The Truth About Witches, The Most Popular Halloween Symbols By Dominique Halet At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

When one hears the word witch it typically brings to our mind green-skinned old hags hovering over a large black cauldron filled with disgusting mixture, chanting some sort of enchantment and worshipping the devil.

Obviously, such false idea of the character has been driven by books for children as well as Hollywood derivative productions because it makes for more exciting films.

We also generally associate witches with the Halloween holiday. However, do we know what exactly are witches? Let's find out...

First of all the term 'witch' is in fact derived from the words wiccian, wicce or wicca; all meaning 'wise woman', or in the plural, 'wise women'. There always have been people interested in learning the special virtues of medicinal plants, the course of the moon, stars and other planets, and by many other aspects of the nature.

Witches are generally associated with the earth-based religion called Wicca however many others could be called "witches" as well while they are not following this specific religion. The truth is that those called "witches" practise a mix of ancient customs that come from the old pagan times. These rituals existed centuries before the advent of the Christian religion. Christians propagated the word "witch" as well as the idea that those who lived under the cycles of nature were worshipping the church of the devil.

It was the Catholic religion which established the concept of Satan or a demon. Until the Catholic church came on the scene there was no concept of Satan or a demon. Actually, the term "pagan" itself means "people of the country" - not devil believers.

Systematically thinking to women when one hears the term "witch" is also a common mistake as a lot of men are witches. Another misconception about masculine witches is the term "warlock". Once again, this idea is driven by Hollywood as this word sounds more virile.

In reality the term of "warlock" originates from the Middle English "warloghe", and from Old English "wrloga" and stands for "the one that breaks religious belief" or "betrayer". The term of "warlock" was used by the pagans as a word of abomination to describe one who had bretrayed his people and the ways of Nature.

Everyone knows that witches are able to cast spells. "Spell" is a word that actually derived from the old German "Spiel" and stands for "prayer". Basically, someone who casts a spell, prays for a certain outcome; which is no different than what the followers of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. do. The belief is that one can harness the power of the life force of the universe to call into being what they desire.

The instruments witches use to help cast spells are 'props' to evoke the right ambiance and state of mind just like costumes and accessories are used by actors to help them act like the characters they are supposed to represent.

While witches are supposed to be evil by many people, the fact is, whether or not anyone is good or evil is up to the particular individual. Magic is neither black nor white, it simply does exist and how it is used depends on the user.

Finally, witches like any other follower of a religion are free to do what they want for as long as it harms none.

"For as you send, so shall it return to ye thrice-fold."

Always remember this and happy spell casting on Halloween!

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