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Witchcraft Past and Present
mistletoe used by Celtic priests was harvested, cut down with a golden
sickle from the oak trees on which it grew and caught in a white cloth so
it would never fall to the ground.
The Autumn Equinox, or Mabon, was the final harvest festival of the
year.
These religious beliefs and practices grew into what later became known
as ‘paganism’. The word derives from the Latin for ‘country-dweller’,
and as the wheels of the year went round and round, paganism’s beliefs
and Druid rituals blended with the ways of others and such practices as
concocting lotions and potions, performing works of magic and casting
spells developed.
The Coming of the Bad Times
Further south, Rome was fast becoming the dominant power in Europe
and as its empire spread north into and beyond the Alps, the number of
Druids dwindled as the conquering armies brought their own ways and
beliefs which spread far and wide.
Around 2,000 years ago, in Palestine, the Christian religion was born.
Like those who followed the Jewish faith, Christians believed in one god.
The main difference between the two faiths being that while many Jews
Mother Shipton 16th-
century woodcut
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