The witch craze of the 1600's

Are there such things as a witch? If the answer is yes, then what do they look like? Where do they live? In what way are they different from the modern day illusionist or magician? If the answer is no, then explain why nearly the entire population of Europe was convinced that witches existed for more then a century so much so, in fact, that a section of their written laws was devoted to the …

…order to understand this question one must take into account the political, religious, and social factors produced by these two books surrounding the witch craze of the past. Based on the study of humanities in recent history, an obvious answer would be that there are no recorded witch trails anymore. However, a response to that could then be that perhaps we as a society have just simply replaced the witch with something or someone else.