Witches

Origins of Witches

Since the inception of ancient societies, people related the bewildering power of nature with gods and goddesses, whom they believed had control over the earth. Humans worshipped deities such as the Mother Goddess, which was known as Astarte in Syria, Ceres in Rome, Cybele in Phrygia, Ishtar in Babylon, Demeter in Greece, and Isis in Egypt. Ancient societies held festivals to celebrate the prowess of their gods and goddesses. However, despite the revelry, gods and goddesses also proved to be unpredictable, causing famine, plague, drought, and a bevy of other problems. Human beings lamented that the gods and goddesses were not something that they could always control. To stop the chaos humans believed the gods and goddesses caused, exceptional men and women emerged in every culture to intervene. Medicine people, shamans, sorcerers, and witches invoked spells and led rituals to influence the powers that they felt controlled their world. Witches were thus often believed to be intermediaries between the spirit realm of gods and goddesses and the human realm.

In societies throughout the world, witches also worked their magic on ordinary people through their communication with spirits. Using herbs, plants, and flowers, witches invented concoctions that healed a variety of illnesses. Witches performed rituals to help cows' milk flow and rain to fall to save farmers' crops, and recited enigmatic incantations that were meant to harm an enemy's home. Numerous midwives were also known as witches and vice versa. In many societies, successfully helping a mother through childbirth meant that a witch had called on the powers of the supernatural. If the mother or child did not survive, sometimes the midwife-witch would be blamed for using her evil powers. Because of their perceived power to cause famine and plague and harm farm animals and people, witches (who usually lived in isolation) were both feared and honored in the communities in which they lived. This fear led to many gendered superstitions about witches—that they were ugly and old, kept demons in the form of farm animals, and could fly.

Furthermore, as societies shifted from open fields and land to more clustered, populated communities, the roles of women changed. Increasingly, women were considered mentally, physically, and spiritually inferior to their male counterparts. Thus, with their alleged great power to destroy or create health and prosperity, witches became increasingly threatening to male dominance. The rise of Christianity and the devaluation of feminine deities also contributed to the perception of women as spiritually inferior to men.

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