Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Wizardry Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the anthropological study of witchcraft, sorcery, case studies like the Azande and Fore, and contemporary Wiccan practices.

Witchcraft

An inborn capacity to cause harm that operates without tools or ritual, often described as involuntary or unconscious.

Sorcery

The intentional and learned practice of using specific materials, spells, and techniques to cause supernatural harm.

Wizardry

A cover term proposed by scholars Middleton and Winter for harmful supernatural practices when local realities do not fit strictly into the categories of witchcraft or sorcery.

Social Control

A function of wizardry beliefs used to discipline deviance and enforce community norms.

Community Segmentation

A social function of wizardry used for managing groups that have become too large.

Mangu

An Azande term for a physical witchcraft substance located within the body and linked to internal organs, which is inherited through family lines.

Azande Logic

A system of belief where witchcraft does not replace natural causation but explains the timing and targeting of misfortune (why it happened to a specific person at a specific time).

Divination

The process by which an oracle is consulted to identify a responsible party, transforming suspicion into an actionable social claim.

Fore Sorcery

A belief system in New Guinea where a sorcerer steals a victim's personal items to create a bundle that, as it rots, causes the victim to waste away.

Kuru

A condition among the Fore people explained as the result of sorcery involving a rotting bundle of a victim's personal traces.

Kiowa Sorcery

Harmful magic beliefs and power contests that became salient during periods of social stress, historical change, and uncertainty about authority.

Euro-American Witchcraft

A historical framework shaped by Christian theology and the fear of demonic pacts with the Devil.

Salem Panic

A colonial North American witchcraft event that took shape through figures like Tituba and spread rapidly through the community.

Gender Bias in Historical Witch Hunts

The disproportionate targeting of women, who made up approximately $80\%$ of those accused in European witch hunts.

Neo-Paganism

A modern religious movement that emphasizes a connection to nature, seasonal cycles, and the reclamation of pre-Christian traditions.

Wicca

A major contemporary form of neo-paganism that transforms witchcraft into a positive religious identity and ethical self-cultivation practice.

Wiccan Rede

The moral framework that guides the practices and ethical behavior of Wiccans.

Pentacle

A five-pointed star symbol in Wicca representing the elements and spirit.

Triple Moon

A Wiccan symbol representing the three phases of the goddess: maiden, mother, and crone.

Chalice

A ritual symbol in Wicca representing water and the feminine divine.

Athame

A ritual knife used in Wiccan practice for directing energy.

Casting the Circle

A Wiccan ritual step that involves creating a sacred boundary between the mundane and supernatural worlds.

Calling the Quarters

The act of invoking elemental powers and directions during a Wiccan ritual.