The witch is one of the most well known images in history. We all know the stories of sham trials and false accusations, but what about the "real" witches? Those that practiced witchcraft for dark purposes. From ancient Babylon to Scotland, here are 3 periods where "real" witches and witchcraft terrified the world.

Sources & Further Reading:

Abusch, I. Tzvi. Mesopotamian witchcraft : toward a history and understanding of Babylonian witchcraft beliefs and literature. Boston, Brill Styx, 2002.
Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Caesar, Julius. Commentarii de Bello Gallico
Jones, Horace Leonard. 1924. Trans. The Geography of Strabo, vol. 3. Harvard University Press.
Lucan, Pharsalia
Pitcairn, Robert (1833), Ancient Criminal Trials in Scotland
Rabinowitz, Jacob. The Rotting Goddess: The Origin of the Witch in Classical Antiquity's Demonization of Fertility Religion. United States, Autonomedia, 1998.
Spence, Lewis. Myths & Legends of Babylonia & Assyria. Czechia, Good Press, 2019.
Tacitus, Cornelius. The Works of Tacitus: The Oxford Translation, Revised, with Notes. United Kingdom, Harper, 1889.
Tacitus, Germania
Tacitus, Roman History
Strabo, Geographica
The Odes and Epodes of Horace ... New Edition. [Introduction and Commentaries by Lord Lytton.]. United Kingdom, n.p, 1872.
Poetic Edda: Vǫluspá
Saga of Erik the Red


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