https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rauschenberg
https://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/artwork/estate
and you can find MARY LYNN KOTZ' big ( as in epic ) book at archive.org
https://archive.org/details/rauschenbergartl00unse/mode/2up
it is full of wonders
i asked them ... do white witches occur in germanic mythology or folklore ?
Yes — but not in the way modern fantasy uses the term “white witch.”
In historical Germanic mythology and folklore, you don’t find a formal category called “white witches.” However, there are figures associated with benevolent or protective magic.
Here’s how it breaks down:
In Old Norse sources like the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, magic is described mainly through:
A form of sorcery associated with prophecy, fate-weaving, and spiritual influence.
Strongly associated with the goddess Freyja
Also practiced by Odin
Practitioners were called völur (seeresses)
Seiðr wasn’t labeled “good” or “evil.” It could be:
Protective
Prophetic
Manipulative
Harmful
Morality depended on context — not on a “white vs black” distinction.
The völva (plural: völur) were traveling prophetesses who:
Foretold the future
Performed ritual magic
Advised kings and warriors
They were often respected and even feared — but not considered inherently evil. If you’re looking for something closest to a “white witch,” this would be it.
In later medieval and early modern folklore (especially in rural Germany and Scandinavia), you find:
Healers
Herbalists
Charm-makers
Midwives
Protective magic practitioners
These women were sometimes seen as beneficial members of the community. In German-speaking areas, they might be called:
weise Frau (wise woman)
Hexe (witch — though this term became negative during witch hunts)
But again — no formal “white witch” category existed. That moral distinction (white vs black magic) developed later under Christian influence.
By the time of the witch trials (15th–17th centuries), influenced by texts like the Malleus Maleficarum, witches were generally portrayed negatively.
Earlier Germanic belief, however, had more ambiguity:
Magic was powerful
It could protect or harm
It wasn’t automatically “satanic”
The idea of a clearly “good witch” vs “evil witch” is largely:
A post-medieval Christian moral framework
Popularized further in modern fantasy literature
Reinforced by 19th–20th century occult revival movements
It’s not a native Germanic mythological category.
Were “white witches” mentioned?
No — not as a formal category.
Were benevolent magical women present?
Yes:
Völur (seeresses)
Wise women / healers
Folk charmers
Germanic tradition saw magic as morally neutral power — not divided cleanly into white vs black.
If you’d like, I can also compare this to Celtic folklore or Slavic traditions — they handle “good witches” a bit differently.
Great — let’s compare Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic traditions and how each treated benevolent magical women (what we might loosely call “white witches”).
Core idea: Magic = morally neutral power.
Freyja – Taught seiðr (sorcery).
Odin – Practiced ecstatic magic and rune wisdom.
Völur (seeresses) – Prophets and ritual specialists.
Magic could heal, bless, curse, foretell.
No formal “white vs black” distinction.
Social suspicion existed (especially toward male practitioners).
Later Christian influence reinterpreted magic as demonic.
Closest equivalent to a “white witch”:
Wise woman / völva who performed healing and prophecy.
Core idea: The supernatural world is interwoven with everyday life.
Celtic lore preserves more explicitly positive magical women.
Literally “woman of knowledge.”
Healer, herbalist, diviner.
Community-respected figure.
Often seen as a continuation of pre-Christian druidic roles.
Bean Sídhe
Not evil — a supernatural herald of death.
Shows how female supernatural power wasn’t automatically malicious.
Morgan le Fay
Sometimes healer and priestess.
Later portrayed as villain under Christianized retellings.
Celtic tradition preserved:
Sacred feminine magic
Fairy women with ambiguous but not purely evil roles
Strong association between land, sovereignty, and magical women
Closest equivalent to “white witch”:
Bean feasa / fairy healer attached to the Otherworld.
Core idea: Magic is embedded in village life and nature spirits.
Slavic folklore has a clearer split between benevolent and dangerous practitioners.
Baba Yaga
Wild forest witch.
Can help or destroy.
Tests the worthy.
Represents liminal wisdom.
Folk healer.
Charm-worker.
Protector against curses.
Often tolerated or respected in rural communities.
Slavic belief preserved:
Clear fear of harmful witches.
But also practical acceptance of protective magic.
Closest equivalent to “white witch”:
Village healer / charm-woman protecting against curses.
| Tradition | Moral View of Magic | “White Witch” Equivalent | Social Attitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germanic | Neutral power | Völva / wise woman | Respected but feared |
| Celtic | Sacred feminine + Otherworld | Bean feasa | Often respected |
| Slavic | Practical folk magic | Znakharka | Accepted but cautious |
Christianization timelines differed
Germanic areas saw strong demonization during witch hunts.
Celtic regions preserved fairy lore longer.
Slavic villages retained folk healers deep into the modern era.
Myth structure
Norse myth emphasizes fate and cosmic order.
Celtic myth emphasizes liminality and the Otherworld.
Slavic myth emphasizes household and forest spirits.
None of these traditions had a formal “white witch” category.
But all three preserved:
Benevolent female magical practitioners
Healing magic
Prophetic or protective roles
The strict “white vs black witch” division is mostly a later Christian and modern occult framing layered onto much older, morally complex traditions.
If you’d like, I can also trace how the modern fantasy “White Witch” archetype (like in The Chronicles of Narnia) evolved from these older traditions.
Great — because this is where folklore, Christianity, and modern fantasy all collide.
The modern “White Witch” archetype is actually a blend of:
Pre-Christian European magic traditions
Medieval Christian demonology
19th–20th century occult revival
Modern fantasy literature
Let’s trace how it evolved.
In Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic traditions, magical women were:
Healers
Seeresses
Fate-workers
Liminal beings connected to nature
Examples:
Freyja – teacher of seiðr magic
The völur of Norse tradition
The Irish Bean Sídhe
Baba Yaga
Important:
These figures were powerful — but not morally sorted into “good” or “evil.” They were dangerous because they were connected to fate, death, wilderness, or the Otherworld.
No “white witch” yet — just powerful women.
When Christianity spread through Europe, magic was reclassified.
Influential texts like the Malleus Maleficarum helped define witches as:
Servants of the Devil
Heretical
Malevolent
This is where the binary hardens:
Godly power = holy miracle
Folk magic = demonic
But interestingly, in folk belief, people still quietly consulted healers and charmers. So unofficially, a divide formed:
Harmful witch
Cunning woman / healer
This is the ancestor of the “black vs white” split.
In fairy tales (18th–19th century collections), witches start to appear in two modes:
Cannibalistic
Forest-dwelling
Jealous
Example: Grimm fairy tales
Fairy godmother type
Helper figure
Sometimes disguised as old crone
Writers like the Brothers Grimm preserved both strands.
Now we’re getting closer to narrative archetypes:
Dark witch
Benevolent enchantress
But the term “White Witch” still isn’t standard.
In the 1800s–1900s, esoteric movements reframed witchcraft.
Romantic nationalism reimagined pre-Christian Europe as mystical and nature-centered.
Then comes modern witchcraft movements like:
Gerald Gardner (Wicca founder)
Wicca explicitly distinguishes:
Harmful magic
Beneficial magic
And promotes the ethic:
“An it harm none, do what ye will.”
Now the “white witch” becomes:
Nature-aligned
Healing
Spiritually positive
Anti-demonic
This is the modern spiritual template.
Modern fantasy makes the split iconic.
In The Chronicles of Narnia, the White Witch (Jadis):
Pale, cold, winter-associated
Tyrannical
Beautiful but cruel
Uses magic as domination
Here “white” refers to snow and cold — not moral goodness.
She is actually an inversion of the “white = good” expectation.
Fantasy also develops explicitly benevolent magical women:
Glinda from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Literally called “the Good Witch”
Radiant, protective, morally pure
Now the binary is complete in popular culture:
White/Good Witch
Dark/Evil Witch
This is a modern storytelling convention, not an ancient one.
By the late 20th century:
White Witch archetype can mean:
Ice queen villain
Nature priestess heroine
Light-magic user
Moral opposite of necromancer/dark sorcerer
The trope is now flexible — but rooted in that Christian-era moral binary.
| Era | Magical Woman Portrayal |
|---|---|
| Pre-Christian | Ambiguous, fate-bound, powerful |
| Medieval Christian | Demonic or heretical |
| Folk tradition | Healer vs harmful witch |
| Occult revival | White (benevolent) witch identity |
| Modern fantasy | Codified archetype |
The “White Witch” is not an ancient Germanic figure.
She is:
A modern synthesis
Built from folklore
Filtered through Christian morality
Refined by fantasy literature
If you'd like, I can also explain how the “Ice Queen / Snow Witch” specifically evolved — that’s a fascinating northern-European myth thread.
