The governments of Kenya and the US announced a US$10 million reward for information on terror suspect Mohamoud Abdi Aden in 2023.
Yasuyoshi Chiba/ AFP via Getty Images
Witch-hunts have not been consigned to the history books. An alarming number of witchcraft-related deaths are still happening each year across nearly every continent.
Set in 1990s suburban Australia, The Exact Dimensions of Hell is a theatrical exploration that unflinchingly examines themes of teenage girls, desire and power.
A group of witches offering wax effigies to the Devil in a 17th-century woodcut.
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
Only five witches were executed in Wales, while thousands were sentenced to death in Scotland and England.
One of the earliest depictions of flying witches is in a 15th-century text entitled “Le champion des dames,” or “The Defender of Ladies.”
Martin Le Franc/W. Schild. Die Maleficia der Hexenleut' via Wikimedia Commons
The iconic image of a witch on a broomstick has apocryphal origins. But whether they could actually fly didn’t stop Christian society from persecuting them.
Feet of a person with lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis.
WHO
In rural Ghana, only 18% of patients believe elephantiasis is a disease. Some others think it is caused by curses or even rain. Only by understanding local beliefs can it be treated effectively.
Women accused of being witches burnt at the stake in Derenburg in 1555.
Wikimedia Commons
A teenage domestic servant showed signs of possession, and a miller was accused of witchcraft. Considering records of these events helps clarify what we can and cannot know about the past.
‘A Sorcerer Comes to a Peasant Wedding,’ a 19th-century painting by Russian artist Vassily Maximov.
Tretyakov Gallery/Wikimedia Commons
By casting spells and creating online persona to fool their victims, the Ivorian figure of the “brouteur” reveals the connections between the occult and virtual dimensions.
A group of Scottish witches meet the Devil in a churchyard in a pen and ink drawing from the 17th century.
Wikipedia
It’s facile to claim that only the state, or even only elites, were responsible for executing witches – there is a potential witch-hunter in all of us.
For many witches, the internet offers a community and the opportunity to practice with like-minded people.
Pexels/mikhail nilov
Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, the University of Queensland; International Distinguished Fellow, the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University., The University of Queensland