as pressed to death along with the hangings of two dogs.”4 On October 29th, 1692 Governor Phipps officially closed the court of Salem Village and ended all remains of the Salem Witch Trials. Witchcraft, also known as The Craft; Wise Craft; The Old Religion; Wicca; The Hidden Children of the Goddess, or Craft of the Wise is a peaceful, nature-based faith. In the early days the common witch was usually a midwife, a healer, a herbalist, and a wise woman/man who based his or her everyday lifestyles around nature. They worked well with herbs and became very good at healing the ill. Most witches use what is called White Magic, which is used only for good purposes, like healing the sick. In many cultures they were praised and called tribal shamans or healers, but to Christians they were considered not so neighborly sorcerers who were to be shunned and avoided. There have been and still are many misconceptions about witchcraft. Many believe it is a religion of Devil worshiping. What people, mostly Christians, think about witchcraft is not true. I doubt that any of the people who shun witchcraft know that most of the rituals and traditions of witchcraft were created and based on old Christian beliefs. Only a small few of their beliefs and traditions came from Ancient Pagan traditions and early Celtic religions. The word Witch comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word “Wicce” or “ Wicca”, meaning a twister or a bender so I guess that definition kind of suits a Witch, doesn’t it?Witchcraft can be traced back at least 20,000 to 40,000 years, during the Paleolithic times, which makes witchcraft one of the oldest religions on earth. Many pieces of evidence show that these early witch tribes had a great belief in life after death and reincarnation. The old tribes of witchcraft would bury their deceased in full clothing, sometimes with his or her dog, and with everything the person might need ...
