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The common image of a witch's execution shows a large group of hysteric people surrounding the guilty person on a burning pyre-but immolation was not the primary means of execution used for those accused of witchcraft. During the Salem Witch Trials, no one was burned to death; all of the accused that pled their cases and were found guilty during the Trials in 1692 were hanged.Even though we've got that common image of an evil witch-a warty old woman dressed all in black, riding a broomstick, with a pointy hat-anybody familiar with The Wizard of Oz knows that there can be good witches too! Glinda the good witch was a representation of the benevolent half of witchcraft, known as white magic. Historically, practitioners of white magic were known as white witches, and they were more folk healers than devious people out for double, double toil and trouble.
Wicca is a new religious movement based on witchcraft. Englishman Gerald Gardner created this religion and introduced it to the public in 1954. According to Gardner, Wicca emerged from a European witch-cult that was persecuted during the witch trials. The core of this religion is formed of ancient pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs.
The origins of the broom as a witch's preferred mode of transportation is ... pretty weird. People who practiced witchcraft experimented with herbs and potions in rituals that may have used the mandrake plant. Mandrake contains scopolamine and atropine, two alkaloids that cause feelings of euphoria in low doses and hallucinations in higher doses.
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