SH+2013+P6+Witchcraft

Benjamin Biggs Hayden Dunn Joseph Epperson Sean Farrell

=**Witchcraft **=




 * Aim: ** Witchcraft has been around since the very old times of human culture. Witchcraft was used for medical and spiritual reasons. In modern culture Witchcraft is popular around holiday of halloween. Witchcraft has good and bad intentions. In one article it states, “The witch doctor, with his or her ability to commune with Deity, nature spirits and ancestral spirits, is traditionally held in awe - an awe which is an odd mixture of respect and fear” (Articlesbase). This quote shows the good side of witchcraft, the African witch doctors use witchcraft for healing. They try to keep the evil out of the people in their tribe. Witchcraft can also have a evil side. One article states, “Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to the devil; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arise from death” (Stanford). This quote shows how witches use their power for raising the dead out of the ground. This scared many people in the 14 and 15 hundreds causing great amounts of so called witches to be burned at the stake. But as the years passes witches and witchcraft have usually died out but some people still believe in this religion today.


 * Audience ****:** Who is the intended audience of the term (how does the term affect the particular audience in mind). Witchcraft is a black magic sorcery usually directed towards the attracting of younger audiences. This use of fantasy related sorcery attracts younger people causing the knowledge of the book/poem to spread across cultures. Poems/Books in the time of Shakespeare was a way to spread knowledge of said “Professors” of that time. “Witchcraft, also called black magic, is the evil use of supernatural powers sourced from the devil and his domain” (Rapture Ready). The use of witchcraft is also a big way to bring fantasy readers into buying and reading also spreading the information on what is used in the stories. “If you believe in God, and believe in what the Bible says, then you must believe in the powers of evil as well” (Rapture Ready). This is an example on how people believe in what they read and spread it throughout other cultures.

The use of witchcraft and similar magics dates back to the first civilizations of man, and has retained its significance up to the present. Historically, it was most significant in the 14th and 15th century and was most commonly found in early Europe. It was considered to be evil due to the idea that a form of an evil pact had to be made in order to benefit ones self. According to a Catholic encyclopedia, “ There is involved the idea of a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil” (Thurston). It is believed that it was frowned upon due to such pacts, which often parodied practices of the church. Another source stated, “Witchcraft was the infliction of harm with diabolic help” (Sommerville). This supports the shunning of witches and witchcraft in general, due to it supported the idea of malice being made easy through demonic assistance. In ancient Rome, the idea of malicious witchcraft was punishable by sacrifice to the god Ceres (Twelve Tables VII.3). This rule found in Ancient Rome helps to reveal the rejection of malice and witchcraft throughout history, along with the fact that it was persistently dismissed through severe punishment. Witchcraft had a rather significant presence throughout history, leading to many controversial events and ideologies still present today.
 * Historical ** : What is the historical impact of the term?


 * Cultural: **What is the modern cultural impact of the term? 

Witchcraft is more of a myth by now, but during the 14 and 15 hundreds, people had very serious concerns about witches. Even though people commonly blow off witches as a myth, such as werewolves and vampires, but are unaware that witches actually still exist. The modern society sees witchcraft as casting spells and performing rituals, and that shapes for the mocern perspective the entire society has on the entire group of people. Witches in modern society are commonly seen from the same perception that was had of them long ago, but to a less extreme extent. One website states, “Witches always end up to be the bad guys in television shows, movies, and books” (Witchcraft). This just goes to show that even hundreds of years later, society still has a negative perception of so called witches. There are still people who practice witchcraft nowadays, but the biggest impact it has on modern day cultures is how a majority of society views modern day witchcraft and most of the modern day society views witchcraft in a negative way. Society as a whole sees witches in horror movies and thrillers, which leads to a negative perception of an entire group of people who are not necessarily evil.

"African Witchcraft - The History, the Practices and the Controversies." Articlesbase.com. Articlesbase.com, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. "Historian Investigates the History of Witchcraft Prosecution." The Human Experience. Stanford University, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. "Witchcraft the Wonderful Craft of the Modern Day Witch." Witchcraft. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. "What Is Witchcraft?" What Is Witchcraft? N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. Thurston, Herbert. "Witchcraft." __The Catholic Encyclopedia.__  Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 12 Nov. 2013
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