Witches, Warlocks & Whatnots: The History of Witches and Witchcraft (True Apparitions Book 14)

Ever since the dark ages of witch hunts, the interest in the topic of witches and witchcraft continues to increase and attract pop-cultural attention. Unfortunately, the idea of witches has been grossly oversimplified over the ages: they are usually seen as evil-looking old women (not to say hags), dressed all in black, with huge noses (usually with a wart here and there, for more of an impact), and long, claw-like nails, flying on broomsticks in the middle of the night, rushing to a Witches’ Sabbath, where they are expected to meet other witches like themselves and if they’re lucky, the Devil himself. Add a little bit off potion making, a few dashes of black magic and the occult, and you’ve got the perfect image of what we think a witch is.

But is it really so? Are they really just caricatures of the media, aimed to teach children about steering clear off evil? Throughout history, identifying a witch was a piece of cake: it was enough for someone to be suspicious of their neighbors or acquaintances (for whatever reason) and that pinpointed someone was immediately deemed a witch who deals with the occult. And, if he had a strange mark on his body, any skin discoloration or anything of the sort (which was immediately seen as the Mark of the Devil), then there was no helping them.

The idea of witches is wide-spread all throughout the world: Africa, Americas, Europe, and Asia. And, many countries still uphold a fervent belief in the supernatural and witchcraft. It seems that some cultures remain even now within the confines of the witch craze that took firm grasp of Salem in the 17th century, in the form of Salem Witch Trials.

Furthermore, this book reveals the identity of some of history’s most famous witches, such as Mother Shipton, Agnes Sampson, Merga Bien, Malin Matsdotter, Alice Kyteler, Angele de la Barthe, Marie Laveau and Agnes Waterhouse. These women instilled fear into those around them, due to their actions, which were seen as unholy, wrong, immoral or just plain old strange. And strange is something we don’t like around us.

So, if you are curious about the notion of witches, how to tell one apart from other humans, what they did and why they were punished in such a brutal way, then look no further.