Witches

 ====From the black plague to satanic rituals; "...witches have been around for ages and still stands as one of the world's longest running religion's. Witches are traditionally known for being cruel, cold-hearted, and to an extent; immortal." (Rosalyn 119-124) They have always been a "question mark" in our worlds history and still will be for centuries to come. This project will you show how witches have been portrayed as evil and how over a period of time they were recognized for being nothing more then just a religion. Witches have always haunted us in reality and in our dreams but in truth they are as harmless you or I. Now listen as we take you through a brief summarization of witches and let us show you what the word "witch" truly means. ====

====The Elizabethan era introduced witches into the world. This era was responsible for the uproar of witches; witchcraft, and witch hunts were introduced during this time and were meant to stop the "supernatural". Witches became so big because of the press; Johannes Gutenberg published some of the first books in existence and most of these books included witches and their beliefs. "Women were mostly accused of being witches in this era; out of 270 witch trials, 247 were women." (Elizabethan Era) Men were considered as being "higher" then women in status, this led women to being responsible for almost everything; they were responsible for curing illnesses both for themselves and men. They used such herbs as: cannabis, henbane, and hemlock. Fearful of witches the Catholic Church included in its definition of witchcraft as: anyone with knowledge of using herbs. these herbs did have psychadelic effects and in most cases a user would be executed by that of burning. The main way of executing witches in this era though was by hanging. The most famous case of witches was that of the Chelmsford witch trials. "This was the first witch trial to appear in a secular court in England which then led to further witch trials and eventually concluded in the first execution of a "witch" on Agnes Waterhouse in 1566." (Elizabethan Era) This era was the stepping stone for witchcraft for years to come.====

=__Accused witches were generally:__ =


 * Old
 * Poor
 * Unprotected
 * Single women or widows

 Pentagram- "a symbol that represents the 5 elements of Earth: Wind, Water, Fire, Air and spirit. Many also believe that the pentagram represents a symol or a shield against evil." (Woodruff 115-157)

__Salem American Witches __ ====The belief of witches eventually made it's way to the American colonies where it grew completely out of proportion. The most famous case of witch trials in the American colonies is the Salem witch trials. This tragic trial was the result of ignorant and crazed people doing what there leaders preached about. "The Salem trials started in 1692 when some girls became friends with a slave and people that knew these girls claimed that they had turned "crazy" soon after meeting this slave." (Cline) They claim they would scream, fall into convulsions, and most strangely they would bark like dogs. The girls and the slave were then accused of witchcraft and later it turns out that they would fully confess to being witches.====

__Symptoms of Witches:__

 * Strange marks on skin
 * Numb spots on skin

====To help identify these witches the court would look for special characteristics on the skin of the witches. Judges would believe a person if they were to come up to them and say the dreamt of someone being a witch. The court would then "execute law" on the accused witch. The accused that were executed were the people who fought there case saying that they were not a witch and just would not comply with the court. People who were accused and confessed to being a witch were for the most part not executed. "Mostly executed were old women who were deviant, troublesome and disorderly. In result of the Salem witch trials: 19 people were killed, two died in prison, and one man was pressed to death by stones." (Cline) The Salem trials were not as bad as trials in Europe but were an example of what religion can do. ====

__Modern Witches __
====Modern day witchcraft is not looked at as brooms and tall black hats or psychadelic potion. Modern day witchery has grown up with the world and has now found a place as a religion. "WICCA; the religion of the "witches" has grown into a humanist pathway as time as passed." ("Wicca") There are many WICCA groups in the world and they all have different techniques or approaches in displaying their practice.====

= = = = = = = = == =__Beliefs:__ =
 * ===="Everyone has the divine within ====
 * One should occult magic
 * Divine forces and spirtits are triggered in rituals
 * The Goddess is the focus of the worship
 * Sacred manifestations of this Goddess are Nature and the Earth
 * Everyone has their own personal spiritual path to follow
 * Customs such as chanting and burning candles trigger a sense of the mystical" (Candace 123-128)

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= Works Cited = = = Candace, Savage. //Witches: Wicca//. New York: Greystone Books, 2000. 123-128. Print.

Cline, Austin. "Persecuting Witches and Witchcraft." //About//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec 2011. [].

. "Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches." //Elizabethan Era//. Elizabeth Source, n.d. Web. 13 Dec 2011. [].

. "Modern Day Witchcraft." //Wicca//. Contender Ministries, n.d. Web. 13 Dec 2011. [].

Rosalyn, Schanzer. //Witches- The Absolute True Tale of Salem//. Washington D.C: National Geographic Society, 2011. 119-124. Print.

Woodruff, Una. //Witches//. New York: Crescent Books, 1988. 115-123. Print.