Muggles and Magic

Muggles and Magic

Let’s take a break from the Muggles of the modern world, and turn towards Muggles and magic.

Magic has been a controversial issue within the Muggle world since before even the Roman era, when soothsayers and old ladies attempted to care their clients of a fated illness.

This task will involve a little research- not much, mind!

Write an essay (at least 400 words long) that includes, and expands, on the following points:

- What were the origins of magic? From which culture did it come from?
- How were witches and wizards (or warlocks, as the case may be) treated through the 10th century to the 18th century?

This will be worth a maximum of 100 house points. Get working, and don't forget to cite your sources!

What were the origins of magic?

Magic and Witchcraft began back with the Celtics. Many people back then were considered to be descendents of Indo-Europeans. Celts became known around the time of 700 B.C. and 1000 A.D. People considered to be Celts were musicians, artists, storytellers and people with many many gifted talents. Not to mention that these people were deeply into spirituality. They worshipped a God and Goddess and worshipped many aspects of the "Creation of Life". They believed in reincarnation and when they died they believed they went to the Summerland to await their rebirth into a new life. The Summerland was their place to rest and relax until they were placed into a new body and a new life. The Celtic New Year started with Samhain. This happened to also be the time of the "Festival of the Dead" where they were able to pay their respects to their dead ancestors. Following Samhain the next was the Winter Solstice.In this they celebrated the birth of the sun. Imbolg came next followed by the Spring Eqhuinox and Beltaine.

This was known as Paganism. Pagan is from the latin word "Paganus" which means country dweller. The magic of nature is what they believed in. Celtics held trees and mistletoe as sacred. The term of "witch" came from the Anglo-Saxton word known as "wicca" which was derived from "wicce" that means "wise".
Witchcraft was a beautiful word at one time as it was used to heal, to nurture and provide strength for those who truly needed it. However once North America was discovered, witchcraft was deemed as "demon-worship" and was then forbidden to be practiced by the strict rules of Christianity. As a result, those who did not give up their practice of Witchcraft were hanged or burned. Witches and wizards were forced out of their religion and thrown into a completely contradictory new life. Forced to worship one god and against their wills of having to adapt to such a controlling life. Gone were their happy days of prayer to the God and Goddess. And the magic of nature seemed to be pushed away by those who came into power. The sabbats that they held so dearly were taken away and adapted into the Christian ways of life. The Pagans own holidays were even turned into ones that went along with the new dominate religion.As a result of this, secret gatherings began to come into play as the witches and wizards that held true to their beliefs of nature began to meet secretly. Though many were discovered and hanged as a result, still there remained enough to keep their peaceful, nature loving religion alive. For the longest time, Christianity had a hold on everything. And at one point it almost seemed that Paganism had completely vanished away.
The Medeval Dark ages; a time where pagans were hunted, persecuted and tormented. in the days of old; witches were seen as evil. Their pets were burned along with them as the dominate religions saw that allowing any creature that had been in the presence of a witch or wizard to be a demon in disguise and thus had to be vanquished.
This led to an uprising and many secret covens were formed. Witches and wizards would sneak away and find refuge among each other in the middle of the night. And it was not unusual for them to dance skyclad.
When the dominate religions caught news of this uprising more hangings began and there was a massive witchhunt.Those who did not attend church were accused of being witches. Those with extraordinary talents were frowned upon. Storytellers had to watch what tales they told. If any involved magic then surely they were doomed to be accused as evil. Coven buildings were burned to the ground whenever they were found. Those who lived far away and kept to themselves were often accused as witches. The small town had many people who were "observers" that meaning they were observing their neighbors and often inspecting their houses for any sign of magical items. Even bottled ingredients were evidence for proving one to be a witch. The Witch Trials of Salem was when the most innocent people were killed. Accusations flew back then and Witchcraft was a death sentence. Stories such as "The Crucible" and (I forgot that other one) detailed just how everyone back then was affected by the clash of religions.

My sources were not websites but my books on witchcraft as follows: The Origins of Modern Witchcraft, Witches Guide, Drawing down the Moon, To Ride a Silver Broom Stick, The Sacred Fire, History of Magic, Rebecca's Supernatural Accounts, Wicca Rites and Mysteries in Witchcraft. I used a couple of lines in "Pagan's Voice" as well.

I'm just wondering, is it possible for me to write an essay about how witches and magic was seen upon in sweden in that time period? I don't know alot of other countries history with witches, but I'd love to write one about the swedish witch burnings and all that. If I can't, I totally understand since it originally wasn't the assignment.

Of course Just make sure you have the questions answered, in whatever way you can.

here ya go, i hope it's okay this way:

The origins of magic lie too far in the past as to be traced back completely, but we do know that every culture has a definition of magic and witches. As long as the Human race existed, their belief in magic has been alive. In the stone age, as we can still see in some native tribes today, Rain Magic, as well as Charms set upon an animal the tribe meant to hunt, are commonly used. The remnants of these rites are the cave paintings found all over the earth. The most common idea of magic is the one that is stated in the old testament. A Witch is someone who makes a pact with the devil, gives him her soul, and in return is awarded powers normal people don’t have. In the old testament it’s stated “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”, giving clear instructions as to how to deal with one of that sort. The Christian church was one of the first beliefs that accused magic to be wrong and evil while Romans and Greeks had been using magic in their religious rites all along.

With the end of the Roman Empire the Reign of the Christian Church in Western society began, making the Church and it’s cleriks the most powerful people in Europe. During the Medieval Times Church Heads did their best to leave the normal people in the belief that only through and with God their lives can be saved. They kept the population in ignorance, taking away any rights for education, and so making the people dependent on what the Church said. The ongoing belief in those times was that only through hard work and absence from all things that could make life easier to bare was what God wanted from his followers. It was also believed that witches and demons had been sent out by the Devil to seduce innocent people to follow him and turn away from God, the sole figure of light and redemption. The old heathen supersticions were also still very strong and so the fear for witches and demons grew stronger and stronger.
The German word for witch, “Hexe” comes from the Old-Germanic word “hagzussa”, meaning “On the fence”. It was believed that witches were sitting on the fence that parted the real world from the world of demons and devils. In the early Medieval days it was believed that the only way to rid a witch of the devilish influences was by burning her alive.
The Church had set up several ways to “prove” someone guilty of witchcraft. Most of these methods were torture. There was a witch test where the witch would be stabbed with needles and pins because it was believed that a witch’s skin could not be penetrated. The court used fake needles that would break at the slightest pressure and therefore had a way to sentence someone to death. Another test was the water test. An accused witch would have her left thumb tied to her right big toe and vice versa, before thrown into a lake or a river. If the person floated on the water she was a witch, because water, as the sign of Christianity, would not accept devilish beings, whereas a person that sunk (and therefore most likely drowned) was innocent.
Witches have been pursecuted in the name of Christianity all through the Medieval Ages, the Baroque, the Classic period, and there are even records of Witch trials way into the 19th century. Witches could either be burned alive, or hanged first and then be burned.
Often the accused refused to confess to witchcraft, being innocent in the first place. But if you did not confess you were surely executed, while if you did admit to being invlovled in witchcraft, your life was often spared, although you would have to sit in jail for a long time, or would be cast out of town and society. Although your life was destroyed and you would surely die from hunger or cold in the long run, many people thought it to be better than being publicly hanged or burned. Witch craft trials were often based on people being accused by neighbors that were angry or wanted their land, or even rejected lovers. Many times social outcasts that were a problem in the eye of many citizens were accused as well, and as nobody would believe a beggar or a thief, the accusations were rarely questioned. Often, as for example seen in Salem, the Trials brought forth a flood of hysterical accusations with nothing as evidence other than the testimonies of the accusers. The court executed all those who did not confess to witchcraft, but usually the proceedings were stopped when too many people refused to confess to something they hadn’t done, or when every potential witch was gone.

Muggles and Magic.

Okay, in my personnel opinion, magic has been around since man walked this earth, different religions and civilizations have used magic in one form or another. In the Holy Bible, magic is mentioned, even the three wise men that were present at the birth of Christ were known as the three magi.

Many muggles feared magic due to the Christian church brandishing some religions like the Pagans as evil devil worshippers, even women who assisted in childbirth or used herbs to help ease fevers and other illnesses were classed as witches.

Even the famous Stonehenge, was considered to have been built by the Druids for sacrifice and other ‘dark magic’ acts, but if you look closely at the history of Druids you will find that they came from Celtic beliefs and possibly followed the teachings of Pythagoras, these men (and possibly women) also were guardians of a unwritten ancient customary law which gave them the power of executing judgment, of which excommunication from society was the most dreaded.

As you can see, magic did not come from particular culture, it was amongst many. The only difference is that some cultures feared it, others worshipped it.



Witches and Wizards were feared during the 10th and 18th centaury by muggle society. What I am about to present is the history of Witches and how they were treat in my home city of Newcastle Upon Tyne during this time.

Author Jo Bath used old court records and other contemporary documents to research the facts of witches in my region. The following quote was taken from her during an interview with the Evening Chronicle in October 2002:

"It is only really the North of England that there are records of this kind. A lot of the women accused of witchcraft were just poor old beggar women."

Witch fever hit it’s height at the trial and hanging of eighteen women, accused of being witches on the Newcastle Town Moor in 1650.

Suspected witches were tortured whilst in jail, when sentenced, some were hanged, burnt and of course drowned.

When I was a child, I used to visit my grandmother who lives in a small village called Holy Cross; in this village there are church ruins which are situated some distance to the north of the village Wallsend, which of course derives its name from the Roman wall which as you might guess ended in the village. The Church and Churchyard occupy a plateau which is really on the general level of the land about it; but deep ravines surround the site on three sides, the assent from which is from 70 to 75 feet.

The set up of the church yard actually suggests a Roman station; and, even though there is no direct evidence that it was used for such a thing, it seems almost certain that the Romans would place an outpost on the spot to prevent surprise by an assembly of hostile natives in the ravines, as it over looked most of the north of city and out down towards the mouth of the river Tyne (which is classically named Tynemouth). It appears that the church was built in the late twelfth centaury

Little of this church remains, but I can tell you from personnel experience of running around the small place, jumping up and down, over and under what is left, it is a lot of fun, no actually what I am saying is, even though there is little left of the building, a lot of detail can still be seen.

Here, I now re-tell the story which my grandmother told many a times, I even phoned her to get her to tell me it again so I could write it down, only to find that the story is available online but anyway, here is the story of the famous Sir Francis Blake Delavel (I kid you not, this is his real name.).

The time when this ‘witch adventure’ took place is unknown. Sir Francis was one of the Lords of Seaton Delavel, it is said that he was returning home from Newcastle after nightfall when turning up the road past Wallsend, he noticed that the church was alight, with candles, not fire, being the curious man he was, he wanted to know why the church was lit up at that time of night, so he rode to the gate of the church, left his servant to take charge of his horse as he went to investigate, he pressed himself up against a window and looked inside.

What he saw was, upon the communion table, where on each corner a skull sat (human) with a bright burning substance a light, he also the body of a young female, unconfined while a number of old hags sat around it, preparing charms. One of the woman was at that exact moment, cutting at the left breast of the corpse with a knife. Once she had cut away the breast, she handed it to another woman who then disappeared towards the belfry out of sight.

Delavel, who believed what he saw with his own eyes, was a group of wickedly evil women who deserved nothing more then to be burned at the stake for their crimes. Determined to put a stop to what was happening, he burst open the door, rushing inside to utter surprise of the women inside. Each woman decided to save themselves by running, some climbed up to the roof and took their departure via the openings in the belfry, others managed to get out the door and windows.

But Delavel succeed in grabbing the woman whose hand had held the knife which had cut away the breast from the corpse, the knife was still in her hands, but he managed to tie her hands behind her back with his handkerchief while she struggled and cursed him.

He took her off and kept her until she cold be brought to trial for her crimes, where she was charged and found guilty. She was sentenced to be burnt at the stake at the seashore in the vicinity of Seaton Delavel.

And now, my favorite part of this story. When the sentence was about to be carried out, the witch requested to have her two new wooden dishes, which were quickly fetched from neighboring Seaton Sluice. The stake was set up on the sand and she was tied to it, the dishes were given to her and the fire was applied to the wood and chippings. As the smoke began to rise, she placed each foot into the wooden bowls, said a spell, cleared herself of any binds and soared away on the sea breeze like an eagle, escaping her capturers. But when she had risen to an extremely high height, one of the dishes gave way and lost its efficiency. She fell back to earth, where, without giving her another chance to escape she was burned at the stake, nice and crisp and dead.

(I added the nice and crisp and dead…my gran would never say that.)
http://www.sandmartyn.freeserve.co.uk/wallsend/wec.html#April%201888

The Origins Of Magic

The English word ‘magic’ is derived from the name of ancient Persian priests, or ‘magi’, who were known for their knowledge and understanding of the future, prophecies, what we would call divination. They interpreted dreams, studied the stars and advised the leaders of the empire about matters of State. During the Roman and Greek eras, they were regarded as mysterious figures with powers that were supernatural and who held great secrets. Therefore, their practices became known more popularly as ‘magic’.

Nobody really knows when magic was first recorded. Nobody really knows who ‘invented’ it, as such. Mainly magical knowledge has been passed down be word of mouth or passed down through the centuries in civilisations such as Persians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans.

Magic and religion used to be very much intertwined, as the gods of polytheists and even some monotheists were said to control the elements with the powers that they had. Magical practices called upon these Gods, invoking their essences to make the ritual get carried out properly. Many deities had two sets of names, one common name for everyday usage and another for the priests and those of ‘magical’ descent, secret ones that could be used in ceremonies and rituals. These names were in essence, magic words. The earliest ones that were written during the third or fourth centuries, with names of Gods from all of the main ancient civilisations listed above.

Magic was mostly feared, rather than accepted and admired by those who did not practice it, what we know as Muggles. During the Middle Ages, especially, it was common to blame any misfortunes on those of Magical descent. Anyone who lost his job, or whose cows died, or anyone with any other form of bad luck, always turned against the witch or warlock of the village, even though the villagers turned TO them to find out their astronomical signs and have their futures depicted. The Church also was against magic on the whole, as it turned people away from God and towards what they called satanic worship.

As I had said before that it was based on religion, there is a religion that has lasted a long time and is still alive today, though not as common as it used to be is Wicca. It is very similar to magic, as we know it. It is a study of herbology, potions, spells, divination (or scrying), dream interpretation, etc. It speaks of having magic flow in your veins, that even non-blood witches (boys are also called witches) can experience this if they take part in a ‘circle’.

Magic today has changed a lot. From the 17th century, magic or forms of magic such as herbology, potions, etc, became known as medicine, chemistry, botany, etc. The cures for illnesses that were mostly found in plants were now experimented with and we humans tried to come up with quick cures to everything, ignoring the magic that still lies in our blood.

Sources: A Sorcerer’s Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter (BOOK)
By Allan Zola Kronzek and Elizabeth Kronzek

Origins Of Magic

The word “Magic” is formed from ancient Persia, who were called magi. Sixth century B.C. magi were known for they learning and gifts of prophecy. They were followers of Zoroaster. He helped then interpreted dreams, and astrology. He also help decided who became rulers. When magi came to Greek and Roman worlds, they were always regarded as mysterious figures who possessed secrets and special powers. The Greeks and Romans however had no clue what these secrets were. After a while anything that was based on supernatural was deemed magi, whom later become “Magic”. Zoroaster was called the inventor of magic.

Of course no single person or culture invented magic. Magic has been handed down from generations to generations, over centuries at a time. It was originated by civilizations. Some examples are Persians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. The Western tradition owes so much to the exchange of ideas from other members of different cultures.

Twelfth Century

Magic was portrayed in a more appealing light, at least from writers of fiction. France, Germany and England, poets made wonderful adventures come to life. They all revolved around the past in magic-filled exploits. Knight, beautiful damsels, and heroic kings were involved in the making of great poems. These tales were known as “medieval romances”, this downplayed a negative association to magic, such as demons and witchcraft. The word “magic” was not avoided and changed to “wonders”, “astonishments” and “enchantments”. Heroes of course was portrayed with having swords and a superhuman strength. Boats and Chariots came into play, with a lot of fire, drowning and other catastrophes.

Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century

Magic had found a new respect, due to a rise of “natural magic”, which did not have to involve demons or super beings. A special kind of science of its day, with the help of special hidden forces called “occult virtues”. This meant that anything in nature such a people, plants, animals, rocks, and minerals where able to be changed into positive ways by using “occult virtues”.

Between Sixteenth and Eighteenth Century

Rising of Spirits were never forgotten. A series of books known as “grimoires” (or Black Book) appeared throughout Europe. Most where written anonymously, it also seemed that the older books had more wisdom, it included Moses, Aristotle, Noah, Alexander the Great, and most famously, the biblical King Solomon. The books where sold and circulated in secret since anyone with these books would be able to call up spirits. They were the kind of books you wouldn’t want in the wrong hands. Also owning one would be a series crime, if caught.

Magic Today

Magic now a days has become unpractical, as societies found better ways to solve their problems. Chemistry hads led to better medicines and cures by performing better principles by using herbology, astrology and natural magic.

Today calling spirits have disappeared from most parts of the world, but the world has become more magical then it has ever been. Things like fly a plane or talking to someone on the other side of the world, are daily occurrences. The appeal of magic seems to have nothing to do with whether it’s “real”. Magic came from the imagination and it feeds the imagination. And it seems to us, it always will.


~*Christina*~

A Book Source: A Sorcerer's Companion : A Guide to the Magical World Of Harry Potter