Willow Wicca Words: Wicked Witch of the West

I was looking into the roots of the word willow the other day, when I noticed a strange coincidence. It has the same roots as the welsh word for "Old woman". I thought, well, isn't that interesting, being from welsh ancestry. So here's the break down...

wicker (n.) Look up wicker at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "wickerwork," from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish viger, Middle Swedish viker "willow, willow branch")
, from Proto-Germanic *wik- (source also of Old Norse vikja "to move, turn," Swedish vika "to bend,"
Old English wican "to give way, yield"), from PIE root *weik- (2) "to bend, to wind."
The notion is of pliant twigs. As an adjective, "made of wicker," from c. 1500.

Old English: wicca, wicca
    Middle English: wikke, wicke, wicche
        Scots: wik, wick, wiche, weche
        English: witch
    English (borrowed): Wicca
Old Frisian: (wigila); (wichelie)
Old Saxon: (*wihhileo, *wihileo)
    Middle Low German: (wîchelîe)
Old High German: *wicko, *wihho
    Middle High German: wicker (< change of suffix to -er)

Cornish gwragh
Breton gwrac'h,
Welsh gwrach.
Noun
gwragh f (plural gwraghes)
old woman
witch

Wicked:
c. 1200, extended form of earlier wick "bad, wicked, false" (12c.),
which apparently is an adjectival use of Old English wicca "wizard" (see witch).
Formed as if a past participle, but there is no corresponding verb.
For evolution, compare wretched from wretch. Slang ironic sense of "wonderful" first attested 1920,
in F. Scott Fitzgerald. As an adverb from early 15c. Related: Wickedly.

So... the word "Witch" comes from the word "Bent over", Not the magic wand made from willow branches. Maybe the word "switch", as in a small pliable twig used for punishment, came from these same roots.

From the Welsh legend of Mabon (which is actually a bunch of astrotheology):
"Llew's sacrificial death at Harvest Home also identifies him with John Barleycorn, spirit of the fields. Thus, Llew represents not only the sun's power, but also the sun's life trapped and crystallized in the corn. Often this corn spirit was believed to reside most especially in the last sheaf or shock harvested, which was dressed in fine clothes, or woven into a wicker-like man-shaped form. This effigy was then cut and carried from the field, and usually burned, amidst much rejoicing. So one may see Blodeuwedd and Goronwy in a new guise, not as conspirators who murder their king, but as kindly farmers who harvest the crop which they had planted and so lovingly cared for. And yet, anyone who knows the old ballad of John Barleycorn knows that we have not heard the last of him.

They let him stand till midsummer's day,
Till he looked both pale and wan,
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
And so become a man...

Incidentally, this annual mock sacrifice of a large wicker-work figure (representing the vegetation spirit) may have been the origin of the misconception that Druids made human sacrifices. This charge was first made by Julius Caesar (who may not have had the most unbiased of motives), and has been re-stated many times since. However, as has often been pointed out, the only historians besides Caesar who make this accusation are those who have read Caesar. And in fact, upon reading Caesar's 'Gallic Wars' closely, one discovers that Caesar never claims to have actually witnessed such a sacrifice. Nor does he claim to have talked to anyone else who did. In fact, there is not one single eyewitness account of a human sacrifice performed by Druids in all of history!

Nor is there any archeological evidence to support the charge. If, for example, human sacrifices had been performed at the same ritual sites year after year, there would be physical traces. Yet there is not a scrap. Nor is there any native tradition or history which lends support. In fact, insular tradition seems to point in the opposite direction. The Druid's reverence for life was so strict that they refused to lift a sword to defend themselves when massacred by Roman soldiers on the Isle of Mona. Irish brehon laws forbade a Druid to touch a weapon, and any soul rash enough to unsheathe a sword in the presence of a Druid would be executed for such an outrage!" from: http://www.crystalinks.com/autumne.html

Something to think about. I think I'm going to watch the Movie "Willow" now....

Peace, Love, and unity,
Sustainarchist