Witchcraft

Witchcraft is the use of magical powers. This might be for healing, seeing into the future, causing harm, or for religion. A person practicing witchcraft is called a witch, although a man practicing witchcraft is often mistakenly called a wizard (a word from Northern Europe), a warlock (a word from 14th century England), a sorcerer, or shaman (a term for people who practice magic in parts of Asia). Such people are said to have a knowledge of the chemical (or pharmaceutical) effects of certain herbs or shrubs. Witches can use this knowledge to help people who are sick or to hurt them.

A witch and a devil making a nail with which to cripple a boy

Witchcraft is different throughout the world and can be seen as good or bad depending on where you are. Today, many people practice a peaceful kind of witchcraft, called Wicca. However, there are still many other people who are scared of witchcraft and think that it is bad. Throughout history, there have been stories about good and bad witches.

In European history, witches were accused of physically making and performing spells to harm people. They could also harm people by using their mind. However, this belief was not real and was often used to explain why bad things happened sometimes.

In Africa, witches don't use physical tools or actions to curse. They can cause harm by just thinking about it. In fact, one may be unaware of being a witch, or may have been convinced of their witch nature by the suggestion of others. This understanding was described by anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard, who studied African magical beliefs.

Accusations of Witchcraft

Éva Pócs (a scholar and folklorist) states that there are four reasons a person is accused of witchcraft:

1. A person was caught in the act of positive or negative witchcraft (performing a spell)
2. A well-meaning healer lost the trust of their clients' or the authorities'
3. A person seemed dangerous and made their neighbors scared
4. A person was rumored to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or Occultism

She identifies three kinds of witches in popular belief:

1. The "neighborhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbor following some conflict.
2. The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has, through magic, increased their fortune but caused harm to someone in doing so; due to community rivalries and the hard to recognize nature between good and bad magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches.
3. The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams.

"Neighbourhood witches" are the product of neighbourhood arguments, and are found only in rural village communities where the inhabitants largely rely on each other. Such accusations follow the breaking of some social norm, such as the failure to return a borrowed item, and any person part of the normal exchange could potentially be accused. Claims of "sorcerer" witches and "supernatural" witches could arise out of social tensions, but not exclusively; the supernatural witch in particular often had nothing to do with community conflict, but expressed tensions between the human and supernatural worlds; and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe such supernatural witches became an ideology explaining calamities that befell entire communities.

Practices

It is believed that witches can perform magic by using plants, casting spells, or using their mind. The use of plants is often called herbalism and this involves collecting or growing herbs to use in potions or medicines to help or hurt people, animals, or things.

In popular artwork, witches can be seen using big metal cooking bowls called cauldrons to mix their spell ingredients. Witches also use wands, brooms, sticks, candles, swords, and fire to perform spells.

In some cultures, witches can harm people just by using their mind and thinking bad thoughts about a person. In these cultures, witches do not need any items and can potentially be anyone in the community.

Witchcraft and Anthropology

In anthropology, which is the study of human cultures, witchcraft is explored as a part of people's beliefs and traditions across different societies. Anthropology is like being a detective who studies people and how they live. Anthropologists are people who learn about different cultures, traditions, and beliefs all around the world.

Witchcraft involves the idea that some people have magical powers they can use to heal or harm others. Anthropologists (scientists who study cultures) are interested in witchcraft because it plays a big role in how people interact, deal with problems, and make sense of bad things that happen.

Witchcraft and Social Problems in Communities

Anthropologists believe witchcraft can help keep communities in order. In many cultures, witchcraft is often blamed when bad things happen, like when someone falls ill or has bad luck. Believing in witchcraft can help people feel they understand why something happened and allows the community to deal with the problem in a way that keeps people working together. For example, if someone is accused of witchcraft, it may serve as a warning to others to follow certain social rules.

A long time ago, when something bad happened (like someone getting sick or crops not growing) people didn't always know why. They might have thought a witch used magic to make these things happen because they didn't understand germs or weather like we do today.

In some places, if bad things happened, people might blame someone they thought was a witch. This could make that person feel scared or alone. Sometimes, saying someone was a witch was a way for people to explain things they couldn't understand.

Witchcraft accusations often come up when there are problems in the community, like a bad economy or conflicts between people. When people are stressed or facing challenges, they are more likely to accuse others of witchcraft. These accusations are sometimes directed at people who don’t fit in or are seen as different. Anthropologists study this to understand how people respond to tough times and why they might look for someone to blame.

One famous example of this was the Salem Witch Trials in colonial America, where people were accused of being witches due to social, economic, and religious reasons. Many of the accused were people who didn’t fit in or challenged society's rules.

Witchcraft & Gender

Anthropologists also look at how gender affects witchcraft accusations. Across different cultures, women are often more likely to be accused of witchcraft than men. Anthropologists who study this say it shows how societies view women and their roles. For example, women who are independent or act differently from others may be more likely to be accused. Anthropologists study this to understand how people thought about men and women in different times and places.

Modern Witchcraft

In the past, people in Western societies often feared witchcraft, but now it’s sometimes seen in a positive light. Some people today practice forms of witchcraft as a way to connect with nature, celebrate their beliefs, or express themselves, like in Wicca and other modern spiritual movements. Anthropologists study these modern practices as well, learning how beliefs about witchcraft have changed over time.

In some areas, like parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, belief in witchcraft is still very strong and can affect everyday life, even in cities and online. People may still face accusations of witchcraft, which can have serious consequences. Anthropologists study how these beliefs adapt to modern life and reflect people’s fears and values today.

Today, some people choose to practice witchcraft as part of their beliefs. They might celebrate nature, use herbs, or follow special rituals. It's different from the scary stories and is more about their connection to the world.

By Region

Africa

In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic.

1. The tagati is often poorly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who works in secret to harm others.
2. The sangoma is a diviner, similar to a fortune teller, and is hired to detect illness, predict a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also practices some degree of medicine.
3. The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans do not like this description as it implies that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of evil magic). The inyanga's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use.

Of these three categories the tagati is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male. Much of what witchcraft represents in Africa has been misunderstood and mistaken for European witchcraft. African scholar Uchenna Okeja argues that witchcraft in Africa today plays a very different social role than in Europe of the past—or present—and should be understood through an African, rather than Western view.

America

When the first Europeans came to the New World, they brought with them the Christian religion and their fear of supernatural witches. Native Americans had their own religion and beliefs. Since the Christian European settlers were living with these Native Americans and also African slaves (who had their own non-Christian religions and beliefs), this scared them. The Europeans were already scared, far away from their home in the New World with different plants and animals. This fear lead to violent crimes such as accusing and murdering people who they thought were witches and were hurting them with supernatural powers.

The most famous witch accusations were the 1692-1693 Salem Witch trials. During these trials, 150 people were accused of being witches, and 19 people were killed by hanging. Every Halloween season, Salem, Massachusetts hosts a Halloween festival in which they highlight their towns notorious history with the 1692 Salem Witch trials. This festival often involves live music, parties, and vendors selling witch-themed items.

Throughout the world there are many people who claim to have supernatural powers such as; psychics, mediums, palm readers and New Age healers. These people are sometimes members of witchcraft religions like Wicca. These people perform tricks to entertain and heal people such as tarot card reading, astrology, crystal healing, Reiki healing, talking to dead family members, or seeing the future.

Asia

Middle east

The belief in witchcraft and its practice seem to have been widespread in the Ancient Near East and Nile Valley. It played a clear role in the cultures of ancient Egypt and in Babylonia. Later tradition included an Akkadian anti-witchcraft ritual, the Maqlû. A section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 B.C.) prescribes:

If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him.

Europe

Ancient Greece

There are many examples of witches in Greek mythology, such as Circe, who was a sorcerer in Homers’ Odyssey. Circe used potions to put spells on visitors to her house, and she could turn people into pigs.

Ancient Ireland

Druids were members of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. They were religious leaders, legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals, and political advisors

The earliest record of the druids comes from two Greek texts from circa 300 BCE: one, a history of philosophy written by Sotion of Alexandria, and the other a study of magic widely attributed to Aristotle. Both texts are now lost, but were quoted in the 2nd century CE work Vitae by Diogenes Laërtius.

Some say that the study of philosophy originated with the barbarians. In that among the Persians there existed the Magi, and among the Babylonians or Assyrians the Chaldaei, among the Indians the Gymnosophistae, and among the Celts and Gauls men who were called druids and semnothei, as Aristotle relates in his book on magic, and Sotion in the twenty-third book of his Succession of Philosophers. - Diogenes Laërtius,  Vitae, Introduction, Section 1

Later Greek and Roman texts from the third century BCE refer to "barbarian philosophers", possibly in reference to the Gaulish druids.

Middle Ages

In Medieval times, witchcraft gradually became an enemy of Christianity. Christians thought that witchcraft was the work of the devil, and the Bible was used as evidence against witchcraft. Verses such as Deuteronomy 18:11–12 and Exodus 22:18 ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") were very influential.

In Europe in the Late Medieval/Early Modern period, Catholics, Protestants, and state leaders became very afraid of the power of witches. There were large witch-hunts in many places. People believed that the devil was using witches to try to overthrow Christianity, so tens or hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and others were put in prison, tortured, and had lands and possessions taken away from them. Most of these witches were women, because people believed women were more likely to be witches.

Witch-trials looked for evidence to prove that a person was a witch. Evidence included such things as signs of plant medicine, or images of non-Christian gods. One way to physically test if a person was a witch was to 'swim a witch'. This meant they would throw them in a river with their hands tied. If they sank, they were innocent. If they floated, they were guilty of witchcraft and were hanged. This violent practice was not based on any actual evidence. Instead, it allowed the witch-hunter to look right and powerful for the scared people who were watching.

South America

In South America, people continue to practice a form of witchcraft which started before the arrival of European Christianity. Throughout the Andes, there are many places called witch markets, such as the Mercado de las Brujas in La Paz, Bolivia. These markets sell items such as plant medicines

Popular culture

Witches are often seen in art and cinema. Many movies have focused on witches and witchcraft such as; Bewitched, Harry Potter, the Wizard of Oz, Hocus Pocus, and Rosemary's Baby. Many television shows also have witches and witchcraft. Some examples are: Charmed (1998) and (2018), American Horror Story: Coven, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.