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What is “Witchcraft”? This question is gaining importance to people as we approach the 20th century. To catch up with a constantly changing environment, people should be more aware and open-minded to things, especially to those that are rejected by our old traditional sets of values. We should get to know why does the Old World reject some beliefs by studying the original meanings behind those myths. The more we keep ourselves open to ideas, the more chances we have to explore ourselves and to advance our lives and our society. Each of us is a different individual. Not everybody feels right about the existing “socially-accepted” sets of values. Getting to know more about other alternatives simply gives us more possibilities to choose. Due to centuries of bad press, general impression of Witchcraft is all about evils, Magick, and spells. In fact, it may just be a religion that believes in Gods and the harmonic relationship between humans and the natural environment. This research paper is to redefine, in more accurate words, the truth of one of the oldest religion in the world.
2.0 Methods
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Write My Essay For MeIn this research paper, I have used information from the Internet such as some homepages built by some Coven and believers. I also used books that are mainly about the general structure of the Craft and its religion “Wicca”. I have also had an interview with one of the Witch, Robb Boyle, on the 14th of November 1998. I asked him general ideas and some specific details about the Craft and the religion.
3.0 Results
3.1 Brief historical background of the Witchcraft in the world.
Scholars like anthropologists, archaeologists and historians believe that the practice of “Witchcraft” has been existed for the around 20,000 to 40,000 years (Johnson). In every society, practitioners’ vocations vary, like midwives or herbalists (DiLorenzo). However, fine distinctions of “Witches” were not made. People who believe in nature deities, and possessed fortune-telling or supernatural powers have all been considered as “Witches”. Witchcraft can be found in different kind of culture all over the world, like the Celtic, Greek, African, Egyptian and Asian (Moorey 18-20). The most well known one is the Celtic tradition of the craft. It is because during the classical time, the Witches’ religion and the Celtic religion have inter-influenced each other greatly (Johnson). The ancient history of the craft mainly consists of a large part of persecution and discrimination against the pagans by the public. This was due to the fact when Christianity grew stronger and expanded its political power; it set laws to suppress its “rival”. One of its opposition was Witchcraft. The old Gods now becomes the evil of the new religion (Johnson and Our History).
“In 1755 . . . in a ‘Dictionary of the English Language,’ defined a witch as ‘a woman given to unlawful arts.’ . . . The book ‘Errores’, written in 1450, declared, ‘Witches . . . often make verbal pacts and promises with the Devil . . . ‘. During the ‘Burning Times’ (circa 1400-1700), those accused of witchcraft were hung, drowned or burnt whether they confessed or not . . .by 1700, at least 200,000 women and girls had been killed (DiLorenzo).
Other similar cases of persecution were Pope Innocent VIII who produced the Bulls against the Witches in 1484 and two infamous German monks created their anti-Witchery plan, the Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches Hammer), two years later. The Archbishop of Treves was convinced that the local Witches had caused a severe winter and therefore 120 men and women who were thought to be the troublemakers were burned to death in 1586. Witches were the most convenient scapegoats for every aspect of life. Besides religious reasons, Witches studied a lot and had a broad knowledge of botany, meteorology, anatomy, veterinary science, psychology, astronomy, and primitive physics. What we called “science” now was considered as “magic” in the superstitious population of that time (DiLorenzo). Thus, many Witches were persecuted throughout history. Lists of “Witchcraft craze” happenings in England, Scotland, and France in the medieval time are attached with the paper (see appendix 1). In the late 19th century, as the society was getting more open to ideas, Witches had started to come forward to speak of the truth of their religion. The religion was legalized in the 50’s. Finally, Witches began to enjoy the freedom of religion, which had been existed for quite a long time, as others (Johnson). It was around this very moment, in the 40s, when the Craft was revived and the term “Wicca” has officially become the name of the religion of Witches (Moorey 17).
3.2 Background of the craft in United States
The old religion was slowly pushed back by Christian churches in Europe. Christianity claims Witches were “evil” and the “Satan” worshipped. The concepts of “Satan” and “evil” were actually constructed under the Christians’ point of view (Vogel and Our History). The most well known event in the American history of Witchcraft persecution was the “Salem Trial”. In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, 19 people were executed in 1962. Around twenty people in the town who had suffered from hallucinations, spasm or whose cattle had died blamed those “Witches” for cursing them and putting them in trouble (DiLorenzo). At that time, claiming others as Witches was the easiest way to get rid of an undesired enemy. Those accused were typically vulnerable members of the Puritan community- quarrelsome, gossipy old women or some non-puritan. The Massachusetts legislature resolved that those hang due to the accusation of Witchcraft “may have been illegally tried, convicted and sentenced” in 1957 (Glover). That recognition has come 300 years late. Only after that trial, witch-hunting ended in America. Although large-scale hunting stopped, but discrimination and misconception persists. Recent examples are when KGUN-TV and a local church devastate the Desert Henge Coven and accused coven’s members were performing “Satanic Rituals” in 1990 and Geoffrey Dickins ask the Parliament to ” . . .wipe Witches off the face of the earth” in 1988 (Johnson).
3.3 Definition and Terminology
“Witchcraft” means “Craft of the Wise Ones”(Vogel). It is a Pagan Magickal-religious belief based on the natural deities and rituals (Wiccan Definiton). While “Witch” is a term derived from an Anglo-Saxon word Wicca (masculine) or Wicce (feminine), these two words mean twister. It was pronounced as “wee-cha”. It refers to someone who possesses super-natural power to perform Magick or physic powers. It also applied to those members and followers of the Witches’ religion. Modern Witches claim themselves either as a follower of the Old Religion Witchcraft or Wicca (pronounced as “wik-ka”); further distinction between the two will be discussed in later section. Male Witch is sometimes mistakenly called as “warlock”. This is actually a Scottish word means “traitor” and it is an insult to Witches. A male witch is still called as a Witch (Johnson). “Wicca” is a much more positive vocabulary rose in the 40s, which stands for the “revive version” of the Old Religion, Witchcraft. The word “Wicca” is originated from Indo-European of the “Wic” and “Weik” which means to blend or turn. In addition, a “Wiccan” is a follower of the “Wicca” religion (Wiccan Definiton). The “Book of Shadows” is a Witches’ book of Rituals, spells, and Magickal lore. It is a journal that allows Witches to note down all his/her rituals and spells (Thompson 67-68). A “Coven” is an organization of Witches, like the churches in Christianity while referring to a “Solitary”, means a Witch that worships on his/her own without joining any Coven. Further details about coven will be mentioned in later section. “Charge” is a Magickal act, which saturates a certain object with personal power (Wiccan Definiton). The method that Witches would use to worship the Goddess and the Horned God is called “Ritual”. They request and wish through Magick while they perform Rituals. Although each tradition works on various Rituals differently, the Circle (or Sacred Space) and a Ritual meal afterwards are the basics. They use Rituals to celebrate the close relationship between themselves, the Gods, and the nature (Johnson). The word “Maigick” is used to distinguish between those “magic” which is performed for entertainment purposes and the soul power of Witches (Alaya). “Initiation” is the ceremonial recognition of prospects that becomes Witches. It is the most important Ritual for a Witch. While a “Novice” is an officially accepted student in the Coven, the “prospect” is the one who wants to join the fellowship but has not initiated as yet. “Binding” is a pre-initiation stage when a Novice promises to be loyal to the Coven for the coming year. Novices often wear green cords (Johnson).
3.4 The facts about the Craft
3.4.1 Their ideas and the Nature of the Belief
Witchcraft is a “natural” religion (Vogel). It believes in the harmonic relationship between human beings, the natural environment, and Gods. In fact, Witches believe in the co-existence of a God and a Goddess (Alaya). The Goddess is the Mother of Earth and Nature and rivers are her blood (Boyle). She is the source of everything that exists according to the religion. The moon represents her (The Grimoire). She embodies the fertility of the plant, animal, and human kingdoms. She has the greatest power from May to October, a period that is being called as the “fertile half” of the year (Vogel). She symbolizes changeless and eternity (Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner, Cunningham 12) The God represented by woodlands, the Sun, grain, and the hunt. It was because most prehistoric prey had horns, the God is; therefore, often being called as the “Horned One”. On the contrary, his power is at peak in the “dark half” of the year, from October to May (Vogel). As the religion believes that fertility and balance on both body and soul, they think that the perfect blend of two genders is important for the whole system to work (Johnson). In the eyes of Witches, Gods and Goddess are equally important, although some emphasized on worshipping the Goddess (Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner, Cunning………
