13 Things You Didn't Know About Witches

It was once believed that in the days leading up to Easter Sunday, Swedish witches would fly up chimneys on their brooms to meet and revel on mountaintops. These days, children dress up as witches and go door to door seeking treats, similar to trick-or-treating.

There are plenty of powerful male witches. However, just as in years past, all over the world, women are most likely to be identified as witches.

"Whether one admires, detests, or fears powerful women will have a lot to do with how one defines and perceives the witch."

Rather than being dangerous, they tend to be of service to others:

"Witches around the world participate in all kinds of activities, ranging from healing to divination, from spell casting to spiritual guidance and leadership."

Witches follow many religions and also none. There are atheist witches, just as there are Christian witches, Jewish witches, Buddhist witches, and witches who follow virtually any other religion you can name.

Technowitches utilize computers and other forms of technology as magical tools. A fictional example of a technowitch is Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Jenny Calendar.

Glamorous city witches are featured in the movie Bell, Book, and Candle, which stars Kim Novak as Gillian Holroyd, a Greenwich Village witch with a fabulous wardrobe.

Fairy tales are filled with "wicked witches," but historically it has been the witch or those accused of being witches who have been persecuted. Unfortunately, this continues today.

"Catherine de Medici, mother of the French king and an alleged sorceress herself, sponsored a dance company, La Ballet Comique de la Reine, whose first production was an over six-hour-long extravaganza featuring dance, songs, and elaborate floats devoted to the saga of Circe."

First published in Spain, the book widely considered to be the first true Western novel is named after its central character, La Celestina, a witch:

"La Celestina, published at the height of the Spanish Inquisition, mocks the gentry, while simultaneously expressing empathy for witches, prostitutes, and poor struggling women in general."

Check out Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World to learn even more fascinating facts about witches.