See How High She Flies

Not all witches are Wiccans, but almost all Wiccans consider themselves to be witches, neopagans or pagans.

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Just because someone is a witch, or suspected of being one, does that merit them to be burned at the stake? Is that the fate you would bestow upon the "Wizard Of Oz'" Good Witch Of The North (Billie Burke)? I think not.

So why is it that for the past several hundred years, the image of the witch has been associated with evil, heathenism and unrighteousness?

By and large, witches claim not to be part of a cult, worship Satan, consort with demons or sacrifice animals. Instead, they view themselves as healers, attempting to live in harmony with nature. A basic tenet of Wicca is "Harm None."

Chalk up another one for the propaganda machine known as the Christian church for successfully perpetuating the image of a witch as a diabolical character and attaching fear to nature-based belief systems as part of the conversion process.

But what about flying on a broomstick, you ask?

In England, newly initiated witches would be smeared with a sacred ointment which would confuse the mind, speed up the pulse and numb the feet. Often they would be blindfolded and placed on a broomstick and told that they were flying, an idea they would be apt to accept in an altered state.

Witches also regard the broomstick as a sacred instrument used to clear an area of bad spirits, or simply to clean up after a hard day's labor, dicing up eye of newt and small children for the evening meal.