This is the supposed origin story of witches. I read about it the other day and found it fascinating. Apparently, until the 1500s, the job of brewing beer was a woman’s job.
Beer has been drunk for something like 7,000 years, and as it used grains and was part of a normal diet, the fermentation was a normal household chores. Some women took their skill to the markets – they’d wear tall pointy hats and be standing in front of large cauldrons (sounding witchy!). The hats were so they could easily be seen and the cauldrons were what they brewed the beer in. They also had cats to keep the mice from eating their grain.
As women began to establish a hold on the beer industry, Reformation (which preached strict gender norms and condemned witchcraft) took hold.
Male brewers grabbed the opportunity to oust the women. They began to accuse the women of being witches and brewing potions, not beer. The rumours spread and it became dangerous for women to brew beer. Some men didn’t really believe the rumours they spread, but most did believe they should be at home caring for the menfolk and raising the children.
Of course, the punishment for being a witch was death, so women left the industry and it’s still dominated by men today.
What do you think, the origin of witches?
May 6, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Ooooo WOW well that explains it! Men ruining female led businesses!
May 7, 2021 at 3:01 pm
I wonder why the brew from women was a potion but the brew from men was beer?
May 7, 2021 at 9:27 pm
Haha male domination! Simple as that!
May 7, 2021 at 12:33 am
I had never heard this particular story but it makes sense to me. The same thing happened with women who were midwives and healers…they were also accused of witchcraft, and men took over this area as well. Just about any time a woman demonstrated any financial success or independence, you can bet there was a man ready to accuse her of witchcraft, often for his own gain. Ugh.
Deb
May 7, 2021 at 3:02 pm
There does seem to be a history of this happening when there was financial gain – probably why it never happened with housework of child rearing!
May 7, 2021 at 6:08 am
That’s a new one on me…
May 7, 2021 at 3:03 pm
It was new to me as well and I wonder why I’d never heard it before.
May 7, 2021 at 8:18 am
I have never heard this before. Fascinating!
May 7, 2021 at 3:03 pm
I thought it was fascinating as well!
May 7, 2021 at 11:03 am
That sounds like a familiar story. Women do the work. It’s profile rises. Suddenly, doing that work is worth more than it was, so women are ousted so the men can take the glory. See: the early motion picture industry (among other examples).
May 7, 2021 at 3:04 pm
And it seems to have worked every time…
May 8, 2021 at 12:45 pm
I have no doubts of this version, as far as it goes. There is probably a lot that got left out and even though I am an old fart, I am not that old.
I consider beer to be the base of civilization. Without it we would still be hunters and cavilers.Beer let city folk bypass the bad water. Before it built cities it was a miracle cure. That is where brewers became called witches, both male and female.
May 9, 2021 at 7:36 am
It wouldn’t surprise me if there was more to the story, but this is the version I read (and I didn’t go hunting for me, to be honest). I’ve never thought of beer like that before – I’m sure there are many who would agree beer is a miracle cure 😉