You should not let a witch live. Exodus 22:17 In recent years, few areas of history and cultural studies have experienced as much movement and change as witchcraft research. Numerous assumptions from textbook knowledge have been disproven through careful analysis of sources and the historical contexts of different regions. The picture has become much more differentiated both temporally and spatially. Why were certain areas intensely persecuted while neighboring regions remained free from persecution? What is the ratio of women to men among the victims? Were witches bearers of a pre-Christian cult? Did the persecutions originate from above or below in society? How did the belief in witchcraft come to be overcome? Non-European ethnology has had to recognize the extent to which the issue of witchcraft accusations is also present in other cultures.