Witchcraft Rituals

Even though many people think that witches worshiped the devil, but they actually did rituals to replenish the Earth at the change of every season. In my opinion, witches have been mistreated throughout history because of superstitions and difference in religious beliefs. Because many people believed that they had the power of controlling of life and death because they could cure babies and sickly people. Also, many witches worshiped a type of Earth goddess. They were never any harm to any of the people of the towns.

Being called a witch was the worst thing you could be called. They danced around naked, and practiced cannibalistic things. They are called the “nightmare of society”(Levack). Witches did not always have a negative connotation.

She was the most powerful witch to have ever practiced in the city. She and a man, Alvin ”Boots” Toups, a man who shared similar interests of magic, were soon married after they first met. Now married, Mary and her friends decided to start looking into witchcraft. This circle of friends became known as Oneida’s “Scribes”. They would meet every Friday night to discuss witchcraft, practice rituals and magical workings, to share spells and increase their overall knowledge through sharing. Oneida understood the genuine reality of practicing magic and the supernatural. This was the approach that she applied to her studies. Because of this openness, she could work from a harmless spellbook as she could also summon demons. To Oneida it was all the same. She looked at witchcraft as a learning experience. She did not fear the results of the magic she was working, but she had a respect for it, and taught this respect to all her followers. In 1971, Oneida and Boots opened The Witches’ Workshop, the first shop of its kind in New Orleans(Alyne Pustanio). The mission of Oneida 's shop was to support people studying the path of Old Style witchcraft. Oneida also offered educational classes, usually held in the rear of her shop. Seeing a growing interest and need in those who came to her, she decided to form a coven. In the end, the growing coven became the first "church" of witchcraft in Louisiana. The Religious Order of Witchcraft was launched by Oneida and Boots Toups on Candlemas, February 2, 1972. By this time Oneida’s personal practice had evolved to encompass all the high ritual and ceremonial practices of the Western and Judaic