Witchcraft in Ancient Civilizations
Many ancient civilizations have myths and stories about magic and mystics. The ancient Mesopotamian texts are mostly made up of spells and excorsims that have been found in cuneiform. The ancient Witches and Sorcerers of the time, used Maqlú which is good magic to fight off evil magic that may be attacking individuals.
Most of these ancient cultures all had similiar beliefs about Sorcery and Magic. In The ancient times, the majority of Witchcraft was performed by the Nobles of Mesopotamia Much like Vampires, there are more similiarities than there are differences among different practices of Magic of the Ancient past.
Witches in Middle Ages
Witchcraft became an issue for Protestants and Catholics largely in the Middle Ages. Women who were accused of witch craft would get burned at the stake in Europe. Most witches were assumed to be Pagan and therefore were considered heretics by the church.
In the New World, when the Witchcraft mania was finally dying down in Europe, the soon to be United States began executing women for merely being accused of Witchcraft. The very Famous "Salem Witch Trials" became the result of Witch mania taking over in the Americas. Many thousands of women were burned at the stake and stoned to death for witch craft during these times in Europe and the Americas.
Witches of the last century
In the recent Century, Halloween has sparked new interests in witches. Luckily in the last century, Witches became popular in movies and for Costumes much more often then the evil representations of the further past.
Witches have become a staple i=fo Halloween so much so that popular movies have been based entirely around Witches and magic now. They are thought of now more as just stories and not thought of as being real in the 19th Century. There were still small groups, usually the religious, that still believed witches were doing evil things in society. This finally started to wane in the later part of the century. Hocus Pocus is now one of the most popular Halloween movies every year.
