The Origins of Witchcraft

A belief in the existence of witches was the cinequanon of the phenomenon. People believed that their neighbors were having sex with the devil, enjoying nocturnal flights upon broomsticks and changing into cats and hares. Occult beliefs of this sort are clearly an inheritance from our primitive, magic-minded ancestors. The four people of New Guinea exacted a gruesome revenge upon suspected sorcerers. They ruptured their kidneys, crushed their genitals, and broke their thigh bones with stone axes.