Asian witchcraft refers to any or all types of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

practiced in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Middle East

Ancient Near East

The belief in magic and its practice seem to have been widespread in the past. Both in ancient

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part, as existing records plainly show. It will be sufficient to quote a short section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 BC).

Torah

In the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' fraud as upon the "

abomination Abomination may refer to: * Abomination (Bible), covering Biblical references **Abomination (Judaism) *Abomination (character) The Abomination is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original ...

" of belief in the magic in itself. Verses such as Book of Deuteronomy 18:11-12 and

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...

22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" provided scriptural justification for Christian

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

ers in the early modern period. The word "witch" is a translation of the Hebrew ''kashaf'', "sorcerer". The Hebrew Bible provides some evidence that these commandments were enforced under the Hebrew kings: The Hebrew verb , translated in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

as "cut off", can also be translated as "kill wholesale" or "exterminate".

New Testament

The

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

condemns the practice as an

, just as the Old Testament had ( Epistle to the Galatians 5:20, compared with the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

21:8; 22:15; and Acts of the Apostles 8:9; 13:6). There is some debate, however, as to whether the word used in Galatians and Revelation, grc-koi, φαρμακεία ''pharmakeía'', is properly translated as "sorcery", as the word was commonly used to describe the malicious use of drugs.

Islam

Divination and magic in Islam encompass a wide range of practices, including

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...

, warding off the evil eye, the production of

amulets An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

and other magical equipment,

evocation Evocation is the act of evoking, calling upon, or summoning a spirit, demon, deity or other supernatural agents, in the Western mystery tradition. Comparable practices exist in many religions and magical traditions and may employ the use of mi ...

, cleromancy,

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

and

physiognomy Physiognomy (from the Greek , , meaning "nature", and , meaning "judge" or "interpreter") is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the genera ...

. Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam, do commonly believe in the existence of magic and black magic (''sihr''), and explicitly forbid the practice of it. ''Sihr'' is the word for "black magic" in Arabic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is in

surah A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah (''Al-Ka ...

al-Falaq Al-Falaq or The Daybreak ( ar, اَلْفَلَق, ''al-falaq'') is the 113th chapter ('' sūrah'') of the Qur'an. It is a brief five ayat (verse) surah, asking God for protection from the evil: : ۝ Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybrea ...

, which is a prayer to ward off black magic. Many Muslims believe that a person taught black magic to mankind: However, whereas performing miracles or good magic in Islamic thought is from Messengers (al-Rusul – those who came with a new revealed text) and Prophets (''al-anbiya'' – those who came to continue the specific law and Revelation of a previous Messenger); supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by

awliya A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by t ...

– the spiritually accomplished, through

ma'rifa Maʿrifa (Arabic: “interior knowledge”) is the mystical knowledge of God or the “higher realities” that is the ultimate goal of followers of Sufism. Sufi mystics came to maʿrifa by following a spiritual path that later Sufi thinkers categ ...

– and referred to as ''

karamat In Sunni Islam, ''karamat'' ( ar, کرامات ''karāmāt'', pl. of ''karāmah'', lit. generosity, high-mindedness) refers to supernatural wonders performed by Muslim saints. In the technical vocabulary of Islamic religious sciences, the sin ...

'' "extraordinary acts". Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to him that occur by his will and his alone. It is Haram/prohibited for Muslims to engage help of the jin as Islam is strictly monotheistic. Seeking aid other than from Allah is shirk. Deviant practitioners commonly seek the help of the

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

in magic (singular ''jinni''). It is a common belief that jinns can possess a human, thus requiring

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

. (The belief in jinn in general is part of the Muslim faith. Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj narrated the Prophet said: "Allah created the angels from light, created the jinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.)") Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practices in Islam with pre-Islamic Turkish and East African customs. Most notable of these customs is the ''zar''.

Judaism

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future even ...

; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. According to Traditional Jewish sources, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods.

Rabbis A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

of the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the Rabbis practiced "magic" themselves. For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...

65b). In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles (i.e., coming from

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

rather than pagan gods) than as witchcraft.

Nepal

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

, women are often accused of witchcraft and thus suffer the abuse at the hands of people from their own communities. Nepali people view witchcraft as harmful to society and it still exists in most of the country. However, it is most prevalent in the

Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

and hilly rural regions and women here are more vulnerable to abuse. Women of all ages and social statuses can be targeted and once a woman has been deemed a witch, she is treated horribly by society. The witches are called ‘Boksi’ in Nepali language and it’s believed that they learn witchcraft from their mothers. Punishment can range from receiving severe beatings with sticks or other blunt object to being forced to consume

human excreta Human waste (or human excreta) refers to the waste products of the human digestive system, menses, and human metabolism including urine and faeces. As part of a sanitation system that is in place, human waste is collected, transported, treated a ...

, a common practice in the plains area of

. Women who are accused of witchcraft may be marked with soot on their faces or garlands of shoes around their necks. These traumatized women are forced to endure mental and physical torture that can lead to ostracization, emotional disturbance and even death. In Terhathum, there is a rock called ‘boksimara’ which translates to “witch killer stone”. It is said that 200 years ago, accused women were taken to boksimara to be hanged from its

precipice In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

. To this day, these types of outdated customs and traditions continue to be prevalent among various castes and tribes. Laxmi Maya Nepali, a victim and inhabitant of Shrijung Village Development committee from Terhathum expresses her pain of being accused of being a witch:

"I had to stay alone in an old house, it was difficult to move around for me, people used to call me witch; even my own relatives did not let me stay at home accusing me of being a witch. One of my relatives gave birth to a dead baby and they accused me as their baby was dead because of my witchcraft powers. Even my son was badly beaten by his own nephew.”

The atrocities that these women face can also prevent them from equal access to education. Without the tools to succeed academically, the accused women are not able to change their societal status. The traditional ways and superstitious beliefs of Nepali culture trap accused women in a vicious cycle. This continues as they are denied opportunities to educate themselves and they are forced to suffer, oftentimes in poverty, for the rest of their lives. The legal system has done nothing to address the horrors that Nepali women suffer to this day if they are accused of witchcraft. The state has not formulated any concrete law regarding the “crime of witchcraft”. The Nepali legal system also does not have provisions to punish individuals who have been involved in witch-hunts. If an individual has a complaint filed against them and they are found guilty, they are only imprisoned for a short period of time and may walk away with a fine. Section 10 of Muluki Ain or the National Civil Code states that if a person makes an accusation of witchcraft, they shall be jailed for three months to two years or fined five thousand to twenty-five thousand Nepalese Rupees or both. This is the only punishment for those who would commit atrocities against innocent women.

India

Belief in the supernatural is strong in certain parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time. According to the Indian

National Crime Records Bureau The National Crime Records Bureau, abbreviated to NCRB, is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). NCRB is headquartered in New ...

, at least 2100 suspected witches (known as '' dayan'') were murdered between 2000 and 2012. It is believed that an average of over 150 women per year are killed accused of being witches, concentrated across central India. Murder is commonly carried out by means of being burned, hacked or bludgeoned to death, often preceded by ritual humiliation, such as being stripped naked, smeared with filth and forced to eat excrement. For those accused of witchcraft who are not murdered, nearly all suffer permanent ostracism or banishment and their families face social stigma.

China

''Gong Tau'' in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

, Teochew in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

or ''Jiang Tou'' in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

is the term used when someone is suspected of having been attacked by black magic and is believed to be a fusion of poison skills which originated in

Yunnan, China Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

and witchcraft seen in

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. It is used to either seek revenge, resolve relationship issues or even to assist with money problems.

Japan

Japanese folklore Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study o ...

the witch can commonly be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as

familiars In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to r ...

, and those who employ

foxes Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

Fox employers

The fox witch is by far the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the '' kitsune-tsukai'', and the ''kitsune-mochi''. The first of these, the ''kitsune-tsukai'', gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The ''

kitsune In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to '' yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing ...

-tsukai'' then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of 'The Grateful Foxes'. However, once a fox enters the employ of a man it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared. A fox under the employ of a human can provide him with many services. The fox can turn invisible and be set out to find secrets and it still retains its many powers of illusion which its master will often put to use in order to trick his enemies. The most feared power the ''kitsune-tsukai'' possesses is his ability to command his fox to possess other humans.

In popular culture

Magical girl genre may be the most commonly known to feature witchcraft, but it appears liberally in any works of fiction where such supernatural power can exist, despite the fact that such magic resembles more of western witchcraft than an oriental counterpart. Evil witch antagonists, borne out of the European concept of witch, are popular; however, their powers rarely stem from worshipping devils. Magical girl animation is typically referred to as mahō shōjo and majokko anime in Japan and the target audience is intended for female prepubescent viewers. The protagonists of these anime are normal schoolgirls who suddenly happen across a mystical item that transforms them into super-beings who have magical abilities. Despite the repetitive story lines that are supposed to be aimed at children, the magical girl genre brings attention to the surrounding

gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

and identities. Some argue that the magical girl genre is empowering for young audiences as the characters become superheroes who take down the bad guys. However, other theories accuse the magical girl anime of depicting an abundance of

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sc ...

and

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

. Toei Studio produced the first heroine anime which was also the first magical girl anime,

Sally the Witch , also known as ''Sunny the Witch'', is one of the popular anime magical girls of what would eventually become a genre in Japan. Due to its characteristics, it may be considered the first shōjo anime as well; while titles such as ''Him ...

. The settings and character elements were heavily borrowed from many live-action television programs which included the American comedy, Bewitched. While the concept of witches waned in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the symbolism of magic and witchcraft translated well into Japanese culture.

Korea

Attempting to influence others through spells in Joseon was widely censured by the royal court. On discovering that Consort Hwi-bin Kim had used witchcraft on the crown prince, Sejong the Great described her as a " sorcerer" or "evil monster" () and had her thrown out of the palace.*

Philippines

Philippine witches are the users of

and related practices from the Philippines. They include a variety of different kinds of people with differing occupations and cultural connotations which depend on the ethnic group they are associated with. They are completely different from the Western notion of what a witch is, as each ethnic group has their own definition and practices attributed to witches. The curses and other magics of witches are often blocked, countered, cured, or lifted by

Philippine shamans Filipino shamans, commonly known as (also ''Balian'' or , among many other names), were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. These shamans specialized in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spi ...

associated with the

indigenous Philippine folk religions Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines, where most follow belief systems in line with animism. Generally, these indigenous folk religions are referred to as Anito or An ...

Central Asia

Witchcraft is a feature of traditional mythology in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

documented since the 16th century. It is believed that once a human dies their

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

is owned by the witch that murdered them.

References

{{reflist Asian society Asian witchcraft