Keegan's Reflections on Witchcraft & Life

The "Ancient Roots" chapter of A History of Magic, Witchcraft, & the Occult  immersed me in a world of magic that I had never previously contemplated. We read of omens, amulets to ward off evil, the cursing of enemies, spells for the afterlife, necromancy, sorcerers, and the appeasing of gods with blood. After finishing the chapter, I remember feeling stunned by how entrenched these ancient cultures were with magic and the occult. As modern readers, we read such material with a mixture of fascination and contempt. What interesting practices and beliefs these people had! How could they have believed in such foolish ideas? The tension is certainly real. There's a degree of incredulity and a degree of wonder. What could you even mean by the command to "Take the dung of a dog-faced baboon, two eggs of an ibex, four drams of frankincense, a single onion. Put all these onto a mortar with the mouse." Such a statement likely doesn't even have a category to regis...

For my first blog of the semester, I want to spend a little bit of time reflecting on some main points and questions that jumped out at me while reading the "Witches on Screen" PDF. To start with my reflections on "Witches on Screen," I had never previously considered the real distinction between "historical witchcraft" and "literary witchcraft." After reading the "Ancient Roots" chapter of  A History of Magic, Witchcraft, & the Occult , I was able to see much more clearly how sharp the contrasts can be. I find it interesting that the historical roots of magic and witchcraft are reduced to a few mainstream symbols: brooms, pointy hats, long noses, and Halloween. More applicable to my life, one thought that arose in my mind while reading was how there is always room for criticism. Or rather, people can always find something to be critical about. It does not matter whether the work is  The Wizard of Oz, Bewitched , or  Harry Potter , ...