Withccraft in British History

"European witchcraft was a unique phenomenon which differed from

European high magic from the low magic or simple sorcery"

(Russel 658). "High magic and simple sorcery differ however in methods and motivation" (658). High magic was astrology and alchemy (658). Sorcerers are usually people that are motivated by strong feelings of jealously, revenge, malice which are experienced by everyone

(Marwich 3042). "More supernatural are witches who are slaves of aberration and addiction that are consideration weird" ( 3041). "The word witch derives from the Old

English noun wicca 'sorcerer', and the verb wiccian 'to cast the spell'." The term does not really have a sinister meaning to it. It comes from the adjective 'white' which means to help others. Throughout British history superstitions regarding witches have affected the lifestyle of the people and literature of the world. One question that everyone wants to know, is if European witchcraft really exists. If it exists merely as a concept, a body of beliefs or whether it exists objectively is the question that baffles people. But whether witchcraft exist or not the concept of witchcraft dominated the period of the late Middle Ages through the

Renaissance and the Reformation and down to the

Eighteenth century. "Estimated over 100,000 to 200,000 people were executed and millions were tortured and terrified by the government" (Russel 658). Therefore, witchcraft brought the darkest periods in the European history. The first witches knew about nature, they really helped perform remedies, in a time of need. Magic is what people started to beleive the witches were performing at first in their lives (Stallman 11). "They started to beleive they could start making people afraid, and so thats what they did ( 13). People also believed to became a witch, a seed in the mothers milf while breast fedding was placed in a little child during infantsy (Marwich 3042). First the witches practiced sorcery (Eliade 417). Sorcery fills societal functions that merges from religion (416). Since the

1800's a new kind of diabolic witchcraft evolved in medieval and early modern Europe (417). Sorcery demands no attributes and can be practiced by anyone who can receive necessary magical substances (Marwich

3042). "Sorcery may have a variety of social functions: to relieve social tensio...

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...n this story the witches give prophecies that mess with the characters mind and makes them react to their prophecies. Though modern man may have given up the more specific beliefs in witchcraft, many writers have retained many of its associated concepts. The fables of witchcraft have taken to people so fast that the idea will probably never leave our culture. People will see the idea in many more books, poems and television.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Eliade, Mircea. "Witchcraft." The

Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. Vol 15 New

York: Macmillian Publish Company, 1987. 415 - 421.

Marwich, M. G. "Witchcraft." Man, Myth and Magic. The

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion and the

Unknown. Ed. Richard Cavendish. Vol 11. New York:

Marshall Cavendish, 1985. 3041 - 3046. Revesz, Therese

Ruth. Witches. Milwalkee: Raintree Childrens Books,

1977. Russel, Jeffery Burton. "European Witchcraft."

Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Ed. Joseph R. Stayer.Vol

12. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1989. 658 - 665.

Scot, Reginald. The Discoverie of Witchcraft. New York:

Dover Publications, 1972. Stallman, Birdie. Learning

About Witches. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1981.