what is witch craft, in detail?

Answer 1

Cursing & harming others with evil spirits.

(I hate to talk about this)

Answer 2

This has nothing to do with Astronomy & Space. I think you got confused between Witch Craft and Space Craft.

Answer 3

Witchcraft is a form of religion. The idea that a spell or incantation can provoke a deity to do what you want, or make some "force" make things happen in the way you want, is very old. The idea with a "spell" is that everything must be done EXACTLY right in order to please the "force" or make it cooperate.

When we are babies, we have God-like beings in our lives that we call parents. If we are "good," we get the things we want, like food, love, and toys. If we are "bad," we don't get anything. Babies assume, when they are not getting what they want, that there must be some way to "make it happen." So they can beg or they can cry and try to be irritating. Begging is the infant version of prayer for the adult. Crying is the infant version of cursing for the adult.

When we are grown ups, we still have the "wiring" which makes us think that if we "act rightly" we will be rewarded and if we "act wrongly" we will be punished. So we have a tendency to look for "grown up ways" to do wish fulfillment the same way an infant does. Elaborate rituals, incantations, and codes of conduct are designed to make us feel that we will be rewarded. And we can also try to bring down evil spirits on those we don't like.

These things don't have much reality in if one puzzles it through, the fact is that often what we "want" is not good for us or what we "really want." You may wish for a billion dollars, but you don't want your child to be kidnapped and held for ransom. So what you "really want" is what's good for your child. The Lord's prayer effectively solves this problem by making it plain that we are, in effect, not smart enough to know what we should pray for, and offers some very simple advice to ask for food and the ability to conduct one's self rightly. Beyond that we don't really know what will work out or what won't.

Witchcraft's rituals *can* be oriented in this way, towards some abstract good, but sometimes the practioner is looking for "something easy" like gold or a Cadillac or evil to befall an old boyfriend.

In the middle ages, witchcraft was associated (a) with incantations designed to make things happen and (b) with herbs that might have healing (or poisonous) effects. The latter category (b) was interesting in that witchcraft is the ancient origins of modern pharmaceuticals; the desire to turn stuff into gold, or alchemy, is pretty much a branch of witchcraft that evolved into chemistry.

A lot of witches were persecuted and murdered by the Catholic church. Many women who were not witches were accused of being witches in order to force their husbands to pay ransoms. This was a nasty situation. If you look at formal religions, you will note that they are highly ritualized, and idea is, if you perform the rituals, make the right incantations, your soul will be saved, etc. It is generally a "smart move" to get away from ceremonies tied to specifics, such as a ritual designed to make sure the hunters come back with food, because when they come back empty handed that makes everyone look bad. Something like "saving the soul" is a smarter move because you never really know if a soul is saved or not. For this reason religions which make general promises and don't tie themselves to specifics have been pretty competitive against ancient rituals designed to achieve specific ends.

Witches, warlocks, sorcerers, medicine men, are found in all cultures.

In the evolution of legal systems, Max Weber notes that trial by combat was an early form of "letting God decide the dispute" because only the just person would win the battle and the loser would die. Later, special "champions" would recite complex incantations on behalf of the person they were defending. The person who made a mistake in the incantation lost, and the incantations were heard by contest judges who knew the incantations really, really well. This, says Weber, is the ancestry of modern legal practice. When we say someone "got off on a technicality" we mean that the prosecutors made a mistake in their incantations and the accused was deemed innocent by the judges.

So that's as much details as you're going to get from me. Witchcraft is prayer, witchcraft is cursing; witchcraft is an extension of our infantile personalities; witchcraft is religion; witchcraft is ancient science, witchcraft is ancient politics and blackmail, witchcraft is the forerunner of legal systems.

Answer 4

Having the mental ability to comprehend is the first step.

Ray Buckland (and others) have several decent references.

In studying any religion, it is important to perform your own research. This way, you can make your own personal choices on which is best for you.

Witchcraft is generally perceived as bad. All is in the eye of the beholder. It is the person which interprets that chooses for good or evil in their eyes. This is why one must be open-minded and intelligent in participation of anything.

One thing witchcraft has in common with many others, (besides opposers) the three-fold law. Karma will return as will spells, in due time,...

Answer 5

Witchcraft is a form of religion (Wicca). There are many different "denominations" ie; gardnerian, dianic, even solitary (which is for someone who doesn't have access to or doesnt want to be in a coven), but there are many more "groups". they celebrate sabbats & esbats (holidays & new moons). They are usually a very kind & loving religion. Yes sometimes spells are integrated into the religion, but usually only for constructive kinds of magick, destructive types come back on the spell caster threefold.

Answer 6

wrong area.
that said witch craft is the study of flora and Fiona and the environment and how they affect us, for good or bad
the old term for witches was one who had there wits
a witch healed, a black magic witch cursed and blighted
that is ruffly the idea.

Answer 7

Depends on whose definition you choose to use.

Answer 8

For sure it has nothing to do with astronomy...I hope so.

Answer 9

Why here ? Try myths

Answer 10

read harry potter