Article printed from World Book INFORMATION FINDER.
WITCHCRAFT (Introduction)
WITCHCRAFT is the use of supposed magic powers, generally to harm people or to damage their property. A witch is a person believed to have received such powers from evil spirits. From earliest times, people in all parts of the world have believed in witches. According to some scholars, more than half the people in the world today think witches can influence their lives.
Through the centuries, witchcraft as practiced in countries with a European culture has differed from witchcraft elsewhere. European witchcraft is anti-Christian and involves an association with the Devil. For example, a person wanting to be a witch might sell his or her soul to the devil in exchange for magic powers.
On the other hand, witchcraft in Africa and the West Indies and among the Indians of North America does not involve the Devil. Most of the time, such non-European witchcraft seeks to harm people. But it may also be used to help people. For example, a person in love may ask a witch for a love potion (drink) to give the loved one. Drinking the potion will supposedly make the loved one return the giver's love.
The word witch comes from the Anglo-Saxon word wicca, meaning wise one or magician. Originally, a witch was either a man or a woman who supposedly had supernatural powers. Through the years, however, only women came to be considered witches. Men with similar powers were called sorcerers, warlocks, or wizards.
The Powers of Witches
People who believe in witchcraft think a witch can harm people in various ways. By giving someone a magic potion, for example, a witch can make that person fall in love against his or her will. In another form of witchcraft, the witch makes a small wax or wooden image of the victim. The witch may put something from the victim's body into the image, such as fingernail clippings or hair. The witch then destroys the image by cutting it, burning it, or sticking pins into it. The victim supposedly suffers severe pain or even death.
Sometimes a witch casts a spell by reciting a magic formula. The spell makes the victim suffer. The witch usually mutters the victim's name while casting the spell. In some societies, people use false names so that witches can have no power over them.
People once blamed witches for any unexplained misfortune, such as illness, a sudden death, or a crop failure. Many persons accused witches of marrying demons and bearing monster children. Witches might make cows go dry by stealing their milk or cast a spell on a churn to prevent butter from forming. People also thought witches could raise storms and turn people into beasts. In addition, witches could ride through the air on a broom, and make themselves invisible. In ancient times, many people believed that witches and warlocks assembled on October 31 to worship their master, the devil. Today, children dress up as witches and goblins on this date to celebrate Halloween (see HALLOWEEN).
Witchcraft has led to many widely believed superstitions. For example, many people in southern Europe and the Near East fear a power called the evil eye. This power enables witches to cause harm or bring bad luck to others by merely looking at them. According to another superstition, a black cat brings bad luck if it crosses a person's path. This superstition came from the belief that every witch had a personal demon called a familiar. Many familiars, which lived with and served their witches, existed in the form of a black cat or some other animal.
History
Ancient Times. A number of witches appear in ancient Greek and Latin literature. In the epic poem, the Odyssey, the witch Circe had the power to turn people into animals. Medea, another famous witch, used magic spells to help the Greek hero Jason obtain the Golden Fleece. See CIRCE; MEDEA.
The Old Testament includes several references to witches and witchcraft. For example, the commandment "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" appears in Exodus (22: 18). Hundreds of years later, witch-hunters accepted such Biblical statements as proof that witches existed. They also used the statements to justify the persecution of persons accused of witchcraft.
From the 1400's Through the 1700's. Some scholars regard witchcraft as an extremely old system of organized religious worship. They trace it back to pre-Christian times in many parts of Europe. From the 1400's through the 1700's, church authorities tried to stamp out witchcraft. But people in many parts of the world continued to practice witchcraft as a religion.
Church persecution of witches occurred in England, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and Spain. In 1431, Joan of Arc, the French national heroine, was condemned to death as a witch by the English and was burned at the stake. From 1484 to 1782, according to some historians, the Christian church put to death about 300,000 women for practicing witchcraft. Many of these women suffered such terrible torture that they confessed to being witches simply to avoid further torment.
People used many kinds of tests to determine whether a woman was a witch. For example, they looked for moles, scars, or other marks on the woman's body where a pin could be stuck without causing pain. Such devil's marks were said to be places where the devil had touched the accused woman. Devil's marks also included birthmarks. In another test, people tied the suspected woman's arms and legs and threw her into deep water. If she floated, she was considered guilty of being a witch. If she sank, she was innocent.
During the 1600's and 1700's, an almost hysterical fear of witchcraft swept most of Europe. Thousands of persons were tried and executed as witches. The courts allowed gossip and rumor to be used as evidence. Many children testified against their own parents.
The American colonists brought the belief in witchcraft from England. Suspected witches suffered persecution in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia. The most famous witch hunt in American history occurred in Salem, Mass. Many historians believe that Cotton Mather, a colonial preacher, did much to stir up public feeling against the supposed evil deeds of witches. In 1692, the Massachusetts colonists executed 19 people as witches and one person was pressed to death for refusing to plead to the witchcraft charge. In addition, about 150 others were imprisoned. See MATHER; SALEM (Mass.).
Witchcraft Today. Belief in witchcraft exists in many societies today. Such societies include those of the Hopi and Navajo Indians of the southwestern United States, the Maori of New Zealand, and many peoples of southern Africa. In the West Indies and elsewhere, the beliefs and practices of voodoo closely resemble those of witchcraft (see VOODOO). Some groups believe a person may inherit witch powers from a parent. Such people do not have to deal with evil spirits to become witches.
Witchcraft may serve as a means of social control among the members of a community. For example, a person who becomes too rich or powerful may be accused by neighbors of using witchcraft. The fear of being called a witch could keep such a person from acquiring too much wealth or power.
During the mid-1900's, a new interest in witchcraft occurred in Europe and the United States. As a result, witchcraft as an organized religion has attracted large numbers of believers. These people meet regularly in local covens (groups of 13 or fewer members). Witchcraft festivals called Witches' Sabbaths take place four times a year, one in each season. The most important festival occurs on Halloween.
Books, motion pictures, and television shows have done much to lessen the fear of witches and witchcraft. Today, many witches are portrayed as attractive, slightly unusual persons whose supernatural activities do harm to no one.
Contributor: Alan Dundes
See also EVIL EYE; HECATE; MAGIC; SEWALL, SAMUEL.
Additional Resources
Ashley, Leonard R. The Wonderful World of Magic and Witchcraft. Dembner, 1986.
Hoyt, Charles A. Witchcraft. Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1981. The background and history of witchcraft.
McHargue, Georgess. Meet the Witches. Lippincott, 1984. For younger readers.
Russell, Jeffrey B. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, and Pagans. Peter Smith, 1983. First published in 1980.
