WHAT WAS WITCHCRAFT? WHAT WERE WITCHES?

The ideas of what constituted witchcraft, what made someone a witch, evolved over many centuries. Magic and magical operators were ubiquitous in the Graeco-Roman world, but when Christianity became the state religion, Christian theology introduced people to a particular view of Satan, and his evolving role in the eternal scheme of things made a major difference to the way magic was viewed, particularly by the authorities. The Church had to explain why Christian miracles were …

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