Document Copyright © 2001 Spiritualitea.com & Sandra Mizumoto Posey, Ph.D., author of Cafe Nation: Coffee Folklore, Magick, & Divination (Santa Monica Press, 2000). This article may be reproduced as long as no changes, additions or deletions are made to the text. All the information in this paragraph must be included on the document whenever it is distributed or reproduced. Special thanks to Laura von Bosau for her significant contributions to this article and to Donna Albino and Denise Dumars for their thoughtful and insightful suggestions

wicca, witchcraft, paganism

Each culture has its own particular body of concepts dealing with magic, religion, benevolent and harmful spirits, and ritual.

Sometimes witchcraft is used to refer, broadly, to the practice of magic, and has a connotation similar to sorcery. Depending on the values of the community, witchcraft in this sense may be regarded with varying degrees of suspicion and hostility, or with ambivalence, being neither intrinsically good nor evil. Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines, though this has become less common, at least in the western world. According to some religious doctrines, all forms of magic are labeled witchcraft, and are either proscribed or treated as superstitious. Such religions consider their own ritual practices to be not at all magical, but rather simply variations of prayer.

Witchcraft is also used to refer, narrowly, to the practice of magic in an exclusively inimical sense. If the community accepts magical practice in general, then there is typically a clear separation between witches (in this sense) and the terms used to describe legitimate practitioners. This use of the term is most often found in accusations against individuals who are suspected of causing harm in the community by way of supernatural means. Belief in witches of this sort have been common among the indigenous populations of the world, including Africa,Asia and the Americas. On occasion such accusations have led to witch hunts.

Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), witchcraft came to be associated with heresy, rising to a fever pitch among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval Early Modern period. Throughout this time, the concept of witchcraft came increasingly to be interpreted as a form of Devil worship. Accusations of witchcraft were frequently combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.

In the modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the Satanic Ritual Abuse hysteria. Such accusations are a counterpart to blood libel of various kinds, which may be found throughout history across the globe.

Recently, witchcraft has taken on a distinctly positive connotation among Wiccans and other Neopagans as the ritual element of their religious beliefs.

A great deal of confusion and conflict has arisen from attempts by one group or another to canonize their particular definition of the term.

Practices typically considered to be witchcraft

Practices to which the witchcraft label have been historically applied are those which influence another person's body or property against his or her will, or which are believed, by the person doing the labeling, to undermine the social or religious order.

Some modern commentators, especially ones, consider the malefic nature of witchcraft to be a Christian projection.

Influencing another person's body or property

The concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against his or her will was clearly present in many cultures before the introduction of monotheism, as there are traditions in both folk magic and religious magic that have the purpose of countering witchcraft or identifying witches from those times. Many examples can be found in ancient texts, such as those from Egypt and Babylonia. Where witchcraft is believed to have the power to influence the body or possessions, witches can become a credible cause for disease, sickness in animals, bad luck, sudden death, impotence and other such misfortunes. Folk magic of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the malevolence aside, or identify the supposed witch so that punishment may be carried out. The folk magic used to identify or protect against witches is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.

There has also existed in popular belief the concept of white witches and white witchcraft, which is strictly benevolent. Many neopagan witches identify with this concept, and profess strong ethical codes that prevent them from attempting magic on someone without that person having requested it or at least given permission.

Witchcraft practices (in the common, malefic sense) are typically forbidden by law where belief in them exists (as well as being hated and feared by the general populace) while folk magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people, even if the orthodox establishment objects to it.

Conjuring the dead

Necromancy, the conjuring of the spirits of the dead, is also regarded as a typical witchcraft practice; the Biblical 'Witch' of Endor is supposed to have performed it, and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Aelfric.

"Yet fares witches to where roads meet, and to heathen burials with their phantom craft and call to them the devil, and he comes to them in the dead man's likeness, as if he from death arises, but she cannot cause that to happen, the dead to arise through her wizardry."

Source: Aelfric's Homilies

 

Spell casting

Probably the most obvious characteristic of a witch is their ability to cast spells. Spells can be cast by many methods, including meditation, burning of candles, chanting or reciting incantations, performing physical rituals and making herbal preparations. Sometimes quite simple and mundane actions can constitute the physical casting of a spell, and it is a common belief amongst modern witches that the intention behind the actions is at least as important as the actions themselves. Methods are many and differ from witch to witch.

Etymology

The origins of the term witch are highly disputed. That the word derives directly from Old English is hard to doubt, but the origins of the Old English words are more problematic. Contraction of witega ('wise man, prophet') is possible. Low German contains wicker (soothsayer). Other possible connections include the Old English wigle (divination), the Proto-Germanic *wikkjaz (necromancer), the Gothic weihs (holy), and the English words victim (in its original meaning for someone killed in a religious ritual) and wicked. Many neo-pagan sources assert that because the root wik- is associated with words meaning "to bend", the original meaning of the word was "one who bends the natural order" (by using magic).

Colloquially, the term witch is applied almost exclusively to women, although in earlier English the term was applied to men too. Most people would call male witches sorcerers, wizards, or warlocks; however, modern self-identified witches and Wiccans continue to use the term witch for all who practice witchcraft.

The characterization of the witch in Europe is not derived from a single source. Popular neopagan beliefs suggest that witches were female shamans who were made into malicious figures by Christian propaganda. This is an oversimplification and presumes that a recognizable folklore figure must derive from a single historical precedent (a female, maligned magic-worker). The familiar witch of folklore and popular superstition is a combination of numerous influences.

The characterization of the witch, rather than being a caricature of a Pagan priestess, developed over time. The advent of Christianity suggests that potential Christians, comfortable with the use of magic as part of their daily lives, expected Christian clergy to work magic of a form superior to the old Pagan way. While Christianity competed with Pagan religion, this concern was paramount, only lessening in importance once Christianity was the dominant religion in most of Europe. In place of the old Pagan magic methodology, the Church placed a Christian methodology involving saints and divine relics — a short step from the old Pagan techniques of amulets and talismans.

Traditional European witchcraft beliefs, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle Witches, commonly involve a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. The witches or wizards addicted to such practices were alleged to adjure Jesus and the sacraments, observe "the witches' sabbath" - performing infernal rites which often took the shape of a parody of the Mass or the offices of the Church - pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness, and in return receive from him preternatural powers.

Down through history, the Catholic Church and European society have not always been obsessed with hunting witches and blaming them for bad occurrences. St. Boniface declared in the eighth century that belief in witches is unchristian. The emperor Charlemagne decreed that the burning of supposed witches was a pagan custom that would be punished by the death penalty. In 820 the Bishop of Lyon and others repudiated the belief that witches could make bad weather, fly in the night, and change their shape. This denial was accepted into Church law until it was reversed in later centuries as the witch-craze gained force. Other rulers such as King Coloman of Hungary declared that witch-hunts should cease because witches do not exist.

The Church did not invent the idea of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force whose practitioners should be put to death. This idea is commonplace in pre-Christian religions and is a logical consequence of belief in magic. According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witch contained many of its elements even before the emergence of Christianity. These can be found in Bacchanalias, especially in the time when they were led by priestess Paculla Annia.

In England, the provision of this curative magic was the job of a witch doctor, also known as a cunning man, white witch, or wise woman. The term "witch doctor" was in use in England before it came to be associated with Africa. Toad doctors were also credited with the ability to undo witchcraft. Other folk magicians had their own purviews. Girdle-measurers specialised in diagnosing ailments caused by fairies, while magical cures for more mundane ailments, such as burns or toothache, could be had from charmers

"In the north of England, the superstition lingers to an almost inconceivable extent. Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil... The witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man, and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham."

Source: Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Such "cunning-folk" did not refer to themselves as witches and objected to the accusation that they were such. Records from the Middle Ages, however, make it appear that it was, quite often, not entirely clear to the populace whether a given practioner of magic was a witch or one of the cunning-folk. In addition, it appears that much of the populace was willing to approach either of these groups for healing magic and divination. When a person was known to be a witch, the populace would still seek to employ their healing skills; however, as was not the case with cunning-folk, members of the general population would also hire witches to curse their enemies. The important distinction is that there are records of the populace reporting alleged witches to the authorities as such, whereas cunning folk were not so incriminated; they were more commonly prosecuted for accusing the innocent or defrauding people of money.

The long-term result of this amalgamation of distinct types of magic-worker into one is the considerable present-day confusion as to what witches actually did, whether they harmed or healed, what role (if any) they had in the community, whether they can be identified with the "witches" of other cultures and even whether they existed as anything other than a projection. Present-day beliefs about the witches of history attribute to them elements of the folklore witch, the charmer, the cunning man or wise woman, the diviner and the astrologer.

Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks, casting spells, and creating fear and local chaos.

Ancient Middle Eastern and Near Eastern beliefs

The belief in witchcraft and its practice seem to have been widespread in the past. Both in ancient Egypt and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part, as existing records plainly show. It will be sufficient to quote a short section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 B.C.). It is there prescribed,

If a man has laid a charge of witchcraft and has not justified it, he upon whom the witchcraft is laid shall go to the holy river; he shall plunge into the holy river and if the holy river overcome him, he who accused him shall take to himself his house.

Witchcraft in India

In the Vedic Age, witches were recognized and called yoginīs (masc.: yogin), and wrongful magic was called abhichāra. One of the four holy Vedas of the Hindus, the Atharva Veda, itself contains semi-magical incantations, chiefly against such sorcerors meaning harm to the Aryan peoples. In modern Hindi, a witch is called chudail or Daayan, and is greatly feared even today as a potential harm by many of the illiterate villagers.

Witchcraft in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible, Old Testament)

In the Bible references to witchcraft are frequent, and the strong condemnations of such practices which we read there do not seem to be based so much upon the supposition of fraud as upon the "abomination" of the magic in itself. (See Deuteronomy 18:11-12; Exodus 22:18, "wizards thou shalt not suffer to live" - A.V. "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".) Many bible scholars have noted that in the original hebrew the word "M'khasephah"(translated in the King James as "witch") means "someone who malevolently uses spoken curses to hurt people", which the modern Wiccan Rede specifically forbids of its practitioners to do. The whole narrative of Saul's visit to the witch of En Dor (I Samuel 28) implies belief in the reality of the witch's evocation of the shade of Samuel. However, the witch responds with shocked surprise at the manifestation, denoting that the witch had actually expected something different -- presumably either nothing real at all or a lying ("familiar") spirit. From Leviticus 20:27: "A man or woman in whom there is a pythonical or divining spirit, dying let them die: they shall stone them: Their blood be upon them", we should naturally infer that the divining spirit was not believed to be a mere imposture.

Witchcraft in the New Testament

The prohibitions of sorcery in the New Testament leave the same impression (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6). Supposing that the belief in witchcraft were held to be an idle superstition, it would be strange that the suggestion should nowhere be made that the evil of these practices only lay in the pretending to the possession of powers which did not really exist.

There is some debate, however, as to whether the word used in Galatians and Revelation, Pharmakeia, is properly translated as "sorcery", as the word was commonly used to describe malicious use of drugs as in poisons, contraceptives, and abortifacients.

Jewish views of witchcraft

Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. According to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods. Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the Rabbis practiced magic themselves. For instance, Rabbi Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (Sanhedrin 65b). Orthodox Jews study Kabbalah, in other words Jewish esoteric mysticism, which contains magical elements. Their practices use terminology very different from witchcraft. Since the Enlightenment, many Jewish people have abandoned belief in the Kabbalah, though it is currently popularized by some Jewish groups, such as Chabad-Lubavitch and Jewish Renewal.

Some Neopagans study and practice forms of magery based on a syncretism between classical Jewish mysticism and modern witchcraft. (See "The Witches Qabalah", in the list of references below.) These practitioners tend to identify with Judeo-Paganism (also known as Jewish Paganism), and/or practice Jewitchery, or Jewish Witchcraft. These individuals and groups either borrow from existing Jewish magical traditions or reconstruct rituals based on Judaism and NeoPaganism. Several references on these subjects include Ellen Cannon Reed's book "The Witches Qabala: The Pagan Path and the Tree of Life", "The Hebrew Goddess", by Raphael Patai, and the forthcoming book "Magickal Judaism: Blending Pagan and Jewish Practice", by Jennifer Hunter.

African witchcraft

Africans have a wide range of views of traditional religions. African Christians typically accept Christian dogma as do their counterparts in Latin America and Asia. The term witch doctor, often attributed to African inyanga, has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches". Combining Roman Catholic beliefs and practices and traditional West African religious beliefs and practices are several syncretic religions in the Americas, including Voudun, Obeah, Candomblé, and Santería.

In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic. The thakathi is usually translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others. The sangoma is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also practices some degree of medicine. The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of witchcraft). The inyanga's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use. Of these three categories the thakatha is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male.

Theories of Neopagan witchcraft

Some neopagans believe that witchcraft should be used for good, and eschew any evil usages and the Rule of Three (Wiccan). Their belief is sometimes very similar to the belief of Christians in prayer, that the Divine will acknowledge and grant answers to a ritual given in a Deity's name.

Some subscribe to the idea that all of reality is at some level interconnected, forming a single universal 'self' or 'oneness', and that by becoming conscious of this connection people can directly influence things around them. This view also implies ethical considerations, for harming another is, at a certain level, harming oneself.

Others believe instead that the power of witchcraft comes about primarily through psychological and psychosomatic effects, rather than any divine or paranormal means.

Many neopagan witches subscribe to a model of three parts of the self, or three aspects of consciousness. Wiccan author Starhawk, in her book Spiral Dance, describes these as the Talking Self (the conscious mind), the Younger Self (the unconscious mind) and the Higher Self (the soul, also called the Divine Self); the unconscious (Younger Self) is non-verbal and does not understand speech, but understands and responds to symbolism. Many similar models exist in the fields of psychology and magic, such as the ego, id and superego of Freud, or the Qabalistic concept of three parts of the self, being the Ruach (intellect and ego), the Nephesch (body, lower instinct and subconscious) and the Neschamah (the highest divine self).

This is also similar to the Eastern Christian trichotomy of the Greek words σώμα (soma), ψυχή (psyche), and νους (nous), wherein the soma is the living body, psyche is the "mind" as we normally use the term, and nous is the faculty capable of apprehending the Divine. It differs from Starhawk's model in that it assigns a place for the physical body in and of itself as part of a "whole" human being's spiritual existence.

A common theme amongst philosophies that describe three aspects of self is the idea that the unconscious acts as an intermediary between the consciousness and the superconsciousness. Thus, to affect change on a higher, spiritual level, a practitioner may employ rituals and symbolism that speak to the 'lower' mind.

For neopagans who take a purely psychological approach to witchcraft, the power of a ritual is in the way its symbolism speaks to the unconscious mind. Psychology and medical research have shown that beliefs have an effect on one's perception of reality, and that beliefs and perception appear to effect behaviorial and other quantifiable physical changes; one well known example is the placebo effect.

Not all Witches (people who practice witchcraft) consider themselvesWiccan or Neopagan, and vice versa.

~~Much of this information was gathered from the wiki at Paganpedia

Opening Your Mind To Wicca

In 1954, Gerald Gardner published Witchcraft Today in which he advocated the use of old, long established rituals and introduced many of his own devising. Gardner venerated The Goddess and women in general. He believed in the power of nature and that men and women could tune into it to alter the course of things. Gardner 's work, according to several anthropologists, three direct links to ancient paganism - the use of high magic, the use of plants and herbs in spells, and the involvement of folk rites and customs to manipulate the powers of nature.

Gardner 's work lead to a revival in interest of the traditions of witchcraft, not just in Britain, and he is credited by many as being the founder of what has become an officially recognized new religion - Wicca. Wicca honors The God and The Goddess (their names vary from group to group) as the two main deities and followers worship them in rites and rituals.

Wicca spread and as it did, different groups developed their own rites and rituals. In England, Celtic practices and Gardnerian belief are blended together in the form of what has come to be known as British Traditional Witchcraft. In the United States, where Gardner 's work was introduced and developed by Raymond Buckland, Wicca has now become an officially recognized religion.

Wicca has followers all over the world, wherever people feel a need to turn from traditional religions and return to a more Earth-based one. They practice various forms of white magic and perform rituals to attune themselves with the natural rhythm of life forces, particularly those marked by the phases of the moon and the four seasons.

Wiccans belong to a wider movement - neo-paganism, which as the name suggests has its roots in ancient pagan belief systems. But not all neo-pagans are Wiccans: the term also refers to Druidism, New Age, shamanism, ceremonial magicks, the occult sciences, voodoo, and the revival of any of the other in the myriad of pre-Christian mystical traditions.

The Wicccan Rede

Wiccans live by the Wiccan Rede, a simple benevolent moral code that holds that as long as no one is harmed, "Do what thy wilt". One popular version of the Rede goes as follows and some simple interpretations follow each portion:

"Bide the Wiccan Law you must,

In perfect love and perfect trust.

(Keep the laws of Wicca lovingly and with perfect trust.)

Live and let live:

Fairly take and fairly give.

(Treat both nature and people as you would like to be treated.)

Cast the circle thrice about,

To keep evil spirits out.

(When making magic, Wiccans usually cast a circle around themselves. They do this three times because the number three stands for the three phases of The Lord and The Lady.)

To bind the spell every time,

Let the spell be spake in rhyme.

(By speaking their spells in rhyme, witches believe it gives the conscious mind something to think about, while the unconscious mind taps the energy of nature and the magic is done.)

Soft of eye and light of touch

Speak little and listen much.

(Wise magic makers are gentle. They listen and learn.)

Deasil go by the waxing moon,

Sing and dance the Witches' Rune.

(When the moon is waxing - moving from slim crescent to plump fullness, it is the time to move round the ritual circle clockwise as this draws in good things.)

Widdershins go when the moon doth wane,

And werewolves howl by the dream wolfsbane.

(When the moon is waning is the time to move round the circle anti-clockwise as this takes away negativity. Wolfbane 's toxicity makes it a feared palnt.)

When the Lady 's moon is new

Kiss thy hand to Her times two.

(Welcome the new moon - just visible in the sky after being dark for three night - welcome her by kissing the index and middle fingers twice.)

When the moon rides at her peak,

Then your heart 's desire speak.

(When the moon is full, you can ask her for anything as she will grant the heart 's desire.)

Heed the north wind 's mighty gale,

Lock the door and drop the sail.

When the wind comes from the south,

Love will kiss thee on the mouth.

When the wind blows from the east,

Expect the new and set the feast.

When the west wind blows o'er thee,

The departed spirits restless be.

(These lines refer to the elements with the four directions.)

Nine woods cauldron go,

Burn them fast and burn them slow.

Elder the Lady 's tree,

Burn it not, or cursed be.

(There are nine different magical woods burned in the witch 's cauldron during various rituals - apple, birch, fir, hawthorn, oak, rowan, vine, and willow. Elder wood is never burned because the tree is sacred to The Lady.)

When the Wheel begins to turn,

Let the Beltane fires burn.

When the Wheel has turned to Yule,

Light the log and let Pan rule.

(This refers to the cycle of the year. Beltane, the spring Sabbath and Yule the winter one, sit at opposite ends of the wheel of the year.)

Heed ye flower, bush and tree,

And by the Blessed Lady be!

(For The Lady 's sake, nurture and respect nature.)

Where the rippling waters flow,

Cast a stone and truth you'll know.

(Actions spread like the ripples caused by a stone cast on the water, affecting everyone and everything around.)

Whenever you do have a need,

Harken not to others' greed.

(Never take money in exchange for using magical powers.)

With the fool no seasons spend,

Nor be counted as his friend.

(Others associate you with the company you keep. If you mix with fools, then that is how you will be regarded as well.)

Merry meet and merry part,

Bright the cheeks and warm the heart.

(The company of friends is the best company there is.)

Mind the threefold law you should,

Three times bad and three times good.

(Always remember that whatever you do, good or bad, will come back to you threefold.)

When misfortune is enow.

Wear the blue star on your brow.

(When trouble beckons, visualize a blue pentagram on your forehead for protection.)

True in love ever be.

Unless thy love is false to thee.

(Always be loyal in love, but if you are let down, then move on.)

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
"And it harm none, do what ye will".
(Feel free to do as you like, so long as in doing so no one else comes to harm.)

About the Author

Rose Ariadne has been practicing ancient forms of Witchcraft for over 25 years. Get more info about Wiccan religion here: http://www.askroseariadne.com/editorials/the-wiccan-way.html

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