During the 16th and 17th centuries, accusations of ‘bewitching’ would cause fear to ripple through agricultural communities in Scotland and England. Women, and some men, were feared for their alleged ‘supernatural’ abilities to cause harm to crops, food sources, animals and people.

It’s clear they were not guilty of the crimes they were accused of, and in many instances, condemned for. They were manipulated by hierarchical systems that wanted to control women and the poorer classes, perhaps to suit the consumer capitalist narrative that was beginning to emerge. To capitalise on the poor by removing them from their traditional ways of living.

The women accused, were mostly uneducated, but what they would have lacked in formal literacy skills they made up for in powerful intuition and deep observational awareness. This was driven by strong ancestral ties and connection to the earth – land, nature, seasons, weather and landscapes. Connections that we are only just beginning to remember.

This gave these women a power that ‘higher levels’ of society feared and used as a weapon to victimise. They were in a catch 22 situation; the knowledge, which was in their blood, was their means of earning a meagre living and keeping their families alive, but it was also the means of their demise.

These patterns of power play have continued across centuries and are still failing women today. The Healthcare Rebellion (2027) will examine how these structures connect through time, to a web of inequality and misrepresentation.