Essay Witchcraft Portrayed in Films

Witches have been thought to be the servants of Satan for many years through their Sabbaths. “Specifically, it was thought in many parts of Europe that these women showed their subservience to Satan by becoming his willing sexual slaves.” (Klaits, p. 2) In many of the research works done through the years, that the sabbath is when witches became the servants of the devil. They would have orgies with the devil at the end of the rituals. A witch supposedly kissed the master 's rear as well. “They sing very obscene songs in his {Satan 's} honour..... They behave ridiculously in every way, and in every way contrary to accepted

For thousands of years, Christian societies throughout Europe deemed witchcraft as a critical threat and imagined it as summoning evil powers. Witches were seen by the Christian community as “a conspiracy organized under the leadership of the devil.” There are quite a few references to witchcraft and sorcery in the Bible, the two most famous being Exodus 22:18 and Deuteronomy 18:9-14. These two verses have been used over the past centuries to solidify Christian belief that witchcraft is

“Have you ever wondered if Magic or witches and wizards really exist in this modern world? Well yes, they do exist, and they are quite active in the modern world. There are more than 10 million witches in the United States, with new practitioners on the rise daily.”(Caine) Being a witch is much different than what you may have seen in the movies. There is real magic to the craft, but witches or wizards don 't walk around turning people into to frogs with a flick of their magic wands. They don 't disappear into thin air, nor do they fly around through the night on broomsticks. They also don 't live in a big castle or mansion. They walk around as normal people and you wouldn 't be able to tell them apart for anyone else. The art of real witchcraft is one of the oldest practices in the world. “The oldest instruments of the real craft that have been discovered date back to 40,000 years ago, while the practice of real witchcraft dates back to paleolithic times. It is very much a way of life, as you may have heard from the modern followers of Wicca. During the middle ages, and in the event known as The Inquisition, the practice of witchcraft became outlawed throughout most of the Christianized world, an offense punishable by death.”(Caine) A witchcraft frenzy broke out in the early colonial history of America in Salem, Massachusetts. Insane torture tactics were put in by the church to draw out confessions. This period of time is often cited as the start of "the burning times."

Ultio, is the Latin word for Revenge, which the witchcraft craze of the 1800’s was indirectly a result of. Richard Godbeer argues that women and men, alike, were accused of witchcraft by vengeful neighbors. These vengeful acts, however, were a direct result of tensions in and around the colonies. In a new land faced by harsh weather, disease, and war with neighboring Native American tribes, many colonists needed an escape, something they could easily control and defeat. Accusing neighbors of witchcraft, was not only an act of revenge, but a way for colonists to band together against a common enemy they could destroy. They essentially created a substitute for their fears and hatred.

more competence as an explanation due to evidence now being needed to prove someone guilty, there was still a aspect of psychological pressure towards obeying God and putting themselves forward for punishment in order to live a better afterlife.

Witchcraft has origins within the bible, where it states that they "shall surely be put to death."5 Those Christians involved in the witch-hunt "believed that God had an enemy called the Devil, who was very powerful. They believed that witches made a pact or agreement with the Devil and agreed to worship and serve him."4 The practices that

The Rise of the Witchcraft Craze in 17th Century Britain Accusations of witchcraft date back to 900 AD, but killing following accusation reached a fever pitch in the late 16th century Europe, and late 17th century Britain. Germany and Scotland were the areas that were most heavily purged, with an estimated 4000 witches dying in Scotland and 26 000 dying in Germany (Gibbons). The Inquisition in Britain happened against a backdrop of new ideas competing with established traditions which created a sense of confusion and religious hysteria amongst the general population. A number of theories have developed from historians as to what sparked the witchcraft craze; ideas of the Reformation and rise of

The society during the 14th-16th century viewed women as unimportant compared to men, which led to the belief that women were witches.

Witch hunting was the persecution and possible execution of individuals considered to be ‘witches’ loyal to the devil. It was an all too common occurrence from 1603-1712 all over Europe. However in order to understand why this happened the context must be taken into account. It was a time of change, the Renaissance - the rebirth of culture, ideas and attitudes to living. The Reformation had also only been implemented in England in the last 80 years back from 1603, when it had previously been catholic for centuries. The English civil war from 1642 to 1651 is argued to have played a part in the intensification of the witch hunts in England due to the peak in executions whilst it was on going. Some historians have taken the view that in time of crisis certain groups can be victimised like in wars, famine, disease outbreaks and changes in society structure.

The word mythical can be used to refer to a collection of myths of a group of people, or a body of stories which are used to explain nature, history, customs, or unexplainable events. It can perhaps be argued that the concept of a witch represents a prime example of a mythological figures. During the period of 1400s through the 1700s witches were regarded as real threats to European societies such as Rothenburg, Germany and many other prominent regions of France and England. The threat of witches would become so widespread throughout much of these regions, that paranoia and accusations of witchcraft would sweep across Europe and would peak in the latter stages of the sixteenth century in terms of violence. When picturing a mythical creature such as a witch, one may perhaps

Witches consumed the minds of many in Europe from the last fifteen century through the seventeenth century, resulting in what is now known as a witch craze. Trials, mainly concentrated in southwestern Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Poland, and parts of France, consisted of over 100,000 claimed witches from all over the continent. During this era, so-called witches were found to have connections with the Devil then were persecuted in tortuous ways. Three major reasons for the persecution of witches were religion, poverty, and social crises.

Witchcraft, the practice of magic with the use of spells, herbs, and satanic work, was fairly prominent in Elizabethan England. The Elizabethan Era reign lasted from 1558 to 1603, and was during Queen Elizabeth's reign. Witches and witchcraft were usually the target of blame during this time, because they were the outcasts. Witches, the Chelmsford Witch trials, and many superstitions are all based off of witchcraft.

"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!" The Wicked Witch of the West...

By the middle of the sixteenth century the profile of the witch was well known and the educated European began to believe in witches (Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe 1987, 2006, 30). What these elite Europeans specifically believed about witches was that they had created personal pacts with the Devil in exchange for the powers that they obtained. The places where these pacts were formed were called the Sabbath (originating from the Jewish holy day), this is where men and women whom practiced witchcraft would gather secretly at night and have relations with the Devil, demons and each other (Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe 1987, 2006, 40-45). Document 16 in Levack goes over the treaties A Discourse on Witches by Judge Henri Boguet, in which he gives a detailed confession by Francoise Secretain where she and others, both male and female,

For nearly two centuries, witchcraft seemed to have disappeared. Although it was driven underground for a time, it is now the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are several reasons for its disappearance and now, for its return.