While those of you who are trick-or-treating this year are out on the town with your pillowcases, joyfully awaiting the promise of treats from all of your neighbors, people are bound to be dressed up in the classic costumes of this wonderful season: A white sheet with two eyeholes, a zombie, some cosplay character that no one has heard of but the costume is cool so you like it anyway, or a witch.
At least these costumes shown are better than the 10,000 Jared Leto's as the emo Joker and Whats-her-face as emo Harley Quinn that are going to be happening this year.
Throughout history people have been using especially witches as not only ways to spook those pesky kids from down the block who always jump in your leaf piles, but as scapegoats for horrible crimes and unfortunate scenarios.
Take the Salem Witch Trials for example. I'm sure we all remember that short chapter in history. You were probably asleep in class for it, but it has a wide fan-base for being one of the most absurd events in American History. Its mix of paranoia and insane behavior is a classic example of how mob mentality can change the way people would rationally deal with a situation.
"Shoot she wasn't actually a Witch. Quick! Go get the absurdly long stick to poke out this fire with!
“Basically to get out of being called a Witch, you had to call someone else a Witch,” Says Lizz, my friend who is a Hedge Witch. She is a Visual Arts and New Media Major here at Fredonia, and she also is very interested in and a bit upset about the whole bad attitude surrounding Witches. This is her.
Yep. Pretty spooky, right?
“There are Wiccans and Pagans, but those are just umbrella terms. I''m a Hedge Witch, but most of my friends are Eclectic Witches. There are also Water Witches and Kitchen Witches. They all have small differences between them but the main idea of being a Witch is drawing power from the Earth itself. I'm no expert, but I've been practicing for about five years now.”
Pagans are much more religious, and believe in more God-like worship than drawing power from the Earth. Witches also believe in Deities, but they more serve as an entity who is simply doing their job than an all powerful being. Most Witches decide which entity is the most personalized to them, and this is the one that they choose to worship. Another main practice of Witchcraft that people have misconceptions about is the process of casting spells.
“It's all about a transfer of your energy and blessings. Most spells are blessings, and most people don't perform hexes (spells that curse or attach negative energy to a person or thing.) Performing spells is mostly about taking energy from the earth and yourself and transferring it to an object. You can make spells, and share them with your friends, and cast them on pretty much anything for good fortune. You can even write your own to be designed specifically to the effect that you desire.”
Lizz keeps a detailed record in a “Book of Shadows” Which she uses for reference about everything from Colors and their magical values to the direction in which you start drawing a pentacle.
A pentacle is a Witch's way of connecting the Earth with a symbol. The top point of the star symbolizes the human spirit, and the rest of four points represent Fire, Water, Air and Earth. The ring around the star represents the Earth, and it unifies all of the five elements of the basis of Witchcraft. This is not to be confused with a Pentagram, which is rarely used by Witches, and surprisingly is less evil than it seems.
A Picture of what a Witch doesn't look like - but it is what I look like when people tell me that I'm too old to trick-or-treat.
“If someone were to ask me what my religion is, I would say that I am a Witch, but it is definitely more of a spiritual thing than a religious thing” Lizz continued.
Of course this information is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Witchcraft. It makes me think it's very interesting people have such a strange stance over Witches, as they all seem to be very peaceful and normal. Around this time people should definitely be much more concerned about teens egging their houses and smashing their pumpkins.
I'd like to also give a Special Shoutout to Lizz for helping me put this article together!
