{"id":17383,"date":"2023-10-31T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=17383"},"modified":"2024-09-23T14:47:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T21:47:56","slug":"why-were-still-fascinated-with-witches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/why-were-still-fascinated-with-witches\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we\u2019re still fascinated with witches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/DD_Witches_Top-768x432.png\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/DD_Witches_Top-1920x1080.png 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/DD_Witches_Top-1280x720.png 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/DD_Witches_Top-768x432.png 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  role=\"none\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Magic circles for spellcasting are a common trope of witchcraft, as depicted in this 1886 painting by John Williams Waterhouse. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=arts-and-culture\">Arts and Culture<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Why we\u2019re still fascinated with witches<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Scholars examine the origins of our ideas about witches and why witchcraft seems to be having a bit of a revival.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Margaret Crable<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">October 31, 2023<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 1.058837 1.0874543 2.51831502 1.6884158 4.03502747 1.6884158 1.44087681 0 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<ul>\n              <li><p>The invention of the printing press, among other events, spread witchcraft accusations during the Early Modern era.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n              <li><p>Women were charged more often than men, creating a connection between witchcraft and female domestic tools like brooms.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n              <li><p>Witchcraft accusers and appreciators alike are still active today.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n          <\/ul>\n  <\/div>\n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>The concept of a \u201cwitch\u201d can be found around the world and throughout <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/hist\/\">history<\/a>, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.press.jhu.edu\/books\/title\/8518\/arcana-mundi\">Ancient Greece<\/a> to present day <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/witchcraft-in-ghana-help-should-come-before-accusations-begin-214236\">Ghana<\/a>. Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/deborah-harkness\/\">Deborah Harkness<\/a> at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences says that witches are generally associated with the idea of the \u201climinal\u201d or the spaces in-between worlds or states of being.<\/p>\n<p>This may explain why we see witches returning to our consciousness each year around October and November, as the \u201cveil\u201d between our world and the one beyond is said to thin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever culture they were in, anywhere around the world, they are liminal figures, threshold guarders who stood between healing and sickness, life and death, the hearth and the outdoors, between birth and creation,\u201d says Harkness, who is author of the best-selling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/series\/AJG\/all-souls-series\">All Souls Trilogy<\/a>, which features witches and the occult.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/dornsife-alumni\/lifelong-learning\/\">Dornsife Dialogues<\/a> discussion between Harkness and <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/lisa-bitel\/\">Lisa Bitel<\/a> of USC Dornsife\u2019s School of Religion, hosted by <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/emsi\/profile\/peter-mancall\/\">Peter Mancall<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/emsi\/\">USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute<\/a> based at USC Dornsife, looked at the history of witches and their reverberating appeal today.<\/p>\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-player-12215362\"><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2126441\/12215362-witches-beyond-myth-and-magic.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-12215362&#038;player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Find a transcript of this audio <a href=\"https:\/\/uscdornsifedialogues.buzzsprout.com\/2126441\/12215362-witches-beyond-myth-and-magic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> under the transcript tab.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Witchy women<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17385\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17385\" style=\"width: 406px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-17385\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront-406x550.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"406\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront-406x550.webp 406w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront-756x1024.webp 756w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront-768x1040.webp 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/11\/d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.webp 886w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 406px) 100vw, 406px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17385\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 1451 manuscript illumination depicts two witches on broomsticks. Women were more often associated with witchcraft, thus their domestic tools, like brooms and cauldrons, became associated with it, as well. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Europe, the publication of the <a href=\"https:\/\/sacred-texts.com\/pag\/mm\/index.htm\"><em>Malleus Maleficarum<\/em><\/a>, or \u201cHammer of Witches,\u201d a guide to identifying witches written by two inquisitors in 1486, helped to formally codify witchcraft and shaped our modern understanding. It brought together folk ideas of witches and their activities, such as flying on brooms or turning men into beasts, into one, definitive source. Its publication coincided with the rise of the printing press, which accelerated the spread of its ideas and fueled witch paranoia.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/education.nationalgeographic.org\/resource\/protestant-reformation\/\">The Reformation<\/a>, which began in 1517 and splintered Christianity into opposing factions, also fueled accusations as congregants began making charges of heresy and witchcraft against those of opposing denominations.<\/p>\n<p>Both men and women were accused, but women were in the crosshairs more often. This was due, in part, to the popular notion that women were weaker of mind and thus more prone to sin. It was an idea gleaned from a melding of Christian theology and the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who believed that women had less self-control than men. His writings had also started circulating more widely with the introduction of the printing press.<\/p>\n<p>Women were also more likely to provide basic medical and veterinary care in villages and often performed initial triage when illnesses or accidents struck, putting them at risk of scapegoating when things went wrong. \u201cWomen played a very significant role in keeping a family alive, so it\u2019s not surprising that if something went wrong, women were also blamed,\u201d says Harkness. Much of the symbolism of witches, such as the broom, cauldron or cats, can be related back to women and their domestic life.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Witches: Beyond Myths and Magic\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YikSpcyQEUo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Appeal of the supernatural<\/h2>\n<p>Witchcraft rumors aren\u2019t just a remnant of the distant past. Accusations remain a serious danger to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/children-accused-witchcraft-find-solace-east-congo-shelter-2023-02-08\/\">people, especially women, around the world<\/a>, says Bitel.<\/p>\n<p>America\u2019s cultural discourse is currently filled with notions of secret, powerful groups who deploy Satanic symbolism and possess <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-news\/beatles-paul-mccartney-john-lennon-qanon-believers-1234643252\/\">a thirst for infant blood<\/a>. Such ideas seem to be connected to concerns over tumultuous changes in society, says Bitel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConspiracy theories are an expression of anxiety about why bad things are happening and who is to blame for them. They use words like cabal, which is a magical term for a group of enemies, to describe the people who they believe are responsible,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also been a more benign revival of witchcraft, in the form of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/58467\/1\/god-in-the-machine-the-emergence-of-nu-spiritualism-online-spring-2023\">neopaganism<\/a>. Social media is filled with tarot readers, astrologers, spell casters and fortune tellers. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/newsbeat-63403467\">Witchtok\u201d is a thing<\/a>. Fashion designers <a href=\"https:\/\/i-d.vice.com\/en\/article\/88xmvz\/neo-pagan-witchcraft-fashion-trend\">deploy runes and cult symbols<\/a>. Meet-ups bring together <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/newsbeat-63403467\">Wiccans for \u201ccoven wellness gatherings.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neopaganism\u2019s popularity is overlapping with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/08\/09\/opinion\/nyc-catholicism-dimes-square-religion.html\">revived interest in Catholicism<\/a> and its associated rituals and mysteries, perhaps signaling a broader yearning for enchantment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we have room in our brains, no matter what we tell ourselves about religion and science and the Enlightenment, for a fascination and desire for the supernatural and religion,\u201d says Bitel.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Featured USC Dornsife scholars:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/deborah-harkness\/\">Deborah Harkness<\/a>, professor (teaching) of <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/hist\/\">history<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/lisa-bitel\/\">Lisa Bitel<\/a>, Dean\u2019s Professor of <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/religion\/\">Religion<\/a> and professor of religion and history<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/emsi\/profile\/peter-mancall\/\">Peter Mancall<\/a>, Distinguished Professor, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/emsi\/\">USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute<\/a> and professor of history, anthropology, and economics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Related Articles\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/deborah-harkness-interview-on-supernatural-science-history\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Deborah Harkness on the supernatural, science and history<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/how-did-halloween-get-spooky\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Halloween\u2019s celebration of mingling with the dead has roots in ancient Celtic celebrations of\u00a0Samhain<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/course-explores-magic-witchcraft-and-healing\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Course explores \u2018Magic, Witchcraft and Healing\u2019<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scholars examine the origins of our ideas about witches and why witchcraft seems to be having a revival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":17384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why we\u2019re still fascinated with witches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Witches and witchcraft seem to be having a revival. USC Dornsife scholars reveal why and explore the origins of our ideas about witches.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/why-were-still-fascinated-with-witches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why we\u2019re still fascinated with witches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Witches and witchcraft seem to be having a revival. 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