The History of Witchcraft

This paper is and explanation of the craft's local and foreign history as it has occurred throughout the centuries. It will cover the history of witchcraft, witch-hunts, and how 'witches' were treated. Witchcraft is a religion that originated in England and spread throughout the world. Today, it can be described in many categories such as Wicca, Paganism, Neopaganism, Shamanism, and Voodoo, all of which are among the most common. Throughout history, the victims of these which hunts were treated with disgust, disloyalty, and dishonesty.

In the fourteenth century, the early Christian Church only required 'witches' to repent. However, during the late middle ages, a growing hostility towards witchcraft led citizens to believe that magic and miracles obviously did not come from God, but from the Devil. Therefore, many believed it was evil. Almost all of the suspected 'witches', a good 80% were women. Later on, this would lead to what some know as the "Women's Holocaust," because of the massive amounts of women that died during this era.

People throughout Europe began to blame the Black Death on sorcery. This disease, which started in China during the year of 1331 A.D., was also known as the bubonic plague. The plague did not reach Asia until 1347 A.D. It was hauled around by the 'black' rat and was transferred by fleas. Common symptoms from the fleabites were enlarged lymph glands, high fever, purple blemishes on the skin, and black spots at the tip of the bite. Almost always the outcome was death, those who endured the disease acquired an exemption to further sickness. Old women, young rich males, and young women were often the victims, accused of witchery. Anything that was susceptible to revenge was a good enough reason to make an accusation upon them.

A garter was known to be the key sign of a High Priestess in witchcraft. King Edward III of England was dancing with the Duchess of Salisbury, when a garter fell from her leg. The King picked it up and placed it on his own leg. Not long afterwards, the King founded the Knights of the Garter, to help protect the witches. The fifteenth Century stated with the beginning of the Renaissance era, beliefs from the fourteenth century still carried on, and would be, well into the dawning of the eighteenth century. Thousands of women were put to death only on the evidence of 'proofs' or 'confessions' of satanic witchery, which was brought about by means of inexorable torture.

In 1486, Hienrich Kramer published the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). This was used as a guide in identifying witches. Proficient witch hunters tested and detected suspects for documentation of witchery. The most commonly used test, explained within this book, was the 'pricking'. Somewhere on every witch's body there was a mark that was callous to pain. If such a spot was found it was used as 'proof'. Other 'proofs' described in this book was auxiliary breasts, incapacity to cry, and deficiency in the water test. After tribulation it was ordinary that the accused witch would be shaved of all body hair, unclothed, and put in the public square for trial. The witch was usually sentenced to death by being hanged or burned alive. A few years after the book was published, The Inquisition censored Kramer and rejected the books' usage.

In the sixteenth century, Southwestern Germany was responsible for the death of an estimated 26,000 witches, beginning in 1560. Throughout Europe the exterminations reaches its peak in 1580. In England torturing a 'witch' was illegal. Only about 20% of the accused were actually hung. Throughout the 702 recorded murders in Europe, the Inquisition only held 137. Although many scholars argue that the death toll ranges from 60,000 to 9 million, the exact number of deaths is not known.

During the seventeenth century, no 'witches' were executed after 1600 and non were tried after 1610, in the Dutch Republic. The 'witch-craze' was beginning to fade away in Europe. Around 1609 the French 'witch-craze' stimulated frenzy in Spain. One skeptic persuaded La Suprema (the head of the Spanish Inquisition) that is was pure madness and nothing more. La Suprema then issued an 'Edict of Silence,' which forbade anyone to talk or to write about witchcraft. Amazingly the edict worked. Again in 1616, a 'witch-craze' broke out in Vizcaya. The edict was then re-issued. Some community members asked for the right to try the witches themselves; the King granted it to them. After which, 289 people were sentenced to jail; the Inquisition managed to interrupt and dismiss all charges. The Cataluna 'witches,' however, were not so lucky; 300 people were killed before the Inquisition could intervene. Throughout the American colonies, however, 40 people in total were killed for sorcery beginning in 1650, a little more than half of them from the small Salem community. The outbreak of the accusations of witchery in Salem, Massachusets began in 1692, just when the 'witch-craze' in England was fading(1680).

The Salem Witch Trials all started when a slave to the Reverend Samuel Parris, Tabitua, was performing incantations with the daughter of the Reverend, Betty, and his niece Abigail Williams. Shortly after, the two girls were in frenzy and inspected by doctors from all over town. Every doctor concluded the girls were bewitched. After being interrogated the girls, revealed who had done such a monstrous crime: Tabitua. Immediately, Tabitua was sentenced to jail, and scheduled for a court date. March 1st was the dated of the first hearing. One hundred people were in prison by the middle of May and also waiting for trials. Sadly, by the 22nd of September, these church 'courts' had tried and convicted 27 people. Through all the church's effort, only 50 people confessed, 100 were expecting hearings, and arraignments had reached another 200 people. After the trails had ended and the governor released all the prisoners, Judge Samuel Sewell publicly apologized for his accountability for the trials.

During the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, very little happened. The death penalty for sorcery was abolished in 1736, in Europe. However, the last law-abiding execution was in Switzerland in 1782. Reimbursement was given to the families of the Salem "Witches" in 1711. Witch-hunts and witchcraft had virtually disappeared when, in 1829, Leon de Lamothe-Langon published Histoire de l'Inqutisition en France. This book claimed the four hundred 'witches' were terminated in one day occurring within the fourteenth century.

The unexpected evolved, even though most people thought that witchcraft had died down. The Witch Cult in Western Europe, published by Margaret Murray in 1921, interpreted witchcraft as a "pre-Christian cult." This further spread the rumors of 'demonic' witchcraft. Meanwhile in England, C. L'Estrange Ewen released Witch Hunting & Witch Trials, which was the country's first efficient investigation of trial records.

Gerald Gardner was a writer and whom most followers know as the "re-inventor" of Wicca. In 1940, Gerald Gardner became a member of the New Forest Witches. The New Forest Witches, was the name of a coven*, who tried to keep Hilter from traveling anywhere but in Germany. After England had repealed its' anti-witchcraft laws, Gardner published a series of witchcraft books. In 1972, Norman Cohn and Richard Kieckhefer unearthed that a prestigious series of medieval witch trials never occurred, namely Lamothe-Langon's "400 witch execution's" in a day. Mysteriously no other historians recognized this date most scholars claim it to be a fraud.

The majority of today's witch-hunts occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa. During the period of 1985-95, legislators counted 204 executions, while police counted 312. Both of which, scholars argue, are largely miscalculated. Surprisingly, the witch-hunts in Africa are closely related to the ones in the past, due to the superstitions, socio-economic tension, natural disasters, and individual insecurities going on throughout the underdeveloped country. In Africa, it is believed that witchcraft included ceremonial murders of removing organs and limbs, which are supposed to bring good luck.

The Ministry of Home Affairs within Africa created a survey which revealed that there were as many as 5,000 lynchings between 1994 to 1998. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 14,000 children alone in Kinshasa, the capital, have been accused of witchery and are now exiled from their homes.

There are many types of witchcraft. Three of the most popular are Wicca, Paganism, and Neopaganism. Wicca is based upon the essence of the earth, in which followers of this craft; believe in many gods and goddesses, along with reincarnation. They also believe that every living creature on the earth is a part in some way of the god's or goddesses. Wiccans also believe that fairies, gremlins, dragons, and all of the mystical creatures exist, although, all other humans consider them to be myths. However, Wiccans to not consider predestination as apart of their religion. They perform spells, create recipes, invoke the spirits, and gather all the herbs they can. Wiccans believe that each herb has the same or different meanings or personal symbolism, to provoke the greater good.

The word 'Pagan' was derived the Latin word 'paganus' meaning 'country-dweller'. This word is also general meaning of followers of Wicca and other 'magical' religions.

Paganism is interchangeable with Neopaganism. Neopaganism literally means 'new-pagan,' a member of one the newly formed pagan groups now spreading throughout the world, that practice Shamanism, Voodoo, or Druids.

In conclusion, the local and foreign history of witchcraft has been conveyed throughout this paper. From the Salem Witch Trials to the Witchcraft Today, it still exists and on a very strong basis.

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*Witchcraft: the power or practices of a witch: SORCERY.
*Coven: a meeting or band of witches.