inspirations

First of all one of many definitions of a witch, but this one matches the most my feelings about the term "witch":

"a person who practices magic or sorcery, esp. black magic, or is believed to have dealings with the devil and brings in most cases mischief"

movie: The Crucible (1996)

This movie was my first encouter with the topic of witches in my major course english back in school. Everytime I read something about witches I have some kind of flashbacks to this film.

The original play is by Arthur Miller and thematised a dramatization of the Salem witch trials. The movie tells the story about a small town where a few girls accuse people of witchery which starts a mad hunt for witches that do not exist.

Miller in his play brings out the absurdity of the incident with the theme of truth and righteousness.

This movie inspires me because it shows how people could have used such accusations to ged rid of someone they don't like or use it to gain an advantage. It also describes another side of the witchcraft theme concerning more manipulation than real magic.

Salem witchcraft trials

They took place in September of 1692. 26 men and woman, all havong been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to the Gallows Hill near Salem Village for hanging. Over 150 people were imprisoned and a lot more accused, with dozens languished in jail for months without trials.

Since it is one of the most popular cases of witch hunt, it arose my interest for me, how people can put blame that easily on another person and blame them for mischief that happened to theirselves.

Pentagram

Since the first time it was found on a drink cup 3000 BC it had a lot of different meanings in different cultures, including various forms of appearance. With one spike up in christian religion it was believed to protect against evil spirits and demons if painted over gates, on door sills or even under the bed.

In other cultures it was used to describe the relation between the different elements in nature.

Two spikes up, often inscribed in a double circle, with the head of a goat inside was the changed version for witchescraft and occultism. The goat head is the sigil of Baphomet, a figure of Satan. The 5 hebrew letters around the pentagram translate into 'Leviathan', one of the 7 princes of hell.

Today the pentagram is mostly used in connection with witchcraft and evil tidings.

Inspiring for me because this sign is still well-known in our todays society even the days of witch hunt have long gone by. It seems like it has still some kind of magic/mystic flair to people especially in the gothic scene, maybe because of its strong geometric design, with all lines having the same length and angles.

Witches Sabbat

Secret meetings of witches that are celebrated in isolated places at night, preferably forests or mountains like black forest or Blocksberg in Germany. It is said that Satan was present at that meetings as goat or possessed male or female person, comparable to religious services. Supposedly sex orgies with the devil or demons took place to cast spells or practicing black magic.

For me it appears to be some kind of counter-religion to Christianity and was maybe used by people to satisfy their desires for lust.

Necromancy / Shamanism

A form of magic in which the practitioner seeks to summon the spirit of a deceased person, either as an apparition or ghost, or to raise them bodily, for the purpose of divination. The word necromancy derives from "dead body"and includes voodoo, the origin of the word "Zombie". Since in history mostly witches were said to be practicing this black magic, during renaissance it was declared a forbidden art. 

A famous example is the witch of Endor as necromancer in the bible, she summoned the shadow of Samuel for the king of Israel.

Shamanism is mostly used for healing purposes but both include a flight of the soul, therefore supernatural wandering between the living and dead world.

The 'Necronomicon' a magic book first appeared 700 AD, consisted a hierarchy of demons and magical spells.

It's an art that doesn't that strongly concentrate on females, since most of necromancers and shamans are said to be male.

Modern Devil

At last I tried to convert old descriptions of the devil, connected to witchcraft, to our contemporary society. For this I used several tellings like living in secret among normal people, working secretly in the background, bringing mischief, appearing during secret meetings, haaving assistants that fulfill the plans of the devil.

I came up with one person that also appears to be somewhat matching to old painting.