Re: The Meaning of "Witch"
Searles

Tue Jun  8 09:44:32 1999
Jenny,*p*Many thanks for the meanings of "Witch" as it has originated and been used and misused.*p*My understanding of Witchcraft among the ancient Celtic people is that it was identified with magic that came from outside the established sources.  We see this in the distinctions between the two primary forms of magical workers as being Druids and Witches.  When the Druids became absorbed by other groups and outlawed by the Church, then it was the Church that determined which magical works were considered "good" and which were considered "evil."  It was at that time that Druids were joined together with Witches as being those "evil" magical workers who worked against the Church of the left-hand path, which is primarily the pathway that works outside of the normal order of things.*p*We see this inside and outside effect in right-handed and left-handed, good and evil, dexter and sinister, increasing and banishing, in our attitudes about Magic today. We also see the dominate religion in modern American society attempting to portray other religions as being "outside" our society's values and hence "evil."  We have a Burning Times simmering around us, just waiting to become killing fires. The Constitution is the mainstay against such actions, but it has itself been attacked with increasing regularity both within and without the law of the land.*p*Itis mygreat hope that people everywhere will increase their understandings of the worlds through study and open-minded experience.  For it is in knowledge that we will gain the wisdom to quit fearing and harming one another.*p*Searles*p*Jenny wrote,*br*: "Witch" is a conundrum.  It's an ancient word, one *br*: we can trace back to its pre-historic Indo-European roots.  *br*: Yet we don't really know what it meant before around 1500!  *br*: Yep, by the time that we have a definition for *br*: "witch", the Burning Times had been going on for a *br*: couple of centuries...*br*:  *br*:<snip>
The Meaning of "Witch"
Jenny
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Mon Jun  7 12:49:20 1999