Witchcraft
Witchcraft is the practice of folk magic, associated in popular culture with female wisdom about herbs, divination, healing and protection. In medieval European folklore, the witch was often a popular healer or herbalist, persecuted by the Inquisition (Malleus Maleficarum, 1487). The modern movement of Wicca (Gerald Gardner, 1954) revived an idealized image of witchcraft as nature religion.
Wicca and modern witchcraft
Wicca venerates a Goddess and a Horned God, celebrates 8 sabbats (Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain) of the wheel of the year. Practice grew enormously after the 1960s.