Investigating Witches and Witchcraft

Investigating Witches and Witchcraft — page 1
INVESTIGATING WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT INTRODUCTION any young people are first introduced to the world of witches with the famous line from the movie The Wizard of Oz Ill get you my pretty and your little dog too The line is uttered by the Wicked Witch of the West With her green skin pointy hat and magical powers she has many char acteristics that people think of when they imagine witches But stories of witches and witchcraft were around thousands of years before this 1939 movie and the book upon which it is based In fact witchcraft or rather the belief in it has shaped some major events in history often at a terrible cost in human life as illustrated by the European witch hunts and the Salem witch trials Witchcraft is not however a practice only from history and fiction Some cultures around the world still believe in witchcraft today There is also a modern Western movement called Wicca that embraces some benevolent kind and helpful aspects of the magical