throughout time people across the world told each other Tales of how they came to be of Heroes and monsters romance and tragedy death and rebirth mythology helped shape the ancient world explaining the unexplainable this is mythology Unleashed when one thinks of promin and Halloween figures they could come up with a number of famous examples in addition to ghosts vampires and werewolves there are some who take the forms of haggard old women adorned in pointed black hats and black dresses hunched over a boiling cauldron filled with God knows what or riding the winds upon a broomstick
and capable of casting magic spells witches witches are icons in the realm of scary stories and paranormal Legends appearing in oral Tales of long ago books for children and adults television shows and movies many are shown being powerful and Clairvoyant such as the weird sisters from Shakespeare's Mac Beth some are depicted as being ugly and evil such as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz or the grand High witch from R dolls The Witches others are lovely and benevolent such as hermi Granger from the Harry Potter series or the Owen sisters
from Practical Magic and others such as the Sanderson sisters from Disney's Hocus Pocus or witch hazel from Looney Tunes are shown in a more comical light with how diverse they are portrayed with noticeable overlapping similarities certain questions arise just what exactly is a witch where did the legends of witches and Witchcraft originate from and how and when did they become so ingrained in our popular culture namely Halloween and the horror aspect witches and witch likee figures have featured in mythology for thousands of years perhaps for as long as civil ization itself sometimes they are descended
from the gods or empowered by them in other times they are very much human but walk the fine line that separates the mortal and Immortal worlds and they are often though not always women in Greek mythology there was Meda the beautiful princess of culus and devout Priestess of Hecate the goddess of of magic and ghosts she was capable of many magical abilities including Charming wild beasts and monsters and brewing potions and ointments that could either strengthen or weaken those who used them with her powers she aided the hero Jason in his quest for the Golden
Fleece and later became his wife but when he betrayed her for another woman she exact Ed a horrible Revenge another beautiful Greek sorceress was Cersei daughter of the sun god Helios who lived on a remote island in the Mediterranean Sea where she lured Wayward Sailors to her home and turned them into animals including the men who sailed with odyusa and Legend had Morgan Lefay an enchantress with ties to Avalon and magical ability to rival or even surpass that of the wizard Merlin depending on who was telling the story Morgan Lefay could be a benevolent yet
mysterious Miracle Worker King Arthur's most dangerous adversary or simply an ambiguous figure in the Old Testament of the Bible in 1 Samuel King Saul sought out the witch of Endor prior to a battle with the Philistines who performed an act of necromancy by summoning the deceased Spirit of the prophet Samuel Slavic mythology had Baba Yaga who was portrayed as a hideous old Crone capable of Elemental Magic and changing Fates who lived in a cottage that stood on chicken legs she would travel the countryside in a giant mortar Bowl searching for children and fools TOS to
eat Navajo mythology tells of the Skin Walkers once spiritual people who had corrupted their Mystic teachings for greed and Vengeance and gained the powers to shapeshift into animals spread illness and death and even possess those unfortunate enough to lock eyes with them Grim's fairy tales such as Rapunzel and Hansel and gredle feature which is exclusively in evil roles as old Crohns Who hide themselves away from society steal children with the intent to exploit or even eat them so many vastly different figures are referred to his witches and yet they all share certain aspects they were
all depicted as powerful miracle workers living on the outskirts of society sought out or stumbled upon by by protagonists capable of both invaluable Aid and utter Devastation many of these stories and subsequent Tales of witches are believed to have developed from real life respected figures of priests and priestesses oracles Wise Women and healers who were often in service to mysterious and Powerful gods and goddesses namely those associated with feminine power such as inana Isis or Hera just to name a few as time would go on and abramic Fates would take prominence over Europe in the
Middle East religions featuring goddesses and female deities waned more and more and lingering aspects of the old ways were treated with great suspicion even fear the Christian Church would declare that all non-Christian forms of worship and worship of forces of nature were considered demonic perhaps due to irrational fear of the unknown and of different ways or socially and religiously ingrained misogyny towards women namely strong and Wise Women by the Middle Ages in Europe witches were seen as the ultimate embodiment of evil to the Church consorts of the Devil Himself dabbling in the dark arts seducing
the weak into their thalls and committing sins of occultism NeverEnding promiscuity Human Sacrifice kidnapping infanticide and even cannibalism by the 1400s when religious tension societal paranoia and economic upheaval were at an all-time high in Europe accusations of heresy and devil warship ran rampant leading to one of the darkest and bloodiest periods in human history an age of persecution during this time we gained the seeds of how witches have been popularly depicted dark clothing and pointed hats hideous features living in decrepit abodes far from Villages and cities Brewing God knows what in cauldrons flying through the
air on broomsticks and pitchforks and having familiars such as black cats the hysteria of wi persecution was further fueled by the publication of the book malus malarum or the hammer of witches written by prominent German Dominicans Hinrich Kramer and James spranger in 1468 the malas malarum initially published in Germany went on to be printed in hundreds of copies across Europe and England and had a significant impact on witch trials in Europe for the next 200 years essentially acting as a guide to recognize pursue and dispose of a witch people at the time often ranked the
fabled content alongside the Bible as one of the most influential and insightful books ever written some signs of a witch among the populace as per the book and various local folklore included having freckles red hair a mole to live away from others talking to oneself or to animals owning a black cat having unique eyes and many more chaos ensued neighbor accused neighbor of being a witch or practicing witchcraft countless accused witches pleaded guilty often under extreme interrogation and torture to a wide range of evil Deeds within a Century's time anyone convicted of Witchcraft was executed
by means of hanging drowning and even burning at the St notably vulnerable groups of women were the single the divorced and the widowed as well as societal outcasts foreigners even natural healers and midwives between the years 1500 and 1660 Europe executed as many as 880,000 people accused of Witchcraft roughly 80% of them being women and each perceived to be lustful devil worshipping members of the underworld one of the largest witch trials in history was The verburg Witch Trials which occurred between 1625 and 1631 in modern day Germany the estimated number of executions within the city
limits was 219 with an additional 900 taking place in locations outside the municipal limits where the prince Bishop had power by the time of the Age of Enlightenment witch hysteria decreased in Europe but across the Atlantic it grew in the new world the fledgling American colonies were suffering from Wars between the French and British an epidemic of smallpox and continuous conflict with Native American people the tense atmosphere was ripe for finding scapegoats perhaps the most famous witch trials in the world took place in Salem Massachusetts in 1692 beginning when 9-year-old Elizabeth Paris and 11-year-old Abigail
Williams began suffering from fits body contortions and uncontrolled screaming nowadays hypothesized to be from fungal poisoning as more young women began to exhibit symptoms Mass hysteria ensued and three women were accused of Witchcraft Sarah good Sarah Osborne and Tiba an enslaved woman Tiba confessed to being a witch and began to accuse others of using black magic on June 10th Bridget Bishop became the first accused witch to be put to death during the Salem witch trials and she was hanged at the Salem Gallows ultimately nearly 150 people were accused of Witchcraft and 18 were put to
death including six men after the witch hysteria of the western world came to an end the witch would go on to be relegated to the Halloween caricature as seen in the works of el Frank bomb and R dah among others she is still seen as a frightening figure but also one that could be comical sometimes wise or even heroic today many modern pagans refer to themselves as witches and their religious practices as witchcraft these practices however are never inherently sinister rather they are performed as a means of protection and healing for themselves and for those
around them many practitioners hold firm that whatever they do will come back to them threefold and so many hold to a peaceful philosophy the history and folklore behind witches has been tumultuous at best from its roots in ancient religions and mythologies witchcraft has always been treated with an air of mysticism that both intrigued and even frightened esotera and lack of understanding coupled with religious and social tensions would lead to one of the darkest and bloodiest times in human history although the details are grim and hard to Fathom for many people we still keep the image
of the enchantress and the witch close to our hearts and culture the people executed long ago were more than likely innocent and were nothing like the famous witches of Mythology and folklore that we have grown to know love and become fascinated with but it all comes back to the ancient ways of life and stories of gods and goddesses who predate Christianity Witchcraft and genuine magic have evolved over time with modern society becoming somewhat more accepting of witches and their unique characteristics so the next time you see the symbol of the witch may you have a
deeper understanding of her presence and her power in Traditions all across the world Double Double Toil and Trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble filet of a fenny snake in The Cauldron boil and bake I ey of noot and toe of frog wool of bat and tongue of dog ater fork and blind worm sting lizard's leg and owlet's wing for a charm of powerful trouble like a hell broth boil and [Music] bubble
