Witches didn't exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.
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Witches didn't exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.
041 - Halloween - From Pagan, to Christian, to Party
The History of Witchcraft
49 minutes
7 years ago
041 - Halloween - From Pagan, to Christian, to Party
Today we cover the development of Halloween - its development from a Celtic harvest festival, which may or may not have involved the ritual slaughter of infant children, and its merger with the Christian holy days of All Saints and All Souls, emerging from the melting pot of American society as something new and old, traditional and commercial.
Many thanks to Joe from the 80 Days - An Exploration Podcast for lending his voice to today's intro quote. Find his fantastic show on Facebook, Twitter, and 80dayspodcast.com
Today's show primarily relies on the following works:
Rogers, Nicholas, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, 2002
Santino, Jack (ed.) Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, 1994
For a full bibliography, please see the website: https://thehistoryofwitchcraft.co.uk/
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The History of Witchcraft
Witches didn't exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.
