Halloween Crochet Afghan

This ghostly, witchy Halloween Crochet Afghan done in all the rich color of the season will appeal to all.  The edges done in bats and ghosts while the center is rather bewitching!

Halloween Crochet Afghan

This is one of my favorite times of the year! Receiving all the little ghosts and goblins at my door. A magical time for children and of course many adults.   Get into the spirit of the season with this haunting Halloween Crochet Afghan.  How To Crochet A Beanie has many projects to make your Halloween fun.

I am a curious person and always wonder about how and what started certain things.  Witches? Where did they come from?  Reading, I found that they pretty much evolved from the ignorance of mankind back in the day…..I found a great article at www.halloweenexpress.com on the history of the witch.  Want to share it with you.

“Thousands of years ago, people were forced to live much more primitive lives than we currently know today.  Without the luxury of modern medicine and treatments, when a person was sick, ill or in pain there was little that could be done about it.  Becoming ill was much more dangerous in those ancient days, and the ramifications of any sickness were frequently much more serious.  During those early days, there were some sage women that learned the value of healing herbs, and other types of homeopathic treatments.  These women were actually very wise when it came to their knowledge of herbal remedies.  Many people received aid and were helped by the homemade remedies made by these wise women.  These astute women, skilled in the art of natural medicine, also sometimes functioned as midwives and assisted in the delivery of babies, using various plant-based medicines to ease the pain and suffering experienced during childbirth.

Little was understood about healing and medicine in those ancient days, and as Christianity spread across Europe, many clergy from the church felt very upset by the existence of learned women who were healing others with medicine and other remedies.  As far as the church was concerned, all healing should be done strictly through men in the church.  There were many others who felt that if a person was sick or ill that it was God’s punishment for some sin committed and the suffering that came from it was just something that must be dealt with by the afflicted person.  Over time, the healers began to be associated and accused of various things including heresy, being anti-Christian and eventually many were accused of devil worship.

The word Witch actually is derived from the word “Wicca” meaning “Wise One.”  Certainly once considered wise and a knowledgeable resource during trying times, witches were now considered to be something to be absolutely feared and avoided.  The church viewed healing, once helpful to many, now as evil sorcery, pagan worship as well as something akin to black magic.  These supposed witches were accused of very bad things, most specifically that of doing the devil’s evil bidding and being in cahoots with him in some orchestrated plan to destroy mankind.

The accusations of witchcraft drove these healers further underground and many lived quiet lives deeply in remote peasant villages.  By the late 1400’s it was not enough to sniff out, find and eventually question the witches about how they were practicing their craft.  Religious sources were planting enough fear as well as hysteria into the minds of the people that it ran rampant through many localities. Those accused of practicing any form of witchcraft were tried quickly and then were executed publicly as punishment, in very hideous and gruesome ways, for all in the village to see.  The Church perpetuated the idea that witches were performing devil worship and black magic rituals.  By killing those who were accused of such practices, it became very easy to scare the general population into conformity and obedience.  It seems that although witches were accused of being evil and devilish, the actual truth may be that powerful religious men didn’t really like the idea of a strong woman having any kind of intelligence or aptitude in the community. The Church leaders were probably somewhat intimidated by these talented gals and it may have been easiest to just eliminate the problem, emphasizing of course, that the church was against black magic and evil, not medicine.”