Known by many names in many times and places: Hekate in ancient Greece, Isis in ancient Egypt, Baba Yaga in Eastern Europe, Ceridwen in medieval Wales, Freya in Norse mythology.
Whether as a healer, or crone, the witch has existed in cultures across the earth for thousands of years.
Witches have inspired the likes of Shakespeare, Goya, and Dalí, and have been cast as the evil in countless fairy tales, legends, books, films, artworks, and songs.
A new book, Witchcraft (Taschen) co-edited by Jessica Hundley and Pam Grossman, discusses the witch’s history, symbols, and depictions across time through more than 30 essays and hundreds of full-color illustrations.
Witchcraft explores the witch’s lasting hold on our imagination, and the current-day witchcraft.
The witch has long been a crucible for mainstream society’s darkest fears.
One of the first recorded instances of the word ‘witch’ was in the Old Testament, where a merciless verse from Exodus commands, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
The story of the witch is horribly linked with the brutality and persecution of the Reformation era.
It’s estimated that 50,000 to 80,000 suspected witches were killed in Europe between 1500 and 1660.
Some 70 to 80% of the victims were women, the majority being poor and elderly.
Witches became the target scapegoat for all sorts of ills at the time, including disease, death, bad weather, and shipwrecks.
The highly publicized trials and accused evil deeds spread in books, pamphlets, and other propaganda thanks to the birth of the printing press.
It’s impossible to know how many of those accused were actually practitioners, but the mere threat of witchcraft — or of women acting independently outside of established norms — was enough to drive those in power to murderous hysteria.
By the 1680s, witch hunts faded in Europe. But they continued in the New World, where they were used to villify Indigenous people, survivors of the translatlantic slave trade, and famously resulted in the execution of 19 villagers in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
Today, witchcraft is an adaptable spiritual practice embraced by a wide range of people.
In light of still being misunderstood in the world, this book, Witchcraft offers readers a study of an empowered individual that continues to evolve.
