Planning to learn a language? You don’t need dark arts to succeed. Although there’s plenty to learn from witches about magic, myths, and misunderstanding.
After all, witches have flown through folklore, history, and pop culture for centuries, from the hags in Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Disney blockbuster Wicked.
What’s more, there are some fascinating cultural tales behind the stereotypes of spell books and bubbling cauldrons.
Global Beliefs and Practices
Every culture across the world has its own version of the witch. Sometimes wise. Sometimes wicked. Always captivating.
For example:
- Ancient Greece – Meet Circe, the Homerian sorceress who turned sailors into pigs (as you do).
- Japan – Beware Yamauba, the mountain dwelling witch who lured travellers to their doom.
- Modern Europe – Today’s witches are more eco than evil. Think green witches who work with herbs, folk witches keeping old traditions alive, and Wiccans celebrating nature’s lunar cycles.
Belief vs. Reality
Sadly, not every story has a fairytale ending. Witch hunts didn’t vanish with the 1600s. In fact, they still happen in parts of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, where accusations can lead to criminal convictions or even violence.
It’s a sobering reminder how fear of the other still burns, even in the 21st century.
Do Witches Still Matter?
Witches reflect humanity’s eternal curiosity about power, difference, and the unknown.
They also remind us how quickly imagination can twist into accusation, such as the conjecture that secured Moll Dyer’s fate. But not before she cursed Leonardstown with a future of “blighted crops, infertility, child mortality, or familial misfortune.”
So, think about how it isn’t so different to learn a language or brush up on your hocus pocus for Halloween.
Both open your mind to new worlds, new words, and new ways of thinking.
Expand Your World View and Learn a Language, Without a Broomstick
At la Academia, something wicked this way comes. But there’s nothing black about this magic.
Get in touch to explore our language courses today. And discover the real magic of communication. You’ll always have pumpkin to talk with the other guys and ghouls at the school when you learn a language.