Akasha Research Paper

In Native American witchcraft, amulets and charms play the central role. Practitioners of one region dress similarly as well as use same kind of totems to have a sense of unity with each other. For them land is considered as deity that provides them with objects necessary for witchcraft and magic. These objects come in many shapes and forms. These may include herbs, stones, feathers, bones etc (world of Wicca, 2014).

For my ethnography paper, I analyzed Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America by Sabina Magliocco. This book is part of a series among other ethnography books. Witching Culture is an ethnography about a religious movement in North America. This religious movement is Neo-Paganism and witchcraft, which are basically the same thing. In the book, Magliocco describes how anthropology and folklore are important aspects to the religious movement. She explores the different practices and beliefs of modern Pagans, as well as witches. There were three major themes that stood out to me the most. These themes were the nature of religion, the nature of the religious world, and the types of authority in the book.

This Clavicula of Arte Magical, surpassing modern confused pen-folds that contain nothing other than mere dedicatory offerings to mundane tapestries and xoanon, shall impart unto thee an understanding of Witchcraft, in truth, from the horse 's mouth. Contained herein lay no mere dedications to spiritless vessels, yet deeper works, iconoclastic summonings, sabbatic rituals and transformative formula that shall offer thee many avenues of serpent wisdom and cunning illumination to build bridges into the Otherworld.

The witchcraft phenomenon of the Renaissance period was shaped by a wide range of cultural factors; witchcraft was not necessarily subject to a single cohesive idea or concept, and it was often instead a conglomeration of many different societal concerns, concerns which spanned through all spheres of society. Textual evidence from this period provides insight into the way in which witches were conceived, and how witches were dealt with, while visual images present a companion visualisation of the tensions, which influenced created the witch, and the imagery, which came to be associated with witchcraft.

Ther are five natural elements in Wiccan traditions, rather than the normal 4 most of us are familiar with. The five elements are Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and the extra one is "Aether" or "spirit". Five different points of a pentagram represent each element, and as such the pentagram is a fundamental shape in Wiccan tradition.

Act of oblivion “Women and Explanations for European Witchcraft Beliefs in the 16th and 17th Century.” (2003)

“Rede” means “counsel” or “advice”, it has Germanic roots, from “Raten” and the Dutch “Rede”, both with comparable meanings. Notable redes are The Norse Rede of Honor and The Wiccan Rede. Since the word “Rede” is easily looked up in any dictionary I will focus instead on the Wiccan Rede, which I guess is the real focus of this assignment. It is important, when practicing any religion to understand the rules of the religion and the history of those rules, following anything on blind faith is foolish, even if those words are sound advice such as “an it harm none do what ye will.” So I will begin with a brief history of the Wiccan Rede.

represents a pagan spirit of vegetation, very much like a tree with the ability to

Also known as, the Four Powers of the Witches’ Temple, the Witch’s Pyramid, is the basis for all magickal work, symbolizes the belief that is required to create magick and the traits to be accepted by all witches. It is the learning tool for pupils of the Craft. There are four declarations that epitomize The Witch’s Pyramid: To Know, To Will, To Dare, and To Keep Silent. Each one of the influences is linked with a direction as well as an element. each of these powers can be applied as a way of seeing a method to study. In order for a Witch to have a perfect understanding of anything, all these powers should be present.

The following paper will talk about Wicca and Paganism as a religion within the United States. Wicca is a diverse community as a religion, but is not yet considered by any Supreme court case but some aspects such as traditions are recognized by the federal and state courts. This will be further touched upon further later on.

I don’t know about you, but for me so far, all of our author’s attempts to get an explanation about what witchcraft is has failed. We know that witchcraft is the cause of misfortunes and personal injury sustained by the Azande people through what they believe to be no fault of their own, but I think we have yet to have any understanding of what causes witchcraft itself. Where does it come from, who causes it, and is it in any way like a sort of karma believed to be punishment for bad deeds like in eastern philosophies? I think we need to take a deeper look into witchcraft and what the Azande people are actually talking about, because from what I’ve gathered so far, the Azande believe that witchcraft is an unexplained phenomena of independent events that in no way should have had any reason to take place simultaneously

The Wiccan religion is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States as well one of the most misunderstood due to the controversies surrounding its history and mystery shrouding its beliefs and doctrines. Due to a series of popular TV series that have shown Witchcraft in a positive light, such as Sabrina, the Teen-aged Witch and Charmed, the popularity of Wicca has grown, especially amongst teenagers; but sadly this popularity has not been partnered with a growth in understanding and respect (Kaminer). Although Wicca offers a nature-oriented, egalitarian belief system with a rich collection of customs and rituals, ignorance and historically-rooted misconceptions still dominate public opinion.

With a survey of history, it is evident that our world has encountered a broad range of cultures throughout time. Each culture is characterized by their own special practices. Bever (2002) samples one of these practices in his extensive journal on the social history of early modern Europe. The “cultural puzzle” that Bever mainly focuses on is witchcraft and its social prevalence in European history.

From love spells to reading one’s future. Romanian culture is known to have a strong witchcraft recognition. Romanian witchcraft plays such a big deal, that most Romanian choose to trust their problems within the supernatural than seek a certified specialist. Our surroundings and thoughts are constantly changing, but when it comes to Romanian witchcraft change isn’t something so welcomed. This ancient folklore remains strong and prominent in Romanian’s beliefs, even after so many centuries.

In the pentagram they are represented all the elements: air, fire, water, earth and the