Handout 18 Witchcraft, Definitions and Functions Witchcraft and Sorcery Witch is what you are, sorcery is what you do. All sorcery, for good or ill, is conscious. Witchcraft may not be so.
Someone can be a witch without knowing it.
While we may be able to observe sorcery, witchcraft is accessible only through accusations. The witch is particularly frightening because the witch represents the evil within. Witches are often intimates, relatives, friends. From strangers we may expect enmity. Witchcraft accusations reflect our fears of being attacked and betrayed by those who should love and respect us.