witchcraft
witchcraft
noun
noun
- [mass noun]the practice of magic, especially black magic; the use of spells and the invocation of spirits
巫术；妖术；魔法。 参见 Wicca - Witchcraft became associated with demonic possession and rejection of God in Europe in the early Middle Ages and by the 15th century mass persecutions had begun to take place. Witches were defined by Catholics and later also by Protestants as heretics who obtained their power through a pact with the Devil. After a papal bull of 1484, roughly a thousand people in England, mainly women, were hanged or burned for witchcraft; the last execution was in 1685. On the Continent, and in Scotland, the use of torture produced far more victims and bizarre confessions of sabbaths and night-flying. Belief in witchcraft was also widespread in Puritan communities in North America; more than thirty people were convicted of witchcraft in the notorious trials at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Although belief in witchcraft declined in Europe and America after the 17th century, it continues to be a powerful force in many preliterate and tribal societies. In the 20th century a new kind of witchcraft has emerged in parts of Europe and North America (see Wicca), claiming its origins in pre-Christian pagan religions
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