A Look at Witches and Their Craft

Whenever the word “witch” is used in everyday discourse, any number of images may come to mind. Some individuals may relate the word to the Wicked Witch of the East; some to the modern Wiccan image often associated with the likes of Sybil Leek. Others may harken the image long held of the Salem witches, while still others may imagine a curandera, the wise woman found in Hispanic communities throughout North, Central, and South America (and Europe as well). In fact, depending on one’s place of origin, age, gender, spiritual persuasion, life experience, education, and worldview, any number of archetypes are possible.

 Historically, the study of witches and their “craft” has been of fascination to humankind for thousands of years–probably much longer. References can be found in all major sacred texts around the world including the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, the Judaic Bible, the Islamic Qur’an, as well as in the ancient writings of Greece, Rome, Egypt, Sumer, and Persia. In fact, most social scientists recognize the belief in witchcraft as culturally universal–rooted in the fundamental fabric of human thought; manifested in basic human behavior. But if one examines these and other ancient texts, it quickly becomes evident that although witchcraft in its many guises shares numerous cross-cultural similarities, it would be short-sighted to assume that it is a single, homogenized concept. Because even though many superficial parallels can be readily observed, in reality, “witchcraft” refers to a wide range of religious and spiritual practices varying in perspective, purpose, approach, emphasis, and cultural significance–and part of every known culture in the world, even today.
The word witchcraft in its most popular connotation refers to the use of supernatural forces–most often employing magic(k)–to bend the world to one’s own will. For nearly three-quarters of a century now, scholars have relied on this definition first presented by cultural anthropologist Edward Evans-Prichard following his now famous ethnographic studies of the Azande of Sudan, African, culminating in Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande. But while an ethnographic perspective may be helpful in assessing the basic beliefs underlying cultural behavior, to acquire a true understanding of the craft of witches, a knowledge of religion (philosophy and mythology), history (both oral and written), natural environment, socio-cultural relationships, as well as a fundamental understanding of the driving forces behind the human psyche must be factored-in. For while a belief in the ability of individuals to bend reality to their liking may indeed underlie human reasoning and behavior, how that ability manifests culture to culture is as varied as the cultures themselves. Accordingly, what constitutes witchcraft in an Azande village in Sudan is not the same as that of a Buddhist community in Sri Lanka or a Wiccan community in Highland Ireland. While the Azande see witchcraft as an ability physically inherited by individuals that can be used for good or evil–a tangible “witch-substance” that can be found in the pit of the stomach, one Buddhist sect relates it to the demon god of darkness Huniyam, whose shrine imbues pilgrims with the power to curse enemies, while Wiccans see it as a beneficial birthright available to anyone who leans how to commune with the forces of nature. And true to this varying form, the many Native American tribes of North America have their own individual perspectives on witchcraft as well. Thus, when referring to “witchcraft,” it is essential to provide the cultural setting, as well as how that culture defines witch.