The Little Book of Spells - An Introduction to White Witchcraft

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Throughout the world, accusations of witchcraft are often linked to social and economic tensions. Females are most often accused, but in some cultures it is mostly males. In many societies, accusations are directed mainly against the elderly, but in others age is not a factor, and in some cultures it is mainly adolescents who are accused. [1] :15 Lavrin, Asunción. Sexuality & Marriage in Colonial Latin America. Reprint ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992, p. 192. [ ISBNmissing] In British Traditional Wicca, "sex complementarity is a basic and fundamental working principle", with men and women being seen as a necessary presence to balance each other out. [88] This may have derived from Gardner's interpretation of Murray's claim that the ancient witch-cult was a fertility religion. [88] Thus, many practitioners of British Traditional Wicca have argued that gay men and women are not capable of correctly working magic without mixed-sex pairings. [89] McNeill, F. Marian (1957). The Silver Bough: A Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland. Vol.1. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. ISBN 978-0862412319. Demetrio, F. R. (1988). Philippine Studies Vol. 36, No. 3: Shamans, Witches and Philippine Society, pp. 372-380. Ateneo de Manila University.

As well as pantheism and duotheism, many Wiccans accept the concept of polytheism, thereby believing that there are many different deities. Some accept the view espoused by the occultist Dion Fortune that "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" – that is that the gods and goddesses of all cultures are, respectively, aspects of one supernal God and Goddess. With this mindset, a Wiccan may regard the Germanic Ēostre, Hindu Kali, and Catholic Virgin Mary each as manifestations of one supreme Goddess and likewise, the Celtic Cernunnos, the ancient Greek Dionysus and the Judeo-Christian Yahweh as aspects of a single, archetypal god. A more strictly polytheistic approach holds the various goddesses and gods to be separate and distinct entities in their own right. The Wiccan writers Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone have postulated that Wicca is becoming more polytheistic as it matures, tending to embrace a more traditionally Pagan worldview. [56] Some Wiccans conceive of deities not as literal personalities but as metaphorical archetypes or thoughtforms, thereby technically allowing them to be atheists. [57] Such a view was purported by the High Priestess Vivianne Crowley, herself a psychologist, who considered the Wiccan deities to be Jungian archetypes that existed within the subconscious that could be evoked in ritual. It was for this reason, she said "The Goddess and God manifest to us in dream and vision." [58]In Wicca, denominations are referred to as traditions, [14] while non-Wiccans are often termed cowans. [17] Wiccan definition of "Witchcraft" [ edit ]

Behar, Ruth (1987). "Sex and Sin, Witchcraft and the Devil in Late-Colonial Mexico". American Ethnologist. 14 (1): 34–54. doi: 10.1525/ae.1987.14.1.02a00030. hdl: 2027.42/136539. JSTOR 645632. Although recognised as a religion by academics, some evangelical Christians have attempted to deny it legal recognition as such, while some Wiccan practitioners themselves eschew the term "religion" – associating the latter purely with organised religion – instead favouring " spirituality" or "way of life". [14] Although Wicca as a religion is distinct from other forms of contemporary Paganism, there has been much "cross-fertilization" between these different Pagan faiths; accordingly, Wicca has both influenced and been influenced by other Pagan religions, thus making clear-cut distinctions between them more difficult for religious studies scholars to make. [15] Semple, Sarah (December 2003). "Illustrations of damnation in late Anglo-Saxon manuscripts" (PDF). Anglo-Saxon England. 32: 231–245. doi: 10.1017/S0263675103000115. S2CID 161982897. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 July 2020 . Retrieved 26 October 2018.

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One notable event related to the suppression of shamanism occurred in 91 BCE, when Emperor Wu issued an edict that banned a range of "heterodox" practices, including shamanistic rituals and divination, in favor of Confucianism. The primary target of these measures was the Wuism or Wu (巫) tradition, which involved the worship of spirits and the use of shamanic practices to communicate with them. Wuism was considered by the Confucian elite to be superstitious witchcraft and at odds with Confucian principles. [64] :1 Hutton, Ronald (16 March 2018). "Witches and Cunning Folk in British Literature 1800–1940". Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural. 7 (1): 27. doi: 10.5325/preternature.7.1.0027. hdl: 1983/c91bdc34-80d8-49f6-92df-9147f2bef535. ISSN 2161-2188. S2CID 194795666. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021 . Retrieved 18 May 2021.

Theological views within Wicca are diverse. [37] The religion encompasses theists, atheists, and agnostics, with some viewing the religion's deities as entities with a literal existence and others viewing them as Jungian archetypes or symbols. [38] Even among theistic Wiccans, there are divergent beliefs, and Wicca includes pantheists, monotheists, duotheists, and polytheists. [39] Common to these divergent perspectives, however, is that Wicca's deities are viewed as forms of ancient, pre-Christian divinities by its practitioners. [40] Duotheism [ edit ] Altar statues of the Horned God and Mother Goddess crafted by Bel Bucca and owned by the "Mother of Wicca", Doreen Valiente Hoggard, Brian (2004). "The archaeology of counter-witchcraft and popular magic", in Beyond the Witch Trials: Witchcraft and Magic in Enlightenment Europe, Manchester University Press. p. 167 [ ISBNmissing] A Global Issue that Demands Action" (PDF). the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office. 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2014 . Retrieved 7 June 2014.

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Kanina, Wangui (21 May 2008). "Mob burns to death 11 Kenyan "witches" ". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017 . Retrieved 15 September 2016. Indigenous communities such as the Cherokee, [104] Hopi, [105] the Navajo [5] among others, [106] included in their folklore and beliefs which malevolent figures who could harm their communities, often resulting in severe punishments, including death. [107] These communities also recognized the role of medicine people as healers and protectors against these malevolent forces. [ citation needed] a b c d e Thomas, Keith (1997). Religion and the Decline of Magic. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p.519. ISBN 978-0297002208. Bilefsky, Dan (10 May 2009). "Hard Times Give New Life to Prague's Golem". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013 . Retrieved 19 March 2013. According to Czech legend, the Golem was fashioned from clay and brought to life by a rabbi to protect Prague's 16th-century ghetto from persecution, and is said to be called forth in times of crisis. True to form, he is once again experiencing a revival, and in this commercial age, has spawned a one-monster industry. Abusch, Tzvi (2002). Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature. Brill Styx. ISBN 9789004123878.

a b c Ehrenreich, Barbara; English, Deirdre (2010). Witches, Midwives & Nurses: A History of Women Healers (Seconded.). New York: Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 978-1558616905. Many Wiccans also adopt a more explicitly polytheistic or animistic world-view of the universe as being replete with spirit-beings. [60] In many cases these spirits are associated with the natural world, for instance as genius loci, fairies, and elementals. [61] In other cases, such beliefs are more idiosyncratic and atypical; Wiccan Sybil Leek for instance endorsed a belief in angels. [61] Afterlife [ edit ] A Wiccan altar decorated to mark the festival of Beltane (30 April/1 May) a b Singh, Manvir (2 February 2021). "Magic, Explanations, and Evil: The Origins and Design of Witches and Sorcerers". Current Anthropology. 62 (1): 2–29. doi: 10.1086/713111. ISSN 0011-3204. S2CID 232214522. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021 . Retrieved 28 April 2021. When the religion first came to public attention, its followers commonly called it "Witchcraft". [18] [a] Gerald Gardner—the man regarded as the "Father of Wicca"—referred to it as the "Craft of the Wise", "Witchcraft", and "the Witch-cult" during the 1950s. [21] Gardner believed in the theory that persecuted witches had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion, but this theory has now been proven wrong. [22] There is no evidence that he ever called it "Wicca", although he did refer to its community of followers as "the Wica" (with one c). [21] As a name for the religion, "Wicca" developed in Britain during the 1960s. [14] It is not known who first used this name for the religion, although one possibility is that it might have been Gardner's rival Charles Cardell, who was calling it the "Craft of the Wiccens" by 1958. [23] The first recorded use of the name "Wicca" was in 1962, [24] and it had been popularised to the extent that several British practitioners founded a newsletter called The Wiccan in 1968. [25] Wiccan event in Minnesota, with practitioners carrying a pentacle, 2006Young, Eric Van; Cervantes, Fernando; Mills, Kenneth (November 1996). "The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 76 (4): 789. doi: 10.2307/2517981. JSTOR 2517981. Ebola outbreak: 'Witchcraft' hampering treatment, says doctor". BBC News. London: BBC. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021 . Retrieved 22 June 2018. citing a doctor from Médecins Sans Frontières: 'A widespread belief in witchcraft is hampering efforts to halt the Ebola virus from spreading' Macfarlane, Alan (1999). Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A Regional and Comparative Study. Psychology Press. p.130. ISBN 978-0415196123. a b c d Gershman, Boris (23 November 2022). "Witchcraft beliefs around the world: An exploratory analysis". PLOS ONE. 17 (11): e0276872. Bibcode: 2022PLoSO..1776872G. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276872. PMC 9683553. PMID 36417350.