Introduction According to ( Wikipedia,2014) “Paranormal Activity is the general term that designates experiences that lie outside the range of normal experience or scientific explanation”(pg 1). Many people in the world think ghosts when they hear paranormal activity, but it can also be UFOs, telepathy, etc. Paranormal Activity can neither be scientifically explained nor proven.(Squidoo,2014). There are many forms of paranormal communication . The most common one is mental mediumship. That is mind to mind communication with those in the spirit world. Clairovoyance means clearly seeing the spirits. Clairaudience means clearly hearing the spirits. Then there is Clairsentience which means clear sensing, Clairfragrance means clearly smelling, Clairgustance means clear tasting.(Michael,2014) Paranormal Activity dates back to the beginning of time but really came to notice between (1915-1920). The belief of witches swept through Europe between the 16th and 17th century. They were believed to be evil and kill infants, cause storms, diseases, etc. (Top 10 Notorious witches,2012). Witches rode broomsticks to get around. It was not a myth. Their brooms were based on magic. The flying stories began in the 1400s. Witches were also believed and known for placing spells on people. They could turn them into other organisms, curse them, or kill them. They believed to worship the devil and often went after young women to be witches.(Bambuser,2014). According to Witch Faq (Salem Tarot,2006)” Witches do not practice the religion of Wicca; instead they practice their craft as an art and/or a ... ... middle of paper ... ...ellwitch.org/story.htm: http://www.bellwitch.org/story.htm Here's the True Story of Ohio's Last Witch Hunt. (2014, March 27). Retrieved from Huffington Post : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roadtrippers/heres-the-true-story-of-o_b_5043667.html Ivy, J. (2012, November 10). Top 10 Notorious Witches. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2012/11/10/top-10-notorious-witches/: http://listverse.com/2012/11/10/top-10-notorious-witches/ Jones, M. (2014, May 4). Spirit Source. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from http://www.myspiritsource.net/experiencing-paranormal-activity.php: Tarot, S. (2006). Witch Faq. Retrieved from http://www.salemtarot.com/witchfaq.html: http://www.salemtarot.com/witchfaq.html What is Paranormal Activity? (2014, April 4). Retrieved April 4, 2014, from http://www.squidoo.com/what-is-paranormal-activity: http://www.squidoo.com/what-is-paranormal-activity
Donna M. Campbell. "The Salem Witch Trials." wsu. n.p., 2010. Web. 18 February 2014. .
What images come to mind when you think of witches? Many people immediately imagine a black pointy hat, bubbling cauldron, green warty skin, and Halloween. Usually the image that comes to mind is something scary and evil. Real witches do exist. Most modern witches go by the label Wiccan now. Wiccans practice Wicca, which is a nature-based religion with many different branches or denominations. The basic tenant of all Wicca is called the Three Fold Law. The Three Fold Law states that whatever you do will come back to you times three, good or bad, so do not cause harm or, in other words, “harm none”. It is kind of like the concept of karma in one lifetime. There is debate over how old the religion actually is with some saying that it is an ancient religion that pre-dates Christianity and some saying it is more modern, starting in the 1950’s with Gerald Gardener. Regardless of how old the religion is, Hollywood’s portrayal of witches often does have some kernel of truth, albeit sometimes it is hard to find.
Witches were also mentioned in the bible in multiple places. In Hebrews, Exodus 22:18, one reads, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide) This basically translates to, “any women practicing dark arts or unnatural powers should be put to death.” Again in the bible, witchcrafts is mentioned “when the prophet Samuel admonishes King Saul of the Israelites, for seeking aid of the Witch of Endor” (The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide). Then God punishes King Saul for this sin by killing him and his sons and allowing the Philistines, Israel’s enemy, to destroy his army (The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference
The first time I heard this story was in Maryland. It was told by a woman in her thirties, who identified herself as being of Irish heritage, which made the story of Moll Dyer more close to her heart. She was also an anthropology major who has had contact with local folklorists in the past. This is where she first learned of the story of Moll Dyer, which she recounted to me as follows:
Witchcraft had always fascinated many people and been a very controversial topic in North America during (seventeenth) 17th century. Many People believe that witchcraft implies the ability to injure or using supernatural power to harm others. People believed that a witch represents dark side of female present and were more likely to embrace witchcraft than men. There are still real witches among us in the Utah whom believe that witchcraft is the oldest religion dealing with the occult. However the popular conception of a witch has not changed at least since the seventeenth century; they still caused panic, fear and variety of other emotions in people…………………….
Witchcraft first emerged in Renaissance Europe and consisted of, “the individual’s making, for whatever reason and to whatever end, a pact or covenant with the Devil, thereby gaining the power to manipulate supernatural forces for anti-social and un-Christian ends.” (Currie 8). Obviously, witchcraft is not something that is done out of love for God, so this statement from Currie would be true because the witches were doing supernatural things and
Hall, David D. "Witch Hunting In Salem." Christian History. N.p., 1994. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.
McCarthyism is one of the most recent witch-hunts. This witch-hunt was from 1950 to 1956 lead by Joseph McCarthy. Evidence that this was a witch-hunt can be found in the article “The Cold War Museum” where it says “These people on the list were in fact not all communists; some had proven merely to be alcoholics and sexual deviants.” The reason why Mccarthy blamed these innocent people was because he “searched for ways to insure his political success, resorting even to corruption” stated the The Cold War website. These hunts happened mostly
“Possible causes of the Salem witch hunts” February 15 2001. Online Internet 1998 Available: http://ok.essortment.com/salemwitchhunt_rulb.htm
Blumberg, Jess. "A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials." Smithsonian Magazine. 24 Oct. 2007. 28 Oct. 2013 .
-Blumberg, Jess. “ A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials.” 24 October 2007. Smithsonian.com. 16 February 2010.
Religious influence, the manipulation of fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft all are very influential to the popular belief of witchcraft during this time period. The popularity of witchcraft in this time period is important because it has shown how in the past when there is no logical explanation they would automatically blame Satan and say it was Satan’s doing. It also shows that history repeats itself because during the Cold War many individuals were accused of being communist even though there was no hard evidence proving this accusation; however, out of fear people will still be convicted, just like during the witch trials. Moreover, witch trials were not only influenced by many things but they have been influential; therefore, showing that they influenced things in our time
Witchcraft was relentlessly thought as the work of the devil with only sinful and immoral intentions. Julio Caro Baroja explains in his book on Basque witchcraft that women who were out casted from society and unable to fulfill their womanly duties became witches as a way to compensate for her failed life. They were thought to be a threat to society as they dwindled in evil magic. This misunderstanding may have originated from the literary works of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, in their published book, “Malleus Maleficarum”. Accusations of being adulterous, liars and dealing with the devil materialized because of the...
Through out time many people have viewed witches as bad people. Even in religion witches are viewed as workers of Satan himself. “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them” Leviticus 20:27 King James Bible. Throughout our world’s history there have been thousands if not millions of witch hunt cases around the world. During the Bubonic Plague people blamed witches for what was going on. Then in the early years of the Dark Ages people where convinced of these so called witches and other mythological creatures. At first people where scared to go outside at night because they thought that the witches, would get them. However, when people began to learn how to read, they realized that witchcraft was against what the bible says. So this led to even more people being accused of being a witch. During the colonial era when the European countries where colonizing the world, England was a breeding ground for witch hunts. The religious persecution of small Christian groups in England led to the Puritans leaving the country. Arriving in the 13 colonies, here one of the worst witch trials in American history took place in Salem Massachusetts. These are known as the Salem Witch Trials, in which over 100 people were blamed for witchcraft and almost all of them were killed. These trials were not alone though, many others countries have their own versions of the Salem trials. However, in today’s time these so called witch hunts are not common in countries like the US, and there are laws that prevent actual witch hunts from happening. There are still countries that have witch hunts within their borders ba...
...ches and witchcraft have been passed down through generations to generations. From way back to the 1200’s to today in the present times, that is how long witches have been around. As of the history of witches and witchcraft, stories were used to keep the history alive inside the stories written in ancient mythology to Walt Disney’s movies. Check your family history. What and who were they. Were they witch hunters or were they a witch? There’s more to the story of Halloween or All Hallows Eve than meets the eye. What story or legend will come next?