Witchcraft, Modern-Day Witches & Wicca
To some a witch is the embodiment of evil capable of acting out the worst deeds of humanity from cursing to cannibalism, grave robbing to pacts with the Devil. To others, the witch is the haggard, old lady - the outsider in society.
While some would say that witched existed in a very specific point in history, there are others that know witchcraft lives on to this day and understand what it really means to be a witch. Historically witches have been the victim, the scapegoat of a patriarchal society.
Witches have been portrayed in popular culture in every way imaginable. In film and fiction, witches have been depicted as a powerful enchantress, a playful person who enlivens boring suburban existence or a figure of true terror and malevolence, a child murderer, one with psychic abilities such as the Blair Witch.
Away from pop culture and amongst those more spiritual, a witch is often described as a goddess, a child of nature, attuned to the seasons and in touch with the old ways of our ancestors. She is a wise woman, who can be a beautiful, powerful being. As a positive image of womanhood who rejects male values and follows her own path she has sometimes been misunderstood.
Cecil Williamson , the founder of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall Museum, described what he thinks a witch is, "the human skull is the symbol of death. For the witch death holds a strange fascination. Each and every one of wis born to die, but is death a final end to life? The witch says no. For she knows that 'there are other places and other things.' Her whole life and being is devoted to the ever present but unseen world of the spirit. To the witch, the spirit world is a reality, a living thing. To her everything has a spirit, a soul, a personality, be it animal, mineral or vegetable."
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The month of Halloween has started with countless posts being shared on Facebook about a new social media tool that can detect and out witches in the comments.
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Earlier this year Creswell Crags caves made headlines after ancient 'witches marks' were discovered, now those who are brave enough can visit the caves after dark.
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At Creswell Crags on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, heritage experts have found hundreds of examples of apotropaic marks, which were made to ward off evil.
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It's been confirmed that the cult witchcraft movie 'The Craft' will be the next classic to be given a Hollywood remake, which could see the original cast return.
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When William Shakespeare wrote 'Macbeth' it was said that he used an actual witches brew, much to the anger of the witches of the time, but does that mean the nasty sounding ingredients such as eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog were actually used in witchcraft?
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Witchcraft and the general practice of spellcraft have long been the cause of panic and mistrust within civilisations and communities. Whether or not the accusations of witchcraft were accurate or simply the product of hysteria, there are detailed accounts of the people involved and their demise at the hands of authorities and mobs of frightened citizens.
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