Witchcraft History Shows Fear of the Unknown
By Joy J. Fine
When looking into witchcraft history we should start with the origins of the word witchcraft. The word witchcraft means the craft of the wise, even Wicca means wise one. So if this old craft denotes wisdom why are so many so afraid of its practice and those who practice it? It is believed that the practice of witchcraft is thousands of years old, older than the Druids themselves. Witchcraft is supposed to be one of the oldest religions. When the Christians rose and their teachings began to run contrary to that of the witches there came into play conflict and fear by the Christians of what they could not understand.
In the really old times if a person was a witch they were respected for their abilities. They were able to help heal, to ease the pain of childbirth and even help sick animals. For this the people were grateful. But over time appreciation turned to fear and we see the path of witchcraft history leading towards those same grateful people plotting against those who they now saw as stronger then themselves. Those who represented the Church stood up and said that witches were the tools of the devil. No longer was magic and religion seen as one thing but as two directly opposite philosophies. No longer did the priests have mysterious abilities they could use to help the people. The priests now fought against anyone who was different, anyone who claimed they could use these abilities and make things happen.
The Christians said it was okay to heal by prayer. That this was the one way that outside help was permitted. It was proclaimed that witches were the devil’s tools. Where else could they obtain such abilities if not from the Devil himself? It got so bad in the middle fifteen hundreds that not only were the witches hunted for practicing their craft but anyone who used their healing abilities and accepted help from a witch was just as guilty of wrongdoing as the witches were. By accepting their help they were aiding their cause and this was not just frowned on it was outlawed.
Most witches were older, poor women with no one to protect them when the witch trials began. When the people needed someone to blame for a bad crop year, physical deformities of a child or livestock it was blamed on those who practiced witchcraft. Instead of being appreciated for what they could do the study of witchcraft history shows us that the people turned and saw the witches, healers and seers as the villain and so blame was settled at their feet. This same history also tells us that many of those who were called witch in actual fact were merely those who suffered from certain medical conditions. People claimed anyone who acted oddly must be possessed by the devil. Can you imagine someone who tremored because they suffered from Parkinson’s or had the unintentional tics, snorts and shouting of obscenities that are now known as Tourette’s? Other medical conditions caused unusual movements or differences and the people of that time needing to defeat a villain to improve their harvest or to seek revenge somewhere for a still born son turned on these poor souls and called them witches.
Continuing to look through the oddities of witchcraft history you will see that anything hat could be used would be to prove that someone was a witch. Things as simple as a wart or birthmark would be called a witches mark and the person would be taken and tortured especially if the local law or local priest thought they could be made to name others who were also witches. If they gave up a friend by identifying them as witch the authorities said this only showed they were wicked and would turn on anyone. If they did not then they were evil because they were protecting others just like them. It seems that no time in history was it safe for those who protected witchcraft.
Related Information:
