According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the verb witch means “To practise witchcraft; to use sorcery or enchantment”. The term is traced back to England during Pre-Christian times. During these times many poor women and seldom men were accused of being witches. Accusations usually stemmed from the guilt of the rich. When the rich refused to financially assist the poor and then …show more content…
The controversy that lies within the belief of witches, is magic. Many who were believed to perform magic knew how to use natural plants and herbs for medical use which frightened the people among the villages because they believed that only God could cure people. Of course, in religions many believed that miracles were real and stemmed from God, while witches and the use of magic were believed to stem from Satan. In reality many who performed magic were performing ritualistic practices that people simply thought could hurt others from magic although it was the concoction of natural herbs or diseases that caused harm to others, not magic. There were no actual events involving magic. Rituals and chants were done, but they had no actual mystical or miracle type results. Strong believers in witches could attest that there were instances that had no explanation yet these were coincidental towards the villages for their unawareness that people brought diseases to England during their time