Cate Tollison - Witchcraft Blog

 Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the year of 2024 is coming to a close. For friends and family across the United States, everyones celebration looks different. Some people have large dinners with extended family members and others have more personal celebrations with their close family at home. Others may not participate in the holiday at all. Regardless, a holiday or season that is geared towards appreciation of what we have and the blessings in our lives is important for all of us. When writing my blog, this made me question how, if at all, do witches celebrate Thanksgiving. From my research, I found that witches actually have their own special holiday to appreciate all of their gifts and blessings of the year. A tradition sometimes called "The Witches Thanksgiving".  The holiday does not take place in November like the Thanksgiving holiday that we all know of. Instead, it takes place on September 23rd, the fall equinox, when the time of day and time of night is equal. ...

 While most people think that modern witches are similar to the witches described during the times of Salem - deceiptful, harmful, and conspiring with the devil - most modern witches practice the newly founded beliefs of Wicca. Although Wicca is a relatively new religion, emerging during the mid 20th century, it draws its inspiration from many ancient systems and practices. It blends elements of pre-Christianity, folklore, ceremonial magic and rituals, and the balance of nature.  Wicca was first developed by anthropologist Gerald Gardner in the 1940s and 1950s. He had an interest in folklore, the occult, and ancient religions. He claimed that he met a coven of witches in England that had survived in secret for hundreds of years and passed down their secrets of ancient religion. Gardner wrote books based on the things that he had been told that outlined new religious beliefs based on witchcraft and a focus on nature, magic, and cycles of the year. There are two deities in Wicca...

      "Witch Hunt" is a term that can be loosely thrown around today. From political events to modern day cancel culture to the previous centuries in Salem and early America. Everyone has had their own witch hunt on a smaller scale. Rumors are something that generally take a strong root in our society. Many people believe that fact as fiction and fiction as fact. Truthfully, I know many people who root their entire political beliefs and philosophical viewpoints from what the read on social media or saw in an article once. No one really does their own research that often, and its a dangerous game. Growing up, I have seen rumors used as a way to belittle and humiliate others, but it can even ruin lives. In my high school, a girl I knew regretted her choices that she made at a party with a guy the night before, and she began to tell people that he made unwanted sexual advances towards her and eventually this turned into him sexually assaulting her. It understandably turned i...

Most people have a similar experience with dreams. You have an extremely memorable dream that feels completely real and then 5 minutes after you wake up, you forget it. Dreams are a phenomenon that many scientists and psychologists have strived to understand, and while there is no scientific evidence that dreams actually mean something or tell something about a person, many people believe that dreams are an insight into a person's personality and subconcious mind. Dreams are a result of our brainwaves while we sleep and can be induced by a variety of factors like stress, medications, memory consolidation, alcohol, sleep deprivation, and many other factors. Dreams often serve as a "rehearsal" for something that will occur during the daytime. I have become a lot more aware of my own dreams lately and when I seem to dream the most. A lot of times I dream before an exam or a big presentation the next day. Sometimes I have literally answered questions that I come up for myself...

 With the upcoming arrival of one of my favorite holidays, Halloween, I thought it would be fun to discuss a topic of Halloween and witches and how they have become so closely related. When I was little, I was probably a witch for halloween at least 3 times. My mom thought it was the cutest thing. I wore a long pointy hat, a purple sparkly skirt, a stuffed cat sitting on my shoulder, and of course my broomstick. But why did witches begin to become associated with Halloween? What is the origin of this extremely popularized and child-appealing holiday?  Halloween originated around November 1st in the Celtic countries of Ireland and Scotland. It was originally a holiday that marked the transition to winter - a time that many Celtics considered to be a connection between the physical world and the spiritual world. The Celts believed that the spirits of the dead could come back to life because of this close connection of the physical and spiritual world. People would wear costumes ...

A characteristic image of a witch that many people have is a woman hunched over a cauldron stirring in frog legs or bat wings. There is a rich history of Pagan traditions and European folklore, but the origins of potion making stem from practices of herbalism and medicinal properties. Throughout history, women have been the primary caregivers responsible for the ailments for illnesses. Traditional practices of herbal medicine have been passed down throughout history, and many still uphold their believed medicinal properties. When witchcraft began to be ostracized, a woman who practiced herbal medicine was associated with making potions or creating something magical. Many of the substances used did have benefits for people, and some could be dangerous or if they were used improperly. This created an idea that some of the "potions" that were made were part of the foul play of witches.   Today, modern witchcraft is greatly associated with potion-making. With witches in popular t...