Witchcraft

 Witchcraft

(Something that’s way beyond fairytales)

Almost every child in the universe has spent his/her childhood listening to stories about magic. Most of the fairytales consists of the good fairies and the bad witches. Witches and wizards are usually made to have a negative image in the story. To some such things are only elements of imagination and have no place in the real world, but for those who believe in it, witchcraft has a totally different meaning then what it is made to look like.

Witchcraft broadly means the practice of magical skills and abilities that are able to be exercised by individuals and certain social groups. Normally the existence of magical powers and witches is unsupported scientifically, although individual witchcraft practices and effects may be further explained via mentalism and psychology.  Witchcraft is used for different purposes by different groups of people. It can be constructive as well as destructive. The concept rose from the idea of attaining certain powers in order to heal life and property. Later, some of the powers were misused and spells were used to curse, destroy and worship the evil.

WICCA (This will change your idea about witchcraft)

Witchcraft is practised as a religion and the term given to it is “WICCA”. Wicca is said to be used to counter all the negative stereotypes that the society has given witchcraft. It is a religion which worships the nature, and sees all creation as sacred. In the witch world is believed that a male and female had created the world and everything in it. These two people are worshiped as the God and Goddess.

All about Witches (Friend or Foe?)

What does first strike your mind when you hear the word ‘Witch’? A creepy, old, wrinkled faced, wicked woman with a long nose, wearing a black hat and a long black gown, mixing something in a big black pot. Yes that is exactly what anyone would think about. But in reality a witch could be around you right now in the crowd and you would not know about it. Modern day witches usually isolate themselves from the world and live secretly or else they hide their identity and live among normal people. Moreover the modern day witches are mostly devil worshipers and are involved in black magic etc.

                                                                      

According to the history of living magic, witches usually used to be protectors of nature. They used powers for healing and protecting mankind and were probably a kind woman.  A witch derives her strength from Paganism, which is influenced by ancient, primarily pre-Christian and sometimes pre-Judaic religion. It is also believed that the good witches still do exist which celebrate the earth and its bounty and honor seasons but there is no perfect evidence that proves the fact. While there are many, as with any walk of life, that use the magic itself for personal gain and negative repercussions.

Spell casting.

The most important characteristic of a witch is the ability to cast spells. A spell is a combination of words which has a particular meaning and carries out a magical action. A spell can consist of formulae, verses, a spiritual action or combinations of this. While casting a spell the witch has to say these words once or repeatedly. Initially spells were casted by different methods. In some cases it was recited by throwing some kind of a dust in fire or by making clay images and giving it powers or even while preparing portions.

Believe it or not!

Most of the people do not believe in witches and witchcraft but that doesn’t mean it is a fictional story. Witch communities are found and brought into limelight in European countries and the Amazon. If they are for real the witches shouldn’t be kept away from the real world just because of some misconceptions. 

Nikitha Furtado
SU160093