Define Witchcraft: The History of Witchcraft & What It Means Today

Witchcraft has a long winding history and has been defined in vastly different ways over the years. So, how do we define witchcraft today?

Witchcraft has a long and tumultuous history. It’s been around for ages, but the definition of witchcraft has drastically changed over time. It’s not thought of as magic in the way it once was, so how do we define witchcraft now?

Modern witchcraft is becoming a more common practice with the rise in popularity online, but what is modern witchcraft and how does it work?

In this post, I’ll cover how to define witchcraft, the history of witchcraft, witchcraft in the bible, modern witchcraft, how witchcraft works, and how people view witches today.

This post is all about how to define witchcraft!

 

Define Witchcraft

Witchcraft is traditionally thought of as a type of magic or sorcery used to influence people or events. Historically, it’s been thought to be a source of dark magic, involved with the devil.

Today, it’s often associated with the Wiccan religion. We can define witchcraft as a way to cast spells or use divination with a set of tools, chants, or other ritual manners.

Witchcraft was once believed to be a source of evil or supernatural powers within particular people but is now seen as a way for people to practice “magic” with the assistance of the supernatural. Witches often draw upon deities or their own divine energy to perform their magic. It doesn’t take any special abilities to perform witchcraft, it’s something anyone can achieve with a little practice.

 

Related Post: What It Means to Be Wiccan – The Pagan Religion on the Rise

 

The History of Witchcraft

Historically, witches were people who practiced spells or called upon spirits for assistance. Often, witches were considered Pagans who worshiped the devil, but most of them were medicine women whose profession was vastly misunderstood.

 

Witch Hysteria

Witch hysteria became rampant in the mid-1400s in Europe when women tried for witchcraft confessed to heinous crimes, often under the punishment of torture. Within a century, witch hunts became commonplace, causing women to be executed by hanging or being burnt at the stake. The most targeted were women on society’s outskirts, such as single women and widows. Around 80,000 people were executed between 1500 and 1660.

 

The Salem Witch Trials

As hysteria settled in Europe, it rose in America. The Salem witch trials took place in 1692. They began when two young girls suffered from bodily fits and contortions, accompanied by uncontrollable screaming. It’s now believed these symptoms were caused by the ingestion of a poisonous mushroom. As more women began to display symptoms, three were accused of witchcraft. One enslaved woman finally confessed and even accused others as well. Ultimately, 150 people were accused and 18 of them were put to death, 6 of which were men.

Salem wasn’t the only place to suffer the hysterics, as 46 people were accused in Connecticut, 11 of which were killed.

Despite making it a crime to falsely accuse someone of witchcraft, Virginia held about two dozen witch trials. Luckily, none of the accused were put to death.

 

Trial by Water

One of the most famous witches from Virginia was Grace Sherwood, who was accused of killing her neighbour’s pigs and hexing their cotton. Brought to trial in 1706, she was tried by having her arms and legs bound and being tossed into a body of water. It was determined, if she sank, she was innocent, but if she floated she was guilty. Unfortunately, she didn’t sink and was sentenced to prison for 8 years but wasn’t killed.

 

Witchcraft in the Bible

According to the bible, witchcraft is a sin and an abomination. The church’s stance on witchcraft is highly to blame for its association with the devil.

Exodus 12:18 states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Other passages state witches should be stoned or put to death, deeming them immoral or impure. The Bible also warns against divination or contacting the dead, saying anyone who seeks these out will be defiled by them.

Pagans and witches were defined as such to separate them from the church, othering those who didn’t hold Christian beliefs. This fearmongering ultimately lead to the desolation of the thousands of lives lost to suspected witchcraft.

 

Modern Witchcraft

The most common association with modern witchcraft is the Wiccan religion. Wiccan’s live by the motto, “If it harms none, do what you will.”  Wiccans are peaceful people, who live in harmony with nature and the cycles of life.

Modern witchcraft most often consists of spells such as repeating a chant or mantra, charming a piece of jewelry by placing an intention into it, writing something on a piece of paper and burning it in a cleansing ritual, or mixing a herbal remedy. Witches often enjoy the level of intention this adds to their life and their day-to-day actions.

Some witches may take it a step further and perform more elaborate rituals, sometimes along with a coven of witches. This can look like wearing robes, performing chants, lighting candles, and often holds a much larger intention for the spell, such as banishing a person or entity or attracting a desire or manifestation.

Sometimes crystals, herbs, or wands are used as tools. Materials can be placed in spell jars which are kept or buried depending on their purpose. Some witches may use bones, feathers, or other animal parts they’ve found or ethically sourced in their rituals, while others stray from these practices.

 

How Does Witchcraft Work?

If you’re not familiar with spiritual laws such as the law of attraction, you may be wondering if witchcraft even works. As far-fetched as it may sound witchcraft is a real practice, but it’s not magic in the way you may think.

The law of attraction dictates that like attracts like. If you embody the energy of what you’re trying to attract you can attract it right to you!

Ultimately, everything is made up of energy, and like energy is attracted to like energy. Our thoughts have the power to shift our energy depending on what we focus on. The law of attraction can be used with only your thoughts and no use of witchcraft, but the ritual use of witchcraft adds more power and intention to your desires making them more likely to manifest.

Certain herbs and crystals hold specific intentions and can aid in your manifestation when used correctly. The point is to add enough energy into your manifestation that you feel as if it’s already happened. If you believe you already have the desire you seek, you can manifest anything!

 

Related Post: The Law of Attraction Meaning & Methods

 

How Do People View Witches Today?

Despite witchcraft and Wicca being on the rise, many people still feel apprehensive about witches today. People tend to fear that which they don’t understand and witchcraft is just that. It’s a way of relating to the world and connecting to one’s spirituality that many people may not understand, but that doesn’t make it bad or something to fear.

Ultimately, Christianity’s outlook on witchcraft still affects people’s views on it in many ways, believing it to be something evil or connected to the devil. Though it may have made sense for people to hold those views thousands of years ago, we now know witches are just ordinary people like any other. They just hold a worldview that may be different from yours, however, that does not make it wrong.

Witches are just people, like me and you, who have a great understanding of energy and the connectedness of all things. They use their knowledge of the universe and their connection with nature to perform magic, spells, and divination, and as unbelievable as those ideas may sound at first, they’re not as out there as they seem.

 

As you can see, witchcraft holds a precarious past. Historically, witches were deemed abominations and executed for crimes they didn’t commit. Today, there’s still some apprehension towards witches, but they’re just people like you and me, with a vast understanding of the universe and the interconnectedness of all things.

 

Post by Morgan Peters

 

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Sources:

Russell, Jeffery  Burton. “Witchcraft.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 21 June 2023, www.britannica.com/topic/witchcraft.