Witches, and the whole profession of witchcraft, have been hated and feared in the Christian religion. The situation has not changed much in several countries, such as United States. However, the profession of witchcraft is an old one. In fact, it is found that the history of witches and witchcraft can be associated with the history of human beings itself. There are evidences to prove that during the ancient era, witchcraft was used commonly by groups of people. In other words, witchcraft is not something that has come up recently, but has existed since the ancient times. Therefore, a glimpse into the history of witches would help you know more about the evolution of witchcraft. Important people, or communities, that need to be mentioned when talking about the history are the ancient Mesopotamians and the Egyptians, especially the Babylonians.

A deep analysis has revealed that during the1200s, Pope Gregory IX made killing of those who practised witchcraft officially. Later, during the early years of 1400s, Pope Innocent VII had said that the existence of witches was a reality. There was a misconception which followed this, and it was thought that not believing in this would be a deviation from the truth. Long before that there was a law from a church that advised against the practice of witchcraft. This was an important point in the history of witches. This led to many women and men associated with witchcraft being killed or tortured. The main motive behind this was to make them admit that they used their powers for bad and harmful reasons.

The origin of the word ‘witch’ is associated with another English word, ‘Wicca’. The term Wicca was associated with female and male members of an ancient tradition that reveres the earthly, feminine and masculine features of god. This Wiccan tradition was considered as a challenge to the Christian churches.

During the Renaissance and the so called “Middle Ages”, the witches were considered to be those who performed evil and black magic. They were considered as people who worshipped Satan. It was thought that the witches were mostly women, but there were also many men who practised this.

If you consider the present situation and the history of witches, you will realise that the concept of witches has changed significantly. According to anthropologists, witches were those who used the malevolent powers for a purpose. This was done through psychic methods and there was no need for rituals. The present situation is quite different from this as the witches seek the help of supernatural powers by casting spells. Anthropologists consider witchcraft as an idea through which misfortunes can be explained.

As far as the monotheistic religions were considered, sorcery was associated with apostasy and heresy. As mentioned before, the fear of witches, mainly by those associated with Christianity, led to witch-hunts later. Accusations against witches also led to charges of deviation against Waldensians and Cathars. The manual “Malleus Maleicarum” should be mentioned when talking about the history of witches. This manual was used for hunting witches by the Protestants, and also Catholics. The manual was inclusive of the following things: identifying witches, the things that make a woman a witch, how to proceed during a witch trail, and most importantly how to prosecute the witches. This belief of being harmful to others cannot be said to be completely baseless. However, this was not applicable to all the members of the Wiccan tradition. The concept varied at different places and differences were seen in the accusations made against them. The accusations against witches form an important part as far as the history of witches is concerned.

The analysis of the history reveals that witchcraft was used by witches for good as well as bad purposes.