Witches are among us. I kid you not. I’ve seen them with my own eyes.
But maybe that’s because witchcraft and pagan religious practices are alive and well in the United States. The number of witches and people practicing Wicca religious rituals in America has increased greatly over the past few decades. And. Recent studies have shown there are at least 1.5 million witches across the country. That’s one in 300. So right here in Preble County, we have about 133 practicing witches, by the stats.
Here’s a thing. We don’t know where the word witch came from. The origin isn’t clear. Although, the closest possible origin comes from the Old English word wicce, which means “female sorceress.” Hence, the modern-day Wicca.
Yet. Witches seem to get an “evil” bad rap. Throughout history, they’ve gotten a reputation for practicing devil worship. But this isn’t the case. Satan isn’t part of their belief system at all. Mostly they don’t do the whole good vs. evil thing. They focus more on concepts like “order and chaos.”
One witch who knew a few things about order and chaos is my favorite witch of all time. Bewitched. And wouldn’t you know? The show premiered on this date, September 16, 1964, on ABC TV. I was five months old and chomping at the bit to watch this someday.
The show contains lots of interesting tidbits.
For one, it has Biblical connections. In the First Book of Samuel, there’s a story about Saul consulting the Witch of Endor. He wanted to use her powers to connect with the deceased Samuel. So there you see. Samuel became Samantha and Endor became Endora.
Oh, that Endora. What a character she was, always wearing her flowing chiffon capes and other outlandish outfits. But, the series didn’t have much of a budget for wardrobe. As such, the actors often brought in their own outfits to wear for the show. I’m guessing Agnes Morehead, Endora, did not.
Sometimes they wore green. And if you ever took note, green was all over this show. We all noticed the green carpet in Samantha and Darrin’s house. And in most scenes, we could see an emerald accent placed around a room. The color green appeared in every episode. To top it off, Sam wore green quite frequently. It may have been because green is significant in the witches’ folklore. Green shows up with other witches, like the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz and the all-emerald city. Witches at Halloween time. The Broadway show Wicked. Green, green.
One other thing about the show. The original Darrin left the series, but he never really wanted to go. Before he started on Bewitched, he, Dick York, suffered a massive back injury while filming a movie in 1959.
He never fully recovered. But at one point in Bewitched, York attempted to do a stunt where he had to hang 15 feet in the air. He got hurt and had to go to the hospital. After that, he decided he needed to focus on his health. So. They recast the role.
When the new Darrin came, the producers never gave any explanation of his new appearance. They thought no one would care about the new Mr. Stephens. But we did. The ratings took a big dip with the new Darrin.
All sorts of shows popped up around magic and the nether world. Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family, and The Munsters, to name a few. My Favorite Martian and Mr. Ed. People wanted to see the mystical magic right here in our world.
So they did.
They still do.
And so we have the witch. And all else magical about us. Around our swirling Universe in more ways than we’ll ever know. Stay tuned.
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“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl
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“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats
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The magic. The witch. And Darrin.
