The Origins of Halloween by Silver Raven Wolf – Part 5

[This article will alternate days between CovenLife.co and WitchesOfTheCraft.com

The Witches

So far, we’ve talked about the land of the dead, how the early Christians managed to superimpose Satan onto Samhain, and how fairies got zapped into demons, but there has been no mention of Witches, commonly associated in our time with Halloween. Where did Witches come from?

During the Dark Ages, the Church sought to eradicate the Pagans and wise women from the countryside so that the church could amass both power and property. First, they had to devalue women because women kept the holy days, trained the children, and provided the cohesive socialization of the culture, thus women held the power to shape society. The church taught, among other things, that women had no souls. Once this teaching had occurred, it was only a small step to make them inhuman, and the Church was able to incite the superstitious populace.

The Celtic women were the strong hold of the family environment, and although the Celts accepted Christianity at first, they did not want to give up their family traditions or their lifestyle. The Church was not into free thinking—therefore anything that did not follow the church dictates was evil. Hence, the Witches (really the women) became evil. Since Samhain was a primary festival of the Celts and the Church had already determined that Samhain was evil, the association between Witches and Halloween was born.

Copyright Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 1999 Pages 21 to 25

 

 

Published by Lady Beltane

This is about me and the 2 Witchy/Pagan websites that I am the owner of. I am a legally ordained Pagan minister as the High Priestess of Coven Life.co and WitchesofTheCraft.com, Coven Life's Online School of Witchcraft and Heart's Spirit Online Coven. Heart's Spirit Coven hosts Full or New Moon Esbats gatherings monthly, and combined Northern and Southern Hemispheres for the 8 yearly Sabbats. More information for the gatherings can be found on the right-hand side of covenlife.co Homepage under "Heart's Spirit Online Coven Events." All Online Esbat, and Sabbat gatherings are held in a private chatroom! If you are interested in becoming a student please read the Student/Coven Membership Handbook under the menu heading of School/Coven Membership Information on covenlife.com. Also, read the information for what level of studies you are interested in and then email the application to us at covenlifescoven@gmail.com. $10.00 USD needs to be paid when submitting your application. The explanation for the $10.00 application fee, how to pay it, what is done with the fee for you whether you are accepted into the school of witchcraft or not. If you have any questions about the application, things in the handbook please email us at covenlifescoven@gmail.com. If you have questions or comments about anything you read on Coven Life or Witches of The Craft websites please leave a comment. If the question or comment is personal in nature please email us at covenlifescoven@gmail.com. Thank you and we hope to see a like or comment on a post from you soon. Please visit WitchesOfTheCraft.com as this is what generates a payment from WordPress for the two websites, the school of Witchcraft, and our private chat room. If either website helps you along with your spiritual and/or magickal path and you are in a position that you can make a Donation it will be put to good use and greatly appreciated. Just look for the Orangish colored Donate button on either website. May your days be filled with sunshine, laughter, love, harmony, and magick!