Witchcraft: Worldwide

Worldwide, the term witchcraft takes on different connotations. In America, most of the European Union, South Africa, and Australia, the term witch has been used by women as a source of empowerment and individual religious expression to separate themselves from mainstream religions. In other parts of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabic peninsula, witches and the practice of witchcraft are met with severe opposition, litigation, and execution. In both connotations, witchcraft is most generally seen as an opposition to mainstream religious and political forces. The social situations of each country determine the way in which the mainstream population reacts to self-identified or perceived witches.

In most cases, the term witch is synonymous with an outsider or someone affiliated with esoteric magical knowledge that can be used for good or for harm. Witchcraft entails a number of different practices, from healing spells to casting curses. Witches may be sought for help or may be blamed for communal misfortune. In all cases, the use of magic is seen as an alternative to mainstream practices. The potential for magic to go awry or to be used for malevolent purposes engenders a fear of witches in many communities. Witchcraft is seen as an active form of religion in which magic is employed to achieve specific ends; this is sometimes in direct opposition to traditional socioreligious structures, in which religion is used to build ties in and among communities.

Witchcraft is generally practised in countries and areas with a history of colonialism. Because witchcraft is an alternative to the mainstream religiopolitical system, which generally operates on a model of patriarchal hierarchy, witches tend to be women. Men who participate in witchcraft sometimes bend or break traditional gender roles as a result of their power to operate outside of traditional religious narratives. As a result, people who self-identify as or who are called witches worldwide tend to disproportionately be women, members of the queer community, or members of an oppressed ethnic group.

Witchcraft's role as an alternative to the mainstream gives it dual existence as a place of power and a place of discrimination. Depending on the country and socioeconomic circumstances, witchcraft is tolerated, embraced, or punished. It is also important to note the social differences between those who self-identify as witches and those who are labeled witches by others.