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| This picture was taken from here |
What comes to mind when you think of witches? Old
women with green faces, a pointy hat and a broomstick or old women stirring up
some potions in a cauldron? When reading a story about witches, no one really
stops and thinks: “Hmm, where do witches come from? I wonder what their history
is.” To most people, it’s just a fictional story.
Although,
witches have originated from somewhere and believe it or not, it originated
with the human civilization itself1. Witches have their own religion
called witchcraft, which dates back to about 40,000 years ago! They would help
people solve their problems. “The witches prayed to the higher powers or the
spirits for help and guidance in resolving the problem by performing certain
rituals and the whole process was called witchcraft.”1
Who would
have ever thought that witchcraft was a religion practised by many people? Nowadays,
most witches are perceived as mean and evil beings. In the fairy tale, Hansel
and Gretel, the story proves this theory by showing us how the witch took in
the kids to try and fatten up Hansel and eat him. For those of you who don’t
know the story, I’ll put a video below that will show it to you.
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| More picture can be found here |
In
the University of Alberta, they've found a book about witches that is almost
550 years old! 2 That’s pretty old for a book if you ask me. If you’d
like to find out more about the book and see more pictures then you can click here! Many books have been written
about witches and witchcraft in the past. One of those books includes The
Crucible by Arthur Miller. It’s a book that’s been written based on the Salem
witch trials in which many people were accused of using witchcraft. Back then,
witchcraft was known as the devil’s magic. It’s a very interesting book, so go
check it out!
The
modern version of witches is quite different than the witches in the past. There
are good ones and there are bad ones. In J. K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter
series, most witches are good, but others have decided to join the dark side.
One of my favourite book series which include witches is the Beautiful Creatures
series, written by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia3. Witches are referred
to as casters. There are light casters and the dark ones. It’s a typical love
story between a human named Ethan and a caster named Lena. They face so many
different obstacles and the plot line is excellent! I loved every second of it
and I’ll gladly read them over and over again!
I
hope you all learned something new today about witches, because I know I did.
If there is any other fantasy characters you would like to learn more about,
please let me know in the comments below!
This is such an interesting blog! I always thought witches were only something people dressed up as for Halloween. I've always been interested in superstitions and things like that but never thought witches of all things actually existed. I would like to do further research on them now to learn even more!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jenna! I also thought that witches were something you dress up as on Halloween. It’s why I chose this topic; I wanted to show people that there is more to witches than they think. Could it be possible that other things we thought were fictional are also real?
DeleteFatima, this topic is very interesting. It is so true that the majority of people automatically think of green faces, pointy hats and broomsticks when thinking of witches. It wasn't until before my grade 11 English class read "The Crucible" that I had thought of witches any differently myself to be honest. However, the practice of witchcraft and the real history behind it is incredible. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you Marissa! We think of witches that way because, like you said, we didn't know any differently. I was very shocked that witchcraft was an actual religion practised by many, ; it’s what I found most interesting. After reading “The Crucible”, it shows you a different perspective on witches and it’s what gave me the idea!
DeleteWow! That's all I have to say ! I never knew witches actually had such history or their beliefs were much a religion that people believe in. I've always looked at witches as evil and bad people like you said because that is what we know them from our early childhood years. But I guess they are people just like us with different beliefs in life. I'm so glad I read your blog! You learn something new everyday, right ?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I mean who would have ever thought that witches had a religion of their own? I thought the website was just something fictional, turns out it wasn't. It’s very true that the things we learn in our childhood stick to us. Now, everything we've learned has a different way to be looked at. You’re right; we do learn something new every day!
DeleteWitches are a very cool topic to write about! I was a witch for Halloween for 6 years in a row when I was little, because i loved the outfits! I didn't know it was a religion that people actually practiced! A play that I like about witches is Macbeth. I had the ingredients to the potion memorized when I was in grade school. I really liked this post and I look forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca and they are indeed! I agree that being a witch for Halloween was the best! I loved to wear the pointy hats and knowing the ingredients to a potion is always a plus! It really completes the costume. I also liked Macbeth; it shows how the witches are portrayed as evil. It was a very interesting story!
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