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Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa have received increasing international attention in the first decade of the 21st century. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The phenomenon of witch-hunts in Sub-Saharan Africa is ancient, [ 4 ] but the problem has been exasperated due to charismatic preachers such as Helen Ukpabio . [ 4 ]
Many times the child accused of witchcraft, due to being shunned, became aggressive and threatened community members, thereby enforcing community beliefs that the child was a witch. [ 6 ] The sixteenth century brought forth more prevalent child involvement in witchcraft hunts and accusations, which slowly turned the narrative to the persecution ...
According to Starhawk, "religious discrimination against Pagans and Wiccans and indigenous religions is omnipresent in the U.S." [25] Evidence exists that workplace discrimination is common from verbal ridicule to more systematic forms such as exclusion from work-related activities.
Historian, religious scholar, and ethnologist A. V. Gurko believed that the concept of "neo-paganism" "can be defined from the term 'paganism,' which refers to heterogeneous polytheistic religions, cults, beliefs, and the definition of new religious movements characterized by syncretism, active use of mass media, communications, apocalypticism ...
Malawi faces a similar issue of child witchcraft accusations, with traditional healers and some Christian counterparts involved in exorcisms, causing abandonment and abuse of children. [9] In Nigeria , Pentecostal pastors have intertwined Christianity with witchcraft beliefs for profit, leading to the torture and killing of accused children. [ 10 ]
Wicca is the largest form of modern paganism, [53] as well as the best-known [117] and most extensively studied. [58] Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey noted that the poem "Charge of the Goddess" remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups.
Witchcraft is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic.A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. [1]
The influence of popular culture has allowed other practices to be drawn in under the broad banner of black magic, including the concept of Satanism. While the invocation of demons or spirits is an accepted part of black magic, this practice is distinct from the worship or deification of such spiritual beings. [ 4 ]