found it really difficult as a teen and young adult to put in a focused effort because it all felt so pointless.

3. How I kept the wound alive through self-destruction

Oh boy! I just got bitch slapped by the Tarot! This Queen (in her very worst aspect) is how I used my femininity to get what I wanted. I have been a drama queen. You could rightfully accuse me of having been an attention-seeker and a homewrecker. I fuelled myself with wine to numb myself. I compared myself with other women and concerned myself with who was the Queen Bee.

4. What I must do to heal

The Hanged Man is a sign that keeping up the dream work is a clever idea. My shadow demands to be seen and healed now. Until I reach that point of complete acceptance which means I have no more need to judge myself or anyone else, I will feel uncomfortable and unable to move forward… OK, I finally get it. I relax and stop struggling. I will do the work which is in some ways completely effortless and in other ways excruciatingly painful. I’ve come this far so I might as well keep going.

5. What power and/or possibility will open up to me once I heal

Hahahaha! I love the sense of humour of this deck – ending the reading with the most patriarchal card in the pack! Who’s a drama queen now?! It’s all good though. I know I’m called to teach and teach I will.

Please share your own reading in the comments below and give this post a share for all wounded sisters out there!

Check out this massive library with 300+ FREE Tarot Spreads for personal & spiritual development!

love raven liora

Comments 17

  1. You really nailed it Lisa! 🙂 My cards: 5 of Discs (Restriction), 6 of Wands (Success), 10 of Discs (Tradition), Page of Discs (Health), Ace of Wands (Creativity). Pretty telling indeed! 😀 Absolutely the wound was in the sense of poverty, whether I followed the system or not. I see because of this, my success has not been what it ought to have been. Interesting that in my case, following tradition makes the wound deeper and I have known this for years but changing every single thing about the way things are done only to discover I didn’t deconstruct deeply enough amounts to wasted efforts and the constant efforts have affected my health, which the next card clearly tells me to address and I have for years now. My blockage being mostly centered in the sacral chakra, the last card tells me my innate creativity and spark will be revived. Honestly, I

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        Author

        Thanks for sharing, Lisa. Patriarchy has both male and female players. We are all wounded and in need of healing. If you see the wound as coming from ‘women’ rather than from patriarchy itself it may be trickier to heal… An understanding of the current paradigm is needed to shift it, along with an understanding of what it is doing to us as individuals and forgiving other players. <3

  2. Wow thank you Lisa!! I just saw Lisa Lister at the Mind Body Spirit festival, she has such a huge heart & such powerful feminine connection. I loved it! I’ve also just read Light is the new black, how synchronistical!! Love it!

    So I got High Priestess as my witch wound. It made me sob. I’ve been so so lost…..disconnected. The hermit- it affected my ability to connect with myself, my intuition, my guides. Queen of wands- I threw myself into being a “doer”, desperately seeking gratification to fill the void.
    I need Temperance to heal – so peace, self-love, balance, presence, being in the now. And my possibility is the Ace of Wands reversed! Think this means I’ll be able to unblock my connection to source & focus my creative energy in a posite direction?

    Loved this! Just what I needed! Thank you siStar
    Xxxxx

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      Author

      Oh wow, lucky you – Wish I could have been there to meet her too! Thank you so much for sharing your powerful reading (THREE Majors!) and so glad to hear that it was just what you needed. Lots of love to you, siStar! xxxx

  3. I have enjoyed reading your blog today, thank you for sharing your voice. While I was reading comments someone mentioned other great readings so I went to my bookshelf and pulled out books of 2 authors. One is Clarissa Pinkola Estes “Women who run with the wolves” beautiful book; in summary “the wild woman carries with her the bundles for healing; she carries everything a woman needs to be and know. She carries the medicine for all things” and how it was lost it in the time and kept as well through tales, myths….. Other book is series from Jean M. Aulen “The clan of the Cave Bear” with beautiful storytelling of Ayla (female) from Neanderthals time. When I read how Neanderthals used to make a drink from pine tree needles, it gratified me because that was something I learned from my mum today. Isn’t this exciting how lineage of feminine psyche hasn’t been broken just suppressed over such long time? Feels good, she is here, just let her sing. Beautiful spread and powerful post that make me get of the chair and reach my cards and books again. Thanks. Blessings.

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      Author

      Thank you, Mira. I have actually read both books you reference here but a looooong time ago – time for a re-read, at least of Women Who Run with The Wolves which I still have in my collection. Blessings right back atcha!

  4. Dear Lisa, Thank you so for this powerful post, This is so needed by all of us. Your words resonate with me in all aspects. For me my way to heal myself now is just To Be and only doing things that make me feel good, and cause no patriachal stress. Also I try to be quiet, and doing no efforts to reach any goal. In this way I will send out my energy to the world. I begin to awake, my inner power begins to awake. People say to me that I must go to teach, to speek. My inner wisdom is waiting for so long to burst out of me. A whole life I wonder, where comes my inner fear from, to be visible to others, to the world. I am going on my path… your witch wound spread I will post on my instagram account soon. And the books you mention are interesting, I will look for them. Also I love your website! Love and light ✨

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      Author

      Thank you for sharing from the heart, Martine! I’m so glad this post touched you and I look forward to seeing your reading – Please feel free to tag me (@tarotize) on IG when you post it. Thank you also for your kind words about my site 🙂 Love and Blessings, Lisa

      1. Lisa, Your’e Welcome! I did the reading and it is really breath taking, how wonderful the cards are adequate in the spread, Page of Pentacles, Nine of Pentacles, Queen of Chalices, The High Priestess and Six of Athames (using the Green Witch Tarot). I have shared my reading on IG and tagged you (also with #lisafrideborg). Have a nice day, Blessings

  5. Wow Lisa, what a powerful blog today, and it touched on many aspects I am dealing with. Deep wounds are difficult to process, understand and forgive. All we can do, is exactly what we are doing, and throw in a little patience for ourselves during the healing. I’m excited to check out the books you mentioned too.
    bright blessings,
    Di

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      Author

      Thanks, Diana! Do check them out – I’ve enjoyed all three very much (the other two are Light is the New Black and Kick-Ass Angels) for those who didn’t get here via the newsletter. Brightest blessings, L x

  6. I need to get this book don’t I! I will share my spread as soon as I get the chance to do it. Thank you Lisa. You know how timely these thoughts and inspirations are for me x

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      Author
  7. There’s an interesting book by Philip Pullman “The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ” which is basically a novel about what you say: that patriarchy bastardised and usurped Christianity for its own purposes. It’s not meant as historical fact, but it’s a fascinating perspective 🙂

    And yes, you are meant to teach! You do so with every blog post, and when you stand up in front of an audience, you do it beautifully, too. Can’t wait for the book, whatever it is! 🙂

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      Author

      Great book tip, thanks for that Chloe – will definitely check it out! And of course it’s not ‘His-story’ but it may well be channelled Her-story 😀 Thank you for your support and encouragement – It means a lot to me! Blessed be!

      1. Oh I totally see it via the current system (curse) we have had the last 5,000 years or so, and it inspired both sides to have bad behavior. I honestly believe men have been stripped of their power too. There are many expressions of this of course! But yes, I do believe as individuals, male or female, we need to reconnect with empowerment before ANY healing truly takes place and honestly, I think women have been making more progress with that, likely because the wound went deeper due to us being the ones who bear children. Thank you Lisa!!

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