Witchcraft

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 recieved such powers from evil spirits. From earliest times, people in all parts of the world have belived in witches. According to some scholars, more than half the people of 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 to giver's feelings.

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. But through the years, only women came to be considered witches. Men with similar powers were called sorcerers, warlocks or wizards.

The power of witchcraft
People who belive in witchcraft think a witch can harm people in various ways. By giving someone a magic potion, for instance, a witch can make that person fall in love against her or his 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 pains or even death.

Sometimes a witch casts a spell by reciting a magic formula. The spell 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 crops fail and 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 31st to worship their master, the Devil. Today, children dress up as witches and goblins on this date to celebrate Halloween.

Witchcraft has led to many widely superstitions. For example, many people in southern Europe and the Near East for a power called 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, witch lived with and served their witches, existed in the form of a black cat or some other animal.