Witchcraft Crossword Puzzle for Kids

Witchcraft is the use of magical powers. This might be for healing, seeing into the future, causing harm, or for religion. A person practicing witchcraft is called a witch, although a man practicing witchcraft is often mistakenly called a wizard (a word from Northern Europe), a warlock (a word from 14th century England), a sorcerer, or shaman (a term for people who practice magic in parts of Asia). Such people are said to have a knowledge of the chemical (or pharmaceutical) effects of certain herbs or shrubs. Witches can use this knowledge to help people who are sick or to hurt them.

Witchcraft is different throughout the world and can be seen as good or bad depending on where you are. Today, many people practice a peaceful kind of witchcraft, called Wicca. However, there are still many other people who are scared of witchcraft and think that it is bad. Throughout history, there have been stories about good and bad witches.

In European history, witches were accused of making and performing spells to harm people. They could also harm people by using their mind. However, this belief was not real and was often used to explain why bad things happened.

In Africa, witches don't use physical tools or actions to curse others. They can cause harm by just thinking about it. In fact, one may be unaware of being a witch, or may have been convinced of their witch nature by the suggestion of others. This understanding was described by anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard, who studied African magical beliefs.

Accusations of Witchcraft

Éva Pócs (a scholar and folklorist) states that there are four reasons a person is accused of witchcraft:

A person was caught in the act of positive or negative witchcraft (performing a spell)

A well-meaning healer lost the trust of their clients' or the authorities'

A person was rumored to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or Occultism

The first is the "neighborhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbor following some conflict. According to Pócs, this type of witch is found only in rural village communities where the residents largely rely on each other.

Practices

It is believed that witches can perform magic by using plants, casting spells, or using their mind. The use of plants (often called herbalism) involves collecting or growing herbs to use in potions or medicines to help or hurt people, animals, or things.

In popular artwork, witches can be seen using big metal cooking bowls called cauldrons to mix their spell ingredients. Witches also use wands, brooms, sticks, candles, swords, and fire to perform spells.

In some cultures, witches can harm people just by using their mind and thinking bad thoughts about a person. In these cultures, witches do not need any items and can potentially be anyone in the community.

Witchcraft and Anthropology

In anthropology, which is the study of human cultures, witchcraft is explored as a part of people's beliefs and traditions across different societies. Anthropology is like being a detective who studies people and how they live. Anthropologists are people who learn about different cultures, traditions, and beliefs all around the world.

Witchcraft involves the idea that some people have magical powers they can use to heal or harm others. Anthropologists (scientists who study cultures) are interested in witchcraft because it plays a big role in how people interact, deal with problems, and make sense of bad things that happen.

Anthropologists believe witchcraft can help keep communities in order. In many cultures, witchcraft is often blamed when bad things happen, like when someone falls ill or has bad luck. Believing in witchcraft can help people feel they understand why something happened and allows the community to deal with the problem in a way that keeps people working together. For example, if someone is accused of witchcraft, it may serve as a warning to others to follow certain social rules.

A long time ago, when something bad happened (like someone getting sick or crops not growing) people didn't always know why. They might have thought a witch used magic to make these things happen because they didn't understand germs or weather like we do today.

In some places, if bad things happened, people might blame someone they thought was a witch. This could make that person feel scared or alone. Sometimes, saying someone was a witch was a way for people to explain things they couldn't understand.

By Region

Throughout the world there are many people who claim to have supernatural powers. These include psychics, mediums, palm readers and New Age healers. These people are sometimes members of witchcraft religions like Wicca. To entertain and heal people, they perform tricks like tarot card reading, astrology, crystal healing, Reiki healing, talking to dead family members, or seeing the future.

In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic.

The tagati is often poorly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who works in secret to harm others.

The sangoma is a diviner, similar to a fortune teller, and is hired to detect illness, predict a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also practices some degree of medicine.

The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans do not like this description as it implies that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of evil magic). The inyanga's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use.

Popular culture

Witches are often seen in art and cinema. Many movies have focused on witches and witchcraft such as; Bewitched, Harry Potter, the Wizard of Oz, Hocus Pocus, and Rosemary's Baby. Many television shows also have witches and witchcraft. Some examples are: Charmed (1998) and (2018), American Horror Story: Coven, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Text adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Witchcraft” (revision 10485859, 2025-08-30), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.