Question

Compare and contrast the typical Western European version of witchcraft with one of the following non-Western versions of witchcraft by reviewing these resource links on witchcraft:

What purpose do the beliefs serve in the contrasting society’s view of witchcraft that you selected above?

Answer 1

ANS) Witchcraft is broadly means the practice and belief in magical skills and abilities exercised by solitary practitioners and groups. Witchcraft is a broad term that varies culturally and societally, and thus can be difficult to define with precision.

Practice of witchcraft in Europe can be traced to classical antiquity, and has continuous history during the Middle Ages; culminating in the Early Modern witch hunts and giving rise to the fairy tale and popular culture "witch" stock character of modern times, as well as to the concept of the "modern witch" in Wicca and related movements of contemporary witchcraft.

The topic is a complex amalgamation of the practices of folk healers, folk magic, ancient belief in sorcery in pagan Europe, Christian views on heresy, medieval and early modern practice of ceremonial magic and simple fiction in folklore and literature.

Premodern European beliefs about witchcraft and premodern African ideas about witchcraft are in many respects very similar. There were differences between one part of Europe and another, and between one part of Africa and another, so anything that one says about either European or African understandings of witchcraft will be a generalisation. The are similar not only to each other, but also to premodern witchcraft beliefs in other parts of the world.

In the 16TH and 17TH century , in particular, there was a witch craze in many parts of Europe, in which suspected witches were accused and persecuted. The witch craze was not universal. It was most severe in Germany and neighbouring countries.

In the 18th century there was another change in European witchcraft beliefs, which led to the end of witch hunting. Whereas in the seventeenth century the figure of the witch inspired fear, by the 19th century the witchcraft was a figure of fun and practical joking. It was in the 19th century that there was growing contact between European and African people, but African witchcraft beliefs were premodern, and were closer to those of European society in the premodern period, before the 11th century.

In our time there had been an increase in witch hunting in Africa and perhaps it is not coincidence that it is taking place at a time when modernity is becoming more influential in many parts of Africa.

In the pre-Christian world of antiquity, witchcraft was a very old stereotype of menace, which it still is in many parts of Africa today.In antiquity, Christians found witchcraft beliefs in the society around them. Christianity began in the Roman empire, which was multinational and multicultural. People believed that there were such things as witchcraft and sorcery - trying to harm people by occult means. Some practised witchcraft, though it was not regarded as appropriate behaviour for them.We should recognise the parallels, and warn Christians against falling into the same delusion today.