Growing up in Mississippi, we’ve all heard the story of the Witch of Yazoo. And if you’re lucky enough to pass through Yazoo City, finding the grave of the witch is the biggest thrill a 14 year old can have! But for those of you who aren’t familiar with the tale of the Witch of Yazoo, let me cue you in.
According to legend, in 1884, an old woman lived on the Yazoo River, was caught torturing fisherman. The sheriff chased her through the swamps, where they found her half-submerged in quicksand. AS she was sinking to her death, she vowed revenge on Yazoo City. “In 20 years, I will return and burn this town to the ground!!”
Fast forward to 1904- twenty years later, a fire broke out in Yazoo, rapidly spreading throughout the entire city. The Fire of 1904 destroyed over 200 residences and almost every business in town. Witnesses claimed the flames “jumped” through the air, as if driven by some out-of-this-world, supernatural winds, even though weather reports for that area make no mention of high winds for that day. Weird, right?
And so the Legend of the Yazoo Witch began. The long-accepted narrative is that this scorn, evil woman that tortured and killed innocent fisherman along the river, was served her due justice and came back for revenge. The woman’s name is still a mystery; but her legend lives on.
But, what if we have it all wrong?
Let’s think about it…… between 1692 and 1693, 200 people were accused of being witches, inducing mass hysteria across the nation. 19 people were executed, 30 were found guilty, and the livelihoods of all those accused were tarnished for generations. These witches were women who just had the balls to be different from the rest of society, who wanted to think for themselves; experiment with holistic medicines and were just a little different.
And, if you had a vagina back in the day, you never stood a chance!
In fact, centuries later, women in America were STILL fighting for their right to be heard. Hell they couldn’t even vote! The 19th amendment to prohibit the United states from denying a citizen the right to vote on the basis of their sex was first introduced in Congress in 1878; but was not ratified until August 26, 1920!!! 1920!!! That’s 42 Years!!! And still, Mississippi voted against ratifying the 19th Amendment. And, believe it or not- It wasn’t until March 22, 1984 that the Mississippi Legislature finally ratified the 19th Amendment.
So, you see? Women have had a tough go at it….. especially in Mississippi. We were not supposed to be independent, have our own thoughts or live our own best life. And if we dared to do so; we were demonized by society, being labeled as everything from a lesbian to …. you got it…. a witch!!
Knowing all of this, do we still think the lady by the river was a witch that came back from the dead to seek revenge on the entire city? Do we really believe this one little old woman was luring men off the river, torturing and killing them? I mean… if she was a witch, capable of all these things, how the hell did a little quicksand take her down?! And I find it exceptionally peculiar that we don’t even know her name… after all these years.
Hear me out on this…. but I have a theory on the legendary Witch of Yazoo. And I must preface this by saying it is directly inspired by a cult classic movie from the 80s, “I Spit on Your Grave”. If you haven’t seen this movie- I HIGHLY recommend it. Though some of the scenes a horrific and graphic, the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t mess with a strong, independent woman, for we will always come out on top!
Now back to my theory on the Witch of Yazoo….. I think this creature of femininity and strength was probably living her best life on the tranquil banks of the Yazoo River, tending to her herbs and roots, completely free from the reigns of the colonial society in town. The “innocent” fishermen, most likely stumbled upon her humble abode one drunken night and took advantage of her and left without another thought. After all- what’s a woman going to do, right? Well… maybe, just maybe, she gathered herself back together, remembered who the F she is, and made a little trip to town to seek justice. Of course, no one believed her! Of course, she was labeled a witch, hunted down like an animal and they permanently shut her up. God forbid the upstanding menfolk in town have their precious name tarnished at the expense of some trashy woman on the riverbank.
As with any secret, the sins of those men haunted them day and night…. they knew what they had done and lived in fear of God’s vengeance. That why they chained the grave and began to tell the horror story of the Witch of Yazoo. They knew the wise old saying of “whatever happens in dark will come to light”. They knew one day, they would have to pay for what they had done. They lived and died in fear…. and rightfully so… because Karma isn’t a Bitch…. She’s just a badass woman that will always come out on top. Those flames that consumed Yazoo City in 1904 were not manifested by some supernatural evil spirit resurrected from the chained up grave in Glenwood Cemetery. Those flames were to remind us that we will all eventually pay for our sins.
The saddest and most perplexing part of this whole story to me is the fact that we never even knew who this woman was. She has been a legend over a century now. Her gravesite is must-see in the South. She has been the face in a million nightmares. Yet we don’t even know her name; and we will never know her real story….. To instill such fear in an entire community, she must have been a woman of strength (whether she used it for good or bad we will never really know). Yet, they thought so little of her that they didn’t even share her name. Sadly, this is just a clear depiction of how society viewed women during these times.
So I am declaring her the baddest of them all. Mirror mirror on the wall- who’s the baddest bitch of them all. I’m gonna say, “The Witch of Yazoo for we don’t even know who she was but we still fear her all these years later.
So what can we take from the tale of the witch of yazoo? I guess, as a woman, it is to have no fear in being your true self. Just like the witches of Salem and Mississippi’s own witch of yazoo, we must not let society dictate who we are; and we must be so strong that they’ll want to put chains on all our graves!
So for all my fellow white witches out there that loves their roots and herbs and love to dance under a full moon, I raise my broomstick and leave you with a little diddy from my favorite witch of all….
Lessons Learned From The Rainbow 