Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Magic

Abstract

Witchcraft, sorcery, and magic relate to encounters with and attempts to control the supernatural. Magic encompasses beliefs and behaviors in which the relationship between an act and its effect involves analogy or a mystical connection. As used by anthropologists, the term “witch” identifies someone alleged to practice socially prohibited forms of magic, while “sorcerer” refers to someone who intentionally takes on the role of magical practitioner, often with the intent to harm. Anthropological studies of magic, witchcraft, and sorcery around the world date to the mid‐nineteenth century and have been pursued through several schools of thought in the discipline. The most influential studies have been based on fieldwork in Africa and Melanesia. Most anthropologists see connections between witchcraft, sorcery, and social tensions, erupting from conflicts inherent in social organization or in response to modernity and social change.