Witchcraft has described alleged harmful magic, forms of practical magic, and a religious or personal identity adopted by modern practitioners. The meaning depends heavily on place and period. Someone accused of witchcraft in a trial and someone who introduces themselves as a witch today belong to different kinds of historical evidence.[2][3]

The accused witch#

Historical objects preserve fears surrounding witchcraft as well as attempts to counter it. The Pitt Rivers Museum's account of a bottle reputed to contain a witch discusses objects used to ward off spells or to harm supposed witches.[1]

The museum notes an awkward feature of counter-witchcraft: people used magical techniques to resist the magic they feared. A simple opposition between a magical witch and a non-magical opponent misses this part of the record.[1]

At Salem, court records preserve examinations, accusations, and judgments. The University of Virginia archive makes both manuscripts and transcriptions available. Their detail allows a reader to study how a claim entered a legal proceeding, rather than treating every recorded statement as an admission of an actual supernatural act.[2]

A modern identity#

Modern religious witchcraft developed in a different setting. The Pagan Federation identifies Wicca as an influential modern tradition and describes several branches, including Gardnerian and Alexandrian lineages. It also recognizes that practitioners disagree about whether Wicca and witchcraft name the same path.[3]

Margaret Murray's witch-cult theory helped popularize the idea that early modern trials had targeted a surviving pre-Christian religion. The Pitt Rivers Museum describes this theory as disproved, while tracing its influence on modern witchcraft and queer religious culture.[1] Its importance in the history of ideas does not make its historical reconstruction reliable.

Objects, practice, and representation#

The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic displays ordinary objects given magical uses, including a fishing float used as a crystal ball and charms carried by soldiers. Such material broadens the subject beyond the familiar image of a cauldron and broomstick.[4] A charm might be associated with luck, illness, protection, or a particular local story.

Witch is therefore not a synonym for Satanist. A modern practitioner's account of their own religion, a court's accusation, and an artist's picture of a witch each answer a different question. The painting used as this article's cover is a nineteenth-century artistic representation, not a photograph of a historical rite.

Connected articles#

References

  1. Pitt Rivers Museum, Beyond the Binary: Witchcraft · Museum discussion of counter-witchcraft, modern religious identity, and the discredited Murrayite witch-cult theory. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  2. University of Virginia, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive · Primary documents, transcriptions, maps, and biographical resources for the 1692-1693 proceedings. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  3. Pagan Federation, Witchcraft & Wicca · Organizational introduction to modern Wicca, lineages, and differences in Craft terminology. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
  4. Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Museum Guide · Museum collection and display descriptions; magical effects are presented as beliefs about objects, not established effects. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
witchcraftwiccafolk magicwitch trialsreligious history

This encyclopedia covers traditions beyond the High Satanic Church. Church doctrine is identified as such when it appears.