In my diploma thesis I shall present the outbreak of witchcraft in 16th and 17th century, in
which I shall be focusing on social aspects of this phenomenon while attempting to clarify the
reasons for women being accused of witchcraft.
After that I shall move into the present time which saw the emergence of a new religious
movement Wicca, a contemporary form of witchcraft with its roots in Great Britain, which
spread rapidly all over the western world. I shall try to assess how well does talking of
witchcraft fit the modern western civilization, and for this purpose I shall compare the
stereotypically negative witchcraft of the early modern period with its contemporary
counterpart which focuses on spirituality, animism and nature.
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