"Real" Witchcraft: Part 1

By Nina T.H

Parts of this editorial may be inappropriate for young children!

I thought it would be interesting to learn about "real" witchcraft! Many see witchcraft the way it is in the HP books. Wave your wand, say a spell and POOF!, you're flying into the sky among the stars. I believe that some forms of Witchcraft is real! When I think of "real" witchcraft, I think of Blair Witch. But after doing some research, I found out that there are many, many types of witchcraft, all with different beliefs!

Gothic Satanism during the Renaissance:
This is what basically caused the witch haunt during the late Middle Ages. The witches, who were said to sell they're souls to the devil or other evil Gods they believed in, were evil creatures that didn't understand love and humanity. They were also very powerful. If you met a witch late at night, you were most likely to be put an evil spell on, or being sacrificed to the evil Gods. They had, by selling their soul, agreed to live by harming others. They were said to steal babies, kill and eat their victims, cut out hearts and suck souls in the honour of their evil God. When these stories or beliefs spread through the public, the mass hysteria began. Thousands of females were condemned as "Witches" and were burned on the steak or executed in some other horrible way. Before they got killed, they had to go through tests that would show if they really were witches. But these tests weren't exactly fair to put it in a nice way. Some were tied to a table bench while someone took hot metal sticks and poked the "witch". If she continued to say she was not a witch, the person would continue to poke her till she changed her mind and confessed. Then she was burned at the steak! Others were thrown in the river with a metal chain on her feet. If she sank and drowned, she was no witch, but if she floated, she was burned at the steak. It was the Roman Catholic church that first began to teach people about these witches. Some Christians still believe in these Gothic Satanists.
It is very likely that these Witches never existed in the first place, only in people's minds.

Wicca:
Wicca is the newest form for religious witchcraft. This religion is based on the concepts, symbols and seasonal days of the ancient Celtic people. The Wiccans refer to themselves as Witches, Pagans or Neopagans. The males and females are all witches, the word wizard is not used. Wicca is a deep appreciation to the nature. It is a holy thing to watch the sunrise or sunset, a glowing moon, the sparkling stars and all of natures wonders. In the term witch, lies the meaning of: Healers, teachers, seekers, givers and protectors of all things. They only do spells for good. If it goes wrong, they always take the consequences of their actions. The Wiccas live by two basic rules:

*The Wiccan Rede: "An it harm none, do what you wilt" (They can do what they want as long as it does not harm anyone, including themselves.
*The Threefold Law: Any evil that one does will return three times over; so too with any good that one accomplishes. (There is something like this in the movie "The Craft". But other than that, "The Craft" is not like Wicca)

The Wiccans are also very strict on the fact that they are NOT a cult! They do NOT sacrifice humans or animals to the nature. That would be against the Rede.

Religious Satanism:
Quotation:
"You cannot love everyone; it is ridiculous to think you can. If you love everyone and everything you lose your natural powers of selection and wind up being a pretty poor judge of character and quality. If anything is used too freely it loses its true meaning. Therefore, the Satanist believes you should love strongly and completely those who deserve your love, but never turn the other cheek to your enemy!"
-Anton LaVey

Most people in this religion are adults. Some are grown teenagers, but not many. The beliefs and rituals of the Church Of Satan, is in no way the same as the Christian concept of Satan. It has come from the pagan views of power, sexuality and sensuality. Their Satan has nothing to do with Hell, demons, sadistic torture and so on.

Some of their beliefs and practises are:
-They do not worship the living deity
-The power and authority is based on the individual Satanist, not on a God or Goddess
-They believe that "no redeemer liveth" - that each person is their own redeemer, fully responsible for the direction of their own life.
-"Satanism respects and exalts life. Children and animals are the purest expressions of that life force, and as such are held sacred and precious..."

The nine Satanic statements: These form the core of the Church of Satan beliefs. They were written by Anton LaVey. In abridged form, they state that Satan represents:

-Indulgence, not abstinence.
-Vital existence, not spiritual pipe dreams.
-Undefiled wisdom, not hypocritical self-deceit.
-Kindness to those deserving of it, not love wasted on ingrates.
-Vengeance, not turning the other cheek.
-Responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires.
-Man as just another animal - the most vicious of all.
-Gratification of all ones desires.
-The best friend that the Christian Church has had as he has kept it in business for centuries.

The Blair Witch
If you are interested in Witchcraft and have not seen The Blair Witch Project, I must say you really should. It is based on a true story and is really creepy. I must warn you: If you are of the kind who gets scared easy: Don't see it. I was scared for ages and I usually love horror movies. But it is not in itself very scary, it's the fact that it's based on a real story that creeps me out!

The town Blair is located in North-Central Maryland, two hours from Washington.
The first stated "event" is found in February, 1785, where Several children accuse Elly Kedward of luring them into her home to draw blood from them. Kedward is found guilty of witchcraft, banished from the village during a particularly harsh winter and presumed dead.
In November 1786, all of Kedward's accusers along with half of the town's children vanish. Fearing a curse, the townspeople flee Blair and vow never to utter Elly Kedward's name again. In August 1825, Eleven witnesses testify to seeing a pale woman's hand reach up and pull ten-year-old Eileen Treacle into Tappy East Creek. Her body is never recovered, and for thirteen days after the drowning the creek is clogged with oily bundles of sticks.
Many other, grotesque events appear. To read them all, check out this site: http://www.blairwitch.com/timeline.html.
Blair Witch is actually one of the Witch Crafts I believe in! You might be laughing at me, but I think it is all too much to be fake!

Next time I will compare Harry Potter to other, religious witchcraft, such as the kind that is listed above. For the time being, I think it is fairly easy to see how the magic in Harry Potter is in no way related or similar to the type of witchcraft listed above.

Hope you enjoyed and that you will read my next article!

Continue to Part 2 >>