Witchcraft & Magic

Witchcraft

The belief in witches is manifest everywhere in the world, but only among settled societies. Inherent in that belief is the idea that certain people - usually women - possess a specific power which enables them, even drives them, to separate their "free soul" from their sleepimg body at night and send it on its journeys. Their intention is always evil. Witches are seen as the bringers of death, disease, and material loss. Their desires are at odds with all social values, such as helpfulness and solidarity. Witches uproot trees, rage through storms, unleash disfiguring diseases  such as leprosy or scabies, and make people blind, lame,deaf, mute, impotent, or infertile by "eating" the relevant organ or turning women's wombs around in their bodies. They tempt people into theft, wastefulness, and drinking. In other words, any inexplicable misfortune is credited to them.