Book Of Shadows: all about the practice and paths

The History of Witchcraft

HOW DID WITCHCRAFT GET ITS NEGATIVE CONNOTATION

THE WITCH STEREOTYPE IS SET

1022 CE

The first woman is formally executed for heresy; the witch stereotype is set. During a trial of over a dozen people (including one woman) accused of practicing religious heresy, the woman is accused of orgies, worshipping demonic entities, and killing children, which ultimately defined the witch stereotype.

WITCH HUNTS ACROSS EUROPE

1324 CE; 1400-1700 CE

In 1324 the first documented witch hunt occurred surrounding a wealthy Irish woman that outlived several husbands. She was charged with witchcraft and was accused of practicing the dark arts, having intercourse with demons, and using "lotions and spells" with friends to conjure up evil spirits. This trial led others close to her being accused and put on trial, with some being executed. From 1400-1700, nearly 500,000 people were executed as witches across Europe, with the Malleus Maleficarum published in 1486 which became a popular guide to finding and torturing witches and also served as the basis for many superstitions about witches.

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

1692-1693 CE

When over 200 people were accused in the Salem witch trials, mass hysteria overwhelmed the town of Salem, Massachusetts, with 19 ultimately executed.

THE END OF THE EUROPEAN WITCH CRAZE

1951 CE

England lifted its witchcraft law that imprisoned accused witches, which marked the end of the European witch craze. This encouraged Gerald Gardner to step out into the spotlight and publicly declare himself as a witch and share the religion of Wicca with the world, which led to many modern Wicca and witchcraft movements.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA CHANGES PERCEPTIONS OF WITCHCRAFT

1960-2000

After the spread of Wicca, which made witchcraft accessible through a familiar structured religion format, mainstream society's views began to change in the 1960s and 1970s when academics and journalists like Margot Adler began publicly writing and talking about witchcraft with respect. The 1980s brought positive portrayals of witchcraft to the media with movies like Teen Witch and The Witches of Eastwick, which showed witches as empowered, intelligent, and sexy. Witchcraft began to take over mainstream media in the 1990s and early 2000s, with shows (Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Craft) that depicted magic as something interesting, desirable, and accessible.