It seems as if witchcraft/magic has always been practiced. It has always been an essential part of human thought to control natural phenomena through rituals and ceremonies. In this short essay I want to investigate in what ways the old rituals and customs of past witches are still noticeable in our current Dutch society. It seems as if witchcraft/magic has always been practiced. It has always been an essential part of human thought to control natural phenomena through rituals and ceremonies. This can simply be traced back to ancient rock carvings that deal with magic influencing the fertility of the soil, rainfall and the degree of success in hunting. Witchcraft is even described in the Bible (such as the encounter between the witch of Endor and Saul).
In magic, the world is seen as a creation of our own minds. The modern magician tries to change this world by making changes in the minds of both himself and others. The ritual/ceremony is the magical tool.
In this short essay I want to investigate in what ways the old rituals and customs of former witches are still noticeable today in our current Dutch society. To this end, I would first like to briefly describe the history of witchcraft. Next I will discuss modern witchcraft. Then I will outline an ethnological analysis of past and modern witchcraft to conclude that witchcraft is making a comeback.
Brief history
The fear of witches arose gradually, until in the 14th century the process of investigating and convicting witches was separated from normal justice. It was believed that any superstitious practice that produced results that could not be caused by natural circumstances or by God must be the result of witchcraft (an individual or collective pact with the devil). This idea was conveyed to the populace, mainly by writers and theologians, and spread throughout Europe, so that it seemed as if witches were everywhere, plotting a massive attack on the Christian world.
This resulted in numerous unjustified accusations, resulting in the well-known witch hunts, which resulted in the cruel deaths of thousands of innocent people. Christian Western Europe was gripped by paranoia surrounding the alleged activities of witches for about three centuries. The witch hunts were a mockery of the civilized values of civilized Europe. Medieval inquisitors used Bible texts condemning witchcraft in their hunt to justify the terrible tortures and burnings.
There are several reasons for the enormous number of witch hunts in Europe. An economic reason was that sharp contrasts arose between rich and poor. Another reason was the terrible epidemics , the direct cause of which was not clear. Strangely enough, when we compare this with the rest of Europe, there were far fewer witch persecutions in the Netherlands. This was mainly due to the great economic boom. But the 80 Years’ War (1568-1648) also reduced much of the attention for witch persecutions.
Ultimately, the witch persecutions came to an end around 1750 due to the arrival of numerous social developments, such as the Enlightenment and rationalism. But the economic situation also continued to improve and religious fanaticism came to an end. However, the popular belief in witches remained alive for a long time.
Modern witchcraft
The old rituals from pre-Christian paganism have now returned. Druids, witches and fortune tellers are responsible for a revival of the ancient nature religion in modern times. Modern witchcraft, in the form of Wicca (the Western form of paganism), is nothing more than a renaissance of an ancient pre-Christian religion. Modern witches want to distinguish themselves from the Christian faith, so that they do not have to be accountable to others. Modern witches choose to be witches themselves, while in the past it was determined by others whether an individual or group engaged in witchcraft.
Modern witchcraft in its current form originated around 1940. It is a religion that guides the initiates to union with natural forces and forces within their own mind. This brings about the transformation of the human mind. As mentioned, this is done through rituals, where the key elements, such as prescribed actions, rhythm / repetition and special clothing, all have an effect on the mood of the participants and reality.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that witchcraft is becoming increasingly popular. Before the war, witch stories were still widely told in circles of friends and family gatherings. The creepy stories were a remnant of the old folk belief in witches, which were experienced as very impressive, especially by young people. Over the last 50 years, we have come across witches more and more often in the media. Books about witchcraft were considered dangerous by the church until the late 1940s, but are now widely read. Film and television producers also see possibilities in the subject. The magical theories and practices, which were still seen by Victorian materialists as remnants of a bygone era, are gaining more and more ground.
Then and now
Characteristics of early witchcraft are still noticeable today. During the witch hunts, the ideals of humanity and tolerance were pushed aside to subsequently murder defenseless, innocent people on the most ridiculous accusations. Strangely enough, among the innocents there were often a number of people who considered themselves witches. It was virtually the only way for the underprivileged to gain a certain form of prestige. We still see this strange phenomenon regularly occur today. When a murder is committed that attracts a lot of publicity, others will see such an incident as an example to redeem and gain fame for themselves as an unremarkable part of society. For example, after the infamous sniper murders in the United States, people feared similar crimes, because of the great notoriety that the perpetrators gained.
The spread of thoughts about devil worship was mainly in the hands of the elite, in the form of theologians , who developed the idea that people who swear allegiance to the devil give away something that belonged only to God. The theologians found that witches also worshiped the devil, which was the main motivation for the Inquisition to work for the destruction of evil. A witch was seen as someone who was in contact with the devil and who used evil forces to harm people. During the time of the witch persecutions, the label of witch was imposed from outside, by the elite. There was no opportunity for you, as an accused of witchcraft, to resist this. People who were in a better social position decided on the lives of the less fortunate, the elite determined the fate of the people.
Partly due to the progress of science, belief in supernatural powers has continued to decline. Strange, inexplicable phenomena now have a logical, rational explanation. This has put witchcraft in a different light. Strange, mysterious events used to be inexplicable due to the lack of knowledge. It was obvious to involve supernatural forces in the explanation process. It was therefore often strange midwives or herbal women who were accused of witchcraft. Modern witches are comparable to these midwives or herbal women of the Middle Ages, who were responsible for the well-being of the villagers.
Nowadays, the term witch is no longer considered negative , as it used to be. What used to be seen as witchcraft, such as knowledge of herbs and dealing with animals, was still widely represented until before the industrial revolution, because people were then even closer to nature than is the case today. People grew up knowing about magical plants in their environment. Today, a witch is someone who devotes herself to the worship of a god and performs certain rituals. This gives one insight into the world, without harming others.
But in addition to the rituals practiced on a small scale by occult minorities, politicians and clergy also (usually unconsciously) apply magical techniques. These people use the same mind-altering methods used by modern witches . Modern witches use color, light and sound in their rituals, which are used to influence the thoughts and feelings of an audience. But while modern witches are concerned with their own state of mind, politicians or religious leaders focus on influencing thousands and perhaps even millions of people.
Conclusion
All in all, it can be said that witchcraft has not disappeared today. Rituals and ceremonies are still performed by mostly occult minorities. It is clear that we moderns understand witchcraft as something completely different than was previously the case.
Witches are becoming more and more popular. With the exception of a few cases, the bad reputation that witches had in the old, creepy folk tales is almost gone. Modern witches have now developed into good magic fairies, who generally have the best interests of humans at heart. Witches are increasingly helping to combat evil, an evil in which they themselves were once accused of involvement.