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this was all patently wrong and led to many gruesome deaths as these hunts got underway. People were made to confess under the duress of torture. Women confessed to unspeakable acts, usually whispered into their ear by a zealous confessor right before they came out of her mouth. This horrible phenomenon manifested in a more minor form in America as the Salem Witch Trials.

But common sense did eventually take hold of the world at large, and the witch hunts themselves were decried as the abomination. This is a radical shift from the views popular at the time of their happening, and signals a cultural evolution away from what some term "angry religion." The popularity of the philosophy of separating church and state had a great deal to do with this transformation in public perception.

The story of Witchcraft in the modern era is a bit more uncertain. For one thing, it is usually not even called Witchcraft. In the late 60s the term Wicca was invented to describe Witchcraft in a way that would be free from all the connotations associated with it in the past. For many practitioners it was like a rebirth. The perception of witchcraft today is more in line with whatever one's perception about new age thinking as a whole is... It might be viewed as false, but it no longer provokes horror or disgust as used to be the case. For all intents and purposes public reactions have diluted almost down to nothing.

I speak of course only of modernized countries. There are many parts of the world where it is still deadly to label someone a witch. For instance there are many reported cases of witch burning in Pakistan as late as the 60s and 70s. Things like this show that the witch-hunt phenomenon is not completely behind us. The fact that every advanced nation seems to accept Wicca is hope that the rest of the world will one day catch up and embrace Witchcraft not as an ideal but an option that should be available to all who wish to pursue it. Modern entertainment visualizes witches in all manners possible, with most now tilting toward a depiction similar to what was offered in The Craft.

The history of witchcraft is rich and fascinating. It is still going just as strong today and looks to continue being popular as long as man dreams of magic, which looks to be somewhere around forever.

Learn more about this author, Royce Radcliffe.
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