IndexWhat is a witch?Origin of the witchImportant witches in historyWitches in HollywoodWitchcraft today: WiccaConclusionWorks CitedWhat is a witch?A witch, in the simplest form, is a believes that women have magical or supernatural abilities and that these powers are used for evil or nefarious purposes. Many people accused of being witches were thought to be associated with or worship Satan himself. In addition to worshiping Satan as a sacred figure, which is extremely contrary to the Christian faith, they were also thought to take part in rituals to the devil that included many unforgivable acts such as human sacrifice and cannibalism. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg, as many of the innocents accused of witchcraft, a word derived from the Old English wiccecraft, were considered to be committing heresy regardless of their ties to the devil. Simple things like mental illness or simply not looking nice could all be evidence of witchcraft and, by default, heresy. This would not lead to good things as the Church and people of the 1400-1600s frowned upon heresy and essentially the defacement and vandalism of their God in whom they worshipped. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Origin of the Witch It is unclear when exactly people with "supernatural" abilities were first given the name "witch," but it is the first ever recorded story of a witch found in the Bible. It can be found in Samuel 1 and is thought to have been written between 931 BC and 721 BC. The story tells of King Saul and his search for the witch of Endor. When he finds her, he asks her to summon the deceased prophet Samuel to share his future with him. Samuel then reveals to Saul that he and his sons will die. The next day Saul's sons die in battle, which leads Saul to kill himself. Besides this, there are other later accounts and excerpts from the Bible that mention witches and public thinking about them. Take, for example, the passage from Exodus that reads “you shall not suffer a witch to live.” This roughly translates to: “you shall not allow a witch to live.” As could be seen, witches were not particularly accepted by the Christian public. Mostly due to the satanic connotations, but they were also seen as a challenge to God as their power was believed to rival God. However, witch hysteria did not kick in until the mid-1400s, when the accused admitted their sins , under great torture and were put in prison or put to death. A book written by two respected German Dominicans in 1486, Malleus Maleficarum, was a guide on how to catch a witch in the act of witchcraft. The book describes in great detail how to identify, capture and interrogate witches. At the time the book sold more than all the others, excluding the Bible, spreading throughout Europe like the plague. Thus was born the witch hunt, which remained commonplace from 1500 to 1600. During this period, 80,000 people were suspected of being witches, and 80% of them were women suspected of worshiping the devil and being full of lust. Witch hunts and trials. The most infamous of all witch hunts is the Salem Witch Trials due to the absurdity of the origins and the frenetic, wild, messy trials. It all began in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, with two sick girls who began suffering from spasms and deranged behavior such as screaming loudly at random. They claimed to have been cursed by their neighbor Tituba and many others and accused them of being witches. Nowscience can pinpoint the culprit of the girl's illness and symptoms, a common fungus found in the foods they consumed. However, Tituba and many other women were interrogated. They all declared themselves innocent but began pointing fingers at other members of the community. This snowballed and sent the entire city into hysteria. In the end 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft, 18 were put to death. The Connecticut witch trials were less dramatic by leaps and bounds. While the rehearsals were still fast paced, they were less panicked and frantic. They took place in 1947 in Windsor, Connecticut. The trials hosted the first execution of a witch, Alse Young, in America. The result is that 46 people were accused while only 11 were executed. Unlike both Salem and Connecticut, Virginia was somewhat tolerant of witches. They were still captured, interrogated, tortured, and if found guilty, put to death, but things were a little different. There was a law put in place to protect people wrongly accused of witchcraft. It was illegal to make a false witch accusation. Therefore, if after the trial, the witch was found not guilty, the person who accused her would be sent to prison or executed. Important Witches in History Mother Shipton, or Ursula Southeil, was an English prophetess. She was believed to be a witch in the 1490s for countless reasons. His mother was Agatha Southeil, who was believed to be a witch. Shipton was extremely ugly and disfigured when growing up, most often called her "witch face", which didn't help the stigma of witches around her. He was also very clairvoyant, like his mother. He predicted the Great Fire of London, the Spanish Armada and even the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Even with all this evidence to support the community's claim that she was a witch, she was never prosecuted for her lifestyle and was left to die a normal death of old age. A woman named Grace Sherwood was accused of witchcraft in 1706. Her neighbors claimed she killed their pigs and put curses on their cotton. It was processed and water tested. The test begins with tying up the suspect's arms and legs so that he can no longer move them. They are then thrown into a body of water. This test can have one of two results. The suspect may continue to sink into the depths of the water, proving that he is not a witch but also successfully drowning him. If the suspect were to float back to the top of the body of water, as floating bodies usually do, she would indeed be a witch. Grace underwent this test and was found to be a witch when she resurfaced in the water after they had thrown her in. She was put to death. Agnes Sampson was a Scottish midwife and healer in 1590. Around this time, King James of Scotland and Anne of Denmark-Norway married. Together the couple is very cautious and anxious when it comes to witches. Of course, it makes complete sense that when they are on a journey and a deadly storm hits, they point the finger at the witches as the culprits. Over 70 were accused of being the witches behind the attempted murder, Agnes Sampson was one of them. Agnes, like many others, was tortured and interrogated. Between bouts of torture, they were left in a Witch Bridel chained to the wall behind them. The bride inserted four spikes into her mouth, holding it open and making any movement completely unbearable. Many quickly surrendered and confessed to a crime they did not commit, seeing their fate ahead of them but, unlike the other accused, Agnes did not give up easily. She was one of the last to confessand after doing so she was strangled to death and burned at a stake. Jane Horne, the last legal witch put to death in 1727. She was accused of many things, but the most infamous was turning her daughter into a horse. Many believed she was deranged due to her ties to the devil, but we now know that it was actually just a symptom of senile dementia. Jane and her daughter were tried after the accusations and were both found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. While the daughter managed to escape, the senile mother was left disoriented and confused. They stripped her and bathed her in tar. Witnesses say that when she was at the stake, the fire was advancing, she smiled and became warm. Witches in Hollywood As horror films became big in Hollywood, so the idea of ​​the witch began to resurface. There are over 50 recreations of the witch stereotype from the 1950s to the present day. When the "witch" made her way onto the big screen, she came in more like a "folk tale" witch. An ugly witch who lived in the woods and never went out. It focused on the ugly and mysterious aspect instead of tying into the more religious side of witches. This was first seen in Comin' Round the Mountain (1957) and would later be seen in the Gene Autry Show (1957). The 1960s saw a change in the way witches were portrayed in the film scene. Instead of being a mysterious old witch, the witches were now more satanic with the return of her story's stereotypes. It seemed they were now working for the devil instead of just mischievous purposes. Take, for example, the Twilight Zone film "Jesse Belle" and the Undead (1953), a femme-fatale-themed plot featuring witches. Along with the more satanic themes witch films tackled, the films became more feminine and sexualized as film moved into the 2000s. They gave witches an enticing factor to connect to the lust the devil bestows on them. This is especially evident in the films Coven (2013) and Penny Dreadful (2015). Witchcraft Today: Wicca Contrary to popular belief, Wiccans are not followers of Satan and do not intend to harm society with their spells and magic. They are an incredibly earth-centered neopagan religion. It derives its modern teachings from the first Wiccan, Gerald Gardner (1884-1964). The religion is different from many others as members of the religion do not worship or venerate a single God or many Gods, but live their lives worshiping all of creation and everything that the Earth gives them. It has become more popular among modern-day teenagers because their beliefs allow for acceptance of homosexuality, gender fluidity, and much more. They see everything that is created as special. They are seen as modern witches as they practice spells to manipulate the earth as part of their religion. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion Looking back at the research displayed in this report I believe that in some ways witches are real. I don't believe they only existed in the 1400s, but that in our modern age they still exist. I believe that people practiced some form of witchcraft then and now, but that it is much more watered down and less evil than we all believed it to be. Much like the modern Wiccan religion, I believe that pagans who cast "spells" and manipulated the earth existed, but not for spiteful or nefarious purposes. No, I believe that they were supposed to send good wishes and good luck to their loved ones and friends and that they used the Earth to create healing remedies for illnesses that were not yet cured. Witches exist, but they are just misunderstood. Works Cited Behringer, W. (1998). Persecutions of.