Autumn is the season of the witch, and it brings with it a shift in our rhythms. As the light wanes, the air turns misty and life invites us to go inwards, this season is about gathering – harvesting, gaining wisdom and reconnecting with ourselves.
For many secretly magical women, this season also stirs something within: a deeper desire to step onto the path of healing. However, as we contemplate this, a question often arises. Where do I start?
The truth is, each of us holds a unique healing style. Within us, we each carry individual archetypal energies that shape the way we live our lives. Discovering these energies can be both fun and illuminating, because it shows us how to honour the witch within.
This playful self-enquiry is a way to discover which witch you most resonate with right now, and to receive one simple ritual to begin working with her remedy this autumn, for self-discovery and healing reclamation.
What is archetypal energy medicine?
In the Archetypal Apothecary path, I work with archetypal remedies – energy medicines that aren’t taken as pills or potions, but serve as mirrors to reflect parts of ourselves that we have lost due to shame or fear. Drawn from the natural world – from plants, animals, minerals, and even the moon – these archetypes reveal both our shadows and our gifts, offering us the opportunity to reclaim the gold that has been lost of ourselves in wounding.
We’ve spent so long outsourcing our healing, and yet, our inner healer-witch is actually within, if we are willing to work with these remedies on an inward journey. Real healing begins with the ancient law of ‘like cures like’. This universal principle teaches us that what wounds us also heals us. When we meet our patterns in their archetypal form, whether working with symbols of plant, fire, animal or moon – we not only see ourselves more clearly, but also glimpse the medicine hidden within.
We all hold aspects of each witch, but one will often feel most alive in a given season of our lives. So, I wonder – which witch are you, right now?
The four archetypal witches and their remedies
Each witch archetype has shadow signs, representing the wounded state, and gold essence, which reveals the gifts that can be reclaimed.
THE PLANT WITCH: Sensitive and attuned
The plant witch feels everything. She is naturally empathic, open, and attuned to the subtle whispers of life. Her gift is deep sensitivity – yet, in shadow, she can feel flooded by the emotions of others, losing her boundaries and sense of self.
Shadow signs
- Over-absorbing feelings
- Exhaustion from holding others
- Shame about being ‘too sensitive’ or ‘too much’.
Gold essence
- Heart-led compassion
- Tenderness and self-love directed within
- Intuitive healing presence - sensitivity becomes medicine for others
Ritual to connect to your inner plant witch: Brew a simple herbal tea with rose petals. As you sip, place one hand on your heart and ask ‘what do I truly feel?’ Let the rose remind you that sensitivity is a gift when rooted in self-love.
THE FIRE WITCH: Radiant and driven
The fire witch burns brightly. She is visionary, passionate and capable of inspiring others with her fire-lit torch light. Her challenge is that she often gives too much of herself – burning out, overextending and scattering her flame in all directions.
Shadow signs
- Overwork
- Constant pushing and striving
- Burning out, feeling drained despite outer ‘success’
Gold essence
- Embodied passion - led from soul, not ‘should’
- Magnetic creativity
- Inspired leadership
Ritual to connect to your inner fire witch: Light a single candle and gaze into its flame. Contemplate where your soul wants you to focus this season. As you breathe, draw the fire energy back into your body and whisper, ‘I focus my fire where it truly matters’. Say ‘no’ to all that isn’t that.
THE ANIMAL WITCH: Wild and instinctual
The animal witch carries raw instinct. She is wild at heart, connected to the rhythms of the earth and her own body. Yet in shadow, she feels tamed, trapped, or cut off from her instincts and domesticated by conditioning.
Shadow signs
- Feeling caged and restless
- Disconnected from her wild heart’s desire
- Trapped in roles or rules that aren’t aligned
Gold essence
- Fierce love - she can say ‘no’ whilst remaining loving
- Authentic, truthful self-expression
- Embodied wildness
Ritual to connect with your inner animal witch: Take a barefoot walk in nature, following your belly button. Feel the ground beneath your feet, let your senses awaken, and move as your body longs to. Ask yourself: ‘what does my wild heart desire?’ and capture all that is revealed from this enquiry.
THE MOON WITCH: Mystical and wise
The moon witch holds deeply feminine intuition and magic. She dreams, divines and channels wisdom from the unseen and the mystery. Her shadow is doubt – the fear that her magic isn’t real, or that she’ll be judged for it. She hides, questioning her own gifts.
Shadow signs
- Self-doubt
- Fear of being seen and judged as a ‘lunatic’
- Holding back her (magical) truth
Gold essence
- Profound wisdom and knowing
- Luminous presence in the darkness of life – she’s comfortable in the darkness
- Creatrix of feminine magic in the mystery
Ritual to connect with your inner moon witch: Sit beneath the full moon with a journal. Ask, ‘what wisdom is rising within me now that wants to be seen?’ Write without censoring, letting lunar light illuminate your truth.
A self-enquiry mini-quiz
I invite you to take a moment to reflect on the themes of each witch and her archetypal remedy.
- Do you feel most at home in your heart, your fire, your body or your dreams?
- When life feels hard, do you tend to over-feel, over-do, over-contain or over-doubt?
- Which ritual calls to you most – drinking rose tea, candle flame gazing, taking a barefoot walk or moonlit journalling?
Whichever resonates most (or even whichever you resist most, given that what wounds us cures us!) is likely your current witch’s remedy. Trust the pull: it’s your soul revealing where healing is most alive for you now.
Remember, you may hold a little of each witch remedy, but one will speak louder at different times in your journey. Working with any of these remedies is the beginning of honouring your inner magic and reclaiming your healing path.
The beauty of archetypal energy medicine is that it meets you exactly where you are. Your shadows are not flaws, they are invitations. Within them lies the very medicine you are here to embody.
Autumn is a season of returning inwards. As the trees shed their leaves, so too can we shed what is no longer ours to carry. Whichever witch you find yourself resonating with, her remedy is waiting –not outside of you, but within the apothecary of your own soul.
