Witchcraft As A Religion

Witchcraft is a term which sprouts many different meanings. As stated above, it is attributed to witches. But what is a witch? Probably an evil haggish-like women who has signed a pact with the devil if we think of it in the English sense. So witchcraft must be evil doings; putting curses on people to make their life miserable, using wicked spells to transform humans to frogs etc. But does this hold true to everyone's idea of what witchcraft is.People's believes on the subject of witchcraft might differ between different cultures.

Witchcraft is a religion. Wicca is one type of Witchcraft, but the term "Wicca" is occasionally applied to Witchcraft in overall. In the United States, most people who practice this religion call themselves Witches or Wiccans. It is an earth-based religion and in some ways is similar to Native American spirituality. Wicca (sometimes called Wicce, The Craft, or The Old Religion) is based on an ancient religion of love for life and nature. The religion of Witchcraft or Wicca is recognized by most state governments, the federal government, and the United States Armed Forces. The courts have recognized the right of even prisoners to practice this religion on an equal basis with other religions. In ancient times, people appreciated the great forces of Nature and celebrated the seasons’ cycles and the moon. They saw spirituality in the sun and moon and in the Earth Herself. Basically, in all life.

Most modern concepts are much more used to the idea that Witchcraft is focused on learning how to be a witch with the more advanced users learning spells for love and other magic spells that are satanic and evil in nature. Thanks to popular television and movie shows, Wicca has become synonymous to Witchcraft, most of the time exchanging the two ideas. Fact is, Witchcraft is but a mere part of the Wiccan religion, and it is a religious belief that focuses on the understanding of an individual regarding earth and nature which affirms and recognizes the divinity in all living things. It basically teaches individuals that while external forces matter, it does not constitute to our own being and therefore is not to be blamed for anything that is happening to us individually. It teaches responsibility for our actions, therefore ensuring a harmonious balance between the earth and

Witchcraft is the use of magical powers. Witchcraft is often regarded as “black” magic. The article called “The Salem Witch Trials: 1692-1693” states that “[s]ince the early fifteenth century, so-called witch panics had periodically swept across Europe, causing witch hunts, accusations, trials and executions” (“Salem” 1). Although some children and males were accused, the greater part of the arraigned individuals were female (“Salem” 1). A debatable amount of around forty thousand individuals were implicated and executed as witches between fourteen hundred and seventeen hundred and fifty (“Salem” 1). Although the causes of the witchcraft hysteria are debatable, there are three widespread and favored explanations for the hysteria within

Those who claimed to know the future and weren’t prophets were convicted of blasphemy and witchcraft and were punished. It was considered witchcraft because fortune-telling required a direct relationship between a human or witch and unholy spiritual powers. During the Middle Ages, witchcraft in ecclesiastic or church courts was presided over by church-appointed officials. This may have caused biased opinions and also links to religion being a cause of the harsh punishment. In medieval judicial proceedings, torture was sometimes used as a means of extracting information concerning witchcraft, and confessions were not uncommon. Historical evidence states that many confessed out of fear of being tortured and not because they were truly guilty.

The notion of witchcraft has been around long before the witch trials in Early Modern Europe. Different cultures have different images and stereotypes on what a witch is and what “magical” abilities he or she may possess. Many people however, did not look at these “magical” men and women as bad until the Holy Roman Empire began to look negatively on those people who were different, and opposed the norm set by the elites. Driven by fear, those living under the control of the Holy Roman Empire would began to blame other people for diabolical actions, or malicious activities. Women and some men, were tortured and tested in cruel ways in attempt of finding evidence or gaining a confession that the accused was a witch. Laws about how which were persecuted

My uncle has spoken to me about that of witchcraft. I assured him that there weren’t no witchcraft and that it was just common dancing and nothing more. I went to the woods with Tituba and we danced in the forest. We danced as Tituba sang her Barbados songs it was only common dancing and nothing more, nothing bad came of it but my uncle he was sure there was more to it than mere dancing. It was early in the morning when we were dancing it was foggy and somewhat dark as we stood in the clearing of the forest so I can see how he may have gotten the idea that it was witchcraft as it follows the myths and stories that float around that of witchery. I were so much fun to dance in the woods even tho we’re not meant

Wicca and witchcraft are dotted across every corner of the web. As you browse for Wicca, you will always stumble upon spells and magic. This is because magic spells and spell casting are a big part of Wiccans' ritual practices.

Black magic. The Dark Arts. Voodoo. Sorcery. Conjuring. Witchcraft. No matter what they chose to call it, witchcraft was an evil association with the devil and the use of magic or the alleged use of magic, in the eyes of the Puritans of Salem, Massachusetts. And it was the “alleged” part that caused the Salem Witchcraft Trials tragedy of 1692.

Wicca is most often referred to as "Witchcraft (Wicca Craft)" Many people do not understand what the meaning of Wiccan religion, they usually generalize and say that

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 development of Wicca in the modern times is associated with a gentleman named Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). He was a British civil servant and amateur archaeologist, who spent most of his working years in Southern Asia. Upon his return to England, he authored the book Witchcraft Today, which outlined many of the rituals and doctrines of the religion that is now called Wicca. Although Gardner claimed his book was inspired from Celtic traditions, it is actually a combination of Western faith, Asian magic, god and goddess worship, and Masonic rituals (Melton). The religion Gardner outlined in his book is a nature-oriented faith where a low emphasis on magic predominates. While there is a tendency to see Wicca and Witchcraft as one and the same and some Wiccans may identify themselves as witches, it is a personal choice and many modern Wiccans do not see themselves as witches. Witchcraft describes a magically-oriented practice but lacks the spiritual foundation that Wicca as a religion embodies. Today=s modern Wiccan religion is not the religion that Christians tried to

One that many people interpret the wrong way or know little to nothing about. One that no one considers to be a religion. One that many see as different and disturbing. Witchcraft. Most people see witchcraft as evil or immoral.

The history of witchcraft has been a mystery since the Medieval Times. Regardless, witchcraft has been around since the Paleolithic period (“Witchcraft History.”). “Witchcraft originated with the human civilization

Shorter defines witchcraft as the “inborn power to harm others secretly and unjustifiably.” This mean, there is no reason, it shows that witches harm randomly because they are driven to do so. According to Magesa, they operate psychically and project from the mind their powers on the victim. There is no rite preformed or spell uttered. Magesa draw a dichotomy between a sorcerer and a witch thereby states, “The use