This article is about traditional views of witchcraft. For an overview of Neopagan witchcraft, seeNeopagan witchcraft. For the modern pagan religion, seeWicca. For other uses, seeWitchcraft (disambiguation).
Witchcraft is the use of allegedsupernatural powers ormagic by a person called awitch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning.[1] According toEncyclopedia Britannica, "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world".[2] The belief in witches has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have usedprotective magic or counter-magic against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches.Anthropologists use the term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmfuloccult practices in different cultures, and these societies often use the term when speaking in English.[3][4][5]
Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested fromancient Mesopotamia, andin Europe, belief in witchestraces back to classical antiquity. Inmedieval andearly modern Europe, accused witches were usually women[6] who were believed to have secretly usedblack magic (maleficium) against their own community. Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by neighbors of accused witches, and followed from social tensions. Witches were sometimes said to have communed withdemons orwith the Devil, though anthropologistJean La Fontaine notes that such accusations were mainly made against perceived "enemies of the Church".[7] It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted bywhite magic, provided by 'cunning folk' or 'wise people'. Suspected witches were often prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. Europeanwitch-hunts andwitch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers andmidwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves,[8][4][9][10] they made up a minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after theAge of Enlightenment.
Manyindigenous belief systems that include the concept of witchcraft likewise define witches as malevolent, and seek healers (such asmedicine people andwitch doctors) to ward-off and undo bewitchment.[11][12] Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them.Modern witch-hunting takes place in parts of Africa and Asia.
Since the 1930s, followers of certain kinds ofmodern paganism identify as witches and redefine the term "witchcraft" as part of theirneopagan beliefs and practices.[13][14][15] Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its negative connotations.[16]
The most common meaning of "witchcraft" worldwide is the use of harmful magic.[17] Belief in malevolent magic and the concept of witchcraft has lasted throughout recorded history and has been found in cultures worldwide, regardless of development.[3][18] 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".[19] Historians and anthropologists see the concept of "witchcraft" as one of the ways humans have tried to explain strange misfortune.[19][20] Some cultures have feared witchcraft much less than others, because they tend to have other explanations for strange misfortune.[19] For example, theGaels of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands historically held a strong belief infairy folk, who could cause supernatural harm, and witch-hunting was very rare in these regions compared to other regions of the British Isles.[21]
HistorianRonald 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.[17]
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.[22]
One of the most influential works on witchcraft and concepts of magic wasE. E. Evans-Pritchard'sWitchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, a study ofAzande witchcraft beliefs published in 1937. This provided definitions for witchcraft which became a convention in anthropology.[20] However, some researchers argue that the general adoption of Evans-Pritchard's definitions constrained discussion of witchcraft beliefs, and even broader discussion ofmagic and religion, in ways that his work does not support.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25][26] The distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to the particular societies with which they are concerned".[22]
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.[22] Such substances may be believed to act on their own while the witch is sleeping or unaware.[23] TheDobu people believe women work harmful magic in their sleep while men work it while awake.[27] Further, in cultures where substances within the body are believed to grant supernatural powers, the substance may be good, bad, or morally neutral.[28][29] Hutton draws a distinction between those who unwittingly cast theevil eye and those who deliberately do so, describing only the latter as witches.[19]
The universal or cross-cultural validity of the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" are debated.[20] 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.[19]
AnthropologistFiona Bowie notes that the terms "witchcraft" and "witch" are used differently by scholars and the general public in at least four ways.[20] Neopagan writerIsaac 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.[31]
The word "witchcraft" is over a thousand years old:Old English formed the compoundwiccecræft fromwicce ('witch') andcræft ('craft').[32] The masculine form waswicca ('male sorcerer').[33]
According to theOxford English Dictionary,wicce andwicca were probably derived from the Old English verbwiccian, meaning 'to practice witchcraft'.[34]Wiccian has a cognate inMiddle Low Germanwicken (attested from the 13th century). The further etymology of this word is problematic. It has no clear cognates in otherGermanic languages outside of English and Low German, and there are numerous possibilities for theIndo-European root from which it may have derived.
Another Old English word for 'witch' washægtes orhægtesse, 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 exampleGermanHexe andDutchheks.[35]
In colloquial modernEnglish, the wordwitch is particularly used for women.[36] A male practitioner of magic or witchcraft is more commonly called a 'wizard', or sometimes, 'warlock'. When the wordwitch is used to refer to a member of a neo-pagan tradition or religion (such asWicca), it can refer to a person of any gender.[37]
Preparation for the Witches' Sabbath byDavid Teniers the Younger. It shows a witch brewing a potion overlooked by herfamiliar spirit or a demon; items on the floor for casting a spell; and another witch reading from agrimoire while anointing the buttocks of a young witch about to fly upon an invertedbesom.
Witches are commonly believed to castcurses; aspell or set of magical words and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm.[38] Cursing could also involve inscribingrunes orsigils on an object to give that object magical powers; burning or binding a wax or clay image (apoppet) of a person to affect them magically; or usingherbs, animal parts and other substances to makepotions or poisons.[39][40][41][22] 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".[42]
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.[22] Such beliefs are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North America.[22] 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.[22]James George Frazer described this kind of magic asimitative.[a]
In some cultures, witches are believed to use human body parts in magic,[22] and they are commonly believed tomurder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be calledpostpartum psychosis, were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical temptation".[44]
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".[22] In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity.[22]
Witches around the world commonly have associations with animals.[45]Rodney Needham identified this as a defining feature of the witch archetype.[46] In some parts of the world, it is believed witches canshapeshift into animals,[47] or that the witch's spirit travels apart from their body and takes an animal form, an activity often associated withshamanism.[47] Another widespread belief is that witches have an animal helper.[47] In English these are often called "familiars", and meant an evil spirit or demon that had taken an animal form.[47] 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.[48]
Necromancy is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead fordivination orprophecy, although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The biblicalWitch of Endor performed it (1 Samuel 28th chapter), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned byÆlfric of Eynsham:[49][50][51] "Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to thedevil; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arises from death."[52]
Diorama of a cunning woman or wise woman in the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Most societies that have believed in harmful orblack magic have also believed in helpful orwhite magic.[53] 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 orapotropaic (protective) magic is tolerated or accepted by the population, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.[54]
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, andlove magic.[55] In Britain, and some other parts of Europe, they were commonly known as 'cunning folk' or 'wise people'.[55]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'.[56] HistorianOwen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century.[57] Ronald Hutton uses the general term "service magicians".[55] Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches.[53]
Such helpful magic-workers "were normally contrasted with the witch who practicedmaleficium—that is, magic used for harmful ends".[58] In the early years of theEuropean witch hunts "the cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general populace".[58] 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',[55] but generally the masses did not accept this and continued to make use of their services.[59] The EnglishMP and skepticReginald Scot sought to disprove magic and witchcraft altogether, writing inThe 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'".[60] HistorianKeith 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".[4]
Emma Wilby says folk magicians in Europe were viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing,[61] 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 supposedfairyfamiliars had beendemonised.[62]
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".[53] Likewise,Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently than alleged witches. TheConstitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of theHoly Roman Empire, and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches.[63] It was suggested byRichard 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.[64] However,Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers,[65] and Kathleen Stokker says the "vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers.[66]
A witch bottle, used as counter-magic against witchcraft
Societies that believe (or believed) in witchcraft may also believe that it can be thwarted in various ways. One common way is to useprotective magic or counter-magic, often with the help of magical healers such ascunning folk orwitch-doctors.[53] This includes performingrituals, recitingcharms, or the use oftalismans,amulets, anti-witch marks,witch bottles,witch balls, and burying objects such ashorse skulls inside the walls of buildings.[67] Another believed cure for bewitchment is to persuade or force the alleged witch to lift their spell.[53] 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.[53]
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.[68] 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.[69]
Éva Pócs writes that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories. The first three of which were proposed byRichard Kieckhefer, and the fourth added byChristina Larner:[70]
A person was caught in the act of positive or negativesorcery
A well-meaning sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust
A person did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbors
A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs oroccultism.
Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and theshunning ormurder of suspected witches still occurs.[71] Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic.[72]
Apart fromextrajudicial violence, state-sanctioned execution also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, inSaudi Arabia practicing witchcraft and sorcery is a crimepunishable by death and the country has executed people for this crime as recently as 2014.[73][74][75]
Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context ofviolence against women.[76][77][78][79][80] In Tanzania, an estimated 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch, according to a 2014World Health Organization report.[81]
Children who live in some regions of the world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence stemming from witchcraft accusations.[82][83][84][85] Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in Britain, including the much publicized case of themurder of Victoria Climbié.[86][87]
Magic was an important part ofancient Mesopotamian religion and society, which distinguished between 'good' (helpful) and 'bad' (harmful) rites.[88] In ancientMesopotamia, they mainly used counter-magic against witchcraft (kišpū[89]), but the law codes also prescribed the death penalty for those found guilty of witchcraft.[88] 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".[90] 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.[90]
In ancient Mesopotamia, a witch (m.kaššāpu, f.kaššāptu, fromkašāpu ['to bewitch'][89]) 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 theašipu, an exorcist or incantation-priest".[90] Theseašipu were predominantly male representatives of the state religion, whose main role was to work magic against harmful supernatural forces such asdemons.[90] 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.[88]
The LawCode of Hammurabi (18th century BCE) allowed someone accused of witchcraft (harmful magic) to undergotrial 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, theaccuser's estate was handed over instead.[88]
TheMaqlû ("burning") is an ancientAkkadian text, written early in thefirst millennium BCE, which sets out a Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft ritual.[91] This lengthy ritual includes invokingvarious gods, burning an effigy of the witch, then dousing and disposing of the remains.[92]
Witchcraft's historical evolution in the Middle East reveals a multi-phase journey influenced byculture,spirituality, and societal norms. Ancient witchcraft in the Near East intertwinedmysticism with nature throughrituals andincantations aligned with local beliefs. In ancientJudaism, magic had a complex relationship, with some forms accepted due to mysticism[93] while others were consideredheretical.[94] The medieval Middle East experienced shifting perceptions of witchcraft underIslamic andChristian influences, sometimes revered for healing and other times condemned as heresy.
Jewish attitudes toward witchcraft were rooted in its association withidolatry andnecromancy, and somerabbis even practiced certain forms of magic themselves.[95][96] References to witchcraft in theTanakh, 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 justifywitch-hunting during the early modern period.
InChristianity,sorcery came to be associated withheresy andapostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among Catholics, Protestants, and thesecular 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.[99][100]: 23 InScots, the wordwarlock came to be used as the male equivalent ofwitch (which can be male or female, but is used predominantly for females).[101][102]
TheMalleus 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 Protestants[103] 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.[104] It was the most sold book in Europe for over 100 years, after the Bible.[105]
Islamic perspectives on magic encompass a wide range of practices,[106] with belief in black magic and theevil eye coexisting alongside strict prohibitions against its practice.[107] TheQuran 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 divinemiracles rather than magic or witchcraft.[108] The historical continuity of witchcraft in the Middle East underlines the complex interaction between spiritual beliefs and societal norms across different cultures andepochs.
Prevalence of belief in witchcraft by country[117]Socio-demographic correlates of witchcraft beliefs[117]
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, lowerlife expectancy, lower life satisfaction, and highreligiosity.[118][117]
It contrasted two hypotheses about future changes in witchcraft belief:[117]
witchcraft beliefs should decline "in theprocess 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.
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 lensvis-a-vis European witchcraft.[119] For example, theMaka people ofCameroon believe in an occult force known asdjambe, 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.[120]
While some 19th–20th centuryEuropean 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.[121]
In theCentral African Republic, hundreds of people are convicted of witchcraft yearly, with reports of violence against accused women.[122] TheDemocratic Republic of the Congo witnessed a disturbing trend of child witchcraft accusations inKinshasa, leading to abuse and exorcisms supervised by self-styled pastors.[123] InGhana, there are several "witch camps", where women accused of witchcraft can seek refuge, though the government plans to close them.[124]
In westKenya, there have been cases of accused witches being burned to death in their homes by mobs.[125]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.[126] InNigeria,Pentecostal pastors have intertwined Christianity with witchcraft beliefs for profit, leading to the torture and killing of accused children.[127]Sierra Leone'sMende people see witchcraft convictions as beneficial, as the accused receive support and care from the community.[128]
Lastly, inZulu culture, healers known assangomas protect people from witchcraft and evil spirits through divination, rituals andmediumship.[129] However, concerns arise regarding the training and authenticity of some sangomas.
North America hosts a diverse array of beliefs about witchcraft, some of which have evolved through interactions between cultures.[134][135]
Native American peoples such as theCherokee,[136]Hopi,[137] theNavajo[5] among others,[138] believed in malevolent "witch" figures who could harm their communities by supernatural means; this was often punished harshly, including by execution.[139] In these communities,medicine people were healers and protectors against witchcraft.[136][137]
The term "witchcraft" arrived withEuropean colonists, along withEuropean views on witchcraft.[134] 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 settlersin colonial America and the United States, most infamously theSalem 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.
Witchcraft beliefs inLatin America are influenced by Spanish Catholic,Indigenous, and African beliefs. InColonial Mexico, theMexican Inquisition showed little concern for witchcraft; the Spanish Inquisitors treated witchcraft accusations as a "religious problem that could be resolved through confession andabsolution". AnthropologistRuth Behar writes that Mexican Inquisition cases "hint at a fascinating conjecture of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion, in which Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures converged".[143] 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.[144] 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 thecasta system.[145]
Brujería, often called a Latin American form of witchcraft, is asyncretic Afro-Caribbean tradition that combines Indigenous religious and magical practices from the Caribbean, together with Catholicism, and European witchcraft.[147] The tradition and terminology is considered to encompass both helpful and harmful practices.[148] A male practitioner is called abrujo, a female practitioner, abruja.[148] Healers may be further distinguished by the termskurioso orkuradó, a man or woman who performstrabou chikí ("little works") andtrabou 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 thealmasola orhomber chiki.[149]
InChinese culture, the practice ofGong Tau involves black magic for purposes such as revenge and financial assistance.[citation needed]Japanese folklore features witch figures who employ foxes as familiars.Korean history includes instances of individuals being condemned for using spells. ThePhilippines has its own tradition of witches, distinct from Western portrayals, with their practices often countered by indigenousshamans.[citation needed]
Witchcraft beliefs in theMiddle East have a long history, and magic was a part of the ancient cultures and religions of the region.[150]
In ancientMesopotamia (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".[90] 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.[88]
For the ancientHittites, magic could only be sanctioned by the state, and accusations of witchcraft were often used to control political enemies.[151]
As the ancientHebrews focused on their worship onYahweh,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".[152]
In the medieval Middle East, underIslamic andChristian influences, witchcraft's perception fluctuated between healing andheresy, revered by some and condemned by others.[citation needed] In the present day diverse witchcraft communities have emerged.[citation needed]
TheClassical Latin wordveneficium meant both poisoning and causing harm by magic (such as magic potions), although ancient people would not have distinguished between the two.[154] In 331 BCE, a deadly epidemic hit Rome and at least 170 women were executed for causing it byveneficium. In 184–180 BCE, another epidemic hit Italy, and about 5,000 were executed forveneficium.[154] If the reports are accurate, writesHutton, "then theRepublican Romans hunted witches on a scale unknown anywhere else in the ancient world".[154]
Under theLex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficis of 81 BCE, killing byveneficium carried the death penalty. During the earlyImperial era, theLex Cornelia began to be used more broadly against other kinds of magic,[154] including sacrifices made for evil purposes. The magicians were to be burnt at the stake.[153]
Witch characters—women who work powerful evil magic—appear in ancient Roman literature from the first century BCE onward. They are typicallyhags 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 includeLucan'sErichtho,Horace'sCanidia,Ovid's Dipsas, andApuleius'sMeroe.[154]
By theearly modern period, majorwitch hunts andwitch trials began to take place in Europe, partly fueled by religious tensions, societal anxieties, and economic upheaval. One influential text was theMalleus 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 throughblack magic, and were sometimes believed to have made apact with the Devil.[155] 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".[53] 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 ofsuperstition, fear, and authority, as well as the societal tendency to findscapegoats for complex problems. Afeminist interpretation of the witch trials is thatmisogynist views led to the association of women and malevolent witchcraft.[155]
During the 16th century and mid 18th century Scotland had 4000-6000 prosecutions against accused witches, a much higher rate then the European average.[156][157]
Russia also experienced its own iteration of witchcraft trials during the 17th century. Witches were often accused ofsorcery and engaging insupernatural activities, leading to theirexcommunication and execution. The blending ofecclesiastical andsecular 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.[158]
Since the 1940s,neopagan witchcraft movements have emerged in Europe, seeking to revive and reinterpret ancient pagan and mystical practices.Wicca, pioneered byGerald Gardner, is the most influential. Drawing inspiration fromceremonial magic, historical paganism, and the now-discreditedwitch-cult theory, Wicca emphasizes a connection to nature, thedivine, 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.[citation needed]
It is estimated that 50–150 alleged witches are killed each year inPapua New Guinea.[161] A local newspaper informed that more than fifty people were killed in twoHighlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft.[162]
Belief and practice of witchcraft are prevalent inMilne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea.[163] Unlike other provinces,Milne Bay and theSamarai Islands see much less violence against both those accused of witchcraft and women in general than other parts of the country.[163] It is suggested the history of witchcraft in the area contributes to a raise in status of women in the area overall.[163]
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 asCanon Episcopi, a demonology-centered work of literature, andMalleus Maleficarum, a "witch-craze" manual published in 1487, by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger.[164] Witches in fiction span a wide array of characterizations. They are typically, but not always, female, and generally depicted as eithervillains orheroines.[165]
^"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]
^Russell, Jeffrey Burton; Lewis, Ioan M. (2023)."Witchcraft".Encyclopedia Britannica.Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved28 July 2023.Although defined differently in disparate historical and cultural contexts, witchcraft has often been seen, especially in the West, as the work of crones who meet secretly at night, indulge in cannibalism and orgiastic rites with the Devil, or Satan, and perform black magic. Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination of contemporaries than in any objective reality. Yet this stereotype has a long history and has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world.
^Riddle, John M. (1997).Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp. 110–119.ISBN0674270266.
^abDoyle White, Ethan (2016).Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Liverpool University Press. pp. 1–9, 73.ISBN978-1-84519-754-4.
^abMills, Martin A. (March 2013). "The opposite of witchcraft: Evans-Pritchard and the problem of the person".The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.19 (1):18–33.doi:10.1111/1467-9655.12001.JSTOR42002806.
^Semple, Sarah (June 1998). "A fear of the past: The place of the prehistoric burial mound in the ideology of middle and later Anglo-Saxon England".World Archaeology.30 (1):109–126.doi:10.1080/00438243.1998.9980400.JSTOR125012.
^Pope, J.C. (1968).Homilies of Aelfric: a supplementary collection (Early English Text Society 260). Vol. II. Oxford, England:Oxford University Press. p. 796.
^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.
^Scot, Reginald (1584). "Chapter 9".The Discoverie of Witchcraft. Vol. Booke V.
^Stokker, Kathleen (2007).Remedies and Rituals: Folk Medicine in Norway and the New Land. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 81–82.ISBN978-0873517508.Supernatural healing of the sort practiced by Inger Roed and Lisbet Nypan, known assigneri, played a role in the vast majority of Norway's 263 documented witch trials. In trial after trial, accused 'witches' came forward and freely testified about their healing methods, telling about the salves they made and thebønner (prayers) they read over them to enhance their potency.
^Hoggard, Brian (2004). "The archaeology of counter-witchcraft and popular magic", inBeyond the Witch Trials: Witchcraft and Magic in Enlightenment Europe, Manchester University Press. p. 167[ISBN missing]
^"A Global Issue that Demands Action"(PDF). the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office. 2013.Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved7 June 2014.
^Bussien, Nathaly et al. 2011. Breaking the spell: Responding to witchcraft accusations against children, in New Issues in refugee Research (197). Geneva, Switzerland: UNHCR
^Cimpric, Aleksandra 2010. Children accused of witchcraft, An anthropological study of contemporary practices in Africa. Dakar, Senegal: UNICEF WCARO
^Molina, Javier Aguilar 2006. "The Invention of Child Witches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Social cleansing, religious commerce and the difficulties of being a parent in an urban culture". London: Save the Children
^Human Rights Watch 2006. Children in the DRC. Human Rights Watch report, 18 (2)
^Bilefsky, Dan (10 May 2009)."Hard Times Give New Life to Prague's Golem".The New York Times.Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved19 March 2013.According to Czech legend, the Golem was fashioned from clay and brought to life by a rabbi to protect Prague's 16th-century ghetto from persecution, and is said to be called forth in times of crisis. True to form, he is once again experiencing a revival, and in this commercial age, has spawned a one-monster industry.
^Russell, Jeffrey Burton."Witchcraft".Britannica.com.Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved29 June 2013.
^Gibbons, Jenny (1998) "Recent Developments in the Study of the Great European Witch Hunt" inThe PomegranateArchived 2009-01-26 at theWayback Machine #5, Lammas 1998.
^McNeill, F. Marian (1957).The Silver Bough: A Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland. Vol. 1. Edinburgh:Canongate Books.ISBN978-0862412319.
^Sinclair, George (1871).Satan's Invisible World Discovered. Edinburgh.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Jolly, Karen; Raudvere, Catharina; Peters, Edward (2002).Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Middle Ages. New York:A&C Black. p. 241.ISBN978-0485890037.In 1538 the Spanish Inquisition cautioned its members not to believe everything the Malleus said, even when it presented apparently firm evidence.
^Okeja, Uchenna (2011).'An African Context of the Belief in Witchcraft and Magic,' in Rational Magic. Fisher Imprints.ISBN978-1848880610.[page needed]
^Geschiere, Peter (1997).The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa. Translated by Peter Geschiere and Janet Roitman. University of Virginia Press. p. 13.ISBN0813917034.
^abcBerger, Helen A., ed. (2005).Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America. University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN978-0812219715.
^abKilpatrick, Alan (1998).The Night Has a Naked Soul – Witchcraft and Sorcery Among the Western Cherokee.Syracuse University Press.
^abGeertz, Armin W. (Summer 2011). "Hopi Indian Witchcraft and Healing: On Good, Evil, and Gossip".American Indian Quarterly.35 (3):372–393.doi:10.1353/aiq.2011.a447052.ISSN0095-182X.OCLC659388380.PMID22069814.To the Hopis, witches or evil-hearted persons deliberately try to destroy social harmony by sowing discontent, doubt, and criticism through evil gossip as well as by actively combating medicine men. ... Admitting [he practiced witchcraft] could cost him his life and occult power
^Simmons, Marc (1980).Witchcraft in the Southwest: Spanish and Indian Supernaturalism on the Rio Grande. University of Nebraska Press.ISBN978-0803291164.
^Wall, Leon and William Morgan,Navajo-English Dictionary. Hippocrene Books, New York, 1998.ISBN0781802474.
Abusch, Tzvi (2002).Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature. Brill Styx.ISBN978-90-04-12387-8.
Adler, Margot (2006).Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. New York:Penguin Books.OCLC515560.
Ankarloo, Bengt; Clark, Stuart (2001).Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Biblical and Pagan Societies. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Philadelphia Press.ISBN978-0-8264-8606-6.
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.ISBN978-9004163737.
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.ISBN978-963-9116-19-1.
Reiner, E. (1995).Astral Magic in Babylonia. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.ISBN978-0-87169-854-4.
Ginzburg, Carlo (2004) [1989].Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath. Translated by Raymond Rosenthal. University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-29693-7.
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.ISBN978-1-85285-555-0.
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.ISBN978-0-8131-2362-2.
Lühr, R. (1988).Expressivität und Lautgesetz im Germanischen (in German). Heidelberg: Winter.ISBN978-3533038641.
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.ISBN978-0-7387-5824-4.
Ruickbie, Leo (2004).Witchcraft out of the Shadows: A History. London: Robert Hale.ISBN978-0-7090-7567-7.
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