New Delhi: Celebrating Halloween today, Google posted a doodle on its homepage that features a witch practising witchcraft. To make you understand the Halloween Witch doodle in a better way, we bring you some facts about the event, which is celebrated every year on October 31 in a number of countries around the world. The following are five facts about the witch religion of Wicca and Halloween, known as the Wiccan New Year of Samhain:
1. The word "witchcraft" has three main connotations: the practice of magic or sorcery; the beliefs associated with the Western witch-hunts of the 14th to the 18th century; and varieties of the modern movement called Wicca.
2. Wicca was first publicised in 1954 by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner who said the religion dated to an old witch cult that existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe.
3. Wicca is recognized as an official religion in the United States. It is a primarily Western movement of nature worship based on pre-Christian traditions.
4. In the United States, there are between 2,50,000 and 5,00,000 followers of the Wiccan witch religion, which honors the "Elements of Nature" - Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit - and their associated directions - North, East, South, West, Center - in "sacred circles" where rituals are held.
5. The Wiccan New Year of Samhain is considered a precursor to modern Halloween. Today, it coincides with Halloween on October 31. Historically, it was a Celtic festival held on November 1 where the world of the gods was believed to be made visible to mankind. Modern witches say it is a time of year when the "veil between the dead and the living is thin."
(With inputs from Reuters)
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