In rural Ghana, only 18% of patients believe elephantiasis is a disease. Some others think it is caused by curses or even rain. Only by understanding local beliefs can it be treated effectively.
Articles on Witchcraft
Displaying 21 - 40 of 59 articles
What do we mean when we talk about “witches”? And what imaginary world is conjured up by this historical figure turned mythical?
Witchcraft is an enduring source of fascination but also prone to popular misconceptions.
Victims of witchcraft accusations face alienation or exclusion from their communities.
In the last Census, 33,148 Australians identified with a nature religion, or Paganism. Who are the Pagans – and what do they do and believe?
A raft of horror films remind us of the grip troubled sleep once had on our imaginations.
Critics of superstition have often painted openness to magical interpretations as weakness or moral failing.
From ancient Greece to modern-day TikTok witchcraft, the world of witches has been a changing one.
A teenage domestic servant showed signs of possession, and a miller was accused of witchcraft. Considering records of these events helps clarify what we can and cannot know about the past.
The idea of a ‘witch’ was usually female in Western Europe, but not so in Orthodox Russia – partly because of the period’s rigid social hierarchies.
By casting spells and creating online persona to fool their victims, the Ivorian figure of the “brouteur” reveals the connections between the occult and virtual dimensions.
It’s facile to claim that only the state, or even only elites, were responsible for executing witches – there is a potential witch-hunter in all of us.
Beyond the fairy tales, mythical stories and stereotypes, there are many ways to be a witch.
From devil to potion to miracle drug, chocolate’s arrival in Europe was a wild ride.
Scent and magic have been entwined in our imaginations for centuries – right up to today’s witch-inspired perfumes.
Interest in Wicca and witchcraft appears to be increasing, but what exactly is Wicca in the first place?
Because of their appearance, people with albinism in Tanzania are often socially excluded and frequently (and sometimes violently) discriminated against.
A historian reviews Pablo Agüere’s award-winning Netflix film Akelarre and explains why it is one of the best films around on the early modern witch-hunt.
An artist and self-proclaimed witch, Rosaleen Norton defied cultural norms in Menzies-era Australia. Reviled by the media, she was a powerfully unconventional woman.
For hundreds of years, magicians believed cheese could help them foretell the future or identify a criminal.
Top contributors
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PhD Candidate, Languages and Literature, Aberystwyth University
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Reader in Early Modern History, History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
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Postdo, University of Exeter
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Professor of English, UMass Lowell
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Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies, Lancaster University
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Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland
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Honorary Professor of Classics and Ancient History, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland
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Professor of History, Iowa State University
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Associate Professor of History, University of Saskatchewan
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Lecturer in Criminology, Edith Cowan University
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Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician and Public Health Scientist, MidMichigan Health, University of Michigan
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Postdoctoral fellow, University of Groningen
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Professor of Anthropology, UCL
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UQ Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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Scientific Co-Director and Associate Professor, University of Waterloo