The views of witchcraft in North America have evolved through an interlinking history of cultural beliefs and interactions. These forces contribute to complex and evolving views of witchcraft. Today, North America hosts a diverse array of beliefs about witchcraft. [102] [103] Rasbold, K. (2019). Crossroads of Conjure: The Roots and Practices of Granny Magic, Hoodoo, Brujería, and Curanderismo. Llewellyn Worldwide.

In some cultures, witches are believed to use human body parts in magic, [1] :19-22 and they are commonly believed to murder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be called postpartum psychosis, were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical temptation". [35] While some colonialists tried to eradicate witch hunting by introducing legislation to prohibit accusations of witchcraft, some of the countries where this was the case have formally recognized the existence of witchcraft via the law. This has produced an environment that encourages persecution of suspected witches. [88] Witches are believed to work in secret, sometimes alone and sometimes with other witches. Hutton writes: "Across most of the world, witches have been thought to gather at night, when normal humans are inactive, and also at their most vulnerable in sleep". [1] :19-22 In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity. [1] :19-22 Hoggard, Brian (2004). "The archaeology of counter-witchcraft and popular magic", in Beyond the Witch Trials: Witchcraft and Magic in Enlightenment Europe, Manchester University Press. p. 167 [ ISBNmissing]

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A local newspaper informed that more than fifty people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft. [123] An estimated 50–150 alleged witches are killed each year in Papua New Guinea. [124] Davies, Owen (1999). Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736–1951. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719056567. Cimpric, Aleksandra 2010. Children accused of witchcraft, An anthropological study of contemporary practices in Africa. Dakar, Senegal: UNICEF WCARO a b c Lawrence, Salmah Eva-Lina (2015). "Witchcraft, Sorcery, Violence: Matrilineal and Decolonial Reflections". In Forsyth, Miranda; Eves, Richard (eds.). Talking it Through: Responses to Sorcery and Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Melanesia. Canberra, Australia: ANU Press. Gittins, Anthony J. (1987). "Mende Religion". Studia Instituti Anthropos. Nettetal: Steyler Verlag. 41.

Bilefsky, Dan (10 May 2009). "Hard Times Give New Life to Prague's Golem". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013 . Retrieved 19 March 2013. According to Czech legend, the Golem was fashioned from clay and brought to life by a rabbi to protect Prague's 16th-century ghetto from persecution, and is said to be called forth in times of crisis. True to form, he is once again experiencing a revival, and in this commercial age, has spawned a one-monster industry. a b William Wyatt Gill (1892). "Wizards". The south Pacific and New Guinea, past and present; with notes on the Hervey group, an illustrative song and various myths. Sydney: Charles Potter, Government Printer. Emperor Wu's suppression of shamanism was part of a larger effort to centralize power, promote Confucian ethics, and standardize cultural practices. While the ban on shamanistic practices did impact certain communities and religious groups, these measures were not universally applied across the vast territory of the empire. Local variations and practices persisted in some regions despite imperial edicts. [64] Historian Ronald Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and witchcraft by most cultures that believe in this concept: the use of magic to cause harm or misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own community; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been acquired through inheritance or initiation; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings; and witchcraft could be thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical punishment of the alleged witch. [1] :3–4 [a]Hutton, Ronald (16 March 2018). "Witches and Cunning Folk in British Literature 1800–1940". Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural. 7 (1): 27. doi: 10.5325/preternature.7.1.0027. hdl: 1983/c91bdc34-80d8-49f6-92df-9147f2bef535. ISSN 2161-2188. S2CID 194795666. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021 . Retrieved 18 May 2021. A 2022 study found that belief in witchcraft, as in the use of malevolent magic or powers, is still widespread in some parts of the world. It found that belief in witchcraft varied from 9% of people in some countries to 90% in others, and was linked to cultural and socioeconomic factors. Stronger belief in witchcraft correlated with poorer economic development, weak institutions, lower levels of education, lower life expectancy, lower life satisfaction, and high religiosity. [85] [86] Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of violence against women. [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] In Tanzania, about 500 old women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch. [52] Saudi man executed for 'witchcraft and sorcery' ". BBC News. Bbc.com. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019 . Retrieved 7 June 2014. Most early Wiccan groups adhered to the duotheistic worship of a Horned God and a Mother Goddess, with practitioners typically believing that these had been the ancient deities worshipped by the hunter-gatherers of the Old Stone Age, whose veneration had been passed down in secret right to the present. [38] This theology derived from Egyptologist Margaret Murray's claims about the witch-cult in her book The Witch-Cult in Western Europe published by Oxford University Press in 1921; [41] she claimed that this cult had venerated a Horned God at the time of the Early Modern witch trials, but centuries before it had also worshipped a Mother Goddess. [40] This duotheistic Horned God/Mother Goddess structure was embraced by Gardner – who claimed that it had Stone Age roots – and remains the underlying theological basis to his Gardnerian tradition. [42] Gardner claimed that the names of these deities were to be kept secret within the tradition, although in 1964 they were publicly revealed to be Cernunnos and Aradia; the secret Gardnerian deity names were subsequently changed. [43]