Early people connected spirits with the wind, Nature, the stars, and the forces behind seemingly inexplicable phenomena. These Divine beings were said to watch over creation and guide human destiny. As the earth's population grew and cultures interacted with one another - through war, trade, and migration - humankind's conceptions of the heavenly...
In the last few decades, the ranks of Wicca and Witchcraft have swelled rapidly. Although it's impossible to accurately determine how many people practice Witchcraft, a study done in 2001 by City University of New York found 134,000 self-described Wiccans in the U.S.
It's no surprise that Wicca gained popularity during the 1960s and '70s as feminism emerged. For women who were raised in partriarchal religions, Wicca offers balance and equality. It is one of the few faiths that honors a feminine Deity. In fact, many women probably became interested in Wicca during those decades because of its feminist appeal...
Pagan was originally a derogatory term used by the Church to refer to people, often rural folk, who had not converted to Christianity. Generally speaking, today's Neo-Pagans can be described as individuals who uphold an earth-honoring philosophy and attempt to live in harmony with all life on the planet as well as with the cosmos. Pagans tend to be...
Interest in Magic, mysticism, spiritualism, and the occult in general blossomed toward the end of the nineteenth century, perhaps as a reaction to the Age of Reason's emphasis on logic and empiricism. The Magicians of this era had a strong impact on the evolution of contemporary Witchcraft and Magic.
Despite centuries of persecution, Witchcraft never died. It just went underground. Witches continued to hand down teachings, concepts, and practices from mother to daughter, father to son, in secret. Through oral Tradition, Rituals, codes, and symbols, magical information passed from generation to generation, at every level of society.
When William Griggs, the village doctor in colonial Salem Village (now Salem), Massachusetts, couldn't heal the ailing daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris, he claimed the girls had been bewitched. Thus began the infamous Salem Witch hunt that remains one of America's great tragedies. Soon girl in Salem and surrounding communities were...
In the New World, Witchcraft evolved as a patchwork quilt of beliefs and practices. Many different concepts, cultures, and customs existed side by side, sometimes overlapping and influencing one another. Each new group of immigrants brought with them their individual views and Traditions. Over time, they produced a rich tapestry of magical thought....
The witch-hunt craze picked up speed during the Reformation period. The intellectual leaders of this religious movement, which sought to reform the Christian practices of Europe and reject the Catholic Church as the only true Christianity, offered no protection to those accused of Witchcraft. The public, confused and struggling with the new...
Between the 1100s and 1300s, the Church continued to discredit Witches. Christian zealots presented a picture of Witches as evil creatures who cavorted with the devil, despised all things sacred, ate children, and held wild orgies to seduce innocents. Stories of Sorcerers who required that supplicants renounce the Church or Christ as payment for...