5. The Modern Witch Wasn’t Created Until The Renaissance
Tales of witches are at least as old as the Hebrew Bible, with King Saul consulting the Witch of Endor and conjuring up the dead spirit of the prophet, Samuel. The idea also appears throughout Greek mythology, with evil, hideous women possessing magical powers. Today, the idea of witches and witchcraft has made an enormous resurgence, due in no small part to the phenomenal success of Harry Potter, combined with the growing Wicca movement.
However, the modern witch, the one that Harry Potter fans might recognize, did not originate until the Renaissance, with artists imagining what evil beings who had sold their souls to the devil in exchange for magical powers might resemble. Some conceived of them as being hags with a hooked nose, pointy hat, warts, and a broomstick. Others painted them as beautiful seductresses who could enchant men with their looks. Ironically, the witch trials that gripped Europe and eventually the American colonies began soon after, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Clergy and terrified townspeople were essentially hunting beings that artists had only recently imagined.
Today, the idea of being a witch has gone mainstream and claims much more ancient roots, usually associated with the Druids and ancient Celts. However, the modern religion of Wicca also has relatively recent origins; though it claims to be an ancient religion, it only began in the twentieth century.