Witchcraft

The most favourite time of the year for me personally is Halloween. It is such a fun celebration, with all its games and costumes and ‘scary’ films. Child or adult, Halloween is just so much fun! As it is so very near, 31st October, it seemed appropriate to so an article on Witchcraft.

If you are brought up in certain ‘Faith’s’, this is a taboo subject and images of old ugly women bowing to a devil conjure up all sorts of thoughts and teachings. Whilst respecting the teachings of my childhood, I thought I’d do a little research myself on the subject, the real History of Witchcraft and are there any ‘real’ witches today.

We all know the fairy tale stories, whether Disney or Grimm, and there is nearly always a wicked witch trying to hurt the beautiful and innocent princess, out of sheer jealousy, ‘the princess is so pretty.’ In Snow White, the wicked stepmother turns from Queen to wicked witch, poisoning the innocent Snow White with a poisoned red apple, putting the beautiful princess into a deep sleep. Only the kiss from the prince she loves wakes Snow White up and the wicked witch is killed. Snow White is my favourite as it always reminds me of my mother (no, she was not the wicked stepmother!) When I was about 5 years old, I remember holding my mum’s hand and watching Snow White go by in a float with the 7 dwarfs (plus, my mum always gave me red apples to eat, but of course, they were not poisoned, she just knew that I loved Snow White.)

So, what do we actually “know” about Witchcraft? We’ve been raised to believe that ‘witches’ worship the devil, are ugly women and fly in the sky on a broomstick with a ‘familiar’, a black cat. These ‘witches’ are said to do all manner of perverse things = casting hexes and cursing, using all manner of ingredients in a cauldron to perform some kind of ‘black magic.’ Indeed, this belief became so real that women were burnt to death because ‘people’ believed this. What is the truth? One question I have to ask is: “Has anyone ever seen anyone fly in the sky on an actual broomstick?” Can a person ‘really’ turn into a familiar, an animal? And --- has anyone really seen a ‘devil’?

Now, I’m not making fun of these things, some one believes them for some reason, but ‘trying to keep my feet on the ground’ (please excuse the pun), I do try to see the reality. I have personally met “Witches” and they do look like everybody else. They do not wear strange hats or carry ‘strange things’ in their hands, they just live like everybody else. They eat normal food, wear normal clothes and live normal lives. They just have Witchcraft in their lives because they believe it helps them through life, and anything that helps us through life has got to be worth looking into.

So, how old is Witchcraft Itself?

The word itself is over a thousand years old, coming from the Old English words “Wicca” (witch) and “craft” (craft). Even back then, most witches were natural healers who were also called “wise women.” One of the earliest records of a witch is mentioned in the Bible, the first book of Samuel, said to have been written between 931 and 732 BCE. This is the story of the Witch of Endor. Also, in the book of Exodus is the saying: “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Witch hysteria overtook Europe and between the years of 1500 and 1600, up to 80,000 ‘suspected’ witches were put to death, many of them were burnt alive. Germany had the highest rate whilst Ireland had the lowest. We all know well of the “Salem Witch Trials” in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. In Windsor, Connecticut in 1647, many ‘witches’ were also executed, and in Virginia between 1626 and 1730 there were many trials though none of the accused were executed. Eventually, people began to realize the ‘ridiculousness’ of many of these ‘witchcraft’ accusations and laws were passed to protect these ‘wise women.’

These women (and some men too) were ordinary people, like you and me, who had learnt to use herbs as healing. They had learnt “the Old Ways” --- a time before we had the doctors and hospitals that we are lucky enough to have today. With these herbs, and other ‘ingredients’ such as crystals and Tarot cards (for example), they would do spells mainly to help other people.

Today, witches are very much the same, we just live in a different generation. When before, you would have to pick the herbs from the forest, today you can easily buy them on the internet, to be delivered to your front door, sometimes the next day. Today, Witchcraft is an official religion in the United States and Canada.

So, what is Witchcraft today? Gerald Gardner wrote and published a book in 1954 called “Witchcraft Today.” In the forward it says: “I have been told by witches in England: “write and tell people were are not perverts. We are decent people, we only want to be left alone, but there are certain secrets that you mustn’t give away.” So after some arguments as to exactly what I must not reveal, I am permitted to tell much that has never before been made public concerning their beliefs, their rituals and their reasons for what they do; also to emphasize that neither their present beliefs, rituals nor practices are harmful!” It is true, that if you want to know the truth about something, then ask at its source. These are ordinary, everyday people who find that practising Witchcraft helps them in this life. It is true, that witches are generally considered as women but there are many men who have also taken up the craft. I like one comment, from an actual witch herself, who said: “the witch has done another magic trick, by turning from a fright into a figure of inspiration. She might show up in the form of your Wiccan co-worker, or the beloved musician who gives off a sorceress vibe in videos or onstage.” (From Pam Grossman, the author of “Waking the Witch”).

Every person has a reason for choosing their path in life and those who chose Witchcraft are no different. Maybe they find peace within the circle of reading Tarot cards, casting spells and using herbs and crystals. It is a very ‘Earthy’ way of living and anything that comes direct from this Earth can only help us in life. With Halloween so very near, many of us will be dressing up as witches just for the fun of it. How many, though, will be real witches?