Quotes About Witchcraft

In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature an invisible crime, is it not? The witch and the victim. None other. Now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself; granted? Therefore, we must rely upon her victims - and they do testify, the children certainly do testify.

The thing is, I wouldn't believe in them, and I would privately ridicule any idiot who did, except for one thing: I am a witch.

IN 1692 THE Massachusetts Bay Colony executed fourteen women, five men, and two dogs for witchcraft.

The Massachusetts elite had read everything in sight, some of it too closely. As would be said of logic-loving Ipswich minister John Wise, those men were not so much the masters as the victims of learning. They had read and reread bushels of witchcraft texts. They parsed legal code. They knew their history. They worked in the sterling name of reason.

The stranger acted no differently from the fortune-teller who intuits that you have recently suffered a setback; she is unfailingly correct. Witchcraft merely supplied the culprit, sometimes in advance of her crime, often many years later.

John Willard

Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft

There were as many reasons to accuse someone of witchcraft in 1692 as there were to denounce him under the Nazi occupation of France; envy, insecurity, political enmity, unrequited love, love that had run its course.

All too often dissenters wound up named or fined. Fifty-two-year-old Samuel Willard, Increase Mather's only equal among ministers, had sounded notes of caution all along. He assisted the Englishes in their escape; he participated in the private fast for John Alden. In exchange, he met with "unkindness, abuse, and reproach"—and with a witchcraft accusation.

Witchcraft localized anxiety at a dislocated time, as atomic war powered McCarthy rumors in the 1950s.

Mary Glover, hanged four years earlier on Boston Common for having bewitched the Goodwin children

Witchcraft is fun. It offers us a chance to play, to act silly, to let the inner child come out. Out of foolishness and play, creativity is born.

Witchcraft has always been a religion of poetry, not theology. The myths, legends, and teachings are recognized as metaphors for "That-Which-Cannot-Be-Told," the absolute reality our limited minds can never completely know.

The love of the Goddess is unconditional. She does not ask for sacrifice—whether human or animal—nor does She want us to sacrifice our normal human needs and desires. Witchcraft is a religion of self-celebration, not self-abnegation.

I love the idea that magic and witchcraft and battles between supernatural creatures could be raging all around us but just out of our sight.

That old black magic has me in its spell,That old black magic that you weave so well.Those icy fingers up and down my spine,The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine.

They shift the blame rather than taking the responsibility for their wrongs. Those under witchcraft's control think they never do anything wrong. When caught they say there is nothing for which to repent. They tell you directly, "I haven't done anything wrong" or "I did what I thought was right. I don't have anything to feel sorry about." They never manifest any true repentance or humility.

Witchcraft separates and isolates. Beware of separation through isolation. Isolation is a solid weapon of witchcraft

A person that is humble of heart doesn't care about being the center of attention. They are interested in pleasing God rather than taking front stage. The spirit of witchcraft, in contrast, likes abnormal attention, but most importantly, attention behind the scenes. People operating in witchcraft don't want to share your attention with others but want to keep you totally for themselves.

Witchcraft drains the life (energy) right out of you. When attacked, you feel tired, depressed, oppressed and fatigued.

Witchcraft controllers spend abnormal amounts of time with their victims: The girl that consumes all her friend's spare time. The boy that smothers his girlfriend with inordinate attention. Witchcraft will go out of the way to control and waste your time. It's not a natural thing it's a spiritual thing. Scripture says "Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee" (Proverbs 25:17).

A survey21 of beliefs about the causes of illness across cultures shows that the three most common explanations are biomedical (referring to physical causes of disease), interpersonal (illness is caused by witchcraft, related to envy and conflict), and moral (illness is caused by one's own past actions, particularly violations of food and sexual taboos).

Ethically challenged magical practitioners," I said.

I have reason to believe that you are consorting with a spirit in contravention of the Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft and Dealing with Evil and Wicked Spirits 1604,' I said. The Witchcraft Act had actually been superseded in 1736 but I find quoting it helps break the ice on the doorstep.