And how Was Your Day

Not your typical blog about Witchcraft

What The Hell Is A Witch And What Is a Pagan?
What Is The difference anyway?
Are Witches Pagans And Pagans Witches?
And If You Are A Witch, Are You Good Or Evil?
How Do I know You Will Not Turn Me Into A Toad If You Feel Like It?

Questions Over Questions

Since Harry Potter came out, a new generation and big boom of newly self-discovered witches followed.

There are The Shamans, The Druids, The Wicca Witches, The Bling-Bling and Glam Witches, The Eclectic Witches, The Free-Flying Witches without a Coven, The Solitary Witches, The Grey Witches, The White and Black Witches, The Hekatean Witches, The Hoodoo and Voodoo Witches, The Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn –

Witches, everywhere you look.

Wow, so much Magick everywhere, yet our world is still in Chaos. Hmmm…

The problem is, that many have not understood, that being a witch means more than doing some Hula Hula at their Magick table, that they found directions for on the internet.

Yeah, they really went all out, spent a fortune on magical supply, because that is a must.

(I admit, I did too in the beginning before discovering that self-made items are much better because they have your Energy in them)

After all, we need an altar to impress. But ask them about how witchcraft came about, most newly self-discovered witches will not be able to answer.

Well??? Is Witchcraft a recognized religion?

YOU BET IT IS !!!!!

The Origin Of Witches

Early witches were people who practiced witchcraft, using magic spells and calling upon spirits for help or to bring about change. Most witches were thought to be pagans doing the Devil’s work. Many, however, were simply natural healers or so-called “wise women” whose choice of profession was misunderstood.

It’s unclear exactly when witches came on the historical scene, but one of the earliest records of a witch is in the Bible in the book of 1 Samuel, thought be written between 931 B.C. and 721 B.C. It tells the story of when King Saul sought the Witch of Endor to summon the dead prophet Samuel’s spirit to help him defeat the Philistine army.

The witch roused Samuel, who then prophesied the death of Saul and his sons. The next day, according to the Bible, Saul’s sons died in battle, and Saul committed suicide.

Other Old Testament verses condemn witches, such as the oft-cited Exodus 22:18, which says, “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Additional Biblical passages caution against divination, chanting, or using witches to contact the dead.

‘Malleus Maleficarum’

Witch hysteria really took hold in Europe during the mid-1400s, when many accused witches confessed, often under torture, to a variety of wicked behaviors. Within a century, witch hunts were common and most of the accused were executed by burning at the stake or hanging. Single women, widows, and other women on the margins of society were especially targeted.

Between the years 1500 and 1660, up to 80,000 suspected witches were put to death in Europe. Around 80 percent of them were women thought to be in cahoots with the Devil and filled with lust. Germany had the highest witchcraft execution rate, while Ireland had the lowest.

The publication of “Malleus Maleficarum”—written by two well-respected German Dominicans in 1486—likely spurred witch mania to go viral. The book, usually translated as “The Hammer of Witches,” was essentially a guide on how to identify, hunt and interrogate witches.

“Malleus Maleficarum” labeled witchcraft as heresy and quickly became the authority for Protestants and Catholics trying to flush out witches living among them. For more than 100 years, the book sold more copies of any other book in Europe except the Bible.

Salem Witch Trials

As witch hysteria decreased in Europe, it grew in the New World, which was reeling from wars between the French and British, a smallpox epidemic, and the ongoing fear of attacks from neighboring Native American tribes. The tense atmosphere was ripe for finding scapegoats. Probably the best-known witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.

The Salem witch trials began when 9-year-old Elizabeth Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began suffering from fits, body contortions, and uncontrolled screaming (today, it is believed that they were poisoned by a fungus that caused spasms and delusions). As more young women began to exhibit symptoms, mass hysteria ensued, and three women were accused of witchcraft: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn, and Tituba, an enslaved woman owned by Parris’s father. Tituba confessed to being a witch and began accusing others of using black magic. On June 10, Bridget Bishop became the first accused witch to be put to death during the Salem Witch Trials when she was hanged at the Salem gallows. Ultimately, around 150 people were accused and 18 were put to death. Women weren’t the only victims of the Salem Witch Trials; six men were also convicted and executed.

Massachusetts wasn’t the first of the 13 colonies to obsess about witches, though. In Windsor, Connecticut in 1647, Alise Young was the first person in America executed for witchcraft. Before Connecticut’s final witch trial took place in 1697, forty-six people were accused of witchcraft in that state, and 11 were put to death for the crime.

In Virginia, people were less frantic about witches. In fact, in Lower Norfolk County in 1655, a law was passed making it a crime to falsely accuse someone of witchcraft. Still, witchcraft was a concern. About two-dozen witch trials (mostly of women) took place in Virginia between 1626 and 1730. None of the accused were executed.

Are Witches Real?

One of the most famous witches in Virginia’s history is Grace Sherwood, whose neighbors alleged she killed their pigs and hexed their cotton. Other accusations followed and Sherwood was brought to trial in 1706.

The court decided to use a controversial water test to determine her guilt or innocence. Sherwood’s arms and legs were bound and she was thrown into a body of water. It was thought if she sank, she was innocent; if she floated, she was guilty. Sherwood didn’t sink and was convicted of being a witch. She wasn’t killed but put in prison and for eight years.

A satirical article (supposedly written by Benjamin Franklin) about a witch trial in New Jersey was published in 1730 in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It brought to light the ridiculousness of some witchcraft accusations. It wasn’t long before witch mania died down in the New World and laws were passed to help protect people from being wrongly accused and convicted.

Book of Shadows

Modern-day witches of the Western World still struggle to shake their historical stereotype. Most practice Wicca, an official religion in the United States and Canada.

Wiccans avoid evil and the appearance of evil at all costs. Their motto is to “harm none,” and they strive to live a peaceful, tolerant, and balanced life in tune with nature and humanity.

Many modern-day witches still perform witchcraft, but there’s seldom anything sinister about it. Their spells and incantations are often derived from their Book of Shadows, a 20th-century collection of wisdom and witchcraft, and can be compared to the act of prayer in other religions. A modern-day witchcraft potion is more likely to be an herbal remedy for the flu instead of a hex to harm someone.

Today’s witchcraft spells are usually used to stop someone from doing evil or harming themselves. Ironically, while it’s probable some historical witches used witchcraft for evil purposes, many may have embraced it for healing or protection against the immorality they were accused of.

But witches—whether actual or accused—still face persecution and death. Several men and women suspected of using witchcraft have been beaten and killed in Papua New Guinea since 2010, including a young mother who was burned alive. Similar episodes of violence against people accused of being witches have occurred in Africa, South America, the Middle East and in immigrant communities in Europe and the United States.

Sources

About Wicca. The Celtic Connection.
Case Study: The European Witch Hunts, c. 1450-1750 and Witch Hunts Today. Gendercide Watch.
The Salem Witch Trials. Oxford Research Encyclopedias.
Witchcraft: Creation of the “evil other.” Susan Moulton, Sonoma State University.
Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia. Encyclopedia of Virginia.
Witchcraft: The Beginnings. University of Chicago.
Witches and Witchcraft: The First Person Executed in the Colonies. State of Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Library Services.
Demonology: The Malleus Maleficarum—Proliferating Witch Hysteria. Mount Holyoke College.
The Persecution of Witches, 21st-Century Style. The New York Times.
Women and Witches: Patterns of Analysis. The University of Chicago Press.

Citation Information

Article Title: History of Witches Author: History.com Editors

Website Name: HISTORY URL: https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/history-of-witches

Access Date: August 16, 2020

Publisher: A&E Television Networks

Last Updated: February 21, 2020

Original Published Date: September 12, 2017 By: HISTORY.COM EDITORS.

This is just to shed a little light on the History of Witches for you.

Now Back To Us God-Fearing Witches & Pagans

There are many of us around the globe – a whole network to be correct. Everyone thinks, that has no clue of witchcraft, that we are these EVIL, SATAN-Worshipping beings, that ride around the full moon night sky on our brooms (besoms), accompanied by Dracula himself and his best friends in form of bats.

I was a school teacher working at a Thai school with an American supervisor when I came out of the broom-closet but ended up getting fired for it.

I asked her if she thinks I am going to come flying in on my besom now, and she really got upset.

The best part was since she always tried to play games to get me fired because of the paranoia of me trying to take her job (which I wouldn’t have wanted in a million years), she was seriously scared to death of me.

Hmmm…maybe I should’ve turned her into that director’s butt-crawling worm that she was or a toad…lol.

Most witches I know, have religiously done their homework, still believe in the Trinity of Almighty Father, Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, but also in the Trinity of Mother, Maiden, Crone, and the Horned God.

They do their daily Praising and Thank You Rituals, (and I do too, but not daily) while I am still diving my way through all the books I have in PDF format. Before you know which path is right for you, you should do all the reading and research you can and then decide, or take from everything you learn and pick out what works for you.

I hear newly self-discovered witches talk about curses, they will put on the guy next door, love rituals to make that desired man fall in love, and – and- and.

THAT is NOT what being a witch is about.

Of Lightworkers And Shadow And Death-Walkers

I belong to many different forums in different spiritual directions and read a lot about ”I am a Light-worker (which in plain English means, I play with fairies and angels and the world is nothing but a sugar cotton field) because they got it wrong.

A Light-worker is always cheery, bubbly, and the typical Mary Poppins Character, while those who have studied serious witchcraft for quite some time, have come across, that indeed they are Shadow and Death-walkers.

Now, why would that be? Are they EVIL or WORSHIP SATAN?

The answer is no. You will find all of us among Teachers, Social and Streetworkers, Animal Rescuers, and any of us dwelling in the dark corners looking for souls to rescue. It is our duty and calling to help those, who got lost in the shadows to help them find their way back into the light.

Depression, Suicidal thoughts, proned people with very heavy and deep emotional problems, etc., are the target for the Shadow and Death-walkers.

That means, we are constantly surrounded by negativity and have to fight ourselves at times to stay positive to do what we are destined to do.

Some of us occasionally get lost in depression ourselves, being surrounded by it constantly. It sure as hell happened to me and luckily I recognized the symptoms and started to immediately raise my vibrations.

There is a lot of beauty in this world, even in the times of COVID 19, but now there is also even more misery that needs a helping hand.

It makes me happy to see, that I have many, many sisters and brothers, who think and feel like I do – some with a lot of knowledge, some just starting out following their calling.

Spellcasting

Do Spells Work?

The answer is, yes, they do work if done correctly. If witchcraft was about doing a little Hula at your altar to win that Million Dollar jackpot in the lottery, you got it wrong. If that would work, we all would be filthy stinking rich. That is NOT what witchcraft is about.

We have to work harder at things it seems because we have to earn them. While the Christians pray to God to solve their problems (and I have mentioned this before), we pray and ask for the strength and wisdom we need to solve our own problems.

We are also constantly tested for our beliefs and personal convictions and have to defend ourselves constantly to those called GOD-FEARING Christians. While some of the Christians have come to term with that we are not coming to church, but perform our on mass at our own altars and really are not doing anything different there than the priest does in church, it satisfies me immensely to see, that they are starting to look at us in a more acceptable way and different light, because they have realized that we are NOT EVIL.

Hell, I do not even believe in the Devil, but I do believe in dark spirits, as I have had my share of experiences with them.

But all negatives can be turned around into positives, if you find that lesson to learn in your experience, turn it around and use it for something helpful like preventing the same to someone else happening. You CAN because you went already through this and know what to do. Now THERE is one of your callings.

Is there Black and White Magic?

The answer is no, there isn’t. There is only Magick, and it is the intention that you use a spell for, that makes it good or bad.

Before getting into serious spell-work, make sure, you know all about CASTING A CIRCLE, CENTERING AND GROUNDING, and your CHAKRAS, as well as your THIRD EYE. MEDITATION before any Ritual also can be very helpful.

These are all factors that are very important to your magical work. Be the best witch you can be, but also always remember, if you cannot take the heat, do not get near the fire. That means, if you have any ill-intended spell or negative Magick you are performing, make sure that you are prepared to take what is coming at you like a boomerang, because we, as witches always pay a price for what we do.

If your spells are meant for negative, be prepared for what might hit you back like a ton of bricks, and that is sometimes 10-fold.

The same goes for the positive. The rewards for doing that kind of work are awesome and beautiful and you will always prosper in your work.

Remember the saying:

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW !!!!!

And your rewards will be great if you sow the right thing !!!!!

Have a witchy and magickal day, Dear Sisters and Brothers and if you liked this blog, please leave a comment.

NAMASTE and HOW WAS YOUR DAY?

Search This Blog