Halloween Witch

September 15, 2011

The Halloween Witch is something so common we almost take it for granted. Often times our teachers would wear Halloween Witch hats in the classroom as we grew up. The Halloween Witch is a common costume choice for girls of all ages. But what's the story behind this Halloween icon?

Halloween Witch History

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch (from Old English wicca masculine, wicce feminine) is a practitioner of witchcraft. Historically, it was widely believed in early modern Christian Europe that witches were in league with the Devil and used their powers to harm people and property. Particularly, since the mid-20th century, "bad" and "good" witchcraft are sometimes distinguished, the latter often involving healing. The concept of witchcraft as harmful is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community.^[1]

Beliefs in witchcraft, and resulting witch-hunts, are both found in many cultures worldwide, today mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., in the witch smellers in Bantu culture), and historically notably in Early Modern Europe of the 14th to 18th century, where witchcraft came to be seen as a vast diabolical conspiracy against Christianity, and accusations of witchcraft led to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Germanic Europe.^[2]

For more info visit the Witchcraft page on Wikipedia.

Witch Costumes

One of the best things about witches is that they wear some pretty fantastic outfits. From the simple, all black witch outfit to modern fun color combinations, witches have a style all their own.

Witches also come in all shapes in sizes. Which is good, because some lovely little lady may want to take after her mother this Halloween. There are a lot of choices for Halloween Costumes for Girls, as well as Halloween Costumes for Women, but we find these are the best:

Witch Essentials

If you would rather create your own look as a witch, that's actually a pretty easy thing to do. There are a few essential things you need to complete the look of a witch.

Pointy Witch Hat

-Everyone recognizes this feature. Depending on how serious you want to be about your witch costume, this item alone can complete a look. You could stop with just this.

Tattered Broom

-A witch's broom is never far from her fingertips. Best of all, it has nothing to do with cleaning. You can wield this as something to ride on or just your faithful companion.

Cauldron -This isn't exactly the easiest prop to carry along with you for Halloween, but if you are setting up a Witch's Shop at your home to entertain Trick or Treaters, then this is a must have. Pour in some odds and ends like a rubber rat and Halloween Spider or two and you're all set!