Witchcraft

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For other uses, see Witch (disambiguation)

The term witchcraft (and witch) is a controversial one with a complicated history. Used with entirely different contexts, and within entirely different cultural references, it can take on distinct and often contradictory meanings. Each culture has its own particular body of concepts dealing with magic, religion, benevolent and harmful spirits, and ritual; and these ideas do not find obvious equivalents in other cultures.

Sometimes witchcraft is used to refer, broadly, to the practice of magic, and has a connotation similar to sorcery. Depending on the values of the community, witchcraft in this sense may be regarded with varying degrees of suspicion and hostility, or with ambivalence, being neither intrinsically good nor evil. Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines, though this has become less common, at least in the Western world. According to some religious doctrines, all forms of magic are labeled witchcraft, and are either proscribed or treated as superstitious. Such religions consider their own ritual practices to be not at all magical, but rather simply variations of prayer.

Witchcraft is also used to refer, narrowly, to the practice of magic in an exclusively inimical sense. If the community accepts magical practice in general, then there is typically a clear separation between witches (in this sense) and the terms used to describe legitimate practitioners. This use of the term is most often found in accusations against individuals who are suspected of causing harm in the community by way of supernatural means. Belief in witches of this sort have been common among the indigenous populations of the world, including Africa, Asia and the Americas. On occasion such accusations have led to witch hunts.

Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), witchcraft came to be associated with heresy, rising to a fever pitch among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period. Throughout this time, the concept of witchcraft came increasingly to be interpreted as a form of Devil worship. Accusations of witchcraft were frequently combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.

In the modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the Satanic Ritual Abuse hysteria. Such accusations are a counterpart to blood libels of various kinds, which may be found throughout history across the globe.

Recently, witchcraft has taken on a distinctly positive connotation among Wiccans and other Neopagans as the ritual element of their religious beliefs.

A great deal of confusion and conflict has arisen from attempts by one group or another to canonize their particular definition of the term.

1 Practices typically considered to be witchcraft
2 Etymology
3 European witchcraft
4 Middle Eastern witchcraft
5 African witchcraft
6 Witches in modern culture
7 Theories of Neopagan witchcraft
8 See also
9 External links
10 Additional Reading

Practices typically considered to be witchcraft

Influencing another person's body or property:

Practices to which the witchcraft label are applied are those which influence another person's body or property against his or her will, or which are believed, by the person doing the labeling, to undermine the social or religious order.

Some modern commentators, especially neopagan ones, consider the malefic nature of witchcraft to be a Christian projection. However, the concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against his or her will was present in many cultures before introduction of monotheism, as there are traditions in both folk magic and religious magic that have the purpose of countering witchcraft or identifying witches from those times. Many examples can be found in ancient texts, such as those from Egypt and Babylonia. Where witchcraft is believed to have the power to influence the body or possessions, witches become a credible cause for disease, sickness in animals, bad luck, sudden death, impotence and other such misfortunes. Folk magic of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the witchcraft aside, or identify the supposed witch so that punishment may be carried out. In some cases, the folk magic used to identify or protect against witches is virtually indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.

Poppets or effigies:

There are several magical practices that are associated with witchcraft, to such a degree that those who use them were given the label 'witch' by Westerners, irrespective of the culture in which they appear. The most immediately recognisable practice is the making of poppets or effigies. Witches were believed to create figures in clay, wax, or from rags, to represent people, and the actions performed upon these figures were believed to be transferred to the subject.

"To some others at these times he [the Devil] teacheth how to make pictures of wax or clay. That by the roasting thereof, the persons that they beare the name of, may be continually melted or die away by continually sickness."

^{Source: James I, Demonologie}

The making of wax figures was also a means of countering witchcraft and turning the magic back on the caster.

Conjuring the dead:

Necromancy, the conjuring of the spirits of the dead, is also regarded as a typical witchcraft practice; the Biblical 'Witch' of Endor is supposed to have performed it, and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Aelfric.

"Yet fares witches to where roads meet, and to heathen burials with their phantom craft and call to them the devil, and he comes to them in the dead man's likeness, as if he from death arises, but she cannot cause that to happen, the dead to arise through her wizardry."

^{Source: Aelfric's Homilies}

Other practices:

A host of other powers were said to be received through demonic compacts, such as those of riding through the air on a broomstick, assuming different shapes at will, and tormenting a witch's chosen victims. It was believed that an imp or "familiar spirit" was placed at the disposal of practitioners, able and willing to perform any service that might be needed to further their nefarious purposes. Supernatural aid is also invoked to compass the death of a particularly undesirable individual, to awaken the passion of love in those who are the objects of desire, to call up the dead, or to bring calamity or impotence upon enemies, rivals, and fancied oppressors. For this reason, "witchcraft" practices are typically forbidden by law where belief in them exists (as well as being hated and feared by the general populace) while "folk magic" is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people, even if the orthodox establishment objects to it.

Etymology

The origins of the term witch are highly disputed. That the word derives directly from the Old English wicca and/or wicce is hard to doubt, but the origins of the Old English words are more problematic. Contraction of witega ('wise man, prophet') is possible. Low German contains wicker (soothsayer). Other possible connections include the Old English wigle (divination), the Proto-Germanic *wikkjaz (necromancer), the Gothic weihs (holy), and the English words victim (in its original meaning for someone killed in a religious ritual) and wicked. Many neo-pagan sources assert that because the root wik- is associated with words meaning "to bend", the original meaning of the word was "one who bends the natural order" (by using magic). [1].

Colloquially, the term witch is applied almost exclusively to women, although in earlier English the term was applied to men too. Most people would call male witches sorcerers, wizards, or warlocks; however, modern self-identified witches and Wiccans continue to use the term witch for all who practice witchcraft.

European witchcraft

Main article: European witchcraft

Image:Sejdmen.jpg

During the Christianization of Norway, King Olaf Trygvasson had male völvas (shamans) tied up and left on a skerry at ebb.

The characterization of the witch in Europe is not derived from a single source. Popular neopagan beliefs suggest that witches were female shamans who were made into malicious figures by Christian propaganda. This is an oversimplification and presumes that a recognizable folklore figure must derive from a single historical precedent (a female, maligned magic-worker). The familiar witch of folklore and popular superstition is a combination of numerous influences.

The characterization of the witch, rather than being a caricature of a Pagan priestess, developed over time. ^[2] The advent of Christianity suggests that potential Christians, comfortable with the use of magic as part of their daily lives, expected Christian clergy to work magic of a form superior to the old Pagan way. While Christianity competed with Pagan religion, this concern was paramount, only lessening in importance once Christianity was the dominant religion in most of Europe. In place of the old Pagan magic methodology, the Church placed a Christian methodology involving saints and divine relics — a short step from the old Pagan techniques of amulets and talismans.

Traditional European witchcraft beliefs, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle Witches, commonly involve a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil[3]. The witches or wizards addicted to such practices were alleged to adjure Jesus and the sacraments, observe "the witches' sabbath" - performing infernal rites which often took the shape of a parody of the Mass or the offices of the Church - pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness, and in return receive from him preternatural powers.

Down through history, the Catholic Church and European society have not always been obsessed with hunting witches and blaming them for bad occurrences. St. Boniface declared in the eighth century that belief in witches is unchristian. 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 Church law until it was reversed in later centuries as the witch-craze gained force. Other rulers such as King Coloman of Hungary declared that witch-hunts should cease because witches do not exist.

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 and is a logical consequence of belief in magic. According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witch 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 (188-186).

In England, the provision of this curative magic was the job of a witch doctor, also known as a cunning man, white witch, or wise woman. 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 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."

^{Source: Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds}

Such "cunning-folk" did not refer to themselves as witches and objected to the accusation that they were such. Records from the Middle Ages, however, make it appear that it was, quite often, not entirely clear to the populace whether a given practioner of magic was a witch or one of the cunning-folk. In addition, it appears that much of the populace was willing to approach either of these groups for healing magic and divination. When a person was known to be a witch, the populace would still seek to employ their healing skills; however, as was not the case with cunning-folk, members of the general population would also hire witches to curse their enemies. The important distinction is that there are records of the populace reporting alleged witches to the authorities as such, whereas cunning folk were not so incriminated; they were more commonly prosecuted for accusing the innocent or defrauding people of money.

The long-term result of this amalgamation of distinct types of magic-worker into one is the considerable present-day confusion as to what witches actually did, whether they harmed or healed, what role (if any) they had in the community, whether they can be identified with the "witches" of other cultures and even whether they existed as anything other than a projection. Present-day beliefs about the witches of history attribute to them elements of the folklore witch, the charmer, the cunning man or wise woman, the diviner and the astrologer.

Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks, casting spells, and creating fear and local chaos.

See for example:

Middle Eastern witchcraft

Ancient Middle Eastern and Near Eastern beliefs

The belief in witchcraft 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 laid a charge of witchcraft and has not justified it, he upon whom the witchcraft is laid shall go to the holy river; he shall plunge into the holy river and if the holy river overcome him, he who accused him shall take to himself his house.

Witchcraft in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible, Old Testament)

In the Bible references to witchcraft are frequent, and the strong condemnations of such practices which we read there do not seem to be based so much upon the supposition of fraud as upon the "abomination" of the magic in itself. (See Deuteronomy 18:11-12; Exodus 22:18, "wizards thou shalt not suffer to live" - A.V. "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live".) Many bible scholars have noted that in the original hebrew the word "M'khasephah"(translated in the King James as "witch") means "someone who malevolently uses spoken curses to hurt people", which the modern Wiccan Rede specifically forbids of it's practitioners to do. The whole narrative of Saul's visit to the witch of En Dor (I Samuel 28) implies belief in the reality of the witch's evocation of the shade of Samuel; and from Leviticus 20:27: "A man or woman in whom there is a pythonical or divining spirit, dying let them die: they shall stone them: Their blood be upon them", we should naturally infer that the divining spirit was not believed to be a mere imposture.

Witchcraft in the New Testament

The prohibitions of sorcery in the New Testament leave the same impression (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6). Supposing that the belief in witchcraft were held to be an idle superstition, it would be strange that the suggestion should nowhere be made that the evil of these practices only lay in the pretending to the possession of powers which did not really exist.

There is some debate, however, as to whether the word used in Galatians and Revelation, Pharmakeia, is properly translated as "sorcery", as the word was commonly used to describe malicious use of drugs as in poisons, contraceptives, and abortifacients.

Jewish views of witchcraft

Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. According to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic may exist, it is forbidden. The only supernatural belief Jews should maintain is the belief in God. It should be noted that some Orthodox Jews study Kabbalah (Jewish esoteric mysticism) which contains magical elements; however, their practices use terminology that varies greatly from witchcraft. Since the Enlightenment, most Jewish people have abandoned a belief in the Kabbalah, although it is currently becoming popularized by some Jewish groups such as Chabad-Lubavitch and Jewish Renewal.

Some Neopagans study and practice forms of magery based on a syncretism between classical Jewish mysticism and modern witchcraft. (See "The Witches Qabalah", in the list of references below.) These practitioners tend to identify with Judeo-Paganism (also known as Jewish Paganism), and/or practice Jewitchery, or Jewish Witchcraft. These individuals and groups either borrow from existing Jewish magical traditions or reconstruct rituals based on Judaism and NeoPaganism. Several references on these subjects include Ellen Cannon Reed's book "The Witches Qabala: The Pagan Path and the Tree of Life", "The Hebrew Goddess", by Raphael Patai, and the forthcoming book "Magickal Judaism: Blending Pagan and Jewish Practice", by Jennifer Hunter.

See also: Christian views on witchcraft

African witchcraft

Africans have a wide range of views of traditional religions. African Christians typically accept Christian dogma as their counterparts in Latin America and Asia. The term witch doctor, often attributed to African 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". Combining Roman Catholic beliefs and practices and traditional West African religious beliefs and practices are several syncretic religions in the Americas, including Voudun, Obeah, Candomblé, and Santería.

In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic. The thakathi is usually 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 witchcraft). 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.

Witches in modern culture

Today, few people believe in witches that can curse enemies, change shapes, or fly. However, since the emergence of the witchcraft-inspired religion of Wicca in the 1940s a growing number of people have called themselves witches. While most of western culture continues to assign negative connotations to the word, Wiccans do not consider it a derogatory term, nor do they associate it with Satanism. In fact, many Wiccans wish to claim the term "witch" and assign positive meanings to it.

In 1968, a group of radical politically active women formed a protest organization in the City of New York called W.I.T.C.H., standing for "Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell". This was a short-lived group that did not have any noticeable impact on the modern development of witchcraft, except possibly Dianic craft, but is often cited because of its colourful acronym.

Witches are iconically associated with Halloween, although Wiccans generally prefer to celebrate Samhain. Samhain takes place on November 1st, while Halloween is on the 31st of October. Both holidays are often seen as being metaphorically similar in meaning. This is not coincidence. Christianity had a basic contempt for the supernatural overtones of the festival. The association between "witches" and Halloween possibly came from vilification of practitioners of the Celtic celebration of the last harvest.

Witches have come more into the mainstream in the last few decades, now seen often as common pop-culture figures. Teenage and young adult witches have been the focus or appeared in the movies "The Craft", "Practical Magic", and "Blair Witch Project 2" (the sequel to The Blair Witch Project), as well as the television programs "Bewitched", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Charmed", "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", and some episodes of "The X-Files". Such neo-Gothic portrayals bear little relationship to Wicca, or even a Christian view of witches. In almost all cases witches portrayed in movies and TV shows today are attractive women who have supernatural powers. In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, a witch is a female with magical powers.

Recent research does not, however, support the media's portrayal of witchcraft and Wicca. In Witchcraft out of the Shadows (2004), Leo Ruickbie presents findings that demonstrate that Wicca and other forms of modern Witchcraft religion are not exclusively female nor teenage.

Distinguishing witchcraft from other forms of magic

Among some groups within the modern occult movement, witchcraft is typically distinguished from folk magic, religious magic, and ceremonial magic. Modern self-identified witches (especially practitioners of Wicca) are likely to use the term witchcraft to refer to folk magic.

Folk magic and witchcraft are not identical, but they are very similar. Both are concerned with the producing of effects using supernatural methods which (though arcane) are held to have power in their own right, whether or not they involve the invocation of deities, spirits, or other supernatural beings. In this way they differ from both prayer and religious magic, which derive not from the ritual elements themselves, but depend upon the power and consent of a deity or deities. Ceremonial magic almost always refers to hermetic magic being practiced in an ornate and precise manner.

Distinction of The Craft from Wicca

Though sometimes used interchangeably, "Wicca" and "The Craft" are not the same thing. The confusion comes, understandably, because both practitioners of Wicca and practitioners of The Craft call themselves witches. In addition, many, but not all, Wiccans practice witchcraft and likewise not all witches are Wiccans.

From a neopagan perspective, Wicca refers to the religion; the worship of the God (also known as the Consort) and the Goddess (or just Goddess), and the Sabbat and Esbat rituals. Witchcraft, on the other hand, is considered the craft of magic. Practicing The Craft involves the conscious manipulation of energy to manifest desired results. This practice can be learned and perfected separate from any religious ideology, and thus requires no belief in specific gods or goddesses. It is a learned skill, not a spiritual path. There are other Pagan witches, "Hindu witches", "Buddhist witches", etc. who also practice witchcraft; however, Christians usually do not practice witchcraft because of their beliefs being against "sorcery" as noted in the Bible.

There is a rise however in Christian witches. This is a crossover of Christian beliefs and the Craft. Most follow either the Wiccan idea of "An it harm none, do as ye will" or the traditional Golden Rule. The idea is that of God (and sometimes angels) as the central focus (some of these witches view Mother Earth as the Goddess commonly used in Wicca). Earth plays an important role in the everyday life of Christian witches. As with most witches, they follow their own paths while always working towards a greater good. Many of them feel that prayer is a form of witchcraft. Others feel their priest is actually performing witchcraft when they are in service but it is just called something else. There is a variety of magics practiced by these witches. Unfortunatly, "witch" has had bad connotations and many people that do practice witchcraft will not admit it, (ie: make a birthday wish, make a wish on a wishbone, pray at night, predict/sense future occurrences).

The distinctions between neopaganism and witchcraft can not be clearly distinguished. There is crossover between the pagan/neopagan religions and witchcraft. For example, the mention of goddesses in spells and the performance of spells during Sabbat rituals are found in both. However, the differences mentioned above are the general distinctions made between the two terms.

It should be noted that The Craft as a descriptor for witchcraft is a wholly modern concept, introduced precisely in order to distinguish the religion of Wicca from other practices that involve magic. This is a result of the increasing diversity in modern neopaganism, which was previously dominated by Wicca.

Sybil Leek and Raymond Buckland

It has been said that Raymond Buckland was the Father of American Wicca and Sybil Leek was the mother of the Craft.

Aleister Crowley became a frequent visitor to the home of Sybil Leek (February 22, 1917, Stoke-on Trent, England - October 26, 1982, Melbourne, Florida) when she was only nine years old. Sybil Leek was one of the most publicized Witches of the 20th century, having gone public in the 1960's. Leek said that her witchcraft was different from that of Gerald Gardner.

She was widely known for her psychic predictions of the Kennedy assassinations and the election of Richard M. Nixon as President of the United States. Leek wrote approximately 60 different books covering a wide range of subjects, including astrology, witchcraft, curses, dreams, fortune telling, healing, numerology, phrenology, reincarnation, spells, and telepathy.

"All human beings have magic in them. The secret is to know how to use this magic." - Sybil Leek, 1972.

Raymond Buckland was responsible for introducing Gardnerian Witchcraft into America in 1964. Known as "The Father of American Wicca," he is also the founder of his own tradition of Witchcraft called Seax-Wica. After 28 years working in leading the craft in America, Buckland retired from active participation in 1992.

Books By Sybil Leek

Books by Raymond Buckland

Witchcraft from the Inside (1971)
Practical Candleburning Rituals (1974)
Tree the Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft (1974)
Amazing Secrets of the Psychic World (1975)
The Anatomy of the Occult (1977)
The Magick of Chant-O-Matics (1978)
Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft (1986)
Rituales Practico Con Velos (1988)
Secrets of Gypsy Love Magick (1990)
Secrets of Gypsy Dream Reading (1990)
Scottish Witchcraft (1991)
Ghosts, Hauntings and Possessions (1991)
Esp, Witches, and Ufos (1991)
The Book of African Divination (1992)
Practical Color Magick (1993)
Doors to Other Worlds (1993)
The Committee (1993)
The Buckland Gypsies' Domino Divination Deck/Domino Cards (1995)
Witchcraft from the Inside (1995)
Advanced Candle Magick (1996)
Secrets of Gypsy Fortune Telling (1996)
Gypsy Witchcraft & Magic (1998)
Gypsy Dream Dictionary (1999)
Gypsy Fortune Telling & Tarot Reading (1999)
Coin Divination (2000)
Wicca (2001)
The Buckland Romani Tarot (2001)
Color Magick (2002)
The Witch Book (2002)
Wicca for Life (2003)
Cards of Alchemy (2003)
Signs, Symbols & Omens (2003)
The Fortune-Telling Book (2004)

Theories of Neopagan witchcraft

Some neopagans believe that witchcraft exists as a way of doing good, and eschew any evil usages (See the Wiccan Rede and the Rule of Three (Wiccan)). Their belief is sometimes very similar to the belief of Christians in prayer, that the Divine will acknowledge and grant answers to a ritual given in a Deity's name. More often, however, modern neopagans believe that the power of witchcraft comes about primarily in the way it acts upon the person, not due to any divine intervention. Many neopagans, though, also believe that witchcraft is a way of working directly with divine forces.

Many neopagans believe that people are comprised of three selves. The three selves are the Talking Self (the conscious mind), the Younger Self (the unconscious mind) and the Higher Self (the Soul, also called the Divine Self). It is believed that the unconscious (Younger Self) is not capable of speaking or of understanding speech, but understands and responds to symbolism.

This is similar to the Eastern Christian trichotomy of the Greek words σώμα (soma), ψυχή (psyche), and νους (nous), wherein the soma is the living body, psyche is the "mind" as we normally use the term, and nous is the faculty capable of apprehending the Divine. It differs from the neopagan model in that it assigns a place for the physical body in and of itself as part of a "whole" human being's spiritual existence.

Therefore, to many neopagans the power of a ritual is in the way its symbolism speaks to the Younger Self. Psychology and medical research have shown that beliefs have an effect on one's perception of reality, and that beliefs and perception appear to effect behaviorial and other quantifiable physical changes; one well known example is the placebo effect. Some neopagans believe that witchcraft is a way of tapping into those forces. People who call themselves Neopagans are more likely to take this view. People who go by the term Wiccan are more likely to believe in divine action as ultimate cause.

Not all Witches (people who practice witchcraft) consider themselves Wiccan or Neopagan, and vice versa.

External links

Articles on Witchcraft
Pagan Federation official web site
The home web site of the Traditional Craft Association
Withcraft in the Catholic Encyclopedia on (New Advent)
Modern Pagan Witchcraft
Bibliography for the Study of Magic Witchcraft and Religion, James Dow, Professor of Anthropology at Oakland University
Silver Broom Online Book of Shadows/Forum on Witchcraft and Magick.
Religious Tolerance.org - Witchcraft Tolerate Religions
Some historical notes on the witch-craze from a noted historian

Additional Reading

Listed by date of publication:

Kramer, Heinrich and Springer, James, Malleus Maleficarum [Hammer of the Witches], 1486
Scot, Reginald, Discoverie of Witchcraft, England, 1584
Mather, Cotton. Wonders of the Invisible World, Boston, 1692.
Calef, Robert. More wonders of the Invisible World, London, 1700.
Hansen, Joseph. Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung im Mittelalter. Bonn, 1901.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. Magic, Science, and Religion. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1948.
Evans-Prichard, E. E. Theories of Primitive Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965.
Mair, Lucy, Witchcraft. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
Kors, Alan C.; Peters, Edward. Witchcraft in Europe, 1100-1700. A Documentary History. Philadelphia, 1972.
Heinsohn, Gunnar and Steiger, Otto, Die Vernichtung der weisen Frauen - Hexenverfolgung, Kinderwelten, Bevölkerungswissenschaft, Menschenproduktion. Beiträge zur Theorie und Geschichte von Bevölkerung und Kindheit. Munich, 1985.
Henningsen, Gustav; Tedeschi, John. The Inquisition in Early Modern Europe. Studies on Sources and Methods. Dekalb, 1986.
Behringer, Wolfgang. Hexen und Hexenprozesse in Deutschland. Munich, 1988.
Ankarloo, Bengt. Henningsen, Gustav, Early Modern European Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries. Oxford, 1990.
Beth, Rae. Hedgewitch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft. Robert Hale, 1990.
Dunwich, Gerina. Wicca Craft. Citadel Press, 1991.
Abrahams, Ray. Witchcraft in contemporary Tanzania. Cambridge, 1994.
Rainbird, Ariadne; Rankine, David. Magick Without Peers - A Course in Progressive Witchcraft.Capall Bann, 1997.
Harris, Nathaniel J. Witcha: A Book of Cunning. Mandrake of Oxford, 2004.
Ruickbie, Leo. Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History. Robert Hale, 2004.
Stewart, Pamela J., Strathern, Andrew, Witchcraft, Sorcery, Rumors, and Gossip. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
D'Este, Sorita Rankine, David, Circle of Fire (The Symbolism and Practices of Wiccan Ritual). Avalonia Press, 2005.bn:ডাইনীবিদ্যা

ca:Bruixa cs:Čarodějnice da:Heks de:Hexe es:Bruja fr:Sorcière ja:魔女 nl:Heks pt:Bruxaria ru:Ведьма fi:Noituus sv:Häxa uk:Відьма zh:女巫

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