Religion and Gender: Witchcraft and Women
The general population throughout the world has frowned upon paganism in every form possible since the start and spread of Christianity. Primarily witchcraft, or more modernly known as Wicca. Witchcraft has probably existed since humans first started to band together in groups. Some even argue that witchcraft is the oldest religion to exist on earth, depending on how you look at it. Magic and witchcraft were widely practiced in ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, Babylonia, Indian and Sumerian cultures. History has taught us that paganism and Christianity have shared a lot of conflict in the past 2000 years. Religion and gender has been the head of many beliefs, but time can tell that the conflict theory ties women in witchcraft and Christianity.
History …show more content…
It has been evolving since then and its present form is quite different from what it was a thousand or five thousand years ago. Priestesses and femininity were at the head of many ancient cultures with pagan beliefs. Most of the ancient cultures valued the mother (the earth), and were very nature loving. They surrounded their craft around nature worshipping. It was known to many as “the wise craft” practiced by those who followed the path of nature and were in tune with its’ forces. They had the knowledge of herbs to create medicine and gave counsel since they were considered high esteemed healers and leaders in their communities. The Old Testaments, Exodus and Leviticus, had first condemned witches with the quotes, “Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” and “Leviticus 20:27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”. Using casual logic, with the rise of Christianity, pagan beliefs were destroyed along with the value of feminine power for many cultures ‘till this
The general population throughout the world has frowned upon paganism in every form possible since the start and spread of Christianity. Primarily witchcraft, or more modernly known as Wicca. Witchcraft has probably existed since humans first started to band together in groups. Some even argue that witchcraft is the oldest religion to exist on earth, depending on how you look at it. Magic and witchcraft were widely practiced in ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece, Babylonia, Indian and Sumerian cultures. History has taught us that paganism and Christianity have shared a lot of conflict in the past 2000 years. Religion and gender has been the head of many beliefs, but time can tell that the conflict theory ties women in witchcraft and Christianity.
History …show more content…
It has been evolving since then and its present form is quite different from what it was a thousand or five thousand years ago. Priestesses and femininity were at the head of many ancient cultures with pagan beliefs. Most of the ancient cultures valued the mother (the earth), and were very nature loving. They surrounded their craft around nature worshipping. It was known to many as “the wise craft” practiced by those who followed the path of nature and were in tune with its’ forces. They had the knowledge of herbs to create medicine and gave counsel since they were considered high esteemed healers and leaders in their communities. The Old Testaments, Exodus and Leviticus, had first condemned witches with the quotes, “Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” and “Leviticus 20:27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”. Using casual logic, with the rise of Christianity, pagan beliefs were destroyed along with the value of feminine power for many cultures ‘till this