Witchcraft

:Witch redirects here.

Witches in modern culture

Today, few people believe in witches that can curse enemies, change shapes, or fly. However, since the emergence of the witchcraft-inspired religion of Wicca in the 1940s a growing number of people have called themselves witches. While most of western culture continues to assign negative connotations to the word, Wiccans do not consider it a derogatory term, nor do they associate it with Satanism. In fact, many Wiccans wish to claim the term "witch" and assign positive meanings to it.

Related Topics:
1940s - Satanism

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In 1968, a group of radical politically active women formed a protest organization in the City of New York called W.I.T.C.H., standing for "Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell". This was a short-lived group that did not have any noticeable impact on the modern development of witchcraft, except possibly Dianic craft, but is often cited because of its colourful acronym.

Related Topics:
1968 - City of New York - Dianic

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Witches are iconically associated with Halloween, although Wiccans generally prefer to celebrate Samhain. Samhain takes place on November 1st, while Halloween is on the 31st of October. Both holidays are often seen as being metaphorically similar in meaning. This is not coincidence. Christianity had a basic contempt for the supernatural overtones of the festival. The association between "witches" and Halloween possibly came from vilification of practitioners of the Celtic celebration of the last harvest.

Related Topics:
Halloween - Samhain - Celt

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Witches have come more into the mainstream in the last few decades, now seen often as common pop-culture figures. Teenage and young adult witches have been the focus or appeared in the movies "The Craft", "Practical Magic", and "Blair Witch Project 2" (the sequel to The Blair Witch Project), as well as the television programs "Bewitched", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Charmed", "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", and some episodes of "The X-Files". Such neo-Gothic portrayals bear little relationship to Wicca, or even a Christian view of witches. In almost all cases witches portrayed in movies and TV shows today are attractive women who have supernatural powers. In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, a witch is a female with magical powers.

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Recent research does not, however, support the media's portrayal of witchcraft and Wicca. In Witchcraft out of the Shadows (2004), Leo Ruickbie presents findings that demonstrate that Wicca and other forms of modern Witchcraft religion are not exclusively female nor teenage.

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Distinguishing witchcraft from other forms of magic

Among some groups within the modern occult movement, witchcraft is typically distinguished from folk magic, religious magic, and ceremonial magic. Modern self-identified witches (especially practitioners of Wicca) are likely to use the term witchcraft to refer to folk magic.

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Folk magic and witchcraft are not identical, but they are very similar. Both are concerned with the producing of effects using supernatural methods which (though arcane) are held to have power in their own right, whether or not they involve the invocation of deities, spirits, or other supernatural beings. In this way they differ from both prayer and religious magic, which derive not from the ritual elements themselves, but depend upon the power and consent of a deity or deities. Ceremonial magic almost always refers to hermetic magic being practiced in an ornate and precise manner.

Related Topics:
Supernatural - Hermetic magic

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Distinction of The Craft from Wicca

Though sometimes used interchangeably, "Wicca" and "The Craft" are not the same thing. The confusion comes, understandably, because both practitioners of Wicca and practitioners of The Craft call themselves witches. In addition, many, but not all, Wiccans practice witchcraft and likewise not all witches are Wiccans.

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From a neopagan perspective, Wicca refers to the religion; the worship of the God (also known as the Consort) and the Goddess (or just Goddess), and the Sabbat and Esbat rituals. Witchcraft, on the other hand, is considered the craft of magic. Practicing The Craft involves the conscious manipulation of energy to manifest desired results. This practice can be learned and perfected separate from any religious ideology, and thus requires no belief in specific gods or goddesses. It is a learned skill, not a spiritual path. There are other Pagan witches, "Hindu witches", "Buddhist witches", etc. who also practice witchcraft; however, Christians usually do not practice witchcraft because of their beliefs being against "sorcery" as noted in the Bible.

Related Topics:
Wicca - Sabbat - Esbat - Hindu - Buddhist

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The distinctions between neopaganism and witchcraft can not be clearly distinguished. There is crossover between the pagan/neopagan religions and witchcraft. For example, the mention of goddesses in spells and the performance of spells during Sabbat rituals are found in both. However, the differences mentioned above are the general distinctions made between the two terms.

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It should be noted that The Craft as a descriptor for witchcraft is a wholly modern concept, introduced precisely in order to distinguish the religion of Wicca from other practices that involve magic. This is a result of the increasing diversity in modern neopaganism, which was previously dominated by Wicca.

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If Raymond Buckland was the Father of American Wicca , Sybil Leek was the the mother of the craft.

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Sybil Leek: [Born February 22, 1917 in Stoke-on Trent, England. Died October 26, 1982 in Melbourne, Florida.

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Aleister Crowley became a frequent visitor to, Sybil Leek's home when she was only nine years old. Sybil Leek, was one of the most publicized Witches of the 20th century, Sybil Leek was one of the first Witches to become public back in the 1960's. Sybil Leek in the 1960's said her witchcraft was different from Gardner's, and not of Gerald Gardner's line.

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Her psychic predictions of the Kennedy assassinatons, and the election of Richard M. Nixon as president of the United States are documented. Sybil Leek wrote approximately 60 different books covering a wide range of subjects including :Astrology, Witchcraft, Curses, Dreams, Fortune Telling, Healing, Numerology, Phrenology, Reincarnation, Spells, Telepathy

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"All human beings have magic in them. The secret is to know how to use this magic,.... ".~ Sybil Leek, 1972.

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It was Buckland who was responsible for introducing Gardnerian Witchcraft into America in 1964. Known as "The Father of American Wicca He is also the founder of his own tradition of Witchcraft called Seax-Wica. After 28 years working in leading the craft in America, Buckland retire from active participation in 1992

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Books By Sybil Leek

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Books by Raymond Buckland

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◄ Witchcraft: African witchcraft

Witchcraft: Theories of Neopagan witchcraft ►

~ Table of Content ~

►	Introduction
►	Practices typically considered to be witchcraft
►	Etymology
►	European witchcraft
►	Middle Eastern witchcraft
►	African witchcraft
►	Witches in modern culture
►	Theories of Neopagan witchcraft
►	See also
►	External links
►	Additional Reading

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