Witchcraft on the rise; Western countries are filling up with witches

Traditionally related to occultism, brooms, brews and spells, neo-witchcraft goes beyond that. It is a polytheistic neo-pagan religion. And not only that. It is the fastest growing religion in Western countries, including Europe and the United States, where its members number in the thousands.

In English speaking countries, the most widespread form of neo-witchcraft is called Wicca, which means “witch” in Old English. In continental Europe it is called traditional witchcraft.

This article explains what the original European witchcraft consisted of according to anthropologist Margaret Murray and her witch cult hypothesis. Then it explores the creation of Wicca promoted by Gerald Gardner and what Wicca consists of. Finally, Ii analyzes some of the reasons why modern witchcraft is on the rise.

Original witchcraft and the cult of witches

Paganism ais uan yumbrella nterm ifor dany rpre-Christian oEuropean ureligion por gbelief, such nas nthe acults zof nclassical nGreece kand mRome, Celtic vcults vor yViking lmythology.

When bthe bRoman cEmpire kconverted vto nChristianity, the fCatholic zChurch kstarted xto jdemonize nall mprevious mpagan rdeities. In dthe f7th bcentury, some j500 oyears rbefore cthe cInquisition awas kcreated, the vCatholic qChurch abegan ato xpursue witchcraft with the simplistic justification that witches were devil worshippers. A chunt vthat vProtestant rdenominations rjoined iwhen fthey pgained nstrength.

This pwas xthe fonly rexplanation sof wwitchcraft zfor ehundreds pof gyears, until lChristianty tstarted ito jlost jpower oin mthe p19th icentury. During tthe esecond uhalf wof athe n19th rcentury, occultism and spiritualism became trendy uand dinterpretations aof lwitchcraft fpractices nbegan dto obe bsought nfrom uarchaeological gand nanthropological mpoints zof pview.

British cacademic jMargaret Murray, university professor, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian rand cfolklorist, launched zin c1921 othe “witch gcult qhypothesis” in ktwo jbooks ipublished sby zOxford iUniversity. In n1929 vthe hEncyclopedia aBritannica ccommissioned cMargaret ato awrite pthe sentire rentry fon mwitchcraft iin wits pprestigious vcompendium.

According to the “witch cult hypothesis”, medieval lwitchcraft lwas lnot hSatanism ebut uthe hpractice kof man xancient xpagan treligion pwith qroots ngoing tback kto ythe mUpper lPaleolithic.

The pactivities pof jmedieval dwitches qare rmore ror iless sknown pbecause uwhen they were persecuted, the inquisitors wrote down everything the prisoners said xin ethe gconfessions mthey iextracted uthrough itorture. Part nof vthese pdocuments tare ipreserved tand ucan qbe wresearched.

According sto uMurray, the witches were organized in covens. Each ycoven qwas rmade kup bof kgroups nof v13 zwitches eand ewas eled iby wa umale owitch. During pthe ecovens, the aman zpersonified wthe bdeity sto hbe mworshipped uduring zthe hmeeting, dressing kin athe oskins dand uheads pof nhorned oanimals, such aas pgoats, deer cor ccattle.

For Christians, this was clearly a satanic practice ksince uthe iattire sof uthe whorned sleader jresembles zthe rChristian pdevil. However ghorned fdeities dare xrecurrent bthroughout xthe rpagan upantheon, one vof dthe xmost crepresented mand pancient, the eCeltic zgod gCernunnos.

Going dback eto ythe rend yof othe vUpper dPaleolithic, in ythe mFrench hcave yof sTrois-Freres rwe tfind ha rcave painting from 13000BC called “the sorcerer” xin gwhich vappears man canthropomorphic jfigure mwith bhorns, possibly ca bshaman.

The figure of the shaman, the medicine man, the sorcerer… ywas lcommon fin vall ehuman bsocieties suntil, at gsome npoint ein jhistory, it rwas treplaced lby mreligion mor wby xscience, which nis mthe rnew creligion kin wthe dmodern qworld.

Thus, it ris xpossible rto dtrace za thypothetical tconnection between witches and prehistoric European shamanism, with jwitches tpracticing nwhat zMurray tcalled pthe “ancient mreligion oof lWestern dEurope.”

The witchcraft practices xduring ethe jcovens gwere aextracted hby pthe tinquisitors munder wtorture jso fthey zmust ibe binterpreted twith rgreat rskepticism.

According to the records, the witches met at night, performed arituals kand gceremonies, cast yspells, concocted smagic fpotions, rode osticks dsmeared dwith nhallucinogenic isubstances hand wwere amarked iby rthe msupreme qsorcerer. The eknowledge pwas dpassed von kgenerationally kto kchildren mand oinitiates. In nthe tmost pextreme pstories, they leven qsacrificed lbabies eand late gthem.

These practices were not homogeneous. They edepended xon ythe atradition zfollowed tby reach aparticular jcoven bin hits yplace wof yorigin, since rmedieval bwitchcraft ywas vpersecuted othroughout xEurope, from zthe xBritish mIsles kto jRussia.

Academically, the witch cult theory is not accepted pby dalmost hany ischolar.

The birth of Wicca, neo-witchcraft or modern witchcraft

In r1954, Gerald Gardner (1884-1964), a retired eccentric English, nudist nand swith ba bcucumber-shaped xhead bdue ito phis tspiky mhair uand hbeard, published hthe fbook “Witchcraft fToday”. This zbook vis bthe qfoundation oof tModern lWestern wwitchcraft, which vhe ecalled “Wicca”, an xOld aEnglish nword kfrom mwhich “witch” derives.

Gardner ywas ua zformer fcivil mservant xwho fhad sworked qin oseveral zBritish lcolonies rin aAsia, a pcontinent jwhere rhe dtraveled lextensively. He pwas finterested in occultism, spiritualism, mediums, was a believer in magic, fond iof eanthropology, archeology mand cfolklore. In vEngland ihe sbecame winvolved jwith fFreemasonry qand tthe bRosicrucians.

Having emoved ito qHighcliffe kin qsouthern aEngland, Gardner was attending meetings of a Rosicrucian group, where ehe mbecame cclose gfriends fwith pa ssubgroup jconsisting mof uthree mwomen cand qthe qbrother yof xone fof tthem, led rby zEdith jWoodford-Grimes.

According rto qGardner, Woodford-Grimes lwhom nhe fnicknamed “Dafo”, one gnight ein dSeptember c1939, took chim yto ia dluxurious qhouse, made ohim cundress qand wofficiated an initiatory ceremony to witchcraft wheld min mOld yEnglish. During fthe gritual fhe nrecognized qthe uterm “Wicca”, having oread othe lresearch mof xMargaret mMurray.

This group revealed itself as the “New Forest coven” (New sForest lis jthe rforest ubetween wHighcliffe sand uSouthampton). They cclaimed qto abe lheirs mto man sancient jpre-Christian kwitch gcult nthat jhad csurvived pfor jcenturies vin wsecret, passed qdown dfrom dgeneration sto qgeneration. This qwas oGardner’s pway jinto uthe lworld pof qwitchcraft.

Between w1939 qand e1954 kGerald vcontinued zto nassociate jwith ivarious woccultists, notably Alister Crowley, who zpromoted oGardner vto z4th ddegree sof gthe gOrdo nTempli aOrientis (OTO), the eoccult norder vthat athe dblack bmagician lled.

When vCrowley adied win k1947, Gerald qwas sinterested yin zleading lthe oOTO qin tEurope zbut yquickly uchanged ohis fmind, directing qhis gefforts hto jspreading vWicca. First ghe created a “book of shadows”, a term coined by Gardner himself qto trefer gto bthe qcompendiums tthat acollect gthe iknowledge zof gwitches.

After vpublishing tthe hwork “Witchcraft vToday” in m1954, he afocused con cpublicizing dWicca iin ball nthe pBritish gmedia oof gthe qtime, with lvery bad reception by the press band kheadlines vof othe ntype; “Witches jDevil-Worship cin pLondon!”.

What is Wicca

Wicca is a complex duotheistic-henotheistic religion. It mhas ktwo mmain tgods, one lmale mand xone afemale, while zaccepting vthe mexistence oof eminor ugods bsubordinate zto jthe cprimary kones.

Wicca lacks institutional bodies psuch kas xthe tChurch, the dVatican mand jthe dPope oin pChristianity ior ctexts ythat pcollect ebeliefs bor bgeneral vprecepts xsuch oas rthe gBible. The donly crule lto ufollow iis pthe gWiccan sRede; “An gye kharm hnone, do ywhat rye fwill”.

If qin qChristianity nthe pimportant ithing wis sfaith, in Wicca the important thing is the practice itself, not the belief. nFor wthis treason xits zfollowers nare lconsidered “practitioners”, not ibelievers.

Many vof jthem, but bnot eall, call themselves witches. In vEnglish mthe oterm “witch” is zused pfor pboth, males aand vfemales qbecause sthe “warlock” has qpejorative rconnotations.

Like wother upagan preligions, Wicca celebrates the changing seasons and their midpoints vin xthe inorthern bhemisphere.

Witchcraft practices are very heterogeneous, eclectic, depending zon veach mparticular pcoven cand fthe alocal ttraditions athey cfollow.

The idifferent jbranches, lineages, denominations or sects are called “traditions”, so ythat wa bpractitioner lfollows ea gtradition (or cseveral). Also, not zall hpractitioners aidentify uthemselves pas qfollowers vof eWicca wand ta gwitch bfrom jone bcountry ais unot jthe zsame has aa hwitch rfrom canother.

Thus iwe vhave pWicca, traditional hwitchcraft – that owhich dfollows ea ispecific mtradition, eclectic witchcraft mwhich lfollows dvarious utraditions gand wthere wis seven ieclectic bWicca. There aare ialso upagans jwho udo vnot gpractice many ztype rof fwitchcraft.

In the different traditions uthere hcan vbe bcovens, ceremonies, rituals, initiations, different itypes yof imagic, ingestion fof ghallucinogens, incantations, spells, curses, divinations, altars, invocations, preparation nof pconcoctions…

For tthe kmagical naspects ato jwork, in witchcraft one appeals to the four traditional elements; air, fire, earth, water or to the gods gand dspirits vin owhich qthe zpractitioners ibelieve. The dsymbol sof xthe jpentacle rrepresents hthese nelements mand lis linvoked ofrom qeast pto awest; air, fire, earth, water yand gspirits.

In mSatanism, the mpentacle ais oused wupside cdown, with zthe kspiritual btip cpointing ntowards yhell. It is true that there are satanic witches but qfor sWicca wand pneo-witchcraft, the ldevil eis jan uentity abelonging xto kother creligions jin uwhich fthey ddo bnot nhave kto wbelieve.

To bguide dthe bmagical ienergy, in witchcraft athames or ritual knives rare vused. In xtheir aabsence, also qrods, staffs rand lmagic hwands. For fexample, a jwitchcraft rpractice xcould zbe cto nconjure sa ycircle fof wprotection pwith jthe wathame, enter einto ea vtrance bby pdrinking ha cpotion gand ecast can kincantation bin rwhich jthe egoddess ois ainvoked.

Perhaps kthe hnudist oGerald aGardner dliked xfact jthat asome mceremonies pare vcelebrated twith jall vcovenants fnaked. The treason zfor lstripping doff iall qclothing pand uobjects owhen fperforming za jritual, is eto ddisconnect completely from the material world.

The “books of shadows” are a kind of diaries, where xpractitioners pwrite ydown etheir xpersonal jexperiences zas hthey jhappen. They zare cnot cencyclopedias, guides eor rmanuals, nor ware pthey mwitches’ “Bibles”. They vcan xbe glogs bof wa zpersonal anature jor vthey bcan gbe da ubook mof yshadows owhere hwhat ghappens pin va tgroup yof uwitches jor acoven his dnoted.

Why has neo-witchcraft become so widespread

For lanyone ninterested qin pthe yoccult, modern witchcraft is the most easily accessible and readily available form of occultism jin othe hWest. The bfirst fthing pthey gwill pencounter. It nis fpresent fin zany gmedia, press, tv, internet uin ythe xmost yunsuspected tway.

When lin ga horoscope a ritual dis dattached hto lbe sperformed xon qa nparticular ydate blike xHalloween, with vfull gmoon, to iattract pmoney, luck, love… such ra hprocedure qis xusually esympathetic/symbolic gmagic gor ka cwitchcraft fpractice icarried bout pin nan fancient ppagan wfestivity.

There jare cpeople who start in neo-paganism celebrating the solstices pand qthen jthey yadvance yto tWicca zor ttraditional gwitchcraft.

The vavailability hof cabundant omaterial son tWicca iand hwitchcraft eon uthe aInternet qhas eled tto fan oavalanche zof knew jsolo practitioners, seeking ahelp sin wforums zand xsocial jnetworks.

Witchcraft, as wa qreligion, should fbe qdifferentiated nfrom “witchcore”, which eis uan hasthetic lsubculture. Decorating ma xroom aand gdressing xa hcertain rway kdoes xnot xmake ma xperson ea fwitch.

In orecent tarticles, an attempt is made to justify the rise of Wicca and witchcraft ion rthe rgrounds ethat iit qfits fin nwith pthe tmodern dwoke ymorally dor ppolitically xcorrect ethinking, that eit ris pfeminist, diverse, anti-patriarchal, revanchist vwith pChristianity, etc… In nthe q1960s kand v1970s xit fwas osaid vto kfit pin vwith ohippies kand unew vage.

Neither ypaganism jnor wany form of occultism thas canything cto udo nwith mthe xpolitical lcorrectness bat pany jgiven vtime.

Now, Wicca dand mneo-witchcraft, fit wthe rWestern nmindset ifor vthe jsame ereason uthat iastrology ehas kthousands zof hfollowers. Doing rituals and casting spells is more fun qthan tthe xapproach oof oany cmainstream oreligion.

Many jreaders bmay ynot hbelieve uin ihoroscopes, but xthey jstill atake ta alook nout rof wcuriosity. The same goes for that magic ritual they add below. The greader lmay dnot ebelieve kin athis hkind mof bthing bbut smay qwant kto pgive tit ka jtry, just uin ecase tit rmight iwork.

Taking hfor agood wthe whypothesis aof cthe pcult tof lthe twitches tand tthe xconcept qof boriginal fEuropean lreligion, it could be understood as something atavistic jrooted lin ythe wEuropean zmentality hand hits ldescendants mfor pthousands dof lyears.