Although Macbeth did feature witches around a cauldron, that image was not original to Shakespeare. There is an image of witches brewing a potion in a cauldron from the book De Lamiis et Phitonicis Mulieribus, published in 1493 (over 100 years before Shakespeare wrote Macbeth).
In the seventeenth century, some people took witches very seriously indeed, as the events in Salem Massachusetts show. But curiously, in Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the witches are kind of silly and sing cute little songs. These songs were apparently added to the play by another playwright, Thomas Middleton, because the audience wanted the witches to be funnier. Nowadays no productions of Macbeth actually use the silly witch lines, because modern audiences want the witches to be scary. Maybe that is because they are not really frightened of them.
He has the characters in the play say them. That is how you use words in a play.
Shakespeare did not use the word "indecent" although he did use "decent". The word "lewd" might be the word he would choose to express this idea.
They used their imaginations.
Shakespeare's play is based on Plutarch's Lives of the Greeks and Romans, which Shakespeare almost certainly took at school.
In the seventeenth century, some people took witches very seriously indeed, as the events in Salem Massachusetts show. But curiously, in Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the witches are kind of silly and sing cute little songs. These songs were apparently added to the play by another playwright, Thomas Middleton, because the audience wanted the witches to be funnier. Nowadays no productions of Macbeth actually use the silly witch lines, because modern audiences want the witches to be scary. Maybe that is because they are not really frightened of them.
He has the characters in the play say them. That is how you use words in a play.
The Birnam wood episode in Shakespeare's Macbeth serves as a fulfillment of the witches' prophecy, adding to the atmosphere of supernatural elements in the play. It also symbolizes the theme of deceptive appearances, as the advancing soldiers use the branches to camouflage their numbers. This event contributes to Macbeth's sense of impending doom and his realization that the witches' prophecies are coming true.
Shakespeare did not use the word "indecent" although he did use "decent". The word "lewd" might be the word he would choose to express this idea.
Shakespeare used more than one myth for more than one play.
The play Macbeth is written entirely in English.
because in this play appears a ghost
They used their imaginations.
Shakespeare's play is based on Plutarch's Lives of the Greeks and Romans, which Shakespeare almost certainly took at school.
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, is a quote from Shakespeare. The witches that MacBeth visits chant this, around a steaming cauldron. As to the actual spell, it seems to be related to their ability to predict the future. Whether modern witchcraft uses this, I have no idea. From the "spells" that some modern witches use, it seems likely. To quote Cecil "El retardo supremo, if you want an opinion."
Shakespeare makes use of the supernatural in a number of plays. There are ghosts in Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Richard III. There are witches in Macbeth, Henry VI Part II, and The Tempest. There are fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the Tempest Ariel is a spirit of the air. In Cymbeline the god Jupiter appears in a dream and in As You Like It, Hymen God of Marriage appears in order to marry all of the couples. What is the effect of all this? In many cases Shakespeare does it on purpose to highlight the difference between appearance and reality. In Hamlet, The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream there is also a play within a play which highlights that the play is only a play, and the fantasies are only imaginary. The supernatural makes the play seem a little more unreal.
A witch's garage is often humorously referred to as a "broom closet." It's a playful take on the idea that witches use brooms for flying and transportation. The term also suggests a hidden space where witches might store their magical supplies and tools.