The History Of Witches in Popular Culture: A blog about the history and societal impact witches have had.
In modern times, the word “witch” is often used to conjure up the image of an old woman with a wart covered nose, riding a broomstick through the air. This image has been around since at least the 16th century and its origins can be traced back to literature and folklore. While this image still persists in modern society (the character of Baba Yaga from Disney’s Frozen comes to mind), witches are no longer limited to old hags. They come in all shapes and sizes and assume many different forms within popular culture. This blog will explore how witches have been depicted throughout history and how they have impacted society.
Witch costume are popular around Halloween time. We flashback to the history of witches and how they have been portrayed in popular culture.
Witches are a popular Halloween costume among young girls. Witches are often depicted as wearing a black pointed hat with a large brim, long black robes and having green skin. These costumes were influenced by the traditional depiction of witches in the popular fairy tale Hansel and Gretel.
Halloween is based on Samhain, a Gaelic festival that marked the end of the harvest season, beginning of winter and was considered to be a time when spirits came back from the dead. Samhain was later linked to All Souls Day (or Day of The Dead) on November 2nd, then Halloween evolved into what we know today with ghosts, goblins, witches and candy!
It’s that time of year again, when the leaves fall from the trees, the temperature cools and people begin planning their Halloween costumes. Witches are a popular choice for many, but not everyone knows just how much the image of witches has changed throughout history.
For instance, today when we think of a witch, we tend to think of an old woman with a pointy black hat and a wart on her nose. But this iconic image is actually quite new – it was only made popular in the mid-twentieth century by Disney’s 1937 movie “Snow White.” Before that, witches weren’t always women, they didn’t always wear black hats, and they didn’t always have warts on their noses. Interestingly, up until relatively recently witches have also been portrayed as being both good and evil. Nowadays we usually think of them as evil, but back in the day people were more likely to meet a good witch than an evil one.
For example, in the Harry Potter series there are good witches (the ‘good guys’) and bad witches (the ‘bad guys’). In Shakespeare’s Macbeth there are three witches who foretell Macbeth’s future (the ‘bad guys’), but there is also a good witch named Hecate who
Witches have been a part of popular culture for centuries. From plays to movies, the stereotypes of witches and witchcraft have taken on many forms. The first play about witches was called “The Witch.” It was produced in 1656 by Thomas Middleton. This production was very controversial because it showed the witches naked and doing things that were unbecoming to women at the time. This play was also a comedic take on witchcraft, which was not common in literature or plays at this time.
One of the most famous examples of witches in popular culture is in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Shakespeare uses three witches as a plot device to create conflict in his play. In this play, the three witches are given names: Weird Sisters. They are not just used to create drama but are also featured as characters.
In 1692, the Salem witch trials took place and this is considered one of the most famous cases of witchcraft in history. During these trials, 20 people were killed because they had been accused of practicing witchcraft by members of their community.
In more modern times, there have been many movies such as The Wizard Of Oz and Hocus Pocus that feature witches as characters. There are also television shows such as Charmed that feature witches as main characters and plot devices
The modern witch costume is a relatively recent invention. There are a few examples of early 20th century costumes that have traditional elements of the witch costume, but in the 1930s and 40s most Halloween costumes were animals or cartoon characters. In fact, it was not until 1939 that Disney released their first Halloween themed cartoon, The Mad Doctor.
It was not until 1951 that Walt Disney gave us our first truly iconic witch, in the form of the evil queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Queen was the epitome of evil with her cackling laugh and her penchant for turning herself into an ugly old crone.
The next popular image of a witch came in 1963 with the release of Hocus Pocus which featured three witches who had been executed 300 years earlier, but come back to life by accident on Halloween night.
One of the most common Halloween costumes throughout history has been witches. The image of a witch has changed drastically over time, but the idea of dressing up as one for Halloween is a modern tradition. In fact, it wasn’t until the 20th century that dressing up in costume became a common practice.
Historically, witches were targeted and persecuted in Western Europe by the church and state authorities. However, there was never a systematic attempt to persecute witches until the Inquisition in early modern Europe (the late 15th to 18th centuries). The belief that there was an organized conspiracy of witches who worshipped the devil and committed evil acts became accepted in this period. Witch hunts were seen as an effective method for ridding society of evil.
The earliest sources of European witchcraft, the Bible and the Malleus Maleficarum (the “Hammer of Witches”), describe witches as wearing animal skins and flying through the air on broomsticks.
The witch costume is the traditional and stereotypical costume of a witch. The costume is typically black with a wide brimmed, pointed hat. It is often worn by women on Halloween, or to fancy dress parties year round.
The stereotypical depiction of a witch as an old woman who flies around on a broomstick, wearing a pointed hat and a black cloak has been used in media since the beginning of cinema. In many early films such as The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and The Wizard of Oz (1939), witches were depicted as evil or demonic creatures. However, the depiction of witches began to change in media with such shows as Bewitched (1964-1972), in which witches were portrayed as human characters who live normal lives and use their magical abilities discreetly amongst humans. Subsequent representations of witches in media have continued to evolve, although they are almost always portrayed with some connection to their historical portrayal as dangerous or evil creatures.