| Misconceptions about Witches can cause many | | | | worships and honours nature in all its beauty and |
| people to fear and distrust anyone who practices | | | | variety. |
| Witchcraft, Wicca, or someone who claims to be a | | | | Witches don't believe in the devil, but rather, worship |
| Witch. Like most prejudices, such fear and distrust is | | | | nature in its symbolic manifestation as Earth God and |
| borne out of ignorance and misinformation. | | | | Earth Goddess. |
| There are many myths associated with Witchcraft, | | | | Witchcraft and Wicca are the same thing |
| which help to promote and fuel this fear and | | | | Although based on some ancient pagan beliefs, Wicca |
| misunderstanding. Here are some of the worst. | | | | is a modern religion created around the 1950s in |
| Witches practice evil sorcery and can put a curse on | | | | Northern Europe. Wicca has become synonymous |
| you | | | | with witches, although historical references to |
| No one can put a curse on another, but certainly not a | | | | witchcraft predates Wicca by hundreds of years. A |
| witch! Witches must abide by the ethical principle of | | | | common interpretation of the relationship between the |
| their craft, the most important of which is not to harm | | | | terms Wicca and Witchcraft is that Wiccans practice |
| anyone. | | | | the religion of Witchcraft. |
| Witchcraft, amongst other things, involves the teaching, | | | | Most witches are warty old crones with green skin |
| learning and developing of spells, rituals and a lifestyle | | | | and a hooked nose |
| to promote well-being, health and happiness. For | | | | The proportion of attractive to less attractive people |
| example, a witch can perform a ritual to help ward off | | | | amongst the Witch fraternity is almost certainly the |
| disease and illness. Similarly, Christians believe that a | | | | same as the proportion in the community at large. The |
| religious leader in their congregation can heal by | | | | appearance of witches as green skinned old crones is |
| anointing. | | | | a fiction most popularly illustrated in such works as |
| A true Witch would never consider putting a curse on | | | | William Shakespeare's Macbeth, and L. Frank Baum's |
| another person. | | | | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. |
| Witches are Satanist | | | | All Witches gather in groups of 13, called a Witches |
| The belief that witches were associated with | | | | Coven |
| Satanism, devil worship and the promotion of evil was | | | | Unlike most of the big religions in the world, witchcraft |
| probably first spread and encouraged by clerics in | | | | can be a solitary following. Many practicing witches, or |
| medieval Europe. The Christian religious hierarchy saw | | | | those wishing to learn the Craft, gather together in |
| witchcraft as a direct threat to the authority of | | | | groups to mutually develop and promote their beliefs. |
| Christianity and therefore their authority in society. This | | | | Similar to a Christian Congregation, in Witchcraft such |
| was an attempt to turn society away from the | | | | groups are called Witches Covens. Such a gathering |
| practice of witchcraft. | | | | can be of any number though, and not all witches |
| In fact, modern witchcraft in particular is very far | | | | belong to a Coven at all. |
| removed from the worship of an evil force. Witchcraft | | | | |