Witchcraft

Witchcraft is the use of <a href="/facts/Magic_(supernatural)/ttcCLh3A">magic</a> by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict <a href="/facts/Supernatural/qSlTK0Ss">supernatural</a> harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in the imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world". The belief in witches has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have used <a href="/facts/Apotropaic_magic/MgJmlcjw">protective magic or counter-magic</a> against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches. <a href="/facts/Anthropologist/CboLlQq5">Anthropologists</a> use the term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmful <a href="/facts/Occult/G59eqens">occult</a> practices in different cultures, and these societies often use the term when speaking in English.
Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested from ancient Mesopotamia, and <a href="/facts/European_witchcraft/4mNoqMwM">in Europe</a>, belief in witches traces back to classical antiquity. In <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">medieval</a> and <a href="/facts/Early_modern_Europe/aeYvfAqx">early modern Europe</a>, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have secretly used <a href="/facts/Black_magic/UVbQ54J2">black magic</a> (<a href="/facts/Maleficium_(sorcery)/HgmbYgnL">maleficium</a>) 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 with <a href="/facts/Demon/eAz75uzo">demons</a> or <a href="/facts/Deal_with_the_Devil/jYWaQRKT">with the Devil</a>, though anthropologist <a href="/facts/Jean_La_Fontaine/fGvLNQ6m">Jean La Fontaine</a> notes that such accusations were mainly made against perceived "enemies of the Church". It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by <a href="/facts/White_magic/BIt5qQ4S">white magic</a>, provided by '<a href="/facts/Cunning_folk/toLgKIce">cunning folk</a>' or 'wise people'. Suspected witches were often prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European <a href="/facts/Witch-hunt/CBdyUdD2">witch-hunts</a> and <a href="/facts/Witch_trials_in_the_early_modern_period/JHV065aL">witch trials in the early modern period</a> led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and <a href="/facts/Midwife/TPmf0st6">midwives</a> were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, they made up a minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the <a href="/facts/Age_of_Enlightenment/Uj2Fa8Mk">Age of Enlightenment</a>.
Many <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples/zyzBMXBS">indigenous</a> belief systems that include the concept of witchcraft likewise define witches as malevolent, and seek healers (such as <a href="/facts/Medicine_man/tL5EghzQ">medicine people</a> and <a href="/facts/Witch_doctor/tlQCu0lB">witch doctors</a>) to ward-off and undo bewitchment. Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them. <a href="/facts/Modern_witch-hunts/chPwS4k5">Modern witch-hunting</a> takes place in parts of Africa and Asia.
Since the 1930s, followers of certain kinds of <a href="/facts/Modern_paganism/6RK8f29W">modern paganism</a> identify as witches and redefine the term "witchcraft" as part of their <a href="/facts/Neopagan_witchcraft/kbtGzw05">neopagan beliefs and practices</a>. Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its negative connotations.

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Witchcraft