Witchcraft: The Power Of Magic

For so long humanity has had a belief in witchcraft, the supernatural, and the power of magic. These beliefs have appeared commonly across cultures. Some of these beliefs and practices have continued to the present day. Nowadays, loads of people apparently believe in magic. In fact, this type of magic is the power to control natural forces possessed by certain persons as wizards and witches in folk tales and fiction (Merriam-Webster.com). This is very different from television and stage magic that depends on hand tricks and false illusions rather than supernatural power. Believing in magic variates throughout history and religion. The practice of magic, or witchcraft is often associated with cursing and evil hexes. Historically in Europe

However, the intention of the curse has consistently been to conjure a supernatural power to inflict misfortune or punishment on a target. A curse, sometimes called jinx, hex, or dark spell, can be verbalized, written, or sometimes cast through elaborate ritual. In antiquity a curse was a powerful phenomenon, often viewed as the summoned wrath of gods, or the presence of evil forces. The purpose of spells and curses were, and remain today, aimed at punishing or changing behavior, warding off disaster, and controlling the actions of other

Binding spells would be scratched into the surface of thin, lead tablets. The tablets would then be rolled up, nails were driven into them, and they were placed underground. They ended up at the bottom of wells, nailed to temple walls, or buried with the dead. Sometimes tablets appealed to underworld gods, Pluto, Hekate, or Persephone, while other times the text simply named the victim and the misfortune or death that was to befall them. One tablet found in London reads: “I curse Tretia Maria and her life and mind and memory and liver and lungs mixed up together, and her words, thoughts and memory; thus may she be unable to speak what things are concealed, nor be