Witchcraft: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Dr. Fiona Bowie notes that the terms "witchcraft" and "witch" are used differently by scholars and the general public in at least four different ways that must be treated separately.<ref name="Moro" /> 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, Ethnic.<ref name=AdlerDrawing>{{Cite book |last=Adler |first=Margot |title=Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today |date=2006 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=New York City |oclc=515560 |author-link=Margot Adler}}</ref>{{rp|65-68}}

In his 1937 study of [[Azande witchcraft]] beliefs, [[E. E. 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans-Pritchard |first=Edward Evan |url=https://archive.org/details/witchcraftoracle00evan/page/8 |title=Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande |date=1937 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0198740292 |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/witchcraftoracle00evan/page/8 8–9] |author-link=E. E. Evans-Pritchard}}</ref> Historians found itthis 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.{{r|Thomas|pages=464–465}}<ref>Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav (1990) ''Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1, 14.</ref> This distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to the particular societies with which they are concerned".{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} It is commonly believed that witches use objects, words, and gestures to use their powers, or that they simply have an innate ability 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.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} 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 drivesmay themact toon dotheir harmdesires independent of their awareness.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}}▼

Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic.{{r|AnkarlooClark}} Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the killing or [[shunning]] of suspected witches still occur.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Jonathan |date=11 April 2013 |title=Papua New Guinea urged to halt witchcraft violence after latest 'sorcery' case |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |publisher=[[Telegraph Media Group]] |location=London, England |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/papuanewguinea/9987294/Papua-New-Guinea-urged-to-halt-witchcraft-violence-after-latest-sorcery-case.html |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211174243/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/papuanewguinea/9987294/Papua-New-Guinea-urged-to-halt-witchcraft-violence-after-latest-sorcery-case.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Beliefs about illness being caused by witchcraft continues to fuel suspicion of modern medicine, with serious [[healthcare]] consequences. [[HIV/AIDS]]<ref name="HIVwitchcraft">{{Cite news |last1=Kielburger |first1=Craig |last2=Kielburger |first2=Marc |date=18 February 2008 |title=HIV in Africa: Distinguishing disease from witchcraft |work=[[Toronto Star]] |publisher=Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/2008/02/18/hiv_in_africa_distinguishing_disease_from_witchcraft.html |access-date=18 September 2017 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019221301/https://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/2008/02/18/hiv_in_africa_distinguishing_disease_from_witchcraft.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Ebola]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 August 2014 |title=Ebola outbreak: 'Witchcraft' hampering treatment, says doctor |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28625305 |website=[[BBC News]] |publisher=BBC |location=London|quote=citing a doctor from [[Médecins Sans Frontières]]: 'A widespread belief in witchcraft is hampering efforts to halt the Ebola virus from spreading' |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718192649/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-28625305 |url-status=live }}</ref> are two examples of often-lethal [[infectious disease]] [[epidemic]]s whose medical care and [[Isolation (health care)|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]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Social stigma as an epidemiological determinant for leprosy elimination in Cameroon |url=http://www.publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/jphia.2011.e10/html_19 |journal=Journal of Public Health in Africa |access-date=2014-08-27 |archive-date=2017-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731190043/http://www.publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/jphia.2011.e10/html_19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Akosua |first=Adu |date=3 September 2014 |title=Ebola: Human Rights Group Warns Disease Is Not Caused By Witchcraft |work=The Ghana-Italy News |url=http://www.theghana-italynews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/955-ebola-human-rights-group-warns-disease-is-not-caused-by-witchcraft |url-status=dead |access-date=31 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903134240/http://www.theghana-italynews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/955-ebola-human-rights-group-warns-disease-is-not-caused-by-witchcraft |archive-date=3 September 2014}}</ref>

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The historical and traditional definition of "witchcraft" is the use of [[black magic]] (''[[maleficium (sorcery)|maleficium]]'') or supernatural powers to cause harm and misfortune to others. Where belief in harmful magic exists, it is typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while helpful magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.<ref name=HuttonArthur>{{Cite book |last=Hutton |first=Ronald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqPbJQkSo8EC&q=alleged+practices+witchcraft&pg=PA203 |title=Witches, Druids and King Arthur |date=2006 |publisher=[[A&C Black]] |isbn=978-1852855550 |location=London|language=en |access-date=2020-11-22 |archive-date=2021-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718192634/https://books.google.com/books?id=QqPbJQkSo8EC&q=alleged+practices+witchcraft&pg=PA203 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|203}}

It is commonly believed 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 witches are often believed to exist in the same culture. He says that the two often overlap, in that someone with an inborn power could wield that power through material objects.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} In his 1937 study of [[Azande witchcraft]] beliefs, [[E. E. 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans-Pritchard |first=Edward Evan |url=https://archive.org/details/witchcraftoracle00evan/page/8 |title=Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande |date=1937 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0198740292 |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/witchcraftoracle00evan/page/8 8–9] |author-link=E. E. Evans-Pritchard}}</ref>

▲Historians found it 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.{{r|Thomas|pages=464–465}}<ref>Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav (1990) ''Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1, 14.</ref> This distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to the particular societies with which they are concerned".{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} 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.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}}

Witches are commonly believed to cast [[curse]]s; a [[Incantation|spell]] or set of magical words and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levack |first1=Brian |title=The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=54}}</ref> As well as repeating words and gestures, cursing could involve inscribing [[runes]] or [[sigil (magic)|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 [[herb]]s, animal parts and other substances to make [[potion]]s or poisons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Luck |first=Georg |title=Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds; a Collection of Ancient Texts |date=1985 |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |isbn=978-0801825231 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |pages=254, 260, 394 |author-link=Georg Luck}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kittredge |first=George Lyman |title=Witchcraft in Old and New England |date=1929 |publisher=Russell & Russell |isbn=978-0674182325 |location=New York City |page=172}}</ref><ref name=DaviesWitch>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Owen |url=https://archive.org/details/witchcraftmagicc00davi |title=Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736–1951 |date=1999 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |isbn=978-0719056567 |location=Manchester, England |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}}

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A common belief in cultures worldwide is that witches tend to use something from their victim's body to work black magic against them; for example hair, nail clippings, clothing, or bodily waste. Such beliefs are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North America.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} 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.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}}

In some cultures, malevolent witches are believed to use human body parts in magic in a form of [[sympathetic magic]],{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} and they are commonly believed to [[Infanticide|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".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burns |first1=William |title=Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia |date=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=141–142}}</ref>

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".{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}} In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity.{{r|HuttonFear|p=19-22}}