What is witchcraft?

There are many definitions of what is a witch or what witchcraft? ask 3 different people that are not pagans and you will receive three different answers. witchcraft is viewed as being evil and that of practicing Rites with demond and Devil's, that witches Celabrate the Sabbat and sacrificed babies, That we have renounced the Christian faith and God, and engaged in orgies. from the anthropological approach, a witch is a sorcerer, from the historical approach, a witch is a Satanist, from modern definition, a witch worships ancient gods and practices magic. The point is Witchcraft means many different things to Different people.who most of the time dont know what they are talking about. SO Contrary to what those who choose to lie and prosecute us wish to believe, Witchcraft is a harmonious and peaceful balance way of life which promotes oneness with the divine.It is A Nature based religion, Yes it can be used to harm but then again so can a basic household utensil. anything Can be made into a evil Object its all on how you look at it. Above all witchcraft is a belief system and way of life based upon the reconstruction of pre-Christian traditions. Aspiritual system that fosters the free thought and will of the individual a Believe That encourages learning and an understanding of the earth and nature lets think about this for a Moment and now lets look at this Saying

"The kingdom of God is inside you and all around you Not in mansions of wood and stone, split a peice of wood and i am there lift a stone and you will find me"

The craft is no different we believe that the spirit of the One, Goddess and God exist in all things In the trees, That whisper you thought you heard from the wind, the gentle kiss from a rain drop, that tree who for one second you thought it waved to you. the singing of the Birds that caught your eye. we acknowledge, the lunar phases, the cycles of nature, the seasons And celebrate our spirituality to worship the divine. and although we dont worship the tree's and birds or the river's and creeks, we make it a point to acknowledge them to see pass our Blind spots to see them for their Beauty, for what they are. Gia at her Finest.

Magick is  the  manipulation of the supernatural forces through the use of spells, signs, Sigils and at times herbs, for the conjuring or invoking of spirits.To assist in sorcery. (Sorcery another Scary word). Sorcery is the activity of trying to cause change toward a desired end (good or Bad) through symbolic means and of using the forces of Nature as a primary Tool. The elements of its practice vary from one system or culture to another. There is no Black or white, no Right or Wrong. and although The term "witchcraft" can have positive or negative connotations depending on cultural context. Most contemporary people who self-identify as witches see it as beneficent and morally positive. yes There are those who seek nothing but ill will and to do Harm. but that is not who we ARE. My definitions is This: A True Witch Is Neither Good Nor Evil But neutral like nature, and her/his knowledge should be that of both aspects of good and evil as identified by society –huh- you might say– here it is put very Simple The truth is Within The heart of the Witch-Does this mean we do not Believe in God?

Um no this could not be any further from the truth. although yes there are different paths within pagans for the most part we all belive in a Higher Power

The history of witchcraft is as old as the History of humanity itself. Archeological discoveries have revealed that people worshipped hunter god and fertility goddess during the Paleolithic period. This has been proved by the discovery of cave paintings which are estimated to be 30,000 years old These relics go to prove that witchcraft is one of the oldest religions in the world. Wiccan view of God and Goddess aspect of the supreme creative force predates thousands of years before Christianity.

Craft of the Wise. The word ‘Witchcraft’ has been derived from the word ‘Wicca’ which means ‘the wise one’ The word 'Witch' means 'Magic Maker'. In ancient times,The first witches were the primary healthcare providers for ancient peoples, with several traditions focusing on herbs and medicinal plantsWitchcraft was known as ‘craft of the wise’ as the wise persons were those who followed the path of nature and were in tune with its forces, had the knowledge of herbs and medicines, gave wise counsel and were held in high esteem as Shamanic healers and leaders in the community. They understood that nature was superior to Human beings, and that we are simply one of the many parts of nature . In the process of researching such plants, witches discovered that some plants, when ingested, made you see wild Things that were out of the ordinary. That led to shamanism, in which the witch communes with the divine in very particular ways.

So lets recap

We are not Evil, we dont worship the devil or any entity by the Same name. We do not Sacrafice animals or eat children. We are NOT a CULT, and We dont feel the need to convert you. we respect you and your beleives why cant you do the Same? The Soul of Witchcraft cannot be summed up into a few short words not even a book it often takes on different meaning to each since the Lord and Lady touch us in different ways, it is a life long Lesson that we must learn in our Hearts. For far to long the image of the Witch has been mistakenly associated with evil, heathenism, and unrighteousness. why? Becuase we as a people tend to Fear what We dont Understand and fail to look beyond whats in front of us Its time for some to Stop being ignorant and start asking Questions Start by looking around you and see Not all is what it seems.

The inquisition

the old ways of the common people came into conflict with a new religion that started with rulers and upper classes - Christianity.
When the Christians decided that their new ways weren't catching on fast enough, things got a lot rougher for those who were practicing the Old Religion. Christian leaders began asserting that Witches were devil worshippers and savages.
Soon, the old ways of the common people came into conflict with a new religion that started with rulers and upper classes - Christianity.
In the year 1233, Pope Gregory IX instituted the Roman Catholic tribunal known as the Inquisition in an attempt to suppress heresy. In 1320, the church (at the request of Pope John XXII) officially declared Witchcraft and the Old Religion of the Pagans as a heretical movement and a "hostile threat" to Christianity. Witches had now become heretics and the persecution against all Pagans spread like wildfire throughout Europe. (It is interesting to note that before a person can be considered a heretic, he or she must first be a Christian, and Pagans have never been Christians. They have always been Pagans.)
 

Witches... along with countless numbers of "innocent" men, women, and children who were not Witches were persecuted, brutally tortured, often sexually molested or raped, and then executed by sadistic, bloodthirsty church authorities who taught that their God was a god of love and compassion. Once denounced, a suspected Witch was arrested and then hideously tortured into a confession. Suspects were subjected to thumbscrews, the rack, boots which broke the bones of the legs; they were deprived of sleep, starved and beaten. At times, hundreds of suspected Witches were killed in a day

The Inquisition was the Catholic tribunal's way of exposing and punishing religious unorthodoxy. When Christianity became the state religion & church of the Roman Empire, the new religion extended the intolerance to heretics and those deemed contrary to the Catholic faith as the Roman's did to Christianity prior to its acceptance. By 430 A.D., the civil code was ordering the death sentence for heretics, although such laws were not rigorously enforced until many centuries later. The procedure of the Inquisition's investigation of heresy was repeated in later trials for witchcraft, which came under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition when sorcery was deemed heresy.
The Inquisitorial method, which developed slowly, is summarized here:

1. The accused was presumed guilty until he proved his innocence. This was adopted by the Inquisition from Roman Imperial Law.
2. Suspicion, denunciation or gossip was a sufficient indication of guilt to hail a person before the Inquisition.
3. To justify the activities of the Inquisition, the offense, whatever it might have been, was correlated with heresy. For example, one who committed murder would be tried as a heretic and the crime would be heresy.
4. The defendant could not confront the witness, and the accusations were often times not known by the defendant.
5. Witnesses disallowed in other offenses were encouraged to testify in trials of heresy. Such individuals were: convicted perjurers, persons without civil rights, very young children and excommunicates (including condemned heretics). If a hostile witness retracted his testimony, he was charged with perjury but the testimony would still stand. However, if the retraction was less favorable to the accused, the judge could accept the hostile
witnesses' second testimony.
6. No witness was allowed to testify on behalf of the accused; nor was his previous good reputation as a citizen or Christian taken into account.
7. The accused was permitted no council, since the lawyer would thereby be guilty of defending heresy.
8. The judges were inquisitors.
9. The judges were encouraged to manipulate the accused into confessing. Mind games, tricks and traps were all employed for this purpose.
10. Although technically allowed only as a last resort, in practice tortured was regularly used and could be inflicted upon any witness.
11. Legally, torture could not be repeated, but it could be, and was legally continued until the accused confessed whatever was demanded of him. Three sessions of torture were usual. The Instructio pro Formandis Processibus in Causis Strigum (1623) was widely circulated by the inquisition and revealed that over the preceding two centuries, its judges had employed torture, even prescribing death, without careful scrutiny of the evidence.
12. Having confessed under torture, the accused, in sight of the torture chamber, had to repeat his confession "freely and spontaneously without the pressure of force or fear". Thus, he was considered, and the court records so stated, to have admitted his guilt without torture.
13. Every accused individual had to supply names or invent names of accomplices or those whom he suspected of heresy. In many cases, while the accused was under torture, the judges would "suggest" the names of "heretics" to the accused, and the accused would agree that the named were heretics, hoping that the torture would stop.
14. Generally, no appeal was allowed.
15. The property of the accused was confiscated by the Inquisition. All popes praised this practice as one of the strongest weapons against in the fight against heresy.
As a result of the above methods, and as all surviving records show, once accused, the chances of escaping death were nil.
The position of the Inquisition in the history of Europe is summarized by the nineteenth-century Roman Catholic historian, Lord Acton:
"The principle of the Inquisition is murderous...liberalism swept away that appalling edifice of intolerance, tyranny, cruelty, which believers in Christ built up to perpetuate their belief. There is much to deduct from the praise of the Church in protecting marriage, abolishing slavery and human sacrifice, preventing war and helping the poor. No deduction can be made from her evil-doing toward unbelievers, heretics, savages, and witches. Here her responsibility is more undivided: her initiative and achievement complete." 

Note: Opposition to witchcraft by the church did not appear until the late Middle Ages. Nearly all those who fell under suspicion of witchcraft were women.The persecution of witches declined by about 1700. One of the last outbreaks of witch-hunting took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 And the devil Was born