Witch-craze!

If an individual has the capacity to bless others with good fortune, for instance, then that individual also possess the capacity to withhold that blessing...or worse. 

This is true not only of witches, however, but of any specialist. Although it's a rare occurrence, every once in a while one does hear of a physician who has forsaken the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm but instead emerges as a secret, malevolent Angel of Death. However, those rare occurrences have not caused prejudice against physicians among the general public, nor have they caused "physician hysteria": the panic-stricken fear that every physician is secretly committed to causing only harm.

Likewise, in many traditional societies, it's recognized that although the occasional witch or shaman may become corrupt, the majority are responsible, ethical professionals. Most traditional societies have ago-old legal mechanisms in place for magickal practitioners perceived as malefactors, but this does not reflect negatively on the greater community of magickal practitioners, or does this constitute a "witch panic".

A witch panic is characterized by an absolutely hysterical, irrational, fear of witchcraft and witches. A witch doesn't have to cause harm for others to fear and persecute her. In fact, they may not have to be a witch at all.: the key word in "witch hysteria" or "witch panic" is not the first but the second. Witch panics are characterized by a crazed terror that there is a secret conspiracy of witches, a fifth column that seeks to undermine society and cause harm to individuals. No need to wait for the witches to prove they mean no harm; in a witch-craze, authorities search out any possible link to witchcraft and attempt to terminate it mercilessly. 

Although witch panics existed earlier and still exist today, in some parts of Earth, the term "Witch-Craze" historically refers to a specific era of European history, also called the "Burning Times".

Although the European Witch-Craze lasted hundreds of years, covering most of the continent as well as colonies in the Western Hemisphere and claimed as victims, at a minimum, thousand of people, until recently it was a relatively obscure historical subject; it is still generally treated as a footnote or aberration of history. 

Many studies of the Witch-Craze have, however, been published in the last two decades; in general, their focus is on perpetrators rather than on victims. All sorts of rationales are offered as to why "normal" people went so witch-crazy. Various books posit all kinds of different solutions for that dilemma, from physical causes to cultural, and all points in between. 

However, to paraphrase author and physician M. Scott Peck, nothing of significance has but one root cause. There is a tendency to study the vast, sprawling topic of the European witch hunts as an isolated subject, rather than in historical context. It is not really possible to fully understand them without also considering other concurrent historical events: 
*The persecution of landless minorities in Europe: Jews, Romany, and Salamis.
*Continued efforts to eradicate all vestiges of Pagan tradition. 
*Unresolved issues stemming from, often forced, conversion to Christianity.
*The emotional and psychological impact of the Black Death and other deadly plagues.
*The imposition of feudalism in some parts of Europe and the development of a professional class in others.
*The denigration and demonization of an entire gender. 

How many people died in the Witch-Craze? Figures offered range from as low as the tens of thousands to as many as nine million. 

Those victims who died during the interrogation process may or may not be counted alongside those who perished during documented executions. Not all executions were documented. Sometimes records of convictions of witchcraft exist with no further information regarding eventual punishment. 

Witch panics possessed regional characteristics: 
*In Russia, there was no "witch hunt" per se; however those attending at court were frequently accused of using witchcraft for political purposes or to harm the royal family. 
*In Transylvania, wives and female relatives of political competitors were targeted. 
*In Hungary, practitioners of shamanism were targeted. 
*In German lands, wealthy people were particularly vulnerable to charges of witchcraft as if convicted land and assets were confiscated by witch hunters. 
*In France, a series of highly publicized cases involved demonic possession of nuns within convents, usually with a priest charged as perpetrator. 


*Credit to Judika Illes