European witch trials
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Summary
Reference entry on the European witch trials of the 15th–18th centuries — the most-cited historical case study of the documented harm caused when witchcraft beliefs are taken literally and given legal force.
Why it matters here
Direct evidence for the harm-risk side of the magic / witchcraft claim; cited routinely in the historical-harm bullet.
Linked claims
Cross-tradition belief with no direct evidence. Possession, oppression and 'demonic attack' phenomena map cleanly onto sleep paralysis, dissociation, psychosis, and post-traumatic states.
A vast cross-cultural family of practices. Massive harm record (European witch trials, modern witch-killing); strict claim of supernatural causation has zero controlled evidence.
Related evidence hubs
Physics-adjacent worldviews — block universe, many-worlds, simulation, free will.
World religions and traditions, scored as systems.
Practice claims — prayer, reiki, chakras, astrology, tarot, manifestation.
Reiki, chakras, auras, crystals, prayer healing.
Astrology, tarot, numerology, dream interpretation.