My Great Endeavors : Witchcraft

Introduction

Witchcraft has been around 4 quite sum time. It has similarities to shamanism. It involves a lot of spells and rituals. They write down in their Book of Shadows. Quite a few witches use herbs and animal material. There are several prominent witches. It was persecuted by several entities. There are several forms of witchcraft. There are many types of witches.

Origin

It is based on European folk magick and folk religion. It was created or popularized in medieval times. Witches practice low (earth based and practical) magick like most people. A lot of them were herbalists and created potions. They knew how to cure and cause diseases. The word witch come from the Old English word wicca and wicce. They are the masculine and feminine words for magician. Most people confuse witchcraft with magick. Magick is certainty creation and/or probability enhancement by influence the subconscious mind, energies, or spirits. Witchcraft is a European form of that.

History

Circe is the 1st witch in history. Homer wrote about her in the Odyssey. She turned men in to animals. Hekate is a Titan and the Greek goddess of witchcraft. Circe may have been her daughter. Medusa may have been her sister or niece. The word church comes from kirk. Kirk comes from the word circe.

Since witchcraft comes from paganism it is very nature based. Witches focus on the seasons and the moon. They had different holidays on different seasons and they did different rituals. The waxing and waning of the moon increased or decreased the potency of a spell.

Celtic priests were called Druids. They were one of the ancestors of witches. They were specialized shamans, they had many functions in society. Such as judges, magickians, priests, teachers, prophets, historians, doctors, etc. They got wiped out by the Romans, because they were a threat to Roman imperialism. St. Patrick got rid of the Druids in Ireland.

There was less witch hunts in Great Britain than other parts of Europe. If a witch was right handed in GB she was less likely to be persecuted. The distinction wasn't made in other parts of Europe. Witches were seen as evil, because of their association with paganism. Paganism is equated to Satanism by Christians. That is a false equivalence. Paganism predates Christianity and Satanism is backward Christianity.

Similarities with Shamanism

Shamans and witches both lived on the fringes of society. They both are nature based and deal with spirits. They both travel to various spirit worlds. They have the power to bless and curse. They can both divine and heal. But shamanism is much older than witchcraft and it's global. Witchcraft started off regional, but it may be global now. I think shamans are more right handed and witches are more left handed.

Spells

Knot Magick: You tie a certain number of knots while saying a incantation. You may cover the knots in a certain type of oil. I think this form of magick comes from Celts.

Candle Magick: Light a candle of the corresponding color. Charge it first and engrave the right sigils, name and/or dates on it. Cover it in the proper oil. Mediate on the flame, while saying incantations. This form of magick is very popular!!!!! You can find it Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Western Magick. It is used in other magickal systems as well. The light from the candle also attracts spirits.

Healing: If you have an headache, get a glass of water. Hold it and say the water flushes out the foul head demon, so I can be healed by an angel of might. Close your eyes while saying it and imagine healing energy from your body going into the glass. Do it 4 two minutes.

Love: Say a incantation while visualizing your ex coming back to you. Do sound of silence meditation b4 hand.

Protection: Cast a circle. The idea is unwanted energies will stay out of the circle.

Purification: Smudging your rooms and body with sage. This was created by (native) American people, but witches now do it as well.

Rituals

Initiation: A witch can push herself into the current all by herself. Read Self-Initiation for the Solitary Witch to learn more.

Fivefold Kiss: The High priestess kisses the high priest on 5 parts of his body to bless him.

Cone of Power: It's a way to raise energy in a ritual. The witches imagine energy rizing from the circle into to a point above the ground. Then the energy is sent to the goal.

Drawing Down the Moon: A Wiccan high priestess get possessed by the goddess and the spirit speaks through her.

Banishing: Create a doll of the person you don't want in your life and put it in the freezer.

Book of Shadows(bos)

This is where witches keep a written record of spells and rituals. It is like a diary as well. It has the instructions on how to do the various spells and rituals. The bos was popularized by Gerald Gardner. The bible is like a bos, because the verses can be used 4 blessings and curses.

Animal Material

Some witches may use bones, shells, feathers, claws, and fangs in their potions. The different material have different properties. Some of them can used for defense, others can used for offense. Some of it can be used to cleanse the area or aura. Some witches sacrifice certain animals in certain rituals. Cats are the most popular familiar of witches. But there was many other familiars as well.

Herbs

Aloe Vera: It protects you from accidents and curses.

Belladonna: It has been used in curses. Be careful with this herb because it is toxic.

Lavender: It helps with love, sleep, protection, healing, etc.

Mugwort: Increases psychic power, but can cause an abortion. So, don't use it if pregnant.

Rosemary: Stimulates the mind and helps you sleep.

Stevia: Helps with health and happiness.

Famous Witches

Isobel Gowdie: A Scottish woman that confessed to witchcraft; probably because she was being tortured.

Sybil Leek: She was not only a witch, but also a psychic, astrologer, and author. She had out of OBEs and enjoyed curing people. She was a middle class English woman. Some people think she was the greatest witch of all time.

Laurie Cabot: She's a Pisces like me. Wow so amazing!!!!!! She authored 6 books and raised her daughters to be witches. She opened the first witch shop in Salem, MA in 1971. She is 89 years old. Witchcraft does the body good.

Scott Cunningham: He wrote a bunch of books about magick. He died @ 36, so sad. A library burned down when he croaked. He even wrote books on Hawaiian magick.

Doreen Valiente: She was Wiccan, but left Gerald Gardner coven because he was to public. He always wanted cameras around. Once she left that coven and she created her own. But, it didn't last because of infighting. She became more public after her mom died. She is known as the mother of Wicca.

Rosaleen Norton: She studied the Qliphoth and sex magick. She created her own brand of Wicca called The Goat Fold. She was a great artist: she draw a picture of goat demon with a serpent penis and a picture of a succubus riding a 6 eyed male demon. She was bisexual and enjoyed bdsm. She enjoyed pegging sissies(feminine homosexual males), that reminds me of Ronald Reagan. She was a woman after my own heart.

Alex Sanders: He was a bisexual Wiccan. Started out as a medium @ a Spiritualist Church. His grandma initiated him into witchcraft and he learned ceremonial magick. Then he got buck wild after the 2nd World War. He got into black (selfish, materialistic, cursive) magick and was very promiscuous. He thought there was a price to pay for that. He blamed himself 4 his sister death and he died @ the tender age of 62. He created his own form of Wicca called Alexandrian tradition.

Christopher Penczak: Amazing author, wrote a bunch of books. He is homosexual and he's happy about it.

Men should be hetero, that's why they got a prick!!!!!

Doreen Virtue: She was an amazing witch that wrote sweet books. But she fell off after she became a Christian. So sad, why did she leave a fun religion for such a boring one. Beats me, but we all make mistakes.

Sweet vid, but Marie Laveau was not a witch. She practiced New Orleans Voodoo. Witchcraft is wholly European and Voodoo is mostly African. Magick comes in different forms. Voodoo and Witchcraft are 2 different types of very magickal religions.

Persecution

From 900-1400 CE witches had free reign in Europe. Then after the Reformation witches were persecuted. They may have did it to get people to join their faction. Protestants killed more witches than Catholics. After the Peace of Westphalia the persecution of witches dropped significantly. That peace decided what land Catholics control and what land Protestants control.

I heard the Salem Witch Trails was caused by a hallucinogen called ergot. Ergot is a fungus in bread; it causes stillbirths, paranoia, spams, heart trouble, and a weaken immune system. It caused people to have experiences that weren't real. So, they blamed on witches. Ergot poisoning maybe somewhat responsible 4 witch hunts.

Forms of to Witchcraft

Sorginak: Basque witchcraft, the practitioners were priests and priestesses of the goddess Mari. They were persecuted by Europeans during the Spanish Inquisition.

Seidr: Germanic divination, the word is related to sorcery

Galdr: Germanic incantations, they were said poetically.

Stregheria: Italian witchcraft, it may have existed b4 Christianity.

Zagovory: Slavic verbal magick, used to enchant people and objects.

Slavic Witchcraft: It is mixture of paganism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Wicca: This form of witchcraft was created in 1954 by Gerald Gardner. He was a disciple of Aleister Crowley who was known as the Great Beast 666. It incorporates elements of Western magick. They believe in a earth mother and sky father. As well as other deities. They also believe in mediation, psychic powers, and reincarnation. There are different types of Wicca. But they all believe in the Rule of 3.

Types of Witches

Folk: They practice witchcraft like women did in the olden days. They are more spirit focused.

Ceremonial: Witches that practice Western magick.

Green: They mainly do Herbal magick.

Kitchen: They make magick from cooking and baking. There a lot of potential magick in the kitchen.

Chaos: Their magick is powered by conflicting energy and they like to curse people.

Cosmic: They work with astrology.

Celtic: They work a lot with Celtic spirits, rituals and holiday.

Norse: Same as b4, but Germanic.

Hellenic: Same as b4, but Greek.

Elemental: They work with earth, water, air, and fire energy.

Eclectic: They mix it up. They'll do any form of witchcraft that suits them. This on may favorite because I'm ova the place, can't sit still.

Conclusion

Witchcraft comes from European folk magick and religion. It has long history and similarities to shamanism because its tribal. Witches use spells, rituals, herbs, animal material to shape reality. They keep their information in a Book of Shadows. Witches were persecuted 4 centuries in Europe. Yet, they survived and many of them became famous. There are several types of witchcraft and witches. Witchcraft is super sweet!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!??????@@@@@@@@