Well with Halloween approaching many scary stories and tales about witches will be told and read. Urban legends abound concerning real and "not so real", Dark Creatures of the night who cast spells and make potions that make goose bumps rise up on the heartiest non-believer!
Witches have been around since the beginning of human history and are still with us in abundance. It is not really known where the word originated, but many believe it is derived from the word Wicca (old-English for pagan practice of witchcraft). Here are my picks for the weirdest and most bizarre witches of History.
Isobel Goldie: 1662
Legend says that she had wild sex with the devil who brought her into the art of witchcraft. She was made to confess this several times but many thought that it was just a story she had made. Florence Newton: 1650s
In Ireland, Florence Newton is also known as "the Witch of Youghal". She was accused of bewitching people and causing them to have fits which led to them dying from frightful contortions. She was eventually tried and convicted of being a Witch. Elisabeth Sawyer: 1621
Elisabeth Sawyer also called the "Witch of Edmonton" was accused of bewitching her neighbor's children and cattle when the folks refused to buy her brooms. She confessed to being a witch and was hanged. 
Witch of Endor
The Witch of Endor found in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible was accredited with raising of the spirit of Samuel at the request of King Saul of Israel. King Saul consulted with her concerning his fate and future. Some scholars believe that the spirit conjured up by the witch was the Devil but many believe that it was not the Devil. Those that believe it was not the Devil state the Devil would have been repelled by the word Jehovah. Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga is a legendary witch who was said to have flown around the forests in a mortar and pestle ( not a broomstick). Legend says she loved to roast children for dinner and serve them to her neighbors. Zsussana B. Budapest: 1950-
She is the founder of the "modern feminist" witchcraft movement. Known as a powerful magic teacher who is very much into reclaiming the “wild woman within”, she was born in Hungry about 56 years ago, and escaped that country as a refugee with her mother, a witch and sculptress. Stories tell that she is skilled in spells, and is an advocate of hexing, specifically for warding off sexual harassment at work. The Bell Witch: 1817
This is the tale of a haunting rather than an evil spell and potion making enchantress. The legend is the basis of several films An American Haunting (2006) and The Bell Witch Haunting (2004) and may have influenced the The Blair Witch Project (1999). Laurie Cabot: 1960s-
She is known as the Official Witch of Salem and claims to be an ordained High Priestess descended from Celtic ancestry. She has been a practicing Witch for more than forty years. Some may know her for starting the Cabot Tradition of the Science of Witchcraft and the Witches' League for Public Awareness (WLPA), an organization that tries to correct many misconceptions about Witchcraft.
Some Bizarre Witch Trivia
- A Dutch witch in 2005 won her case to allow her to declare her broomsticks and spell casting lessons as tax deductible
- 18km south of Utrecht is the infamous town of Oudewater, where some of the world's strangest witch trials were held in the late 1500's. The accused women “were weighed on scales in the Heksenwaag (Witches' Weigh House), Leeuweringerstraat 2, to determine whether or not they were witches” (Frommers). Why? Because it was widely believed at the time that witches had no souls and weighed nothing, thus they could fly on brooms through the air effortlessly. If you visit this town today you can be weighed and receive a certificate (if you weigh enough) that states you are Not a witch!
- Most witch hunters know that salt will melt any witch.
