Welcome to Letter W of the A-Z Blog Challenge.
My theme is Creatures in Paranormal Fiction.
To learn more about this blog hop and other participating sites, click on the blue/gold letter button in the post
or the blog hop badge in the sidebar.
My theme is Creatures in Paranormal Fiction.
To learn more about this blog hop and other participating sites, click on the blue/gold letter button in the post
or the blog hop badge in the sidebar.
| W is for Witch or Warlock. A witch is someone who practices witchcraft, typically identified with spells, potions, and magical rituals. Witches have had a predominant place in legends, folklore. and superstition since the Middle Ages. Although witches are commonly portrayed as women, there are also male witches, often referred to as warlocks. Like any other folklore there are many variations on the supernatural powers of witches, but conjuring with spells or herbs, powders or potions, is always part of the formula. | 
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The traditional symbol for a witch is an old crone with a pointed black hat, facial warts, a broom for transportation, and a cauldron to brew her evil potions, but that picture may be a fairly modern conception. Although there are a variety of myths and beliefs that are pointed out as explanations for this stereotype, the connections are murky, and many early depictions of witches show none of these accoutrements. It's likely they were created or at least enhanced and marketed by 19th and 20th century writers and film makers.
In literature, witches first appeared in Halloween or children's stories. In the last twenty to thirty years they've been humanized to allow for both good and bad witches, and they've become extremely popular characters in urban fantasy and paranormal romances.
Take a look at this huge list of popular witch books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/11296.Best_Books_With_Witches,
and this Wikipedia list of fictional witches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_witches.
Take a look at this huge list of popular witch books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/11296.Best_Books_With_Witches,
and this Wikipedia list of fictional witches: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_witches.
W is also for Wizard.
Unless you've been out of touch for the last few years, you're familiar with wizards from the Harry Potter series, but these conjurers/sorcerers have been around in folklore and legend for centuries. The most famous wizard before Harry Potter was probably Merlin from the Arthurian legends. Other books with wizards can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/wizards.
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