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==Europe==
==Europe==
In Europe--both Catholic and Protestant areas-- from 1350 to 1650 several hundred thousand witches were executed--often by burning--after legal proceedings. One-quarter of those executed for witchcraft were men. In Exodus 22:18 the Old Testament specifically bans witchcraft under penalty of death. A famous British case was the [[Pendle Witch]] trials of 1612 AD.
In Europe—both Catholic and Protestant areas—from 1350 to 1650 several hundred thousand witches were executed—often by burning—after legal proceedings. One-quarter of those executed for witchcraft were men. In Exodus 22:18 the Old Testament specifically bans witchcraft under penalty of death. A famous British case was the [[Pendle Witch]] trials of 1612 AD.
Many of those executed were targeted less for spiritual reasons and more for earthly concerns; the accuser and the administrator of punishment often shared the spoils when the belongings and wealth of a person executed for witchcraft. The hysteria also gave a perfect opportunity for people to get rid of people they disliked for personal reasons or people who didn't fit the idea the community had of an ideal member.
Many of those executed were targeted less for spiritual reasons and more for earthly concerns; the accuser and the administrator of punishment often shared the spoils when the belongings and wealth of a person executed for witchcraft. The hysteria also gave a perfect opportunity for people to get rid of people they disliked for personal reasons or people who didn't fit the idea the community had of an ideal member.
Salem was typical in that the belief in witches was widespread in colonial America. In Virginia supernatural beliefs played a major role in interpreting the unknown and establishing social order. The supernatural world of the early settlers was comprised of belief in benevolent and demonic forces, divine judgment, omens, magic, witchcraft, combat with the devil, and other ideas transported from England. This complex supernatural world functioned to explain the unknown, sanction colonization, demonize the native population, control the colonists, and provide a defense against internal and external enemies.<ref>Edward L. Bond, "Source of Knowledge, Source of Power: the Supernatural World of English Virginia, 1607-1624," ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography''wicc 2000 108(2): 105-138. 0042-6636
Salem was typical in that the belief in witches was widespread in colonial America. In Virginia supernatural beliefs played a major role in interpreting the unknown and establishing social order. The supernatural world of the early settlers was comprised of belief in benevolent and demonic forces, divine judgment, omens, magic, witchcraft, combat with the devil, and other ideas transported from England. This complex supernatural world functioned to explain the unknown, sanction colonization, demonize the native population, control the colonists, and provide a defense against internal and external enemies.<ref>Edward L. Bond, "Source of Knowledge, Source of Power: the Supernatural World of English Virginia, 1607-1624," ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography''wicc 2000 108(2): 105-138. 0042-6636
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==Romantics==
==Romantics==
==Atheistic witchcraft==
==Atheistic witchcraft==
Many individuals who subscribe to [[atheism]] practice witchcraft and magic.<ref name=Illes>{{Cite book|title=Weiser Field Guide to Witches|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qdWOXc4jDs8C&pg=PA30&dq=wiccan+atheism&hl=en&ei=XlbZTcXzAeO_0AGbm_T7Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAzge#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Non-Wiccan witches may belong to any spiritual or religious tradition or none—agnostic or atheist witches are typically considered non-Wiccan.|author=Judika Illes|publisher=Weiser Books|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Buckland>{{Cite book|title=Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft - From Birth to Summerland|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oJVo58KTVKkC&pg=PA95&dq=wiccan+atheism&hl=en&ei=XlbZTcXzAeO_0AGbm_T7Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAjge#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=You can even be an atheist and do magic. Magic is a practice and, in itself, does not involve any connection with deity.|author=Raymond Buckland|publisher=Citadel Press|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> An organization dedicated to the promotion of witchcraft known as ''The Realm of White Magic'' states that this is possible because "witchcraft is a lifestyle choice not a spiritual belief system."<ref name=Seashell >{{Cite web|title=Witchcraft, Wicca and/or Paganism|url=http://www.whitemagic.com.au/bbs/newitch.html|quote=Witchcraft is a lifestyle choice not a spiritual belief system (even an atheist can be a witch).|publisher=The Realm of White Magic|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> In the past, witchcraft was often viewed as a precursor of atheism.<ref name=Association>{{Cite web|title=John Locke, Toleration and Early Enlightenment Culture (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dRb-P3HRuvkC&pg=PA260&dq=atheism+and+witchcraft&hl=en&ei=GEjpTZSDHsX40gHcwvWqAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=atheism%20and%20witchcraft&f=false|quote=At other points, the association of atheism, heresies, idolatry and witchcraft was stated by Bacon in the Advancement of Learning in ways that simultaneously differentiated and yet assimilated them.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Pfleiderer>{{Cite book|title=Renaissance Magic and the Return of the Golden Age: The Occult Tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fLFhCYXFiVcC&pg=PA80&dq=atheism+and+witchcraft&hl=en&ei=GEjpTZSDHsX40gHcwvWqAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=atheism%20and%20witchcraft&f=false|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|quote=Of central importance for the present study is the fact that Marlowe was in contact with several of the most advanced and open-minded scientists and philosophers in Europe, and he was intensely and no doubt uncomfortabely aware that among the tools used to suppress freedom of inquiry wre accusations of atheism and witchcraft.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> However, some who subscribe to atheism have often stood in opposition to the practice of witchcraft.<ref name=Opposition>{{Cite book|title=Atheism and Secularity: Issues, concepts, and definitions|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Z1hbaAHsAlUC&pg=RA1-PA145&dq=atheism+and+witchcraft&hl=en&ei=PkrpTaaDHqTf0QHxzLW0AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=atheism%20and%20witchcraft&f=false|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|quote=In the Hyderabad State, the belief in witchcraft and sorcery is still deeply entrenched in the minds of the people. In 1983, leaders in the district administration in Medak invited the Atheist Centre to help dispel such superstitions.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref>
Many individuals who subscribe to [[atheism]] practice witchcraft and magic.<ref name=Illes>{{Cite book|title=Weiser Field Guide to Witches|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qdWOXc4jDs8C&pg=PA30&dq=wiccan+atheism&hl=en&ei=XlbZTcXzAeO_0AGbm_T7Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAzge#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=Non-Wiccan witches may belong to any spiritual or religious tradition or none—agnostic or atheist witches are typically considered non-Wiccan.|author=Judika Illes|publisher=Weiser Books|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Buckland>{{Cite book|title=Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft - From Birth to Summerland|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oJVo58KTVKkC&pg=PA95&dq=wiccan+atheism&hl=en&ei=XlbZTcXzAeO_0AGbm_T7Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAjge#v=onepage&q&f=false|quote=You can even be an atheist and do magic. Magic is a practice and, in itself, does not involve any connection with deity.|author=Raymond Buckland|publisher=Citadel Press|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> An organization dedicated to the promotion of witchcraft known as ''The Realm of White Magic'' states that this is possible because "witchcraft is a lifestyle choice not a spiritual belief system."<ref name=Seashell >{{Cite web|title=Witchcraft, Wicca and/or Paganism|url=http://www.whitemagic.com.au/bbs/newitch.html|quote=Witchcraft is a lifestyle choice not a spiritual belief system (even an atheist can be a witch).|publisher=The Realm of White Magic|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> In the past, witchcraft was often viewed as a precursor of atheism.<ref name=Association>{{Cite book|title=John Locke, Toleration and Early Enlightenment Culture (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dRb-P3HRuvkC&pg=PA260&dq=atheism+and+witchcraft&hl=en&ei=GEjpTZSDHsX40gHcwvWqAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=atheism%20and%20witchcraft&f=false|quote=At other points, the association of atheism, heresies, idolatry and witchcraft was stated by Bacon in the Advancement of Learning in ways that simultaneously differentiated and yet assimilated them.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref name=Pfleiderer>{{Cite book|title=Renaissance Magic and the Return of the Golden Age: The Occult Tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fLFhCYXFiVcC&pg=PA80&dq=atheism+and+witchcraft&hl=en&ei=GEjpTZSDHsX40gHcwvWqAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=atheism%20and%20witchcraft&f=false|publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]]|quote=Of central importance for the present study is the fact that Marlowe was in contact with several of the most advanced and open-minded scientists and philosophers in Europe, and he was intensely and no doubt uncomfortabely aware that among the tools used to suppress freedom of inquiry wre accusations of atheism and witchcraft.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref> However, some who subscribe to atheism have often stood in opposition to the practice of witchcraft.<ref name=Opposition>{{Cite book|title=Atheism and Secularity: Issues, concepts, and definitions|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Z1hbaAHsAlUC&pg=RA1-PA145&dq=atheism+and+witchcraft&hl=en&ei=PkrpTaaDHqTf0QHxzLW0AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=atheism%20and%20witchcraft&f=false|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|quote=In the Hyderabad State, the belief in witchcraft and sorcery is still deeply entrenched in the minds of the people. In 1983, leaders in the district administration in Medak invited the Atheist Centre to help dispel such superstitions.|accessdate=13 November 2010}}</ref>
==Modern Usage==
==Modern Usage==
* Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav, eds. ''Early Modern European Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries.'' (1990). 477 pp.
* Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav, eds. ''Early Modern European Witchcraft. Centres and Peripheries.'' (1990). 477 pp.
* Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. ''Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts.'' (1994). 255 pp.
* Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. ''Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts.'' (1994). 255 pp.
* Ben-Yehuda, Nachman. "The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist's Perspective," ''American Journal of Sociology'', Vol. 86, No. 1 (Jul., 1980), pp. 1-31 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778849 in JSTOR]
* Ben-Yehuda, Nachman. "The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist's Perspective," ''American Journal of Sociology'', Vol. 86, No. 1 (Jul., 1980), pp. 1–31 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778849 in JSTOR]
* Breslaw, Elaine G., ed. ''Witches of the Atlantic World: A Historical Reader and Primary Sourcebook'' (2000). 561 pp.
* Breslaw, Elaine G., ed. ''Witches of the Atlantic World: A Historical Reader and Primary Sourcebook'' (2000). 561 pp.
* Levack, Brian P. ''The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe.'' (1987). 267 pp.
* Levack, Brian P. ''The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe.'' (1987). 267 pp.
===Witchcraft today===
===Witchcraft today===
* Ashforth, Adam. "Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in the New South Africa," ''Cahiers d'Études Africaines'', Vol. 38, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4392879 in JSTOR]
* Ashforth, Adam. "Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in the New South Africa," ''Cahiers d'Études Africaines'', Vol. 38, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4392879 in JSTOR]
* Ciekawy, Diane, and Peter Geschiere. "Containing Witchcraft: Conflicting Scenarios in Postcolonial Africa," ''African Studies Review,'' Vol. 41, No. 3 (Dec., 1998), pp. 1-14 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/525351 in JSTOR]
* Ciekawy, Diane, and Peter Geschiere. "Containing Witchcraft: Conflicting Scenarios in Postcolonial Africa," ''African Studies Review,'' Vol. 41, No. 3 (Dec., 1998), pp. 1–14 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/525351 in JSTOR]
* Lewis, James R., ed. ''Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft'' (1996). 423 pp.
* Lewis, James R., ed. ''Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft'' (1996). 423 pp.
* Reis, Elizabeth, ed. ''Spellbound: Women and Witchcraft in America'' (1998). 282pp. on Wicca
* Reis, Elizabeth, ed. ''Spellbound: Women and Witchcraft in America'' (1998). 282pp. on Wicca