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Witchcraft
Practice of magical skills and abilities

Witchcraft traditionally refers to the use of magic to cause supernatural harm. Belief in witches has existed worldwide, often leading to protection rituals or harsh punishments. In Europe, especially during the medieval and early modern periods, accused witches—often women—were believed to use black magic or ally with demons or the Devil. European witch-hunts and trials caused thousands of deaths, declining after the Age of Enlightenment. Indigenous cultures similarly view witchcraft as malevolent, relying on healers or witch doctors for protection. Since the 1930s, some modern pagans have redefined witchcraft in their neopagan practices, embracing a positive identity.

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Concept

The most common meaning of "witchcraft" worldwide is the use of harmful magic.18 Belief in malevolent magic and the concept of witchcraft has lasted throughout recorded history and has been found in cultures worldwide, regardless of development.1920 Most societies have feared an ability by some individuals to cause supernatural harm and misfortune to others. This may come from mankind's tendency "to want to assign occurrences of remarkable good or bad luck to agency, either human or superhuman".21 Historians and anthropologists see the concept of "witchcraft" as one of the ways humans have tried to explain strange misfortune.2223 Some cultures have feared witchcraft much less than others, because they tend to have other explanations for strange misfortune.24 For example, the Gaels of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands historically held a strong belief in fairy folk, who could cause supernatural harm, and witch-hunting was very rare in these regions compared to other regions of the British Isles.25

Historian Ronald Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and witchcraft by most cultures that believe in this concept: the use of magic to cause harm or misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own community; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been acquired through inheritance or initiation; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings; and witchcraft could be thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical punishment of the alleged witch.26

A common belief worldwide is that witches use objects, words, and gestures to cause supernatural harm, or that they simply have an innate power to do so. Hutton notes that both kinds of practitioners are often believed to exist in the same culture and that the two often overlap, in that someone with an inborn power could wield that power through material objects.27

One of the most influential works on witchcraft and concepts of magic was E. E. Evans-Pritchard's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, a study of Azande witchcraft beliefs published in 1937. This provided definitions for witchcraft which became a convention in anthropology.28 However, some researchers argue that the general adoption of Evans-Pritchard's definitions constrained discussion of witchcraft beliefs, and even broader discussion of magic and religion, in ways that his work does not support.29 Evans-Pritchard reserved the term "witchcraft" for the actions of those who inflict harm by their inborn power and used "sorcery" for those who needed tools to do so.30 Historians found these definitions difficult to apply to European witchcraft, where witches were believed to use physical techniques, as well as some who were believed to cause harm by thought alone.3132 The distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to the particular societies with which they are concerned".33

While most cultures believe witchcraft to be something willful, some Indigenous peoples in Africa and Melanesia believe witches have a substance or an evil spirit in their bodies that drives them to do harm.34 Such substances may be believed to act on their own while the witch is sleeping or unaware.35 The Dobu people believe women work harmful magic in their sleep while men work it while awake.36 Further, in cultures where substances within the body are believed to grant supernatural powers, the substance may be good, bad, or morally neutral.3738 Hutton draws a distinction between those who unwittingly cast the evil eye and those who deliberately do so, describing only the latter as witches.39

The universal or cross-cultural validity of the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" are debated.40 Hutton states:

[Malevolent magic] is, however, only one current usage of the word. In fact, Anglo-American senses of it now take at least four different forms, although the one discussed above seems still to be the most widespread and frequent. The others define the witch figure as any person who uses magic ... or as the practitioner of nature-based Pagan religion; or as a symbol of independent female authority and resistance to male domination. All have validity in the present.41

According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions there is "difficulty of defining 'witches' and 'witchcraft' across cultures—terms that, quite apart from their connotations in popular culture, may include an array of traditional or faith healing practices".42

Anthropologist Fiona Bowie notes that the terms "witchcraft" and "witch" are used differently by scholars and the general public in at least four ways.43 Neopagan writer Isaac Bonewits proposed dividing witches into even more distinct types including, but not limited to: Neopagan, Feminist, Neogothic, Neoclassical, Classical, Family Traditions, Immigrant Traditions, and Ethnic.44

Etymology

Further information: Witch (word)

The word "witchcraft" is over a thousand years old: Old English formed the compound wiccecræft from wicce ('witch') and cræft ('craft').45 The masculine form was wicca ('male sorcerer').46

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, wicce and wicca were probably derived from the Old English verb wiccian, meaning 'to practice witchcraft'.47 Wiccian has a cognate in Middle Low German wicken (attested from the 13th century). The further etymology of this word is problematic. It has no clear cognates in other Germanic languages outside of English and Low German, and there are numerous possibilities for the Indo-European root from which it may have derived.

Another Old English word for 'witch' was hægtes or hægtesse, which became the modern English word "hag" and is linked to the word "hex". In most other Germanic languages, their word for 'witch' comes from the same root as these; for example German Hexe and Dutch heks.48

In colloquial modern English, the word witch is particularly used for women.49 A male practitioner of magic or witchcraft is more commonly called a 'wizard', or sometimes, 'warlock'. When the word witch is used to refer to a member of a neo-pagan tradition or religion (such as Wicca), it can refer to a person of any gender.50

Beliefs about practices

Witches are commonly believed to cast curses; a spell or set of magical words and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm.51 Cursing could also involve inscribing runes or sigils on an object to give that object magical powers; burning or binding a wax or clay image (a poppet) of a person to affect them magically; or using herbs, animal parts and other substances to make potions or poisons.52535455 Witchcraft has been blamed for many kinds of misfortune. In Europe, by far the most common kind of harm attributed to witchcraft was illness or death suffered by adults, their children, or their animals. "Certain ailments, like impotence in men, infertility in women, and lack of milk in cows, were particularly associated with witchcraft". Illnesses that were poorly understood were more likely to be blamed on witchcraft. Edward Bever writes: "Witchcraft was particularly likely to be suspected when a disease came on unusually swiftly, lingered unusually long, could not be diagnosed clearly, or presented some other unusual symptoms".56

A common belief in cultures worldwide is that witches tend to use something from their target's body to work magic against them; for example hair, nail clippings, clothing, or bodily waste.57 Such beliefs are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North America.58 Another widespread belief among Indigenous peoples in Africa and North America is that witches cause harm by introducing cursed magical objects into their victim's body; such as small bones or ashes.59 James George Frazer described this kind of magic as imitative.60

In some cultures, witches are believed to use human body parts in magic,61 and they are commonly believed to murder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be called postpartum psychosis, were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical temptation".62

Witches are believed to work in secret, sometimes alone and sometimes with other witches. Hutton writes: "Across most of the world, witches have been thought to gather at night, when normal humans are inactive, and also at their most vulnerable in sleep".63 In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity.64

Witches around the world commonly have associations with animals.65 Rodney Needham identified this as a defining feature of the witch archetype.66 In some parts of the world, it is believed witches can shapeshift into animals,67 or that the witch's spirit travels apart from their body and takes an animal form, an activity often associated with shamanism.68 Another widespread belief is that witches have an animal helper.69 In English these are often called "familiars", and meant an evil spirit or demon that had taken an animal form.70 As researchers examined traditions in other regions, they widened the term to servant spirit-animals which are described as a part of the witch's own soul.71

Necromancy is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy, although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The biblical Witch of Endor performed it (1 Samuel 28th chapter), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham:727374 "Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to the devil; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arises from death."75

Witchcraft and folk healers

Main article: Cunning folk

Most societies that have believed in harmful or black magic have also believed in helpful or white magic.76 Where belief in harmful magic is common, it is typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while helpful or apotropaic (protective) magic is tolerated or accepted by the population, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.77

In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic provide (or provided) services such as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing, divination, finding lost or stolen goods, and love magic.78 In Britain, and some other parts of Europe, they were commonly known as 'cunning folk' or 'wise people'.79 Alan Macfarlane wrote that while cunning folk is the usual name, some are also known as 'blessers' or 'wizards', but might also be known as 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding witches'.80 Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century.81 Ronald Hutton uses the general term "service magicians".82 Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches.83

Such helpful magic-workers "were normally contrasted with the witch who practiced maleficium—that is, magic used for harmful ends".84 In the early years of the European witch hunts "the cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general populace".85 Some of the more hostile churchmen and secular authorities tried to smear folk-healers and magic-workers by falsely branding them 'witches' and associating them with harmful 'witchcraft',86 but generally the masses did not accept this and continued to make use of their services.87 The English MP and skeptic Reginald Scot sought to disprove magic and witchcraft altogether, writing in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), "At this day, it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'".88 Historian Keith Thomas adds "Nevertheless, it is possible to isolate that kind of 'witchcraft' which involved the employment (or presumed employment) of some occult means of doing harm to other people in a way which was generally disapproved of. In this sense the belief in witchcraft can be defined as the attribution of misfortune to occult human agency".89

Emma Wilby says folk magicians in Europe were viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing,90 which could lead to their being accused as malevolent witches. She suggests some English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose supposed fairy familiars had been demonised.91

Hutton says that magical healers "were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem to have made up a minority of the accused in any area studied".92 Likewise, Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently than alleged witches. The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches.93 It was suggested by Richard Horsley that 'diviner-healers' (devins-guerisseurs) made up a significant proportion of those tried for witchcraft in France and Switzerland, but more recent surveys conclude that they made up less than 2% of the accused.94 However, Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers,95 and Kathleen Stokker says the "vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers.96

Witch-hunts and thwarting witchcraft

Societies that believe (or believed) in witchcraft may also believe that it can be thwarted in various ways. One common way is to use protective magic or counter-magic, often with the help of magical healers such as cunning folk or witch-doctors.97 This includes performing rituals, reciting charms, or the use of talismans, amulets, anti-witch marks, witch bottles, witch balls, and burying objects such as horse skulls inside the walls of buildings.98 Another believed cure for bewitchment is to persuade or force the alleged witch to lift their spell.99 Often, people have attempted to thwart the witchcraft by physically punishing the alleged witch, such as by banishing, wounding, torturing or killing them. Hutton wrote that "In most societies, however, a formal and legal remedy was preferred to this sort of private action", whereby the alleged witch would be prosecuted and then formally punished if found guilty.100

Accusations of witchcraft

Throughout the world, accusations of witchcraft are often linked to social and economic tensions. Females are most often accused, but in some cultures it is mostly males, such as in Iceland.101 In many societies, accusations are directed mainly against the elderly, but in others age is not a factor, and in some cultures it is mainly adolescents who are accused.102

Éva Pócs writes that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories. The first three of which were proposed by Richard Kieckhefer, and the fourth added by Christina Larner:103

  1. A person was caught in the act of positive or negative sorcery
  2. A well-meaning sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust
  3. A person did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbors
  4. A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or occultism.

Modern witch-hunts

Main articles: Witch-hunt, Witch trials in the early modern period, and Modern witch-hunts

Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the shunning or murder of suspected witches still occurs.104 Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic.[72]

Apart from extrajudicial violence, state-sanctioned execution also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in Saudi Arabia practicing witchcraft and sorcery is a crime punishable by death and the country has executed people for this crime as recently as 2014.105106107

Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of violence against women.108109110111112 In Tanzania, an estimated 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report.113

Children who live in some regions of the world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence stemming from witchcraft accusations.114115116117 Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in Britain, including the much publicized case of the murder of Victoria Climbié.118119

Religious perspectives

Ancient Mesopotamian religion

Main article: Witchcraft in the Middle East

Magic was an important part of ancient Mesopotamian religion and society, which distinguished between 'good' (helpful) and 'bad' (harmful) rites.120 In ancient Mesopotamia, they mainly used counter-magic against witchcraft (kišpū121), but the law codes also prescribed the death penalty for those found guilty of witchcraft.122 According to Tzvi Abusch, ancient Mesopotamian ideas about witches and witchcraft shifted over time, and the early stages were "comparable to the archaic shamanistic stage of European witchcraft".123 In this early stage, witches were not necessarily considered evil, but took 'white' and 'black' forms, could help others using magic and medical knowledge, generally lived in rural areas and sometimes exhibited ecstatic behavior.124

In ancient Mesopotamia, a witch (m. kaššāpu, f. kaššāptu, from kašāpu ['to bewitch']125) was "usually regarded as an anti-social and illegitimate practitioner of destructive magic ... whose activities were motivated by malice and evil intent and who was opposed by the ašipu, an exorcist or incantation-priest".126 These ašipu were predominantly male representatives of the state religion, whose main role was to work magic against harmful supernatural forces such as demons.127 The stereotypical witch mentioned in the sources tended to be those of low status who were weak or otherwise marginalized, including women, foreigners, actors, and peddlers.128

The Law Code of Hammurabi (18th century BCE) allowed someone accused of witchcraft (harmful magic) to undergo trial by ordeal, by jumping into a holy river. If they drowned, they were deemed guilty and the accuser inherited the guilty person's estate. If they survived, the accuser's estate was handed over instead.129

The Maqlû ("burning") is an ancient Akkadian text, written early in the first millennium BCE, which sets out a Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft ritual.130 This lengthy ritual includes invoking various gods, burning an effigy of the witch, then dousing and disposing of the remains.131

Abrahamic religions

Witchcraft's historical evolution in the Middle East reveals a multi-phase journey influenced by culture, spirituality, and societal norms. Ancient witchcraft in the Near East intertwined mysticism with nature through rituals and incantations aligned with local beliefs. In ancient Judaism, magic had a complex relationship, with some forms accepted due to mysticism132 while others were considered heretical.133 The medieval Middle East experienced shifting perceptions of witchcraft under Islamic and Christian influences, sometimes revered for healing and other times condemned as heresy.

Jewish

See also: Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible

Jewish attitudes toward witchcraft were rooted in its association with idolatry and necromancy, and some rabbis even practiced certain forms of magic themselves.134135 References to witchcraft in the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, highlighted strong condemnations rooted in the "abomination" of magical belief. Christianity similarly condemned witchcraft, considering it an abomination and even citing specific verses to justify witch-hunting during the early modern period.

Christian

Main article: Christian views on magic

Historically, the Christian concept of witchcraft derives from Old Testament laws against it. In medieval and early modern Europe, many Christians believed in magic. As opposed to the helpful magic of the cunning folk, witchcraft was seen as evil and associated with Satan and Devil worship. This often resulted in deaths, torture and scapegoating (casting blame for misfortune),136137 and many years of large scale witch-trials and witch hunts, especially in Protestant Europe, before largely ending during the Age of Enlightenment. Christian views in the modern day are diverse, ranging from intense belief and opposition (especially by Christian fundamentalists) to non-belief. During the Age of Colonialism, many cultures were exposed to the Western world via colonialism, usually accompanied by intensive Christian missionary activity (see Christianization). In these cultures, beliefs about witchcraft were partly influenced by the prevailing Western concepts of the time.

In Christianity, sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among Catholics, Protestants, and the secular leadership of late medieval/early modern Europe, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts. The fifteenth century saw a dramatic rise in awareness and terror of witchcraft. Tens of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions the majority were men.138139: 23  In Scots, the word warlock came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female, but is used predominantly for females).140141

The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for 'Hammer of The Witches') was a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants142 for several hundred years, outlining how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. It became the handbook for secular courts throughout Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying on it.143 It was the most sold book in Europe for over 100 years, after the Bible.144

Islamic

Main article: Islam and magic

Islamic perspectives on magic encompass a wide range of practices,145 with belief in black magic and the evil eye coexisting alongside strict prohibitions against its practice.146 The Quran acknowledges the existence of magic and seeks protection from its harm. Islam's stance is against the practice of magic, considering it forbidden, and emphasizes divine miracles rather than magic or witchcraft.147 The historical continuity of witchcraft in the Middle East underlines the complex interaction between spiritual beliefs and societal norms across different cultures and epochs.

Modern paganism

Main articles: Neopagan witchcraft and Semitic neopaganism

During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft rose in English-speaking and European countries. From the 1920s, Margaret Murray popularized the 'witch-cult hypothesis': the idea that those persecuted as 'witches' in early modern Europe were followers of a benevolent pagan religion that had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been discredited by further historical research.148149150151152

From the 1930s, occult neopagan groups began to emerge who called their religion a kind of 'witchcraft'. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's 'witch cult' theory, ceremonial magic, Aleister Crowley's Thelema, and historical paganism.153154155 The biggest religious movement to emerge from this is Wicca. Today, some Wiccans and members of related traditions self-identify as "witches" and use the term "witchcraft" for their magico-religious beliefs and practices, primarily in Western anglophone countries.156

Regional perspectives

A 2022 study found that belief in witchcraft, as in the use of malevolent magic or powers, is still widespread in some parts of the world. It found that belief in witchcraft varied from 9% of people in some countries to 90% in others, and was linked to cultural and socioeconomic factors. Stronger belief in witchcraft correlated with poorer economic development, weak institutions, lower levels of education, lower life expectancy, lower life satisfaction, and high religiosity.157158

It contrasted two hypotheses about future changes in witchcraft belief:159

  • witchcraft beliefs should decline "in the process of development due to improved security and health, lower exposure to shocks, spread of education and scientific approach to explaining life events" according to standard modernization theory
  • "some aspects of development, namely rising inequality, globalization, technological change, and migration, may instead revive witchcraft beliefs by disrupting established social order" according to literature largely inspired by observations from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa

Main article: Witchcraft in Africa

African witchcraft encompasses various beliefs and practices. These beliefs often play a significant role in shaping social dynamics and can influence how communities address challenges and seek spiritual assistance. Much of what "witchcraft" represents in Africa has been susceptible to misunderstandings and confusion, due to a tendency among western scholars to approach the subject through a comparative lens vis-a-vis European witchcraft.160 For example, the Maka people of Cameroon believe in an occult force known as djambe, that dwells inside a person. It is often translated as "witchcraft" or "sorcery", but it has a broader meaning that encompasses supernatural harm, healing and shapeshifting; this highlights the problem of using European terms for African concepts.161

While some 19th–20th century European colonialists tried to stamp out witch-hunting in Africa by introducing laws banning accusations of witchcraft, some former African colonies introduced laws banning witchcraft after they gained independence. This has produced an environment that encourages persecution of suspected witches.162

In the Central African Republic, hundreds of people are convicted of witchcraft yearly, with reports of violence against accused women.163 The Democratic Republic of the Congo witnessed a disturbing trend of child witchcraft accusations in Kinshasa, leading to abuse and exorcisms supervised by self-styled pastors.164 In Ghana, there are several "witch camps", where women accused of witchcraft can seek refuge, though the government plans to close them.165

In west Kenya, there have been cases of accused witches being burned to death in their homes by mobs.166 Malawi faces a similar issue of child witchcraft accusations, with traditional healers and some Christian counterparts involved in exorcisms, causing abandonment and abuse of children.167 In Nigeria, Pentecostal pastors have intertwined Christianity with witchcraft beliefs for profit, leading to the torture and killing of accused children.168 Sierra Leone's Mende people see witchcraft convictions as beneficial, as the accused receive support and care from the community.169

Lastly, in Zulu culture, healers known as sangomas protect people from witchcraft and evil spirits through divination, rituals and mediumship.170 However, concerns arise regarding the training and authenticity of some sangomas.

In parts of Africa, beliefs about illness being caused by witchcraft continue to fuel suspicion of modern medicine, with serious healthcare consequences. HIV/AIDS171 and Ebola172 are two examples of often-lethal infectious disease epidemics whose medical care and containment has been severely hampered by regional beliefs in witchcraft. Other severe medical conditions whose treatment is hampered in this way include tuberculosis, leprosy, epilepsy and the common severe bacterial Buruli ulcer.173174

Americas

North America

Main article: Witchcraft in North America

North America hosts a diverse array of beliefs about witchcraft, some of which have evolved through interactions between cultures.175176

Native American peoples such as the Cherokee,177 Hopi,178 the Navajo179 among others,180 believed in malevolent "witch" figures who could harm their communities by supernatural means; this was often punished harshly, including by execution.181 In these communities, medicine people were healers and protectors against witchcraft.182183

The term "witchcraft" arrived with European colonists, along with European views on witchcraft.184 This term would be adopted by many Indigenous communities for their own beliefs about harmful magic and harmful supernatural powers. Witch hunts took place among Christian European settlers in colonial America and the United States, most infamously the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. These trials led to the execution of numerous individuals accused of practicing witchcraft. Despite changes in laws and perspectives over time, accusations of witchcraft persisted into the 19th century in some regions, such as Tennessee, where prosecutions occurred as late as 1833.

Some North American witchcraft beliefs were influenced by beliefs about witchcraft in Latin America, and by African witchcraft beliefs through the slave trade.185186187 Native American cultures adopted the term for their own witchcraft beliefs.188 Neopagan witchcraft practices such as Wicca then emerged in the mid-20th century.189190

Latin America

Main article: Witchcraft in Latin America

Witchcraft beliefs in Latin America are influenced by Spanish Catholic, Indigenous, and African beliefs. In Colonial Mexico, the Mexican Inquisition showed little concern for witchcraft; the Spanish Inquisitors treated witchcraft accusations as a "religious problem that could be resolved through confession and absolution". Anthropologist Ruth Behar writes that Mexican Inquisition cases "hint at a fascinating conjecture of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion, in which Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures converged".191 There are cases where European women and Indigenous women were accused of collaborating to work "love magic" or "sexual witchcraft" against men in colonial Mexico.192 According to anthropology professor Laura Lewis, "witchcraft" in colonial Mexico represented an "affirmation of hegemony" for women and especially Indigenous women over their white male counterparts in the casta system.193

Belief in witchcraft is a constant in the history of colonial Brazil, for example the several denunciations and confessions given to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of Bahia (1591–1593), Pernambuco and Paraíba (1593–1595).194

Brujería, often called a Latin American form of witchcraft, is a syncretic Afro-Caribbean tradition that combines Indigenous religious and magical practices from the Caribbean, together with Catholicism, and European witchcraft.195 The tradition and terminology is considered to encompass both helpful and harmful practices.196 A male practitioner is called a brujo, a female practitioner, a bruja.197 Healers may be further distinguished by the terms kurioso or kuradó, a man or woman who performs trabou chikí ("little works") and trabou grandi ("large treatments") to promote or restore health, bring fortune or misfortune, deal with unrequited love, and more serious concerns. Sorcery usually involves reference to an entity referred to as the almasola or homber chiki.198

Asia

Main article: Asian witchcraft

East Asia

In Chinese culture, the practice of Gong Tau involves black magic for purposes such as revenge and financial assistance. Japanese folklore features witch figures who employ foxes as familiars. Korean history includes instances of individuals being condemned for using spells. The Philippines has its own tradition of witches, distinct from Western portrayals, with their practices often countered by indigenous shamans.

Middle East

Main article: Witchcraft in the Middle East

Witchcraft beliefs in the Middle East have a long history, and magic was a part of the ancient cultures and religions of the region.199

In ancient Mesopotamia (Sumeria, Assyria, Babylonia), a witch (m. kaššāpu, f. kaššāptu) was "usually regarded as an anti-social and illegitimate practitioner of destructive magic ... motivated by malice and evil intent".200 Ancient Mesopotamian societies mainly used counter-magic against witchcraft (kišpū), but the law codes also prescribed the death penalty for those found guilty of witchcraft.201

For the ancient Hittites, magic could only be sanctioned by the state, and accusations of witchcraft were often used to control political enemies.202

As the ancient Hebrews focused on their worship on Yahweh, Judaism clearly distinguished between forms of magic and mystical practices which were accepted, and those which were viewed as forbidden or heretical, and thus "witchcraft".203

In the medieval Middle East, under Islamic and Christian influences, witchcraft's perception fluctuated between healing and heresy, revered by some and condemned by others. In the present day diverse witchcraft communities have emerged.

Europe

Main article: European witchcraft

Ancient Roman world

Main article: European witchcraft § Antiquity

European belief in witchcraft can be traced back to classical antiquity, when concepts of magic and religion were closely related. During the pagan era of ancient Rome, there were laws against harmful magic.204 According to Pliny, the 5th century BCE laws of the Twelve Tables laid down penalties for uttering harmful incantations and for stealing the fruitfulness of someone else's crops by magic.205 The only recorded trial involving this law was that of Gaius Furius Cresimus.206

The Classical Latin word veneficium meant both poisoning and causing harm by magic (such as magic potions), although ancient people would not have distinguished between the two.207 In 331 BCE, a deadly epidemic hit Rome and at least 170 women were executed for causing it by veneficium. In 184–180 BCE, another epidemic hit Italy, and about 5,000 were executed for veneficium.208 If the reports are accurate, writes Hutton, "then the Republican Romans hunted witches on a scale unknown anywhere else in the ancient world".209

Under the Lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficis of 81 BCE, killing by veneficium carried the death penalty. During the early Imperial era, the Lex Cornelia began to be used more broadly against other kinds of magic,210 including sacrifices made for evil purposes. The magicians were to be burnt at the stake.211

Witch characters—women who work powerful evil magic—appear in ancient Roman literature from the first century BCE onward. They are typically hags who chant harmful incantations; make poisonous potions from herbs and the body parts of animals and humans; sacrifice children; raise the dead; can control the natural world; can shapeshift themselves and others into animals; and invoke underworld deities and spirits. They include Lucan's Erichtho, Horace's Canidia, Ovid's Dipsas, and Apuleius's Meroe.212

Early modern and contemporary Europe

By the early modern period, major witch hunts and witch trials began to take place in Europe, partly fueled by religious tensions, societal anxieties, and economic upheaval. One influential text was the Malleus Maleficarum, a 1486 treatise that provided a framework for identifying, prosecuting, and punishing witches. Witches were typically seen as people who caused harm or misfortune through black magic, and were sometimes believed to have made a pact with the Devil.213 Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by neighbors and followed from social tensions. Accusations were often made against marginalized individuals, women, the elderly, and those who did not conform to societal norms. Women made accusations as often as men. The common people believed that magical healers (called 'cunning folk' or 'wise people') could undo bewitchment. Hutton says that magical healers were sometimes denounced as witches themselves, "but seem to have made up a minority of the accused in any area studied".214 The witch-craze reached its peak between the 16th and 17th centuries, resulting in the execution of tens of thousands of people. This dark period of history reflects the confluence of superstition, fear, and authority, as well as the societal tendency to find scapegoats for complex problems. A feminist interpretation of the witch trials is that misogynist views led to the association of women and malevolent witchcraft.215

During the 16th century and mid 18th century Scotland had 4000-6000 prosecutions against accused witches, a much higher rate then the European average.216217

Russia also experienced its own iteration of witchcraft trials during the 17th century. Witches were often accused of sorcery and engaging in supernatural activities, leading to their excommunication and execution. The blending of ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions in Russia's approach to witchcraft trials highlighted the intertwined nature of religious and political power during that time. As the 17th century progressed, the fear of witches shifted from mere superstition to a tool for political manipulation, with accusations used to target individuals who posed threats to the ruling elite.218

Since the 1940s, neopagan witchcraft movements have emerged in Europe, seeking to revive and reinterpret ancient pagan and mystical practices. Wicca, pioneered by Gerald Gardner, is the most influential. Drawing inspiration from ceremonial magic, historical paganism, and the now-discredited witch-cult theory, Wicca emphasizes a connection to nature, the divine, and personal growth. Similarly, Stregheria in Italy reflects a desire to reconnect with the country's pagan past. Many of these neopagans self-identify as "witches". Neopagan witchcraft in Europe encompasses a wide range of traditions.

Oceania

The Cook Islands Māori term for black magic is purepure.219 Native priests and folk healers are called ta'unga.220

It is estimated that 50–150 alleged witches are killed each year in Papua New Guinea.221 A local newspaper informed that more than fifty people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft.222

Belief and practice of witchcraft are prevalent in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea.223 Unlike other provinces, Milne Bay and the Samarai Islands see much less violence against both those accused of witchcraft and women in general than other parts of the country.224 It is suggested the history of witchcraft in the area contributes to a raise in status of women in the area overall.225

Witches in art and literature

Further information: Witch (archetype) § In art and literature, and List of fictional witches

Witches have a long history of being depicted in art, although most of their earliest artistic depictions seem to originate in Early Modern Europe, particularly the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Many scholars attribute their manifestation in art as inspired by texts such as Canon Episcopi, a demonology-centered work of literature, and Malleus Maleficarum, a "witch-craze" manual published in 1487, by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger.226 Witches in fiction span a wide array of characterizations. They are typically, but not always, female, and generally depicted as either villains or heroines.227

See also

Notes

Works cited

  • Abusch, Tzvi  (2002). Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature. Brill Styx. ISBN 978-90-04-12387-8. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |first= at position 5 (help)
  • Adler, Margot (2006). Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. New York: Penguin Books. OCLC 515560.
  • Ankarloo, Bengt; Clark, Stuart (2001). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Biblical and Pagan Societies. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Philadelphia Press. ISBN 978-0-8264-8606-6.
  • Buse, Jasper (1995). Cook Islands Maori Dictionary. Cook Islands Ministry of Education. ISBN 978-0-7286-0230-4.
  • Cusack, Carole M. (2009). "The Return of the Goddess: Mythology, Witchcraft and Feminist Spirituality". In Pizza, Murphy; Lewis, James (eds.). Handbook of Contemporary Paganism. Brill. ISBN 978-9004163737.
  • Davies, Owen (2003). Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History. London: Hambledon Continuum. ISBN 978-1-85285-297-9.
  • Ehrenreich, Barbara; English, Deirdre (2010). Witches, Midwives & Nurses: A History of Women Healers (2nd ed.). New York: Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 978-1-55861-690-5.
  • Herrera-Sobek, María (2012). Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-34339-1.
  • Hutton, Ronald (1999). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820744-3.
  • Hutton, Ronald (2017). The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present. Yale University Press.
  • Levack, Brian (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America. Oxford University Press.
  • Pócs, É. (1999). Between the Living and the Dead: A Perspective on Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age. Hungary: Central European University Press. ISBN 978-963-9116-19-1.
  • Reiner, E.  (1995). Astral Magic in Babylonia. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. ISBN 978-0-87169-854-4. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |first= at position 3 (help)
  • Thomas, Keith (1997). Religion and the Decline of Magic. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0297002208.
  • Wilby, Emma (2005). Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-079-8.
  • Willis, Deborah (2018). Malevolent Nurture: Witch-Hunting and Maternal Power in Early Modern England. Cornell University Press.

Further reading

  • Bailey, M. D. (2010). Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages. Pennsylvania State University Press.
  • Bosworth, Joseph (1991) [1882]. Toller, T. Northcote (ed.). An Anglo-Saxon dictionary, based on the manuscript collections of the late Joseph Bosworth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Chardonnens, László Sándor (2007). Anglo-Saxon Prognostics, 900–1100: Study and Texts. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004158290.
  • Epstein, I. (2008). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Children's Issues Worldwide. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-05559-1.
  • Ginzburg, Carlo (1983) [1966]. The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Translated by Tedeschi, John; Tedeschi, Anne. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801843860.
  • Ginzburg, Carlo (2004) [1989]. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath. Translated by Raymond Rosenthal. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-29693-7.
  • Gill, William Wyatt (1892). "Wizards". The South Pacific and New Guinea, Past and Present. Sydney: Charles Potter, Government Printer.
  • Hutton, R.  (2006). Witches, Druids and King Arthur. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-85285-555-0. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |first= at position 3 (help)
  • Kent, Elizabeth (2005). "Masculinity and Male Witches in Old and New England". History Workshop. 60: 69–92. doi:10.1093/hwj/dbi034.
  • Lima, R. (2005). Stages of Evil: Occultism in Western Theater and Drama. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2362-2.
  • Lühr, R.  (1988). Expressivität und Lautgesetz im Germanischen (in German). Heidelberg: Winter. ISBN 978-3533038641. {{cite book}}: no-break space character in |first= at position 3 (help)
  • North, Richard (1997). Heathen Gods in Old English Literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Rasbold, K. (2019). Crossroads of Conjure: The Roots and Practices of Granny Magic, Hoodoo, Brujería, and Curanderismo. Llewellyn Worldwide. ISBN 978-0-7387-5824-4.
  • Ruickbie, Leo (2004). Witchcraft out of the Shadows: A History. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 978-0-7090-7567-7.
  • Williams, Howard (1865). The Superstitions of Witchcraft. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green – via Project Gutenberg.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Witchcraft. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Witchcraft. Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Witchcraft".

References

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  4. Thomas (1997), p. 519. - Thomas, Keith (1997). Religion and the Decline of Magic. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0297002208. ↩

  5. Perrone, Bobette; Stockel, H. Henrietta; Krueger, Victoria (1993). Medicine women, curanderas, and women doctors. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0806125121. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 978-0806125121 ↩

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  32. Ankarloo, Bengt; Henningsen, Gustav (1990). Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1, 14. ↩

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  60. "If we analyze the principles of thought on which magic is based, they will probably be found to resolve themselves into two: first, that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause; and, second, that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. The former principle may be called the Law of Similarity, the latter the Law of Contact or Contagion. From the first of these principles, namely the Law of Similarity, the magician infers that he can produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it: from the second he infers that whatever he does to a material object will affect equally the person with whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed part of his body or not."[43] ↩

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  87. Grell, Ole Peter; Scribner, Robert W. (2002). Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation. Cambridge University Press. p. 45. Not all the stereotypes created by elites were capable of popular reception [...] The most interesting example concerns cunning folk, whom secular and religious authorities consistently sought to associate with negative stereotypes of superstition or witchcraft. This proved no deterrent to their activities or to the positive evaluation in the popular mind of what they had to offer. ↩

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