Magic And Witchcraft Essay

Magic and witchcraft is nothing new for societies. It can be dated back to earlier centuries as early as to the 340 caves in France and Spain during the Upper Paleolithic times. Early beliefs in magic and witchcraft were believed to alleviate the unknown fears caused by unexplainable natural catastrophes. People that did not understand why misfortune struck their town would become anxious and afraid. In order to calm down the nerves, town leaders began to explain these misfortunes through tales of magical powers from the worlds beyond. Tales of explanation ranged from sea monsters to property guarding ghosts. The most common tale would be the one about the sea protector Sedna. Sedna’s father forced her to the bottom of the ocean by chopping

As it was stated in the lecture, Catholics do not believe that the rituals they are performing are to be labeled as magic or witchcraft. In their view, God gave permission to his designated followers to perform such acts in a ‘holy manner.’ Magic is being used when the priest is performing the main transformation of wine into the blood of Christ. Even though it is only symbolic, people are to think that it truly is the blood of Christ. Same goes for the bread turning into the body of Christ. When people go to communion, they are to believe they have drank the blood of Christ and ate the body of Christ in order to be absolved from sin. Even during holidays people are expected to behave one way and to celebrate that holiday in a specific form. For example, Halloween is actually a required day of mass for Catholics. When I was younger, I remember my parents forcing us to attend mass as a way to protect us for bad spirits while praying for the holy ones. After mass, we were allowed to go and trick or treat. Looking back, I remember that super Catholic parents would dress their children up in Catholic appropriate costumes like saints, priests, and

Wicca is a, “religious movement that seeks to revive religious traditions viewed as ancient or more authentic than current one.” The goal of Wicca according to the PowerPoint slides is to build a more emotionally satisfying social order based on Transcendent knowledge. Harmony between humanity and Earth is also of importance with an emphasis of fertility. Wicca practices are more, and more common because people are starting to be more open minded. According to the textbook, “Wiccans and other Neopaganism seek things like health, prosperity in jobs and romance, and protection for their children (pg. 143).” These are normal concepts to seek whereas uneducated people believe that Wiccans seek out Transcendent beings. Many people are starting to connect with nature, spirits, and stones again. I believe that connecting with the earth brings peace to some individuals. For example, I feel a lot calmer when I spend time out in the open and just mediate. I also started to learn about the special stones and their powers. It is something different, but because it’s so different it is interesting to