Imposter syndrome or witch wound?
On 21 August last year, the anniversary of the Newcastle Witch Trials, on the same date as fifteen women and one man were led to their deaths at the gallows on the Town Moor in 1650, I hosted my own, stand-alone book event. No promoter, publisher or book festival behind me, no interviewer to hold my hand and guide the questioning through safe waters. It was just me, a local café, and notices posted on my social media.
All afternoon, before the event, I could have happily cancelled. I was terrified. Would anyone come? Did I know enough about the history of the witch trials to answer all the questions? Would I fall flat on my face and be found to be a fraud? A classic case of imposter syndrome, something I hear all writers and particularly women writers, suffer from at times, or is it something deeper? Are we talking here about the witch wound?
The silencing of women
There was a time, way back, before the church, capitalism, big pharma, and the patriarchy decided women should be silenced, when women were at the centre of their communities. It was to ‘wise women’ that people turned for help: for knowledge and wisdom, healing, for charms and cures. Then, in came the powers that be, who decided that these women were to be silenced, got rid of, and then came what is known as The Burning Times, when tens of thousands of mainly women, but certainly some men, were brutally murdered on accusations of witchcraft. Women were silenced.
Fear of God and the Devil
Fear of the Devil was just as great as the fear of God, and folk were looking for those to blame for society’s ills. Civil wars were raging, outbreaks of the plague were decimating whole towns and villages and encouraged by the backing of the Puritan church and the patriarchy, fingers were pointed, and those suspected of witchcraft were rooted out. King James VI of Scotland and I of England wrote his book, Daemonologie, a guidebook on how to root out a witch. With the backing of royalty and the church, this movement swept through England and Scotland, and its influence extended throughout Europe.
It didn’t do to be different: be poor, old, single, disabled, or outspoken, to be a woman with a brass neck, one who didn’t conform, one who maybe chose to stay single despite offers of marriage, who maybe didn’t dress demurely. Heaven forbid she should wear a red underskirt or not cover her head! It didn’t do to stand up for yourself, have an opinion, or argue with your husband or the church. Women were to be submissive to men, to be seen and not heard, and if they weren’t, then they would suffer the consequences, and back in the seventeenth century, this could well mean death.
There are literal witch hunts that still happen today in some cultures, and we can all think of examples where women have been silenced or silence themselves, not daring to speak out. My own mother was a classic case in point, who firmly believed that women should be submissive towards men, should be quiet and keep their opinions to themselves, for it was not godly to be brash or loud.
Generational healing and shame left in the dust
I believe that what we now call imposter syndrome, the fear of the judgment of others, is inherited trauma. It is the witch wound. Enough! It is time to draw a line under all of that. It is time to speak our truth. Sisters, let us not be afraid to stick our heads above the parapet, let us not be quiet, or fear that our words will be used against us.
We have access to simple publishing tools and a global audience, and we are the first generation of women to use our voices in this way online. We are finding our tribe and are daring to be different, speaking out against the patriarchy, the bro-billionaires and those who are attempting to control our world. Many of us are writing on platforms such as Substack, where communities of women, mothers, wives, are finding their voices and speaking their truth, whether from the beginnings of motherhood, the frontlines of midlife, or through the menopausal gateway, all with shame left in the dust.
Let’s not waste that privilege on overthinking. We’ve got generational healing to do!
I want to dedicate this piece on International Women’s Day 2026 to those who were hanged on the Town Moor in The Newcastle Witch Trials on 21 August 1650:
- Elizabeth Anderson
- Elizabeth Brown
- Margaret Brown
- Matthew Bulmer
- Jane Copeland
- Katherine Coulter
- Elizabeth Dobson
- Elianor Henderson
- Alice Hume
- Jane Hunter
- Margaret Maddison
- Janet Martin
- Margaret Muffet
- Mary Potts
- Elianor Rogerson
- Ann Watson
