origin of witch craft by InternetLord 2013/07/13 10:37
Witchcraft originated
with the human
civilization itself. The fear
of the unknown and its
imagined role in making
our day to day life easy or
difficult, created witches
and their craft. Even
though witchcraft as such
was practiced mainly by
experienced and old
women, men also
practiced it. Witches were
the mediators between
the human beings and the
mysterious super powers
such as spirits and angels.
When a witch succeeded
in resolving the
apparently mysterious
problem of someone, the
performance was termed
as magic, a process that
could not be easily
explained away through
any logical analysis. 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.
Witchcraft, an earth based
religion, was practiced in
almost all the societies
and cultures across the
world according to local
beliefs and traditions.
According to scholars of
witchcraft, it was a belief
system whose origin
predates the majority of
well known religions on
this earth. It dates 40,000
years back to Paleolithic
period. It has been
evolving since then and its
present form is quite
different from what it was
a thousand or five
thousand years back. It did
not probably have this
name as well. Even
different covens perform
the witchcraft differently.
Archeological
Discoveries
Archeological discoveries
have revealed that people
worshipped hunter god
and fertility goddess
during the Paleolithic
period. This has been
proved by the discovery of
cave paintings which are
estimated to be 30,000
years old. There is a
painting that depicts a
man with the head of a
stag. In yet another
painting, there is a
pregnant woman standing
in a circle with eleven
other people. These relics
go to prove that
witchcraft is one of the
oldest religions in the
world. Wiccan view of God
and Goddess aspect of the
supreme creative force
predates thousands of
years before Christianity.
A Craft of the Wise
In the ancient times,
Witchcraft was known as
‘craft of the wise’ as the
wise persons were those
who followed the path of
nature and were in tune
with its forces, had the
knowledge of herbs and
medicines, gave wise
counsel and were held in
high esteem as Shamanic
healers and leaders in the
village and community.
They understood that
nature was superior to
human beings and that
human beings were
simply one of the many
parts of nature, both seen
and unseen that combine
to form one whole. As
Chief Seattle said, “We do
not own the earth; we are
a part of it. †They
understood that what we
take from nature or use,
we must return in kind to
maintain the balance and
equilibrium. The modern
man has, however,
forgotten this and has
paid the price in form of
many ecological and
environmental disasters.
Modern day Witchcraft
Unfortunately for the past
several hundred years the
image of the witch has
been associated with the
evil, heathenism and
unrighteousness due to
prejudices created by the
Christian church. Of late
people have started
understanding and
practicing witchcraft as
the true religion of God
and Nature. There is
renewed interest in
witchcraft and witches
profess to believe and
practice the witchcraft
with a sense of pride and
confidence. The believers
in New Age movement
have understood
witchcraft in its true
perspective.
Modern witchcraft
attracts believers from all
walks of life and positions
in society all over the
world. They come
together to understand
the life, nature, evolution
and mysteries of the universe through witchcraft. Witchcraft is the most democratic religion in the world. There is no rigid dogma and no hard-line regime except for a simple premise that we should not sow the seeds of evil if we want to reap the evil fruit multifold and secondly that we should not misuse the munificence of nature by disturbing its balance. Who would disagree?
Witchcraft originated
with the human
civilization itself. The fear
of the unknown and its
imagined role in making
our day to day life easy or
difficult, created witches
and their craft. Even
though witchcraft as such
was practiced mainly by
experienced and old
women, men also
practiced it. Witches were
the mediators between
the human beings and the
mysterious super powers
such as spirits and angels.
When a witch succeeded
in resolving the
apparently mysterious
problem of someone, the
performance was termed
as magic, a process that
could not be easily
explained away through
any logical analysis. 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.
Witchcraft, an earth based
religion, was practiced in
almost all the societies
and cultures across the
world according to local
beliefs and traditions.
According to scholars of
witchcraft, it was a belief
system whose origin
predates the majority of
well known religions on
this earth. It dates 40,000
years back to Paleolithic
period. It has been
evolving since then and its
present form is quite
different from what it was
a thousand or five
thousand years back. It did
not probably have this
name as well. Even
different covens perform
the witchcraft differently.
Archeological
Discoveries
Archeological discoveries
have revealed that people
worshipped hunter god
and fertility goddess
during the Paleolithic
period. This has been
proved by the discovery of
cave paintings which are
estimated to be 30,000
years old. There is a
painting that depicts a
man with the head of a
stag. In yet another
painting, there is a
pregnant woman standing
in a circle with eleven
other people. These relics
go to prove that
witchcraft is one of the
oldest religions in the
world. Wiccan view of God
and Goddess aspect of the
supreme creative force
predates thousands of
years before Christianity.
A Craft of the Wise
In the ancient times,
Witchcraft was known as
‘craft of the wise’ as the
wise persons were those
who followed the path of
nature and were in tune
with its forces, had the
knowledge of herbs and
medicines, gave wise
counsel and were held in
high esteem as Shamanic
healers and leaders in the
village and community.
They understood that
nature was superior to
human beings and that
human beings were
simply one of the many
parts of nature, both seen
and unseen that combine
to form one whole. As
Chief Seattle said, “We do
not own the earth; we are
a part of it. †They
understood that what we
take from nature or use,
we must return in kind to
maintain the balance and
equilibrium. The modern
man has, however,
forgotten this and has
paid the price in form of
many ecological and
environmental disasters.
Modern day Witchcraft
Unfortunately for the past
several hundred years the
image of the witch has
been associated with the
evil, heathenism and
unrighteousness due to
prejudices created by the
Christian church. Of late
people have started
understanding and
practicing witchcraft as
the true religion of God
and Nature. There is
renewed interest in
witchcraft and witches
profess to believe and
practice the witchcraft
with a sense of pride and
confidence. The believers
in New Age movement
have understood
witchcraft in its true
perspective.
Modern witchcraft
attracts believers from all
walks of life and positions
in society all over the
world. They come
together to understand
the life, nature, evolution
and mysteries of the universe through witchcraft. Witchcraft is the most democratic religion in the world. There is no rigid dogma and no hard-line regime except for a simple premise that we should not sow the seeds of evil if we want to reap the evil fruit multifold and secondly that we should not misuse the munificence of nature by disturbing its balance. Who would disagree?
#34 Myth&Mystery
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