thumb|265px|Okabe – The cat witch, by [[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]]
Asian witchcraft encompasses various types of witchcraft practices across Asia. In ancient times, magic played a significant role in societies such as ancient Egypt and Babylonia, as evidenced by historical records. In the Middle East, references to magic can be found in the Torah, Bible and the Quran, where witchcraft is condemned due to its association with belief in magic.
In South Asia, there is continued witch-hunting and abuse of women accused of witchcraft in countries like India and Nepal. These deeply entrenched superstitions have perpetuated acts of violence and marginalization against those accused of witchcraft, underlining the urgent need for legal reforms and human rights protections to counter these alarming trends.
East Asia has diverse witchcraft traditions. In Chinese culture, the practice of Gong Tau involves black magic for purposes such as revenge and personal gain. Japanese folklore features witch figures who employ foxes as familiars. Korean history includes instances of individuals being condemned for using spells. The Philippines has its own tradition of witches, distinct from Western portrayals, with their practices often countered by indigenous shamans.
West Asia
Witchcraft in West Asia has a complex history influenced by cultural, spiritual, and societal factors. Ancient practices were evident in societies like Egypt and Babylonia, as seen in the Code of Hammurabi. Within Abrahamic religions, attitudes varied: Judaism had a mixed view of magic, Christianity condemned it, and Islam encompassed a range of perspectives. This evolving landscape reflects the interplay between cultural beliefs and societal norms, shaping the enduring presence of witchcraft in the region's history.
South Asia
In certain parts of India and Nepal, belief in the supernatural has led to instances of witch-hunting and abuse against women accused of witchcraft. Lynchings and murders of suspected witches, known as "dayan" in India, have been reported, with at least 2100 such murders between 2000 and 2012. In Nepal, accusations of witchcraft result in severe abuse, beatings, and forced consumption of human excreta. Women marked as witches often endure mental and physical torture, leading to ostracization, emotional trauma, and even death. Outdated customs and superstitious beliefs perpetuate this cycle, limiting accused women's access to education and opportunities. The legal systems in both countries have not adequately addressed these issues, leaving the victims without proper protection or justice against these atrocities.
India
In 19th-century India, Christian missionaries, especially Jesuit missions, defined the term "witchcraft" as any involvement in non-Christian spiritual activities. David Mosse observed that:
Belief in the supernatural is strong in certain parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time. According to the Indian National Crime Records Bureau, at least 2100 suspected witches (known as dayan) were murdered between 2000 and 2012. It is believed that an average of over 150 women per year are killed accused of being witches, concentrated across central India. Women of all ages and social statuses can be targeted and once a woman has been deemed a witch, she is treated horribly by society. The witches are called ‘Boksi’ in Nepali language and it is believed that they learn witchcraft from their mothers.
During the 1580s in Manila, Philippines, the Spanish wife of the ex-governor (Guido de Labezaris) of the Philippines, Inés Álvarez de Gibraleón and their daughter Ana de Monterrey were put on trial for being accused of witchcraft and black magic. It resulted in two trials, however, due to there being no personal investigations, the ecclesiastical investigation was the result of hearsay. There is a record of this trial in the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City. However, the civil trial involving Ana de Monterrey and her husband Captain Juan de Morón disappeared.
Unlike Western notions of witches, indigenous or traditional Filipino witches are not entirely evil by nature, but rather, considered as simply malevolent. Locals may also consult them to initiate a form of criminal punishment through black magic for cases where families feel that an injustice to the victim was not properly taken cared of by prosecutors, leading to the freedom of the accused. There is a widespread belief that black magic does not work on people who are innocent. In these cases, "wrongdoers" may include thieves, adulterous spouses, or land grabbers, among others.
Vietnam
Witchcraft in Vietnam is a diverse and culturally rich practice deeply intertwined with the country's traditional beliefs and indigenous spirituality. Practiced by individuals known as "thầy bói", "thầy pháp", "thầy phù thủy" (male) or "bà đồng" (female), Vietnamese witchcraft encompasses rituals, divination, healing, and protection. These practices are rooted in animistic beliefs that emphasize connections with spirits and deities to influence various aspects of life. Rituals often involve offerings, divination techniques, and spirit possession by "bà đồng" practitioners who act as vessels for spirits, conveying messages from the spirit world to the living.
East Asia
Japanese folklore prominently features the figure of the fox witch, known for enlisting foxes for magical purposes. These witches strike deals with fox familiars, utilizing their shape-shifting, illusion, and possession abilities. In Korea, the history of shamanism (musok) has been marked by suppression under Christianity. While stigmatized, shamanism has experienced growing acceptance in South Korea, even though some critics still label mudang (shamanic practitioners) as manipulative and disruptive.
China
In 91 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141 BCE to 87 BCE) in the Western Han Dynasty of China, members of the imperial court carried out a witch hunt, with the help of shamans.
In modern times, Gong Tau in Hokkien, Teochew, or Cantonese or Jiang Tou in Mandarin is the term used when someone is suspected of having been attacked by black magic and is believed to be a fusion of poison skills which originated in Yunnan, China and witchcraft seen in South East Asia. It is used to either seek revenge, resolve relationship issues or even to assist with money problems.
Japan
In Japanese folklore the witch can commonly be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes. The fox witch is, by far, the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the , and the . The first of these, the , is a solitary figure who gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services.
The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of "The Grateful Foxes". However, once a fox enters the employ of a man it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared. By far, the most commonly reported cases of fox witchcraft in modern Japan are enacted by families, or "hereditary witches".
A fox under the employ of a human can provide him with many services. The fox can turn invisible and be set out to find secrets and it still retains its many powers of illusion which its master will often put to use in order to trick his enemies. The most feared power the kitsune-tsukai possesses is his ability to command his fox to possess other humans.
;In modern media
Magical girl genre may be the most commonly known to feature witchcraft, but it appears liberally in any works of fiction where such supernatural power can exist, despite the fact that such magic resembles more of western witchcraft than an oriental counterpart. Evil witch antagonists, borne out of the European concept of witch, are popular; however, their powers rarely stem from worshipping devils.
Magical girl animation is typically referred to as mahō shōjo and majokko anime in Japan and the target audience is intended for female prepubescent viewers at first, later this genre of anime gradually shifted to target audience male anime fans. The protagonists of these anime are normal schoolgirls who suddenly happen across a mystical item that transforms them into super-beings who have magical abilities. Despite the repetitive story lines that are supposed to be aimed at children, the magical girl genre brings attention to the surrounding gender roles and identities.
has been suppressed throughout Korean history under a succession of dominant ideologies including Confucianism, Japanese colonialism, and Christianity. Attempting to influence others through spells in Joseon was widely censured by the royal court. On discovering that Consort Hwi-bin Kim had used witchcraft on the crown prince, Sejong the Great (1397–1450) described her as a "sorcerer" or "evil monster" (: "sorcery; witchcraft") and had her thrown out of the palace.
In 1890, Horace G. Underwood, an American Presbyterian missionary, defined the Korean translation of the English word "witch" as "" in his English-Korean Dictionary. French Catholic missionaries also equated ceremonies with Western witchcraft, in the same way that Christian missionaries rejected magic in other mission fields. Confucian yangban elites also considered to be witchcraft.
Many Korean intellectuals eager for modernisation came to regard it as a superstitious practice that should be eradicated. They increasingly referred to it with the term ("superstition"). These ideas were endorsed in The Independent, Korea's first vernacular newspaper published between 1896 and 1899. Many of these intellectuals were Christian, thus regarding the spirits as evil demons. In 1896, police launched a crackdown by arresting , destroying shrines, and burning paraphernalia.
At the start of the 21st century, the remained widely stigmatized in South Korean society, facing widespread prejudice. In 2021, Sarfati observed that while the religion was "still stigmatized," it was experiencing "growing acceptance" in South Korea. The religion's critics often regard as swindlers, people who manipulate the gullible. Critics regularly focus their critique on the large sums of money that the charge, and maintain that the expenses required for its rituals are wasteful. Critics have also accused of disrupting the civil order with their rituals.
Kendall noted that there was a "generally adversarial relationship" between and Protestants in South Korea, the latter regarding as "Devil worship". Mainline Protestant theologians have sometimes blamed for predisposing Koreans to Pentecostalism and the idea that prayer can generate financial reward. Christians have sometimes harassed at their places of work or during their ceremonies, which some regard as religious discrimination.
See also
:*§Practitioners as 'mad saints'
:*§As demonesses
:*§As flesh-eaters
:*§Spiritual role