Witchcraft Evaluation through Comparison-Contrast - Essay Example

?Client’s 11 March Different people react differently when they hear the word “witchcraft”, Halloween is arguably the first thing which comes to mind when witchcraft is being talked about. People also get reminded of old hags when witches are being talked about. The image that people have of witchcraft has changes significantly in the recent past, this drastic change has occurred because of numerous movies made on this subject, several books have also been published on witchcraft which has again helped in changing the perception of the people about witchcraft. This paper will shed light upon witchcraft and paganism since 1815; modern day witchcraft will be discussed extensively in the following parts of this paper. “Before really getting into what Witchcraft is, perhaps we should take a look back at what it was—the history of it. Witches should be aware of their roots; aware of how and why the persecutions came about, for instance, and where and when the re-emergence took place. There is a great deal to be learned from the past. It's true that much of history can seem dry and boring to many of us, but that is far from so with the history of Witchcraft. It is very much alive and filled with excitement.” (Buckland, Raymond. P.1) Witches have often been banished from our society, they have been tortured beyond imagination and this image has to be changed. Christians try assiduously to follow the bible but several of them fail to do so when they develop hatred for witches, the Bible clearly says that hating another person is wrong. As discussed earlier there is a change in perception which has already taken place and because of this more and more have started accepting witchcraft. It becomes an arduous task to describe modern day witchcraft; it is really difficult to describe it in general terms. In India voodoo magic is being followed, people in states like West Bengal indulge in this very dangerous practice. It is considered dangerous because several people have lost their lives attempting to do voodoo magic, it is often said that a person who has mastered voodoo magic can instantly hypnotize another person within literally no time. It becomes difficult to describe modern day witchcraft because there is no specific book which one can refer to; usually people follow different rituals and traditions. Ancient religion, science fiction and myth all play an important part in witchcraft and paganism; people who practice it often take cues from religion, fiction and myth. Another important aspect of witchcraft and paganism is that people who follow it do not worship evil forces; they consider mother earth very important and usually worship mother earth rather than focusing their energy on evil forces. Satanism is another important topic which comes to mind when paganism and witchcraft is being talked of. There is a lot of difference between Satanism and witchcraft, people who indulge in Satanism pray to the Saturn or the evil forces but the followers of witchcraft do not pray to the Saturn or the evil forces. “Here in Canada kitchen prophecy is a way of life.” (The "Kitchen Goddess”) This goes to show that prophecy is often practiced by witches. They engage in speculation, they enjoy telling people about what they should expect in the future. Wicca has to be discussed when witchcraft is being shed light upon, Wicca is a religion. The word Witch generally refers to a person from pagan religion. The roots of Wicca are firmly engraved in our history; people have been practicing it since pre-historic times. It would be inappropriate to consider Wicca as a unified whole. Beliefs and rituals practiced by the Witches vary significantly and this is why it would be inappropriate to consider Wicca as a unified whole. “There have been many books written on the history of Witchcraft. The vast majority have suffered from bias—as will be explained shortly— but a few of the more recently published ones have told the story accurately... or as accurately as we can determine.” (Buckland, Raymond. P.1) It is important to know that there are several differences between witchcraft and paganism, there are many contemporary Pagans who like others to call them witches. Pagans are all contemporary witches but there is a catch again here. Modern Pagans are not witches or at least all the modern Pagans cannot be called witches. Modern witches have their own places of worship and all of them gather there and get the proceedings underway. It is also important to know that not all witches worship, some of them engage in conducting rituals as well. As discussed earlier in the paper the sun and the moon are of prime importance to witches and they worship according to the phases of the sun and the moon, for instance the lunar eclipse is one phase of the moon and it is also of utmost importance to the modern day witches. Like people belonging to other religions witches have their own seasonal holidays and they thoroughly enjoy during these holidays, these holidays are called “Sabbats”. Witches from North America and Europe have these Sabbats whereas witches in other parts of the world do not have Sabbats. Sabbats are mainly eight seasonal holidays, there are several rituals held during the Sabbats. Story-telling is one very popular ritual which almost all the witches engage in; drumming is another ritual which the witches engage in during the sabbats. Chanting and meditation are a few other rituals that these witches enjoy doing. These however cannot be called deeper ritual works; the aforementioned are just light rituals. Deeper rituals are not performed openly, there are private gatherings especially organized for such private affairs. Personal spiritual development remains the sole aim of every witch during these personal gatherings and to accomplish the same they practice healing work and try raising their collective energy level. “It is knowledge and understanding of ourselves at the very source that is contracted through confrontation with adversity.” (Angeles, Ly De, P. 40) Contemporary Pagans Contemporary pagans have their own beliefs and some of the most important ones are as follows: Contemporary pagans firmly believe in the divine and divinity. They also believe that there are several paths that can lead them to divinity. Every modern day pagan respects Mother Earth. They also understand the importance of the physical world and firmly believe that every human being must enjoy. They believe in peace and refrain as much as plausible from harming others. They also understand that nothing material or any other gain can be achieved by harming others. They have their own morals and principles and they firmly stick to them. They also believe a lot in community cooperation and this is why they have gatherings and meetings in which they perform their rituals. Every modern day pagan is committed towards making this planet better, in other words planetary growth remains one of their priorities. They celebrate the lunar and the solar cycles, old customs are revived and new ones are made during these celebrations. Consistency is very important to all the day pagans, they believe that lifestyle and one’s beliefs must be in accord and must be consistent. Paganism in Different Countries Paganism varies from country to country; some rituals are mutually exclusive to some pagans residing in a particular country while some other rituals are not so mutually exclusive. Paganism in Germany is quite different from the paganism followed in other countries. A new subset by the name of Norse Paganism has emerged from Germany; it is believed that the tribes in Germany stated Norse Paganism. “In England, in 1951, the last laws against Witchcraft were finally repealed.” (Buckland, Raymond. P.6) There were no temples in earlier days and the form of worship was very different from the forms of worship seen these days. The tribes used to worship in a very different way which was quite similar to the way Balts and Celts used to worship. People who follow Norse Paganism firmly believe in sacrifice people belonging to other religions may find this very disturbing. Animals are the main targets when sacrifice is being talked about and sometimes even human beings are sacrificed by the Norse Pagans. Human beings were sacrificed by the Norse Pagans at religious festivals to make the Gods happy. Human beings were also sacrificed at funerals by the Norse Pagans. Neopaganism is another subset which has been inspired by Norse Paganism. “There are powers that demand reverence. What I call a God someone else may not call a God.” (Essentials of Faith) These were the words of a Pagan, this also justifies why Pagan worship the Earth. Mother Earth has had to go through several difficulties and the difficulties just keep on mounting and our planet is getting hammered with each passing day. Pollution rises when population increases, the population of this planter is increasing with each passing day and so is the level of pollution. References Angeles Ly De. Witchcraft Theory and Practice. Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 155718782X Buckland Raymond. Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft. Llewellyn Publications, MN. 1986, 2002. Essentials of Faith: Paganism. Films Media Group, 2006. Films On Demand.  Hoyt, Charles. Witchcraft, Second Edition. Library of Congress Cataloging. ISBN 0809315440 The "Kitchen Goddess": The Reemergence of the Village Psychic. Films Media Group, 1999. Films On Demand.  Read More