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Imani Hoffman
English 1102
Professor Sotirakopulous
4/29/16

Modern Witchcraft Isnt a Myth

When we think of witchcraft most people think of the Salem witch trials and perhaps
people being burned in front of crowds on the cross or other instruments of torture such as
hanging. According to the website for the History Channel (history.com) the Salem witch trials
actually began in 1692, in what used to be considered the New England town of Salem,
Massachusetts at the time, but is now present day Danvers, Massachusetts. It had begun when the
minister of the towns daughter and niece began to have violent tremors along with
uncontrollable screaming outburst. When a local doctor by the name of William Griggs came to
examine the girls, he diagnosed it as a case of bewitchment to which had a following of several
other outbreaks as well. A Caribbean slave by the name of Tituba was accused of the initial
bewitchment crime, from which eventually stemmed a confession to witchcraft from Tituba. This
was the beginning of the mass hysteria in Salem, because with Titubas confession she had told
that she was not alone in this crime, thus beginning what became a long list of accused witches.
Many woman were considered to be witches because they helped to alleviate the pain of child
birth and thought to have transferred that pain to the husbands of the birth giver. According to
Marxists.org the people who generally practiced medicine were witch healers, who helped
those without a doctor or hospital and had much more serious illnesses and were impoverished.

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Witch hunters by the names of Kramer and Sprenger were said to have stated that no one does
more harm to the Catholic Church then the midwife.
Witchcraft is not just a practice here in the United States but also in countries such as
Africa where they have an organization called Safe Child Africa that is dedicated to helping
protect African children accused of witchcraft and being sentenced to death. The definition of
modern witchcraft tends to vary because modern witchcraft has a large range of uses and styles.
For example one type of witchcraft is paired with the religion of Wicca, which is described by
carm.org as an eclectic belief surrounding gods, goddesses and nature worship. Gary Cantrell
author of Wiccan beliefs and practices: with rituals for solitaries and covens describes Wicca to
be based in harmony with nature and all aspects of the god and goddess divinity. Witchcraft itself
in modern terms is not described to be a religion but more so a craft for those who practice the
varying types, but witchcraft can in fact be paired with religion such as the afore mentioned
Wicca or even Paganism. Paganism is described by BBC religions as a group of contemporary
religions based on a reverence of nature but pagan groups can focus on ecology, witchcraft,
Celtic traditions or certain gods. This is not to be confused with what naysayers are misled to
believe is linked with devil worship. BBC goes on to refute the naysayers by clarifying further,
Due to persecution and misrepresentation it is necessary to define what Pagans are not as well
as what they are. Pagans are not sexual deviants, do not worship the devil, are not evil, do not
practice 'black magic' and their practices do not involve harming people or animals.
Witchcraft is so heavily thought to be linked with devil worship because there is a
percentage of witchcraft practices that choose to link their craft with Satanism, which was a form
of religion originally founded in America by a high school drop out by the name of Anton
Szandor LaVey in 1966. Although experts say that it was believed to exist for millennial, there

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wasnt an explicit tradition of people adhering to a teaching of a certain type. The foundation of
Satanism by LaVey is called Laveyan Satanism. There are many types of Satanism but it can
somewhat easily be wrapped up into what the majority believes. What the majority of Satanist
believe is that Satan is a very personal companion that they admire and wish to gain the respect
of. In order to go about that, they believe that they must act in the way that he would. They
believe that just like with God you develop a deep a personal relationship with Satan, and that
the depictions in movies and TV shows isnt how the relationship truly works. He doesnt take
over your body and control you through means of a demon but instead develops relationships
with each of his followers and remains with them till their last breath. These beliefs are outlined
in an article titled What Do Satanist Really Believe? through aleteia.org written by Susan E.
Wills which goes over the definition of this belief system as well as going over who founded the
practice.
I collected a small survey through surveymonkey.com to see what percent of people
believed that there is a connection to Satanism when it comes to witchcraft and if people could
give me a definition of witchcraft. I believed that I would see more negative based beliefs, but
the results that I got were not what I expected. The results showed that 1/8 responders believe
that witchcraft is linked to all evil and darkness. 8/10 responses showed that most people arent
aware that there is more than two practices of witchcraft, and an overwhelming amount of
responses showed that most participants in the survey agreed that TV shows and movies
influence their perception of the practice. In a question of whether participants in the survey
thought Satanism and witchcraft are linked and why or why not, the results showed 3/8 believed
that yes they can be linked. 2 of the 8 responses showed that responders believed that it could be
linked with Satanism if the witch chose to do so, whereas 1/3 participants that believed its

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linked, responded to the question that they are both used for evil and that both witchcraft and
Satanism get their power from Satan. The responses that I received that believed this idea of
Satanism and witchcraft being connected or evil was collected from either an older generation of
people, or those who had been misled by TV shows or movies like Charmed or Sabrina the Teen
Witch. 3/8 respondents to the survey had a more positive outlook on witchcraft and what it
involves which leads me to believe that the selection of people I surveyed had different stages of
education/information on the topic.
Contrary to popular belief witchcraft doesnt have to be dedicated to any worship of
deities, gods, goddesses or the like. Witchcraft is individual to each person and varies from sea
witchery, jar magic and/or spells, stone healing/magic, herbal healing/magic, kitchen witchery,
candle witchery, forest witchery, and so forth. In order to debunk the myth that all witchcraft is
dark I am going to define a couple varieties of witchcraft and what they involve. Sea witchcraft
is focused on moon lore, the tides, and weather magic such as conjuring thunderstorms etc. Sea
witchery evolved from tales of woman who could summon storms, and strong winds. The tools
that a sea witch may use could range from storm water, rain water or any water of their choosing,
a cauldron if the craft you prefer requires such, wind chimes, shells, yarn or thread for knot
magic, and more according to seawitch.org; a website used as a directory for practicing and
beginning witches. The witchery of jar spells can be as simple as surrounding a particular healing
stone such as rose quartz in a jar of Himalayan rock salt, and rose petals and saying a phrase such
as my imperfections make me perfect, my flaws will not hold me back, I will love myself a little
more each day, I will not let the words of others be a reflection upon myself, as I said it is, then it
shall be. This spell is completed with a shake of this jar. With that you have a completed jar
spell for self-love and confidence because Rose quartz, pink Himalayan salt, and rose petals are

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all symbols of love, as well as self-confidence. Stone magic can be as simple as picking out a
healing stone/ crystals from shops such as Crystal Life Technology in Geneva, Illinois then
wearing the healing stone on a necklace around your neck to cleansing the stone/stones of choice
in the moonlight and/or sunlight. From there you would fill the stone with your intent for the day
by clasping it in your hand so the stone can absorb your energy.
Herbal healing is a form of witchcraft that involves a plethora of herbs ranging from
dried berries to mint leaves or flower petals such as lavender. With herbal healing you can simply
infuse the herbs in water or juice to ingest the magical qualities that they provide, add them to a
bubble bath depending on what qualities you are looking for such as energy, love, or even
emotional healing because each herb comes with a list of qualities they can be used to aid in. It
is important however to keep in mind that in the magic community, spells are not to be used as a
cure or replacement for medical help, they are only to be used as an aid or a boost to issues and
ailments. Kitchen witchery is much like herbal magic because it deals with herbs but in the form
of cooking or baking food. An example of some kitchen witchery is baking a pie, because there
are certain fruits that are representative of qualities such as cherry. Cherry is used for love,
although frowned upon by some witch communities to do a love spell without express
permission from the targeted person of the love spell. Apple pie is for peace and healing, whereas
blueberry is for protection, lemon for purification, raspberry for happiness, and pecan is for
money.
Modern day witchcraft is used for a variety of reasons, one of the main ones being for
healing. Many in the witchcraft community support modern day medicine but also use witchcraft
to boost the healing results through stones, herbs, spells or even sigils (a symbol that represents a
specific purpose or intent). The community in witchcraft that tend to use the craft to aid healing,

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are called spoonie witches, and these are witches who suffer from any physical ailment such as
fibromyalgia to bipolar disorder.
In conclusion, spells are quite simple and an example of this is a jar spell found through a
witch named Angela. A simple spell for anyone and one that is stunning to look at is the black
hole jar spell. It doesnt require a lot of materials or items you have to search the end of the earth
to find. It simply requires a mason jar that is clear, clear Elmers glue, black dye or resin
pigment, black glitter, and water. You start the spell by boiling the water for purification
purposes, then after that step is completed one should fill the Mason jar with the water after it
has cooled. The next step is to add the clear Elmers glue to the water, keeping in mind that with
more glue the thicker the mixture. After the glue is added to the mixture of water, the black dye
as well as the black glitter will be added for darkness, after that is completed the jar will need to
be sealed tightly enough that when the jar is shook, nothing will leak from it. A Black Hole jar is
to be used to absorb negative energy and anything else you wish to get rid of, it can be charged
by leaving it in the starlight overnight to charge with the intention of absorbing negativity and
anything else you can think of. When charged - you can leave the container stationary to absorb
negativity from a space, and when youre feeling like you could release some negative energy,
yourself, pick up the jar and shake it! Visualize your negativity being sucked into a Black Hole,
never to be seen again.

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Work Cited

"What Is Wicca?" CARM. CARM.org, n.d. Web. 9 May 2016.

"Child 'witches'" Safe Child Africa. Safe Child Africa, n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.

Ehrenriech, Barbara. "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses A History of Women Healers."

Witches, Midwives, and Nurses by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English 1973. The
Feminist Press at CUNY, n.d. Web. 9 May 2016.

History.com Staff. "Salem Witch Trials." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 01 Jan.
2011. Web. 9 May 2016.

Wills, Susan E. "What Do Satanists Really Believe?" Aleteiaorg Worldwide Catholic

Network Sharing Faith Resources for Those Seeking Truth Aleteiaorg. Aleteia, 26 Sept. 2014.
Web. 9 May 2016.