Witchcraft and Magic
We've all heard of the witch, but do witches have a real existence? Yes, they have existed since the dawn of history, and most likely for millenia before. In the Bible, Saul, afraid of the might of the Philistine army, took himself off to be counseled by the Witch of Endor.
In Classical literature we have Homer’s Circe who bewitched men and turned them into swine. Ovid tells us of the Strigae; erotic beings who flew through the air to carry out their murderous deeds. But with such an ancient history, when did the witch first appear? Early mythologies: In Norse mythology we have the Valkyrie; maidens of Odin who flew through the sky and assisted in the outcome of battles, taking slain warriors to Valhalla.
Many theorists believe that witchcraft is a a survival of the cult of Diana, goddess of hunting. English archaeologist Margaret Murray put forward a similar theory in 1921, arguing that the craft traces its roots back to pagan fertility cults.
The Christian image of the Devil is actually an amalgam of god-forms from paganism, such as the Greek Pan and the pagan horned god, sometimes known as Herne the Hunter. The idea no doubt traces itself back to the shaman, usually male, who would dress in the skin of the animal about to be slain; hence the horned god image.
this was so awful even my dead nan is a better host than this whiny old man.
I can't comment on the vampire and werewolf stuff because that does seem rather silly to me but I do believe in magic. Whether you believe science that tell us that we are made up of star dust or mainstream religions like Christianity that tell us that we are made from the earths dirt, everything is connected. And when it comes to magic there has actually been scientific studies that show that a person doing a spell or even a prayer does send out energy and that more people like in a coven does increase the output of energy. Although I only believe what makes sense to me and my understanding of the world I do keep an open mind and I think everyone should. I have found in my experience that atheists and such will just dismiss anything that could be categorised as "religious" and in doing so become just as ignorant as religious people that believe everything in their holy book.
Christians believe that theirs is the only way and all other paths are of the devil.When looking at religious beliefs you have to look at the behaviour and character of the person that will determine if thay have a genuine and real relationship with the divine.
Very misleading title, watching this felt like eating fish, when craving burger.
The documentary is really more about christian beliefs - Satan, vampires, warewolves etc. instead of magic or witchcraft....
I have seen this video, it taught me to be invincible to others.
Writing my thesis on the myths surronding witchcraft. This documentary should change its title, and Im sorry to say; it was cheesy and, for me, a waste of time.
Hey Pagan Priestess just letting you know Witch and Wicca are two different things. Wiccan is a religion. Witchcraft is a craft therefore a practice. I don't practice and I am a Christian, but I'm not a poser. Lol maybe you should do some research on the difference. Mid anyone like myself that is a Christian and says they don't believe in stuff like that has probably never read the bible, because the bible reveals all sorts of things that will blow your mind once you understand it.
I am a witch so is my mum people just don't like the witches and what they believe in so yh
Wouldn't it be wise to understand that this video was intended for people who usually don't have a clue about these subjects and its possible realistic nature in the world? If people are really fascinated by some of the subjects I would then understand them then to take the step of looking them up furthur. It would seem the purpose of these were to enlighten you of the ideas of how things possibly exist in the world. Of course most when talking about witches want to automatically think of wiccan witches because it is probably the closest or newest thing that exist in reality about witches. Granted even reality is subjective as the hypotizing part of the one video would suggest and as many witches would even say. These people are not experts of course but it at least enlightens aspects on these subjects that many wouldn't of even have a clue about.
Wicca isn't very new.
actually, wicca as a religion didn't exist in any form until the early 20th century. paganism is old, but wicca is neo-pagan. a new religion based upon older pagan beliefs.
I have to say Opelson, your comment is a bit ignorant. The are groups of us out there that wish if there is a documentary is done; that it's done correctly and accurately, just like any subject. I have personally studied ancient religions and ancient civilizations as a hobby. Even archaeology done in Jerusalem revealed Pagans, Christians and Jews worshiped in a large Temple in the heart of the city. Not to mention much of the layout of the city dates back to Emperor Herdan. No, many witches were not evil at all. They were the people who the general population used to bring their sick children to because of their understanding of herbs, etc... It was the hierarchy of religious institutions that turned on the Pagans, including people such as Emperor Constantine. Please, if you are going to comment on the subject; take some time to educate yourself on the subject as I have with many beliefs.
cheesy, shallow and crappy.
Neither are particularly good documentaries. They try to address too many topics - werewolves, witches, voodoo and vampires - but can't actually go into any depth on any of the subjects presented. They ended up with a cursory overview of too much. Very disappointing.
Also traditional withccraft will ahve dieties, even tho it is not the forumualted concept by gardner and others that created todays Wicca.
Each group had their names. Structure. Family passed it down. practice, knowledge and ritual passed down, and within themselves.
The Wiccan reed is a new concept. It is absurb to think it is only a 3 fold law. There is no limit to how negitive actions return when unwarrented.
A witch who has a tue path has no need to hex, conqueer, and harm. However if family, people, friends are attacked, they can and will defend and protect what is deemed just.
There is a difference between traditional "Ancient" witchcraft and todays formulated Wicca.
As far as ms. Vampire. True Vampires are not blood drinkers. They absorb and drain life energy, even tho it can be foudn in blood. THe medical condition is very different. She simply is caught up on a concept made popular by myth and movies.
It's interesting how the witches say evil does not exist and Christians made it up. But the concept has been around since the beginning of recorded history as far as I have studied.
the "concept" of religion has been around for as long as man has things that man has feared or worshiped. God albeit is man made so is are other deities in other religious views unlike others thou Wicca has a main belief that we will not scar or burden other people of other religions such as they do to us. IE: christians, jews, and several other religions believe that if you do not believe in that specified religion then you are wrong... Wicca is a belief in ones energies and the deities of the earth that if focused correctly can bring about change for wellness and for the better..... "And it harm none, DO what thou wilt."
What a muddle-headed mess. This is pro-Christian popular propaganda against religions and traditions muddled in with fringe Americana. Crap.
It is such a shame that such garbage is allowed to be made public. There was nothing Witch about any of this only Wicca and no they are not the same despite what you might think. Witches do not meet in covens as they are by nature family oriented. Witches do not believe in harming none, we harm when we feel it is needed. What we set forth will return not just x3 but will come back to us as and when it sees fit to do so. And we do not worship any deity what so ever for we know that we are all creators of the universe and therefor we are all Deity. Witchcraft is as old as mankind, as the first sympathetic magic dates back to over thirty thousand years. So please all you Wiccans out there stop claiming to be what you are not, after all your faith was not invented until the 1950's and yes I did say invented as the history books now prove. if I were to claim kinship to say the Jews who died in the concentration camps without any connection to any Jewish family what so ever. It would be very offencive and wrong to do so, so why do Wiccans do that very thing in respect of the persecutions of my kind. They did not die for their beliefs, they were not tortured into confessions of untruths yet they insist in calling themselves a Witch a tittle they have no rights to.
Sagewitch
So you simply saying that you can do magic? Make things levitate and all that other funny hokus pokus stuff?
uuu now look at you... a witch posting comments on documentary movies web page, how lovely.. but simply enough I think you ran out of meds... NURSE, he's out of bed again !!
your highly unedjucated darling..
@ Paul Kennedy-Whitaket... I'm a witch, I meet in covens, and I worship deities. while believing at the same time I'm also a God. And no I am not Wiccan. Your definition of a witch isn't the law on the only way to be a witch. There is no rules or dogma to witchcraft. That is for the practitioner to decide. So saying your views are the only correct views is just crazy talk. What shocks me even more is, if you're really a witch, you should know that lol. You remind me of a xtian with your one sided views. So when you're speaking of YOUR views, please state that it's YOUR opinion and not every witches belief. I don't really know any Wiccans, but I know plenty of witches that follow many different beliefs.
I absolutely ADORE your response and commend you for your frank and brave explanation of what is kept SO private, that a perversion of it runs PAINFULLY rampant throughout the world and it's perception of us
What Randy said..
So called witches were probably herbalists and first doctors and nurses. They believed this or that herb would cure ailments. They weren't religious as this wasn't invented until Constantine. Their rituals were labeled as such simply for the concoctions they made... plants believed to harm were made into concoctions or powders that could make sick and kill. So the superstitious church of that time labeled them evil due to lack of knowledge or ignorance. Superstitions are alive and well to this day.
I'm with Gryffindor House!!! F@#$ Slytherin!!!!
Religion - manna for the masses. Sheeple come together!
all man made religion is a load of c@#$...
might as well log in, since I have watched the doc.
you never know, maybe some comments are a-coming.
This is trash. It started out well enough, and the first interview, the first very few minutes, were accurate and true. After that it quickly degenerated into b.s. about vampires, satan and werewolves, which have absolutely nothing to do with the craft of the witch. This is for the most part nothing more than Christian propaganda.
Mik Kit's long rambling dissertation has great merit and holds, in my opinion, some awesome truths, if you read it carefully, (see above).
Anton LeVay said, in the Satanic Bible, (paraphrased from memory), "The Gods of the Old World are the demons of the New World..."
In other words, history is written by the winners, and the Old Gods become devils...
The Horned One in Wicca is an ancient, male fertility diety that long pre-dates christianity. When chistianized Rome conquered Western Europe for the second time, (this time with priests and the whacky christ-y fanatics), they pointed to the horned, cloven hooved, man-beast of the pagans and called it "Satan"
Even as the bible never describes Satan as having horns, a tail, or cloven hooves...
He is most affilliated with Pan, (the All-Father, a predominant religious icon throughout the Old World for centuries), or the more Celtic, Druidic, "Cernunnos" or, simply "Horned One".
Also, in the Greco-Roman, Bachuss (that doesn't look like it is spelled correctly, uh-oh now He will punish me with a nasty hang-over!), the god of wine, dancing, and general curousing in the physical world.
etc. Fun, interesting to study, but generally fruitless, pointless...
@Pagan Priestess:
"Blessed be the Goddess and all of Her works; Blessed be Her coming and going;
Blessed be the Horned One and all of His works; Blessed be His coming and going."
Happy Lammas!
@Valerie who wrote:
"anybody that believes in witchcraft voodoo or hoodoo or wolf-people and vampires are just immature weirdo’s with to much time on their hands..."
---------------------
I agree, Valerie, even as I am an ordained priest in the Wicca stuff. I was kicked out of two covens and yelled at by a High-Preistess, (THE High-Priestess at the time... the big cheese! The head mistress, as it were, of the whole order!). I won't go into why right here, but some of my friends can probably guess...
It's all silly fantasy stuff. Fun, like Star Trek, but not the real world. I love Star Trek and Tolkien and Batman and Vampires as much as the next geek but it's all fantasy.
The real world needs clarity and strength. No one is looking out for us. Relying on fantasy (like religions), makes one weak.
Eko, Eko Azarak;
Eko, Eko Zomelak;
Eko, Eko Cernunnos;
Eko, Eko Aradia!
(repeat four times)
By darksome night and shining moon;
East then South, then West and North,
Hearken to the Witches' Rune;
Here we come to call ye forth!
Earth and water, air and fire;
Wand and Pentacle and Sword,
Work ye unto our desire;
Hearken ye unto our word!
Cords and censer, scourge and knife;
Powers of the Witch's blade;
Waken all ye unto Life!
Come ye as the charm is made!
Queen of heaven, Queen of Hell;
Horned Hunter of the night;
Lend your power unto this spell;
And work our will by magic rite!
In the Earth and Air and Sea;
By the light of Moon or Sun;
As we will, SO MOTE IT BE!
Chant the spell and be it done!
Eko, Eko Azarak;
Eko, Eko Zomelak;
Eko, Eko Cernunnos;
Eko, Eko Aradia!
The Witches' Rune
HA! Fun...
I agree with you Gunnar, wholeheartedly and unreservedly!
I am a Wiccan priest, I was ordained by the Covenenent of Unitarian Universalists Pagans, (CUUPS, corny, yes?).
However, even as I am an atheist nowadays, I still practice Wiccan rights and rituals. They are just fun and it freaks out my christian neighbors-- HAHA!
Witchcraft is cool and chicks love it! (I'm sorry for that, it was a joke but a tasteless one, perhaps... forgive me chicks.... I mean, WOMEN!!)
LOL!!! It's all in fun...
One thing I am certain of is that witches and witchcraft, whether real or imagined, could not possibly have been any more evil than the religious fanaticism that inspired and fueled the vicious witch hunts that resulted in the persecution, torture and murder of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people in times past, merely for the "crime" of being different or not sharing the religious beliefs of the witch hunters. To claim that God authorized such cruelty and intolerance is the worst blasphemy I can think of!
One of the biggest and deepest evils humanity has faced in the last 2000 years comes from the Popes of the Catholic Church. The Popes have directed the course and destinies of european empires, that have conquered, invaded and plundered almost all the nations of the world. The Popes were the ones that guided almost all the wars so as to impose the christian religion everywhere. The Popes in very cleverly cover-ups have conducted among other things all the witch hunts, the burning , tormenting and assasinating of heretics, heahtens, pagans, heterodoxes, jews, cathars,etc. Maybe someday somebody will write a book describing these people (selproclaimed "Your Holiness") that usually are camouflaged under a veil of saintlihood, purity and secrecy. Curiously in general history they are seldom mentioned, but they were there planning how to rule everywhere in a totalitarian ruthless way. The nest of european evilness dwells in the Vatican.Their infinite greed to own the planet is their driving force.
They are masters of deceit and disguise.
anybody that believes in witchcraft voodoo or hoodoo or wolf-people and vampires are just immature weirdo's with to much time on their hands. I will never forget finding my ex husbands new girlfriend's little spells. "The box has been sent the spell will now manifest on this plane" give me a break wacko's. she actually sent me a box with hair in it that was more then just little funny
hocus pocus alacazam you will now be turned into a frog.
I just wonder how many people have been killed in the name of God,Allah compared to ,in the name of Satan,witchcraft.pagans etc.I heard 19 million have been killed since the beginning of the religion.The indigenous people have a saying.1st come the explorer, then comes the church, then comes the government,kill our culture and take our land then they rent us our land and turn us into converted servants.Any culture that has religion, has war and classes of people.Usually the saved people are the better people waiting for Jesus or a prophet to save them and the rest burn in Hell. Thousands of different Christian cults,each interpreting the Bible according to each.Think they are the correct version.although they have some things in common.Good isn't good enough,place personal responsibility on a person who died for their sins,heaven and hell.servitude to a god they can't see,apostles who couldn't read or write,churches that are tax free.America has a disease called religion because it's easy to let some god take all responsibility and blame for our mistakes and damage to our planet and letting people starve and die from greed.30,000 people die everyday from starvation because our corporations throw food away to keep prices at a profitable level.What will God tell you when you get to heaven.I would send you back to earth until we get all people equal to the fat people.A friend of mine told me that those people don't count and all he has to say before he dies is I'm sorry because he is a born again Christian.I'm a good person and I know religious people who would stab you in the back in a second to get ahead or to get what you have.They are the same people who call me evil or tell me I'm going to Hell because I think religion is fantasy and a scourge on humanity.I wouldn't think of hurting anyone or use anyone to get something and if that isn't good enough for the snob nosed religious know it alls.Well frak GOD.I refuse to fear a fantasy that was created to control all you scared people.When I'm on my death bed I will have a clear conscience because I follow a simple rule in life.DO THE BEST YOU CAN WITHOUT HURTING ANY LIVING CREATURE OR USING ANYONE ELSE'S IDEA OR LABOR TO GET AHEAD IN LIFE. .CAUSE AND EFFECT.WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.learn from your mistakes and try not to makes the same one again.Not go to Hell because of a mistake.I guess most people have a long way to go b4 they can take self responsibility instead of putting it all on a god figure head.when you wonder why God let that happen.remember it's probably because of our negligence of the past in the name of greed and power,materialism.Sorry if I offended anyone.I don't fear God,I fear people and especially the religious fanatics.They would kill anyone who doesn't believe in the same god, in the name of God.America is the most religious country on Earth but our number 1 export is military hardware and thus spread death around the world.13 million dollars a day goes to Israel for aid.1 third is allowed to be used for arms and ammunition.To kill and steal Palestinians and their land.All because they are the self proclaimed chosen people of God they created.Duhh We are responsible for paying for death for your god.Wake up.
I agree completely with Pagan Priestess; I deplore being lumped together with Vampires and Satanists. We're not a
side-show attraction [neither are they for that matter]. I will say this though, the witch they got to do the interview was articulate, knowledgeable and insightful [kudos to her]. I just wish if they can not treat us with the respect that we deserve, then just leave us alone !!!!
By the Power of the Moon,
And, the Light of the Sun,
Blessed Be to You,
And, Harm Be to None. )O(
CountryPagan: I can't understand what you are trying to say. Seriously. If you're not religious, then what would you call the belief structures and rituals that "witches" follow? And what are the reasons for pagans to be persecuted? You don't mention what the reasons are.
Pagan priestest: Yes, I've heard that Satanists and Wiccins don't really mix, but I'd like to know more about what your consider "spiritual paths" and what reason you practice them? To what end. Just curious.
From the video... I'd like to differ. witchcraft is not religious or a religion. LOL Oh Please!
At minimum, witchcraft is the very antithesis of religion.
Please read your dictionaries, particularly etymology. My Goddess! and for these reasons, pagans with their belief structures and rituals have been ostracized historically and the subject of massive amounts of propaganda, persecution and lies from the mouths of the religious.
Anything for attention. Just goes to show that selective breeding is needed. This Docu is well made. Its worth a watch.
It's a shame that they entitled this documentary "Witchcraft" and yet it was only a small part of the material presented.
As a Witch, I find it offensive to be lumped in with Vampires... Satanists... and Werewolves, only to have the information labelled "Witchcraft".
Witches are not vampires... Witches do not believe in Satan... and werewolves are a mythological being. Wicca is a Spiritual Path that requires intensive study and dedication to the Craft. We honor the 5 elements... Mother Nature... The Gods and Goddesses of many paths... and all those who came before. We do this not just 8 times a year, but every single day.
I wish this documentary was titled "Spiritual Paths" and not simply labelled "Witchcraft", as much of what is portrayed here has nothing at all to do with Wicca.
Blessed Be!
cheap.
they say its just the worship of nature ...well nature is water...fire ...earth and.....AIR
in the bible its said that he is the precise an power of the air
yep, shame there was no live magic stuff being filmed in there... even a Coperfield-like magician would have made my thrill.
just a lot of bubbly blabla.. as always with metapsychic believers.
LOL, I guess people are entitled to believe in something!
One man's religion is another man's witchcraft
A very interesting Doc.
Presenting so many other types of beliefs and religious constructs.