As the nights grow long and the veil thins between seen and unseen worlds, we find ourselves surrounded by the imagery of witches — black hats, broomsticks, bubbling cauldrons. Halloween has turned them into symbols of mystery and mischief, but beneath the caricature lies a much deeper, older truth. Before “witch” became a word of fear, it was a name for the women who healed , nurtured , and knew . The Wise Women of the Village Long before hospitals or pharmacies, villages re