The History of Witches and Witchcraft: What You Never Knew about the Witch

You may think you know a lot about witches, but much of what is published is based on fairy tales, here we take a look at what witches really were, why they were persecuted, and will reveal how you can know if you're a witch. This is the first in a number of videos I expect to produce on this subject, as it is huge and covers so many cultures and ages, and so this is a very focused discussion of the European Middle Ages. I hope you enjoy!

We talk about witch hunts, wiccan, and all things witchery, in this introduction to witch craft.

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References include:
Briggs, Robin. 1996. Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft
Callow, John. 2022. The Last Witches of England
Cawthorne, Nigel. 2019. Witches, A History of Persecution
Hutton, Ronald. 2022. Queens of the Wild, Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe
Malleus Maleficarum

Catholic Education Resource Centre
Arne-Thompson-Uther Index
Berezkin's Database

Chapters
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0:00 Introduction
1:24 Which witch?
2:35 The Rise and Demise of the Witch
4:19 What is a witch?
5:12 Hammer of the Witches
6:54 Are you a witch?
7:41 Regino of Prums Canon Episcopi
10:53 In collusion with the devil
11:29 Pagan spells
12:48 Witches in the bible
14:00 Witches outside Abrahamic texts
15:25 Mythological trends of witches
16:37 It wasn't about being a Pagan
18:57 The Elite and the Commoners
20:23 The Fairy Tales make sense
21:19 The tragedy of it all
22:58 Asking the Pope to apologise
23:23 The church plays god
23:59 What really is a witch?