History
of Witchcraft
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Witch beliefs go back to the
ancient civilizations like Babylon and Sumeria. In ancient
times people thought up myths about how the earth and people
were created. Early civilizations thought a goddess gave
life to all living things. Each civilization had a special
name for this goddess who was commonly known as "Mother
Earth". Early people worshipped Mother Earth and tried to
tap into the life giving power of the Earth. This practice
continued for many years.
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When the Christian religion began, the
Christians wanted people to stop worshipping Mother Earth. People who
didn't stop believing in Mother Earth were called witches. Because
witches didn't follow the Christian religion, priests scared people
into thinking witches were evil and cast spells. These lies about
witches spread and soon scared people were accusing their neighbors
of being witches. After that hundreds of witch trials were put into
action. Hundreds of people were put into jail, hanged, burned, or
drowned. There was no escaping being accused of witchcraft.
Many of these witch trials took place
right here in the United States in the town of Salem, Massachusetts.
Now-a-days people have learned that the kinds of witches described in
books and movies aren't real. The witch trials have hopefully stopped
forever. Today, a witch is a person who believes in the wicca
religion and the power of mother earth. Witches are real people, but
no one can really do anything to hurt someone without any physical
contact. Modern
day witches believe in protecting the environment and never hurting
people or animals.
