万圣夜女巫的传说

The witch， an iconic[标志性的] Halloween character， usually dressed all in black， with green skin， a tall pointy hat and flying a broomstick across a full moon. But witches arent just a Halloween cliché[陈词滥调]. Theyve got a long and tumultuous[骚乱的] history that we bet you didnt know.

Though many stereotypes[刻板形象] come from western culture， witchcraft[巫术] has existed around the world and throughout history， including Asian， African and many Native American societies.

Long before the advent[出现，到来] of science， witches were blamed for storms， accidents， disease and other bad things that happened. In Medieval[中世纪的] Europe， anywhere between 100，000 and 200，000 people were arrested[逮捕] on suspicion[怀疑] of witchcraft. About half of them were executed[处死]. And did you know the accused witches were not just women， but men too， and even some children.

Even after the witch hunts ended， western culture remained fascinated[使着迷] with witches. The witch-filled fairy tales of the brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen inspired L. Frank Baum to create his modern fairy tale， The Wonderful Wizard of Oz， which featured the most famous witch in pop culture history， the Wicked[邪恶的] Witch of the West. And did you know， Baum didnt intentionally[有意地] make the witchs skin green in his book. But thats how she appeared in the Technicolor film version in 1939， and the image stuck[固定].

And what about that tall， black pointy hat that witches wear？ Members of Europes upper classes wore similar hats during the 15th century， and the style later spread to commoners[平民]， the same poor country folk who were typically accused of paganism[異教] and witchcraft.

The broom， a common household tool， was used by pagans[异教徒] during ancient crop fertility[肥沃，丰饶] rites[仪式]. It later became a common symbol of witches， who were said to use their brooms to hide their wands[魔杖] during the witch hunts. People also believed that witches would rub a special ointment[油膏] into their brooms and use them to fly across the sky and perform their magic.

And did you know that witches still exist in modern times？ The modern form of witchcraft， known as Wicca， was founded in England in the 1950s. Its members worship nature， and a female deity[神]， known as The Goddess， and they take an oath[誓言] to do no harm with their magic. There are now more than 400，000 Wiccans in the United States， but you probably wont recognize them on the street. They dont wear pointy hats， and not a single one of them has green skin.

作为万圣夜的标志性角色，女巫往往穿着一身黑衣，长着绿色皮肤，头戴一顶尖帽，骑着扫帚在满月前飞过。但女巫并不只是万圣夜的老套传说，她们有着漫长而动荡的历史，我们打赌你一定不知道。

尽管关于巫术的很多刻板形象来自西方文化，但其实巫术在世界各地，包括亚洲、非洲以及很多美洲土著的社会中存在已久。

在科学到来以前，女巫被指责为引发风暴、意外、疾病和其他坏事的罪魁祸首。在中世纪的欧洲，约有10万至20万人因被怀疑施展巫术而被捕，她们当中约有一半的人被处决。你知道吗，被控告的巫师不只有女人，还有男人，甚至还有一些小孩。

即使在搜捕女巫的行动结束后，西方文化依然对女巫（题材）非常着迷。格林兄弟和汉斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生的童话故事里充满女巫的形象。受这些作品启发的L. 弗兰克·鲍姆创作出自己的现代童话——《绿野仙踪》，里面就出现了流行文化中最为有名的女巫——“西方的恶女巫”。你知道吗？鲍姆在书中可没打算让女巫长着一身绿色的皮肤。然而在1939年的特艺七彩电影版本中，她就以这个形象出现，并流传至今。

那么，女巫们戴的那顶高高的黑色尖帽又是怎么回事？15世纪，欧洲上流社会的成员就戴类似的帽子，这种风尚后来传到普罗大众，也就是被指控信奉异教和施行巫术的那些可怜的乡下人。

在古代祈求作物丰收的仪式上，异教徒会使用扫帚这种普通的家居用品。后来它成为了女巫们的标志，因为据说在搜捕女巫的时候，她们会把魔杖藏在扫帚里。人们还认为，女巫会在扫帚里擦上一种特别的油膏，用它们飞上天空，施展魔法。

你知道吗？女巫在现代社会依然存在。现代版的巫术叫做威卡（教），在20世纪50年代创建于英格兰。其成员崇拜大自然，以及一位被称作“女神”的女性神灵，她们起誓不以魔法伤害任何人或物。美国现在有超过40万名威卡教徒，但你也许无法在街上认出他们。他们不戴尖帽，而且没有一个人是长着绿色皮肤的。