Witches have been around for thousands of years.  Long, long ago male and female witches in Babylonia, Egypt and Assyria claimed to have magical powers.  These powers, so they say, could forecast the future.  They looked at the stars, studied the times birds took flight, and spent many hours examining palms, freckles and footprints of people.  Witches were thought to have great power over the weather.

     Besides just bad witches, there were also good witches.  Their spells and chants blessed everything.   They were known to give a very special gift, a windbag.  Whenever someone opened the sack, there would be a bunch of knots.  When a knot was untied, a gust of wind blew out.  Other witches, such as the evil ones, were put to death.  Unfortunately, not all of the evil witches died.  Some escaped.

    Some people became so terrified of witches that they actually died.  During the 14th and 15th Centuries, people believed that witches and demons multiplied.  Executions of witches were frequent at the time Columbus discovered America.  People believed that witches continued to kill thousands of harmless people for hundreds of years.  Some people still believe in witches to this very day.