Definition of witchcraft - What it is, Meaning and Concept

Witchcraft is the set of magical and superstitious practices developed by witches and sorcerers .For example: “My grandmother thinks she feels bad because a neighbor made her a witchcraft ”, “ The police searched a house where they practiced witchcraft and mutilated animals ”, “ It seems that I am in prison of a witchcraft: I want to do things and everything I go wrong ”.

Human beings believe in witchcraft since prehistory , although the interpretations of the phenomenon change according to the culture and the era .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 tendency, in some cases we also usually talk about two types of witchcraft: one beneficial and another malefic, as is the case with magic white and the black magic .


Ultimately, witchcraft practices are similar to the actions performed by magicians, sorcerers and shamans, since they all imply some kind of logic that escapes what is considered normal or natural.


Throughout history we can find several important facts that revolve around the aforementioned witchcraft.If, for example, in Spain there was the so-called Holy Inquisition, it was a medieval institution of the Catholic Church that did not I was just trying to stop the heresy but also any kind of act of witches and that had to do with the devil.


Thus, throughout its centuries of life, that entity, also called Holy Office, undertook a multitude of tortures and murders without any reason, simply by saying that women and men were wizards when in reality what only they had done was, for example, bet on traditional methods, such as the use of herbs, for disease cures.


Among the bloodiest episodes that took place in this regard, the case of the witches of Zugarramurdi in 1610 stands out.Various women were burned when they considered that they practiced witchcraft, that they were capable of flying, that they maintained relations with the devil or that they had the capacity 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 in favor of the faith.


Also, in the United States the case of the Salem witches is also known.This was a set of trials that took place at the end of the 17th century against twenty-five women who were accused of being witchcraft by people who only they had personal jealousy against them.The result of all were various hangings.

In today's world, witchcraft considered a practice capable of influencing reality is somewhat marginal.Instead, these phenomena appear frequently in popular culture through television series, comics, books or movies, often in a funny and humorous way.


Brujeria , finally, is the name of a Mexican metal band founded in 1989 and the title of Shakira and Los Tipitos .

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