When Hansel and Gretel are sent into the woods by their mother to collect strawberries for dinner, the greatest danger they face is not the weather, falling trees, or hungry animals looking for a tasty meal. Their greatest threat, of course, is the evil witch who lives in a gingerbread cottage and entices little children to their doom.

Witches have not had a very good reputation since the Middle Ages. To most people, the term "Evil witch" is redundant. Yet witches and witchcraft did not always carry such a sinister stigma. It is instructive to look at the origins of witchcraft and examine how the treatment of witches (and those accused of being witches) has evolved over the centuries. In this way, one can also gain insights into the use of witches and witchcraft in both opera and fairy tales.

WITCHCRAFT
Witchcraft can be defined as the practice of magic or sorcery by those outside the religious mainstream of a society. Simple sorcery, or the use of magic accessible to ordinary people, such as setting out offerings to helpful spirits or using charms, can be found in almost all traditional societies. While most Americans are brought up to believe that sorcery and witchcraft have an evil connotation, the function of the so-called witch doctor or medicine man in many societies is to counter the power of evil witchcraft through good magic.

Sorcery practices to benefit the innocent were known to the ancient Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. In the old Testament, Saul has forbidden all mediums and wizards but still asks the "Witch of Endor" to consult the spirit of Samuel about his war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 28: 3-14). She does so and Samuel tells Saul he will die and David will become the new ruler of Israel. The apocryphal book of Tobias contains an account in which, at the instruction of an angel, an evil spirit is expelled from a bridal chamber by the odor of a smoldering fish heart and liver (Tobias 6: 14-19). Nevertheless the Bible also contains edicts against witchcraft such as "You shall not permit a sorceress to live" (Exodus 22:18), a command that was later used to justify the persecution of witches in medieval Europe.

In the early Christian centuries, the church was relatively tolerant of magical practices. Those who were proved to have engaged in witchcraft were required only to do penance. But in the late Middle Ages (13th to 14th centuries) opposition to alleged witchcraft hardened as a result of the growing belief that all magic and miracles that did not come unambiguously from God came from the Devil and were therefore manifestations of evil. Those who practiced simple sorcery, such as village wise women, were increasingly regarded as practitioners of diabolical witchcraft. They came to be viewed as individuals in league with Satan.

Nearly all those who fell under suspicion of witchcraft were women, evidently regarded by witch-hunters as especially susceptible to the Devil's blandishments. A lurid picture of the activities of witches emerged in the popular mind, including covens and Witchs' Sabbaths, or gatherings over which Satan presided; pacts with the Devil; flying on broomsticks (such as the one gleefully ridden by the Witch in Hansel and Gretel); and animal accomplices or familiars. Although a few of these elements may represent vestiges of pre-Christian religion, the old religion probably did not persist in any organized form beyond the 14th century. The popular image of witchcraft was perhaps inspired by features of occultism or ceremonial magic as well as by theology.

The persecution of witches declined after about 1700, banished by the Age of Enlightenment. One of the last outbreaks of witch-hunting took place in Salem in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. when belief in diabolical witchcraft was already declining in Europe. Twenty people were executed in the wake of the resulting trials which took place after a group of young girls became hysterical while playing at magic and it was supposed that they were bewitched. The subsequent witch-hunt took place in the context of deep divisions between the church and a controversial minister. Personal differences were exacerbated in a small isolated community in which religious beliefs, including a belief in the reality of diabolical witch craft, were deeply held. By that time the hysteria had run its course, little enthusiasm for the persecution of witches remained in Massachusetts or elsewhere.

WITCHES IN OPERA
As opera approached its Golden Age (after 1775), the excesses of witch-hunting were mostly ancient history. Opera composers chose a variety of ways to handle witchcraft themes.

The Witch As Evil Threat:
This treatment of witches was in keeping with the mainstream perception of witches as evil and sinister. The witch in Hansel and Gretel certainly falls in this category. Engelbert Humperdinck adapted his opera from the Grimm Brothers' tale of the same name. One of the more interesting characters in opera possessing witch-like qualities is Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore (The troubadour). Azucena is the daughter of a gypsy woman burned at the stake some twenty-five years before the opera begins. She has sworn vengeance on the nobleman responsible for the death of her mother. Verdi intended her to be the focal point of the opera — and she is. While growing up in Italy, Verdi had the opportunity to observe gypsies at close range in his hometown, and he became fascinated by them. At the height of European witch-hunts, gypsies were often viewed with the same suspicion as alleged witches. The character of Azucena gains strength, not from the possession of supernatural powers, but from the very human power of revenge.

The Witch As Fortune Teller:
Some operas ignore the evil aspects of witches and concentrate instead on their supposed ability to forecast the future. Two of Verdi's operas feature this type of witch. In Macbeth, based on the play by Shakespeare's play, the title character encounters a group of witches as he returns to his castle at the beginning of the opera. He is stunned to hear the witches call him "King of Scotland", even though Duncan sits on the throne. When he informs his wife, Lady Macbeth, of the witches' prediction, they are both spurred on to plot the murder of Duncan and make the prophecy come true. Later in the opera, after things start to unravel following Duncan's murder, Macbeth returns to the witches' lair seeking further prophecies. This time the witches conjure up various specters which both puzzle and terrify Macbeth. As a result, he and Lady Macbeth plot additional murders to cover up their crimes. Eventually, Macbeth is killed in a fight with his rival Macduff. As the dying Macbeth falls to the ground, he curses the day he met the witches.

In Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), Verdi once again uses a witch character to tell fortunes. In Ballo as in Macbeth, the sorceresses/witches are not depicted as evil, but merely as beings on the fringe of society with supernatural powers to predict the future The story of King Gustav of Sweden and Ulrica as told in Ballo has a parallel in the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor.

The Good Witch:
Occasionally in opera and fairy tales, the good witch will show up. It is usually her job to assist the principal character in achieving his or her desired goal. An example of this type of witch is Jezibaba, the forest witch of Rusalka by Antonin Dvorák. The title character is a water nymph who longs to be free from the world of water spirits and become human because she has fallen in love with a Prince. She seeks the help of Jezibaba, who casts a spell which enables Rusalka to leave the water. Even good witches, however, find it hard to dispense magic without having strings attached. In this case, if Rusalka loses her mortal love, she must return to the water, and her lover too will be doomed. In addition, she will be unable to speak until her love is consummated. Ultimately, things do not work out for the Prince and Rusalka, and it falls to Jezibaba to remind Rusalka of the harsh conditions for returning to the water world.

Witches in Fairy Tales:
Many well-known operas are based on fairy tales. Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella are examples. Not all fairy tales have witches in them, but even those that do not often feature characters who have the ability, through sorcery or magic, to influence events for good or evil.

MODERN WITCHES
A discussion of witches in fairy tales would not be complete without a mention of the The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum published in 1900. (He was living in Coronado when he wrote it.) In his introduction, Baum acknowledges the debt he owes to folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales. However, he intended his story to be a "modernized fairy tale in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out". This celebrated work, made even more famous today by the classic movie starring Judy Garland, features not one but four witches, two good and two bad. It is, of course, the story of a young girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto who are blown by a tornado off the plains of Kansas into the wondrous Land of Oz. Their house lands directly on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. This dramatic entrance is witnessed by the Good Witch of the North, who is most grateful to Dorothy for destroying the evil witch responsible for keeping the people of Munchkinland in bondage for many years. In her quest to find safe passage back to Kansas, Dorothy teams up with a Scarecrow seeking a brain, a Tin Man seeking a heart, and a Cowardly Lion seeking courage. Their travels take them to the Emerald City where they meet the Wizard of Oz. He promises to grant their wishes if they will kill the Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy eventually dispatches that witch by melting her with a bucket of water. She is then able to return home to Kansas with the help of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South.

Sorcery and witchcraft play an important role in his work, but the emphasis is on make-believe and magic designed to entertain children of all ages. Baum never wrote an opera, but anyone who has ever heard Judy Garland sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" might say he inspired some operatic moments!

Although no longer illegal, witchcraft continues to fascinate with such popular movies and TV shows as The Witches of Eastwick, Bewitched and Bell, Book and Candle. The modern pagan cult of Wicca is growing. A search of the internet will reveal dozens of articles on it.

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Revised September 2009
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