Contemporary Definitions of a ‘Witch’
"A witch or hag is she which being [d]eluded by a league made with the devil through his persuasion, inspiration and juggling, thinketh she can design what matter of evil things soever, either by thought or imprecation, as to shake the air with lightnings and thunder, to cause hail and tempests, to remove green corn and trees to another place, to be carried of her familiar (which hath taken upon him a deceitful shape of a goat, swine, calf, etc) into some mountain far distant, in a wonderful short space of time, and sometimes to fly upon a staff or fork, or some other instrument, and to spend all the night after with her sweetheart, in playing, sporting, banqueting, dancing, dalliance, and divers other devilish lusts and lewd disports, and to show a thousand such monstrous mockeries" ‘The Kinds of Witches’ – from William West, Simboleography (London, 1594)
John Gaule in 1646 told the jurymen of England there were eight classes of witches:
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The diviner, gypsy or fortunetelling witch.
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The astrologian, stargazing, planetary, prognosticating witch.
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The chanting, canting, or calculating witch, who works by signs or numbers.
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The veneficial or poisoning witch.
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The exorcist or conjuring witch.
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The gastronomic witch.
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The magical, speculative, sciental, or arted witch.
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The necromancer.
Definitions of Witchcraft
The many definitions of witchcraft for varied purposes all have one clear message: to practice witchcraft was to be in league with the devil to do evil.
1587: George Gifford: [The witch is] "one that worketh by the Devil, or by some devilish curious art, either by hurting or healing, revealing things secret or foretelling things to come, which the Devil hath devised to entangle and snare men’s souls withal unto damnation"
1599: Martin Del Rio: [Witchcraft is] "an art which, by the power of a contract entered in with the Devil, some wonders are wrought which pass the common understanding of man."
1608: William Purkins: "witch is a magician, who either by open or secret league, willingly consenteth to use the aid and assistance of the Devil in the working of wonders."
1653: Francesco-Maria Guazzo: "Witchcraft is a form of magic whereby with the help of a Devil one man does harm to another."
1671: Edward Philips: [Witchcraft is] "a certain art serving for the working of wonders, by the assistance of the Devil, so far as God shall permit."
1689: Cotton Mather: "Witchcraft is the doing of strange, and for the most part ill, things by the help of evil spirits, covenanting with . . . the woeful children of men."
1730: William Forbes: "Witchcraft is the black art whereby strange and wonderful things are wrought by a power derived from the devil."
Whatever the profession of these men, and whether they were Catholic or Protestant, there was a unifying belief that witchcraft was heresy. Nearly all early histories were written by Christians, which meant that the concept of a ‘Devil’ was a strong influence on folk beliefs.
The Law
An Advertisement also states the definition of a witch according to the law of Moses:
"One that shall use, practise or exercise any invocation or conjuration of any evill or wicked sprit . . . or take up any dead man, woman or child . . . where the dead body resteth . . . [or] part of any dead person, to be employed or used in any manner of witchcraft . . . whereby any person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed in his, or her body"