Home › Glossary › Letter W

Witch’s Ladder

Folklore
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A cord or rope with knots tied at intervals, each holding a spell, used to bind or release magic, often hidden in walls or hearths.

Detailed Definition
Witch’s Ladder in poetry symbolizes the accumulation of hidden power—each knot a word, a wish, a wound. They appear in domestic and feminist verse as the quiet labor of resistance, where magic is not grand, but knotted, and the ceiling holds the prayers.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Scottish ballads, the witch’s ladder is woven of wool and knots: “One knot for each wish, one knot for each curse”; in Robert Burns’ “The Witches’ Night,” the ladder is hung from the oak to climb to the moon; in Yeats’ “A Vision,” the ladder is the path of the soul ascending through the spheres; in Thomas Hardy’s “The Darkling Thrush,” the ladder is the wire of winter that binds the sky; in Emily Dickinson’s “The Soul selects her own Society,” the ladder is the step that leads inward; in Sylvia Plath’s “The Bee Meeting,” the ladder is the ritual of descent into the hive.
Additional Notes
Witch’s Ladder is a cord or rope with knots tied at intervals, each holding a spell, used to bind or release magic, often hidden in walls or under floors. In folklore, each knot is a wish, a curse, or a memory. In poetry, it symbolizes the accumulation of pain, the weaving of fate, and the silent endurance of women’s labor. Poets use it to explore hidden histories, the weight of unspoken words, and the texture of inherited trauma.
Other Meanings of “Witch’s Ladder”
Also Known As
Witch’s Chain Witch’s Garland
Skip to main content