Witchcraft is the art of invoking spirits for any purpose. Witchcraft is associated with the magical, ritualistic arts and paranormal events.
The word witchcraft derives from a witch, which refers to the woman who practices rites and activities considered magical or inexplicable. Witchcraft appears in the mid-thirteenth century to designate those people, especially women, who were believed to have powers to invoke the devil.
Witches and witchcraft practitioners were sentenced to death in Europe until the 18th century. Before that, witchcraft was considered an act of heresy by the Catholic Church and submitted to the Inquisition.
Witchcraft was held in witch meetings that supposedly invoked the devil. These meetings were called covens. In them, pagan rites were celebrated that are believed to include the practice of sorcery and potion creation.
All witchcraft is characterized by the use of beliefs and rites for the creation of spells and potions. It is divided into two large groups, according to the nature of the intention:
- White witchcraft: they are practices that include spells that have no purpose of harming.
- Black witchcraft: they are considered rites that have bad intentions and seek to affect another person negatively.
Both white and black witchcraft are associated with the practice of magic.
The book Aura by Mexican author Carlos Fuentes explores the theme of witchcraft mixed with Christianity in the twentieth century with the story of Doña Consuelo.
