Witchcraft

Witchcraft

For nearly two centuries, witchcraft seemed to have disappeared. Although it was driven underground for a time, it is now the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are several reasons for its disappearance and now, for its return.

Until the fifteenth century, witchcraft was not considered an "evil" practice. It was about that time that the Catholic church started labeling witches as heretics and sinners because of their belief in social rebellion. The idea of social rebellion was also a rebellion against the church, which taught that "It was the duty of the common people to endure the tyranny of authority, no matter how oppressive." (Donovan 118)

There were also the other acts in the rituals of witchcraft which included feasting and dancing, both of which the church considered rebellious. But, it was not until the end of the fifteenth century that witchcraft got the reputation of being a satanic religion. The idea of a purely diabolical witchcraft was said to have been invented by the Roman Catholics to supply a way to destroy the threat of the heretic Germans. The idea of satan as an evil figure in religion was not even in the Old Testament, it was put there for an easy way to accuse people. Witches were seen worshipping a horned God, so the church created a horned figure that they related to evil, they called this figure satan. But the creation of this figure did much more than kill just Germans. The theory that witches were devil worshippers gave the church license to begin persecuting them as heretics, and they did. It was the beginning of two hundred years of torture and execution.

In those two hundred years it has been estimated that anywhere from 200,000 to 9,000,000 peop...

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...aid the path for future writers and thinkers like Gerald Gardner and Margaret Murray. Gerald Gardner was a retired British civil servant whose writings had a profound influence on modern witchcraft practices. He wrote down many other people's ideas along with ancient practices of pagan religions, possibly with some of his own ideas added in. Many of his ideas may possibly have come from the writings of Margaret Murray, another very influential writer. Their ideas and writings were the foundation of a religio

Witchcraft was driven underground by fear of death, and the fear of pain. But, even though witches were not allowed to openly practice their beliefs, their beliefs still lived on in secret gatherings and local customs. And it is our modern ideas and attitudes, and people like Gerald Gardner and Margaret Murray who brought about the revival of witchcraft.