Witches

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch (from Old English wicca masculine, wicce feminine) is a practitioner of witchcraft. Historically, it was widely believed in early modern Christian Europe that witches were in league with the Devil and used their powers to harm people and property. Particularly since the mid-20th century, 'bad' and 'good' witchcraft are sometimes distinguished, the latter often involving healing. The concept of witchcraft as harmful is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community.[1]

Beliefs in witchcraft, and resulting witch-hunts, are both found in many cultures worldwide, today mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. in the witch smellers in Bantu culture), and historically notably in Early Modern Europe of the 14th to 18th century, where witchcraft came to be seen as a vast diabolical conspiracy against Christianity, and accusations of witchcraft led to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Germanic Europe.[2]

The "witch-cult hypothesis", a controversial theory that European witchcraft was a suppressed pagan religion, was popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. Since the mid-20th century,Witchcraft has become the self-designation of a branch of neopaganism, especially in the Wiccatradition following Gerald Gardner, who claimed a religious tradition of Witchcraft with pre-Christian roots.[3] {| class="toc" id="toc" style="font-size: 12px; color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-right-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; "

Contents

 * 1.1 Demonology
 * 1.2 White Witches
 * 2 Alleged practices
 * 2.1 Spell casting
 * 2.2 Conjuring the dead
 * 3 By region
 * 3.1 Europe
 * 3.2 North America
 * 3.3 South America
 * 3.4 Asia
 * 3.4.1 Ancient Near East
 * 3.4.2 Hebrew Bible
 * 3.4.3 New Testament
 * 3.4.4 Judaism
 * 3.4.5 Islam
 * 3.4.6 Saudi Arabia
 * 3.4.7 India
 * 3.4.8 Japan
 * 3.5 Philippines
 * 3.6 Tocharians
 * 3.7 Oceania
 * 3.8 Africa
 * 4 Neopagan witchcraft
 * 4.1 Wicca
 * 4.2 Stregheria
 * 4.3 Feri Tradition
 * 5 See also
 * 6 Notes
 * 7 References
 * 8 Literature
 * 9 External links
 * }

[edit]Definitions of witchcraft
In anthropological terminology a 'witch' differs from a sorcerer in that they do not use physical tools or actions to curse; their maleficium is perceived as extending from some intangible inner quality, and the person may be unaware that they are a 'witch', or may have been convinced of their own evil nature by the suggestion of others.[4] This definition was pioneered in a study of central African magical beliefs byE. E. Evans-Pritchard, who cautioned that it might not correspond with normal English usage.[5]

Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European and British witchcraft, where 'witches' could equally use (or be accused of using) physical techniques, and some really had attempted to cause harm by thought alone.[6]

As in anthropology, European witchcraft is seen by historians as an ideology for explaining misfortune, however this ideology manifested in diverse ways. Reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:[7]


 * 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 neighbours
 * 4) A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs

Éva Pócs in turn identifies three varieties of witch in popular belief:


 * The "neighbourhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbour following some conflict.
 * The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has through magic increased her fortune to the perceived detriment of a neighbouring household; due to neighbourly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive and negative magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches.
 * The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams.[8]

"Neighbourhood witches" are the product of neighbourhood tensions, and are found only in self-sufficient serf 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 social exchange could potentially fall under suspicion. 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 communal 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[9]

[edit]Demonology
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In Christianity and Islam, sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among the Catholics,Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch, and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts. Throughout this time, it was increasingly believed that Christianity was engaged in an apocalyptic battle against the Devil and his secret army of witches, who had entered into a diabolical pact. In total, tens or hundreds 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gibbons_9-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[11] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[12] Accusations of witchcraft were often combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Malleus Maleficarum, an infamous witch-hunting manual used by both Catholics and Protestants, outlines 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. This book was not given the official Imprimatur of the Catholic Church, which would have made it approved by church authorities.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In the modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the satanic ritual abuse moral panic. Such accusations are a counterpart to blood libel of various kinds, which may be found throughout history across the globe.

[edit]White Witches
Main article: White witchFurther information: Folk magic, Magical thinking, and ShamanismA painting in the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria, condemning witchcraft and traditional folk magic <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Throughout the early modern period the English term 'witch' was not exclusively negative in meaning, and could also indicate cunning folk. "There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners, 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding' witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however 'cunning-man' and 'wise-man' were the most frequent."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[13] The contemporary Reginald Scott noted "At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[14] Folk magicians throughout Europe were often viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[15] which could lead to their being accused as 'witches' in the negative sense. Many English 'witches' convicted of consorting with demons seem to have been cunning folk whose fairy familiars had been demonised;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[16] many French devins-guerisseurs ('diviner-healers') were accused of witchcraft;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[17] and over one half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[18]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves mediators between the mundane and spiritual worlds, roughly equivalent toshamans.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[19] Such people described their contacts with fairies, spirits or the dead, often involving out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an 'other-world'.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ginzburg_1990_Part_2.2C_Ch._1_19-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[20] Beliefs of this nature are implied in the folklore of much of Europe, and were explicitly described by accused witches in central and southern Europe. Repeated themes include participation in processions of the dead or large feasts, often presided over by a female divinity who teaches magic and gives prophecies; and participation in battles against evil spirits, 'vampires' or 'witches' to win fertility and prosperity for the community.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ginzburg_1990_Part_2.2C_Ch._1_19-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[20]

[edit]Alleged practices
Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse, 1886. <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Practices to which the witchcraft label has historically been applied are those which influence another person's mind, body, or property against his or her will, or which are believed, by the person doing the labelling, to undermine the social or religious order. Some modern commentators<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; " title="The material in the vicinity of this tag may use weasel words or too-vague attribution. from April 2011">[who?] consider the malefic nature of witchcraft to be a Christian projection. The concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against his or her will was clearly present in many cultures, as there are traditions in both folk magic and religious magic that have the purpose of countering malicious magic or identifying malicious magic users. Many examples can be found in ancient texts, such as those from Egypt and Babylonia, where malicious magic is believed to have the power to influence the mind, body or possessions, malicious magic users can become a credible cause for disease, sickness in animals, bad luck, sudden death, impotence and other such misfortunes. Witchcraft of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the malevolence aside, or identify the supposed evil-doer so that punishment may be carried out. The folk magic used to identify or protect against malicious magic users is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">There has also existed in popular belief the concept of white witches and white witchcraft, which is strictly benevolent. Many neopagan witches strongly identify with this concept, and professethical codes that prevent them from performing magic on a person without their request.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Where belief in malicious magic practices exists, such practitioners are typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while beneficial magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people – even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.

[edit]Spell casting
Main article: Magic (paranormal) <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Probably the most obvious characteristic of a witch was the ability to cast a spell, a "spell" being the word used to signify the means employed to carry out a magical action. A spell could consist of a set of words, a formula or verse, or a ritual action, or any combination of these.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[21] Spells traditionally were cast by many methods, such as by the inscription of runes or sigils on an object to give it magical powers; by the immolation or binding of a wax or clay image (poppet) of a person to affect him or her magically; by the recitation ofincantations; by the performance of physical rituals; by the employment of magical herbs as amulets or potions; by gazing at mirrors, swords or other specula (scrying) for purposes of divination; and by many other means.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[22]

[edit]Conjuring the dead
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Strictly speaking, "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 is supposed to have performed it (1 Sam. 28), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham:<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[23] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[24] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[25] 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 arise from death.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[26] ==[edit]By region== ===Main articles: European witchcraft and Witch trials in Early Modern EuropeAlbrecht Dürer circa 1500: Witch Riding Backwards On A GoatDuring the Christianisation of Norway, King Olaf Trygvasson had male völvas (shamans) tied up and left on a skerry at ebb.Burning of witches. Current scholarly estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[27] The total number of witch trials in Europe which are known for certain to have ended in executions is around 12,000.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[28] [edit]Europe=== <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In Early Modern European tradition, witches have stereotypically, though not exclusively, been women.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gibbons_9-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[29] European pagan belief in witchcraft was associated with the goddessDiana and dismissed as "diabolical fantasies" by medieval Christian authors.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[30] Witch-hunts first appeared in large numbers in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and 15th centuries. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were from 1561 to 1670.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[31]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The familiar witch of folklore and popularsuperstition is a combination of numerous influences. The characterization of the witch as an evil magic user developed over time.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Early converts to Christianity looked to Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with magic lessened.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[32]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Protestant Christian explanation for witchcraft, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle Witches, commonly involves a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. The witches or wizards engaged to such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments; observe "the witches' sabbath" (performing infernal rites which often parodied the Mass or other sacraments of the Church); pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness; and, in return, receive from him preternatural powers. It was a folkloric belief that a Devil's Mark, like the brand on cattle, was placed upon a witch's skin by the devil to signify that this pact had been made.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[33] Witches were most often characterized as women. Witches disrupted the societal institutions, and more specifically, marriage. It was believed that a witch often joined a pact with the devil to gain powers to deal with infertility, immense fear for her children's well-being, or revenge against a lover.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Church and European society were not always so zealous in hunting witches or blaming them for bad occurrences. Saint Bonifacedeclared in the 8th century that belief in the existence of witches was un-Christian. The emperor Charlemagne decreed that the burning of supposed witches was a pagan custom that would be punished by the death penalty. In 820 the Bishop of Lyon and others repudiated the belief that witches could make bad weather, fly in the night, and change their shape. This denial was accepted into Canon law until it was reversed in later centuries as the witch-hunt gained force. Other rulers such as King Coloman of Hungary declared that witch-hunts should cease because witches (more specifically, strigas) do not exist.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Church did not invent the idea of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force whose practitioners should be put to death. This idea is commonplace in pre-Christian religions. According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witchcraft contained many of its elements even before the emergence of Christianity. These can be found in Bacchanalias, especially in the time when they were led by priestess Paculla Annia (188BC–186BC).

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">However, even at a later date, not all witches were assumed to be harmful practicers of the craft. In England, the provision of this curative magic was the job of a witch doctor, also known as a cunning man, white witch, or wiseman. The term "witch doctor" was in use in England before it came to be associated with Africa. Toad doctors were also credited with the ability to undo evil witchcraft. (Other folk magicians had their own purviews. Girdle-measurers specialised in diagnosing ailments caused by fairies, while magical cures for more mundane ailments, such as burns or toothache, could be had from charmers.)

In the north of England, the superstition lingers to an almost inconceivable extent. Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil ... The witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man, and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[34] Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos: ¡Linda maestra! ("The Spoils: Beautiful Teacher!") – witches heading to a Sabbath <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Such "cunning-folk" did not refer to themselves as witches and objected to the accusation that they were such.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap; " title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from April 2011">[citation needed]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, casting spells, cursing people, making livestock ill and crops fail, and creating fear and local chaos.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Russian word for witch is ведьма (ved'ma, literally "the one who knows", from Old Slavic вѣдъ "to know").<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[35]

[edit]North America
Examination of a Witch by T. H. Matteson, inspired by the Salem witch trials <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The most famous witchcraft incident in theBritish North America were the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk andMiddlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted 29 people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, 14 women and 5 men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. At least five more of the accused died in prison.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover, as well as Salem Town, Massachusetts. The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. All 26 who went to trial before this court were convicted. The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Town, but also in Ipswich, Boston, and Charlestown, produced only 3 convictions in the 31 witchcraft trials it conducted. Likewise, alleged witchcraft was not isolated to New England. In 1706 Grace Sherwood the "Witch of Pungo" was imprisoned for the crime in Princess Anne County, Virginia.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Author C. J. Stevens wrote The Supernatural Side of Maine, a 2002 book about witches and people from Maine who faced the supernatural.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">What may be the last witchcraft trial in North America was the Ipswich witchcraft trial of 1878, in which a member of the Christian Sciencereligion was accused of using his mental powers to harm others.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[36]

[edit]South America
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In Chile there is a tradition of the Kalku in the Mapuche mythology; and Witches of Chiloé in the folklore and Chilote mythology.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The presence of the witch is a constant in the ethnographic history of colonial Brazil, especially during the several denunciations and confessions given to the Holy Office of Bahia (1591–1593), Pernambuco and Paraiba (1593–1595).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[37]

[edit]Asia
Main article: Asian witchcraft====[edit]Ancient Near East==== <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The belief in sorcery and its practice seem to have been widespread in the past. Both in ancient Egypt and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part, as existing records plainly show. It will be sufficient to quote a short section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 B.C.). It is there prescribed, 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[38] ====[edit]Hebrew Bible====

Main article: Witchcraft and divination in the Bible <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">According to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia:

In the Holy Scripture references to sorcery are frequent, and the strong condemnations of such practices found there do not seem to be based so much upon the supposition of fraud as upon the abomination of the magic in itself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-38" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[39] <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The King James Bible uses the words 'witch', 'witchcraft', and 'witchcrafts' to translate the Masoretic כשף (kashaph or kesheph) and קסם (qesem);<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[40] these same English terms are used to translate φαρμακεια (pharmakeia) in the Greek New Testament text. Verses such asDeuteronomy 18:11–12 and Exodus 22:18 ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") thus provided scriptural justification for Christian witch hunters in the early Modern Age (see Christian views on witchcraft).

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The precise meaning of the Hebrew kashaph, usually translated as 'witch' or 'sorceress', is uncertain. In the Septuagint it was translated aspharmakeia or pharmakous. In the 16th century Reginald Scott, a prominent critic of the witch-trials, translated kashaph, pharmakeia and their Latin Vulgate equivalent veneficos as all meaning 'poisoner', and on this basis claimed that 'witch' was an incorrect translation and poisoners were intended.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-40" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[41] His theory still holds some currency, but is not widely accepted, and in Daniel 2:2 kashaph is listed alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers and Chaldeans. Suggested derivations of Kashaphinclude mutterer (from a single root) or herb user (as a compound word formed from the roots kash, meaning herb, and hapaleh, meaningusing). The Greek pharmakeia literally means means herbalist or one who uses or administers drugs, but it was used virtually synonymously with mageia and goeteia as a term for a sorcerer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[42]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Bible provides some evidence that these commandments against sorcery were enforced under the Hebrew kings:

And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[43] <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Note that the Hebrew word ob, translated as familiar spirit in the above quotation, has a different meaning than the usual English sense of the phrase; namely, it refers to a spirit that the woman is familiar with, rather than to a spirit which physically manifests itself in the shape of an animal.

[edit]New Testament
See also: Christian views on witchcraft <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The New Testament condemns the practice as an abomination, just as the Old Testament had (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6), though the overall topic of Biblical law in Christianity is still disputed. The word in most New Testament translations is "sorcerer"/"sorcery" rather than "witch"/"witchcraft".

[edit]Judaism
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. Although Maimonides vigorously denied the efficacy of all methods of witchcraft, and claimed that the Biblical prohibitions regarding it were precisely to wean the Israelites from practices related to idolatry, according to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods. Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the Rabbis practiced "magic" themselves. For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (Sanhedrin 65b). In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles (i.e., coming from God rather than pagan gods) than as witchcraft.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Judaism does make it clear that Jews shall not try to learn about the ways of witches (Deuteronomy/Devarim 18: 9–10) and that witches are to be put to death. (Exodus/Shemot 22:17)

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Judaism's most famous reference to a medium is undoubtedly the Witch of Endor whom Saul consults, as recounted in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28.

[edit]Islam
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Divination and magic in Islam encompass a wide range of practices, including black magic, warding off the evil eye, the production ofamulets and other magical equipment, conjuring, casting lots, astrology, and physiognomy. Muslims do commonly believe in magic (Sihr) and explicitly forbid its practice. Sihr translates from Arabic as sorcery or black magic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is theSurah Al-Falaq (meaning dawn or daybreak), which is known as a prayer to Allah to ward off black magic. <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. (Quran 113:1–5) <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Also according to the Quran: <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">And they follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut ... And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. (al-Qur'an 2:102) <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers and Prophets, supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa – the spiritually accomplished. Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to Him that occur by His will and His alone.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Some Muslim practitioners believe that they may seek the help of the Jinn (singular—jinni) in magic. It is a common belief that jinn can possess a human, thus requiring Exorcism. Still, the practice of seeking help to the Jinn is prohibited and regarded the same as seeking help to a devil.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The belief in jinn is part of the Muslim faith. Imam Muslim narrated the Prophet said: "Allah created the angels from light, created the jinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.)".

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Also in the Quran, chapter of Jinn:

And persons from among men used to seek refuge with persons from among the jinn, so they increased them in evil doing.—(The Qur'an) (72:6) <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">To cast off the jinn from the body of the possessed, the "ruqya," which is from the Prophet's sunnah is used. The ruqya contains verses of the Qur'an as well as prayers which are specifically targeted against demons. The knowledge of which verses of the Qur'an to use in what way is what is considered "magic knowledge".

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">There is a Hadeeth recorded by Al-Bukhari which narrates that one who has eaten seven dates in the morning will not be adversely affected by magic in the course of that day.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practises in Islam with pre-islamic Turkish and East African customs. Most notable of these customs is the Zar Ceremony.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-43" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[44] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[45]

[edit]Saudi Arabia
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Saudi Arabia continues to use the death penalty for sorcery. In 2006 Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali was condemned to death for practicing witchcraft.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[46] There is no legal definition of sorcery in Saudi, but in 2007 an Egyptian pharmacist working there was accused, convicted, and executed. Saudi authorities also pronounced the death penalty on a Lebanese television presenter, Ali Sabat, while he was performing the hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) in the country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[47]

[edit]India
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Belief in the supernatural is strong in certain parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[48] It is estimated that 750 people have been killed in witch-hunts in the states of Assam and West Bengal since 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Witch_48-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[49] More than 100 women are tortured, paraded naked, or harassed in the state of Chhattisgarh annually, officials said.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[50] A social activist in the region said the reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[51]

[edit]Japan
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In Japanese folklore the witch can commonly be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-51" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[52]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The fox witch is by far the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the kitsune-mochi, and the tsukimono-suji. The first of these, the kitsune-mochi, is a solitary figure who gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The kitsune-mochi then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of 'The Grateful foxes'.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-52" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[53] However, once a fox enters the employ of a human it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared. A fox under the employ of a human can provide him with many services. The fox can turn invisible and be set out to find any secrets its master desires and it still retains its many powers of illusion which its master will often put to use in order to trick and deceive his enemies. The most feared power the kitsune-mochi possess is the ability to command his fox to possess other humans. This process of possession is called Kitsunetsuki.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">By far the most commonly reported cases of fox witchcraft in modern Japan are enacted by tsukimono-suji families, or "hereditary witches".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-53" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[54] The Tsukimono-suji is traditionally a family who is reported to have foxes under their employ. These foxes serve the family and are passed down through the generations, typically through the female line. tsukimono-suji foxes are able to supply much in the way of the same mystical aid that the foxes under the employ of a kitsune-mochi can provide its more solitary master with. In addition to these powers, if the foxes are kept happy and well taken care of, they will bring great fortune and prosperity to the Tsukimono-suji house. However, the aid in which these foxes give is often overshadowed by the social and mystical implications of being a member of such a family. In many villages, the status of local families as tsukimono-suji is often common, everyday knowledge. Such families are respected and feared, but are also openly shunned. Due to its hereditary nature, the status of being Tsukimono-suji is considered contagious. Because of this, it is often impossible for members of such a family to sell land or other properties, due to fear that the possession of such items will cause foxes to inundate ones own home. In addition to this, because the foxes are believed to be passed down through the female line, it is often nearly impossible for women of such families to find a husband whose family will agree to have him married to atsukimono-suji family. In such a union the woman's status as a Tsukimono-suji would transfer to any man who married her.

[edit]Philippines
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Philippines has two main kind of witches, which are mangkukulam and mambabarang.

[edit]Tocharians
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">An expedition sent to what is now the Xinjiang region of western China by the PBS documentary series Nova found a fully clothed femaleTocharian mummy wearing a black conical hat of the type now associated with witches in Europe in the storage area of a small local museum, indicative of an Indo-European priestess.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-54" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[55]

[edit]Oceania
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">A local newspaper informed that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[56]

[edit]Africa
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The term witch doctor, a common translation for the Zulu inyanga, has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches".

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic. The thakathi is usually improperly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others. The sangoma is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting 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. The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of malicious 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 thakatha is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">In some Central African areas, malicious magic users are believed by locals to be the source of terminal illness such as AIDS and cancer. In such cases, various methods are used to rid the person from the bewitching spirit, occasionally physical and psychological abuse. Children may be accused of being witches, for example a young niece may be blamed for the illness of a relative. Most of these cases of abuse go unreported since the members of the society that witness such abuse are too afraid of being accused of being accomplices. It is also believed that witchcraft can be transmitted to children by feeding. Parents discourage their children from interacting with people believed to be witches.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">As of 2006, between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of their homes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[57] These children have been subjected to often-violent abuse during exorcisms, sometimes supervised by self-styled religious pastors. The usual term for these children is enfants sorciers (child witches) or enfants dits sorciers (children accused of witchcraft). In 2002, USAID funded the production of two short films on the subject, made in Kinshasa by journalists Angela Nicoara and Mike Ormsby.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[58]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On April, 2008, Kinshasa, the police arrested 14 suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[59] Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[60]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">It was reported on May 21, 2008 that in Kenya a mob had burnt to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[61] In Tanzania in 2008, President Kikwete publicly condemned witchdoctors for killing albinos for their body parts which are thought to bring good luck. 25 albinos have been murdered since March 2007.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-61" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[62] In the Meatu district of Tanzania, half of all murders are “witch-killings”.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Witch_48-1" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[49] In the Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River about 15,000 children branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. InGambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009 and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, human rights organization Amnesty International said.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[63] Every year, hundreds of people in the Central African Republic are convicted of witchcraft.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[64]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Complementary remarks about witchcraft by a native Congolese initiate : "From witchcraft ... may be developed the remedy (kimbuki) that will do most to raise up our country."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[65] "Witchcraft ... deserves respect ... it can embellish or redeem (ketula evo vuukisa)."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[66] "The ancestors were equipped with the protective witchcraft of the clan (kindoki kiandundila kanda). ... They could also gather the power of animals into their hands ... whenever they needed. ... If we could make use of these kinds of witchcraft, our country would rapidly progress in knowledge of every kind."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[67] "You witches (zindoki) too, bring your science into the light to be written down so that ... the benefits in it ... endow our race."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[68]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Among the Mende (of Sierra Leone), trial and conviction for witchcraft has a beneficial effect for those convicted. "The witchfinder had warned the whole village to ensure the relative prosperity of the accused and sentenced ... old people. ... Six months later all of the people ... accused, were secure, well-fed and arguably happier than at any [previous] time; they had hardly to beckon and people would come with food or whatever was needful. ... Instead of such old and widowed people being left helpless or (as in Western society) institutionalized in old people’s homes, these were reintegrated into society and left secure in their old age ... . ... Old people are 'suitable' candidates for this kind of accusation in the sense that they are isolated and vulnerable, and they are 'suitable' candidates for 'social security' for precisely the same reasons."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[69]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Evangelical Christian pastors in Nigeria have been involved in the torturing and killing of children accused of witchcraft. Over the past decade, around 15,000 children have been accused, and around 1,000 murdered. Churches are very numerous in Nigeria, and competition for congregations is hard. Some pastors attempt to establish a reputation for spiritual power by 'detecting' child witches, usually following a death or loss of a job within a family, or an accusation of financial fraud against the pastor. In the course of 'exorcisms', accused children may be starved, beaten, mutilated, set on fire, forced to consume acid or cement or buried alive. According to aid workers, most Nigerian church franchises are involved in the abuse, although church administrations deny knowledge of it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[70]

[edit]Neopagan witchcraft
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Modern practices identified by their practitioners as "witchcraft" have arisen in the twentieth century, generally portrayed as revivals of pre-Christian European magic and spirituality. They thus fall within the broad category of Neopaganism.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Contemporary witchcraft takes many forms, but often involves the use of divination, magic, and working with the classical elements and unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature. The practice of herbal and folk medicine and spiritual healing is also common, as are alternative medical and New Age healing practices.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The first groups of neopagan witchcraft to publicly appear in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Gerald Gardner's Wicca and Roy Bowers' Clan of Tubal Cain, operated as initiatory secret societies. Other individual practitioners and writers such as Paul Huson<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[71] also claimed inheritance to surviving traditions of witchcraft.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-71" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[72]

[edit]Wicca
Main article: Wicca <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">During the 20th century interest in witchcraft in English-speaking and European countries began to increase, inspired particularly byMargaret Murray's theory of a pan-European witch-cult originally published in 1921, since discredited by further careful historical research.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-72" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[73] Interest was intensified, however, by Gerald Gardner's claim in 1954 in Witchcraft Today that a form of witchcraft still existed inEngland. The truth of Gardner's claim is now disputed too, with different historians offering evidence for<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[74] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-74" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[75] or against<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-75" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[76] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-76" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[77] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-77" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[78] the religion's existence prior to Gardner.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Wicca that Gardner initially taught was a witchcraft religion having a lot in common with Margaret Murray's hypothetically posited cult of the 1920s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-78" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[79] Indeed Murray wrote an introduction to Gardner's Witchcraft Today, in effect putting her stamp of approval on it. Wicca is now practised as a religion of an initiatory secret society nature with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood. There is also a large "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no initiatory connection or affiliation with traditional Wicca. Wiccan writings and ritual show borrowings from a number of sources including 19th and 20th-century ceremonial magic, the medieval grimoire known as the Key of Solomon, Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis and pre-Christian religions.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-79" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[80] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-80" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[81] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-81" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[82] Both men and women are equally termed "witches." They practice a form of duotheistic universalism.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Since Gardner's death in 1964 the Wicca that he claimed he was initiated into has attracted many initiates, becoming the largest of the various witchcraft traditions in the Western world, and has influenced other Neopagan and occult movements.

[edit]Stregheria
Main article: Stregheria <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Stregheria is an Italian witchcraft religion popularised in the 1980s by Raven Grimassi, who claims that it evolved within the ancient Etruscan religion of Italian peasants who worked under the Catholic upper classes.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Modern Stregheria closely resembles Charles Leland's controversial late-19th-century account of a surviving Italian religion of witchcraft, worshipping the Goddess Diana, her brother Dianus/Lucifer and their daughter Aradia. Leland's witches do not see Lucifer as the evil Satanof Christian myth, but a benevolent god of the Sun and Moon.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The ritual format of contemporary Stregheria is roughly similar to that of other Neopagan witchcraft religions such as Wicca. The pentagramis the most common symbol of religious identity. Most followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals. An emphasis is placed on ancestor worship.

[edit]Feri Tradition
Main article: Feri Tradition <p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Feri Tradition is a modern witchcraft practice founded by Victor Anderson and his wife Cora. It is an ecstatic tradition with strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Most practitioners worship three main deities; the Star Goddess, and two divine twins, one of whom is the blue God. They believe that there are three parts to the human soul, a belief taken from the Hawaiian religion of Huna as described by Max Freedom Long.