Witchcraft is the set of magical and superstitious practices that witches and warlocks develop. For example: “My grandmother thinks she feels bad because a neighbor did witchcraft on her”, “The police raided a house where they practiced witchcraft and mutilated animals”, “It seems that I am a prisoner of witchcraft: I want to do things and everything works out for me. bad ”.
Human beings have believed in witchcraft since prehistoric times, although interpretations of the phenomenon change according to culture and time. In Western society, witchcraft is associated with the belief in the Devil or in demons, since the practice is associated with spells that seek to cause evil.
Beyond this trend, in some cases it is also common to speak of two types of witchcraft: one beneficial and the other malefic, as is the case with white magic and black magic.
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Ultimately, the practices of witchcraft are similar to the actions carried out by magicians, sorcerers and shamans, since they all involve some kind of logic that escapes what is considered normal or natural.
Throughout history we can find various events of great importance that revolve around the aforementioned witchcraft. Thus, for example, in Spain there was the so-called Holy Inquisition, it was a medieval institution of the Catholic Church that not only tried to stop heresy but also any type of act of witches that had to do with the devil.
Thus, throughout its centuries of life, this entity, also called the Holy Office, carried out a multitude of torture and murder for no reason, simply claiming that women and men were witches when in reality all they had done was, for example, betting on traditional methods, such as the use of herbs, for the cures of diseases.
Among the most bloody episodes that took place in this regard, the case of the witches of Zugarramurdi in 1610 stands out. Several women were burned when it was considered that they practiced witchcraft, that they were capable of flying, that they had relations with the devil or that they had ability to generate all kinds of perverse actions against their peers. However, these accusations were only the result of a series of personal quarrels that existed between neighbors and that were used by the inquisitors to continue carrying out their cruel murders for the faith.
Likewise, the case of the Salem witches is also known in the United States. This was a set of trials that took place at the end of the 17th century against twenty-five women who were accused of witchcraft by people who had only personal envy against them. The result of all was various hangings.
In today’s world, witchcraft considered as a practice capable of influencing reality is something marginal. Instead, these phenomena appear frequently in popular culture through television series, comics, books or movies, often in a comedic and humorous way.
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