This post spotlights on one of my most favorite mythological
creatures (some may feel offended by my reference of a witch as a mythological
creature, but hold on there is more to this post). Yes, I read the Harry Potter series and loved
every word of them. Witches are often
portrayed as humans with supernatural abilities. Their differences from humans are defined in
terms of the magic they wield.
The first portion will just focus on the history and
mythological portion of Witches and Witchcraft.
I will touch briefly on Wicca, which came up in my research on witches,
but should be explained separately.
What does the
dictionary have to say?
Witch [wich]
Noun
1. A person, now
especially a woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic, especially
black magic or the black art; sorcer(ess).
2. An ugly or mean
old woman; hag.
3. A person who uses
a divining rod; dowser.
Source:
Dictionary.com
Origins of Witches:
So where or when did Witches crop up? Hard to say really, but if we take what
people considered witches ‘back in the day’ then some people say that
witchcraft and witches cropped up in ancient cities. Many examples appear in ancient texts, such
as those from Egypt and Babylonia.:
The creation story from Babylonia (Enuma Elish) has many examples of half-dragon and half-human
creatures who gaurrded thier magical garden in the underworld.
None of the earlier accounts of witches or witchcraft is
good and is almost always a pact between a female and the devil.
Historians see European witchcraft as an ideology for
explaining misfortune; however, this ideology manifested in diverse ways.
Reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:
1. A person caught in the act of positive or negative
sorcery
2. A well-meaning
sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust
3. A person did
nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbors
4. A person was reputed
to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs
Éva Pócs in turn identifies three varieties of witch in
popular belief:
•The "neighborhood witch" or "social
witch": a witch who curses a neighbor following some conflict.
•The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch:
either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has
increased her fortune through magic to the perceived detriment of a neighboring
household; due to neighborly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive
and negative magic, such individuals can become labeled as witches.
•The "supernatural" or "night" witch:
portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams
Death to Witches!
All that bad press back in the day paired with enough misfortune
to make the most optimistic person a pessimist turned into mobs of people. People want explanations for why things are
bad or why inexplicable things happen.
They need someone to blame and boom – ‘withces’ are being burned. Not the only ones but probably one of the
most popular if not the most popular were the Salem Witch Trials.
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and
prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts, between
February 1692 and May 1693. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch
trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns
across the province: Salem Village (now Danvers), Ipswich, Andover and Salem
Town.
All this bad?
Just like Vampires and Werewolves who have been portrayed as
undead blood-sucking ravagers and beasts that killed without reason or regard,
respectively, Witches got a bad rep early on.
But with the help of media (now, not then. We have the Salem Witch Trials from the media
of yore) witches range in persona as far ranged as the Wicked Witch of the West
in The Wizard of Oz to the sweet and
innocent Wendy in Wendy Meets Casper. And while the press wasn’t so kind back in
the day, now witches and their like are usually a force of good.
My favorite
movies/television shows about witches (top ten!)
(Each of the links
lead to IMDB database)
10.) The Craft
9.) Practical Magic
6.) Charmed
5.) Hocus Pocus
4.) The Crucible
3.) Bewitched
Wicca (Not to be confused with the above information. We're talking religion here.)
(Didn't wanna mess this one up so I just took it exactly as it appears from the website: www.wicca.org ) I believe knowledge is power so provided a link if you'd like to read more."Wicca is a new religion that emphasizes growth through harmony in diversity, knowledge, wisdom, and exploration."
Yet again here are some great authors that feature witches in their work! Happy Reading!
All info from: wikipedia, wicca.org, about.com, IMDB
State of Unrest will release on August 31, 2012. I'm excited about this release and can't wait to release the other books in the series!
As always you can contact me @
www.astridcielo.com or astridcieloauthor@hotmail.com
Up next: Darkling!
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