Anne Of Green Gables Is A Witch

It’s true, Anne of Green Gables is a witch. I knew it when I was a kid, I knew it. I could feel it as a truth deep in my bones. I’ve been thinking about this a lot since my last blog post about the Spirits of Place. I started to remember who my greatest teachers of the land were and are. I’ve been pondering on who had the most impact on my younger self when it came to spending time with the Spirits of the Land and one romantical name stood out above all the others; Anne, with an ‘e’.

“I went looking for my dreams outside of myself and discovered, it’s not what the world holds for you, it’s what you bring to it.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

As a kid I wanted to be her so badly. I wanted to be her so badly that I started to emulate her. She was a gawky, awkward, redheaded freak, and so was I. She was a witch, and I wanted to be one too. No matter what hardship she faced, she could always escape into the realm of nature, to connect with the Spirits of the Land around her. She could always find solace in those Spirits.

In order to fully step into my own “Anne-ness” I explored the nature around my suburban home. I named the trees, the drainage creek, the overpass where I would hide underneath and listen to the cars drive by. Sometimes pretending the the echoing roar of engines was actually dragons flying above. I would sneak onto the golf course to spend time in what was the most lush and beautiful natural space I had access to. Through her I was able to access magick in the natural world that I might have completely missed with out her.

“Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I’d do. I’d go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I’d look up into the sky—up—up—up—into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I’d just feel a prayer.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Anne was connected to the land, communicated with trees, and found wonder and mystery in everything around her. She would set her intention to accomplish something and she always found success. She knew mysteries of root and leaf and was gifted at the healing arts. Anne encouraged others and more often that not, found she could pull people to her and work for positive change and breaking against the status quo. Does anything sound more witchy than that?

It also leads me to wonder what other literary characters have served as inspiration. What other people, who never would have called themselves witch, were the inspiration to others to find Witchcraft and step into relationship with the Spirits of Place.