Witchcraft and Warlocks

Witchcraft, in various historical, religious and mythical contexts, is the use of certain kinds of alleged supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a person who practices witchcraft, and may be male or female. In historical, mythological and demonological contexts a male "witch" is more frequently termed a wizard, sorcerer, warlock, or simply a magician.
Practitioners of Neopagan witchcraft generally refer to themselves as "witches," regardless of their sex, and shun the term "warlock" as connoting a witch who has broken their oaths and betrayed their fellows.
The term witchcraft can have positive or negative connotations depending on cultural context; for instance, in European cultures it has historically been associated with evil and the Devil, while most modern practitioners see it as benificent and morally positive.

Warlocks are, among historic Christian traditions, said to be the male equivalent of witches (usually in the pejorative sense of Europe's Middle Ages), and were said to ride pitchforks instead of broomsticks. In some pop culture TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bewitched warlocks are male witches. In the TV show Charmed a warlock is an evil witch, a "traitor to an oath" who steals other witches' powers, while any good male witch featured retains the title "witch"
As used by most Wiccans and modern witches, the term warlock refers to a witch who has been expelled for breaking oaths, revealing secrets, working black magic or committing some other betrayal.

Black and White Magick

Black magic or dark magic is the branch of magic that is used to perform evil acts or that draws on malevolent powers. In the Inquisition, Christians were afraid of witches and warlocks practicing evil black magic.

In modern times, witches and warlocks will use the term to describe the bad magic that they do not do in contrast with the good white magic that they do practice. Black magic would be invoked to kill, injure, or cause destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences to others.

As a term, "black magic" is normally used to describe a form of ritual that some group or person does not approve of. Not everything that is called black magic truly has malevolent intentions behind it.

The differences between black magic and white magic are debated.
Several theories compare and contrast the two branches; these theories include
the All as One theory, the No Connection theory, and the Separate but Equal theory.

* All as One: All forms of magic are evil, or black, magic. This view generally associates black magic with Satanism. The religions that maintain this opinion include most branches of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Some people on the left-hand path would agree that all magic, whether called "white" or "black," is the same. These people would not contend that all magic is evil so much as that morality is in the eyes of the beholder -- that any magic can have both good and bad consequences depending on who judges those consequences. In this school of thought, there is no separation between benevolent and malevolent magic because there is no universal morality against which magic can be measured.

* Dark Doctrine: Black magic refers to the powers of darkness, usually seen from a Left-Hand Path point of view. This may or may not contrast with White magic, depending on the sorcerer's acceptance of dualism.

* Formal Differences: The forms and components of black magic are different, due to the different aims or interests of those casting harmful spells, than those of white. Harmful spellcasting tends to include symbolism which seems hazardous or harmful to human beings, such as sharp, pointed, prickly, caustic, and hot elements combined with very personal objects from the spell's target (their hair, blood, mementos, etc.). This distinction is primarily observable in folk magic, but pertains to other types of magic also.

* No Connection: Black and white magic are both forms of magic, but are completely different from the base up and are accomplished differently, even if they achieve similar effects. This stance is the one most often presented in fiction, including the Harry Potter series. In such books, the two classes of magic-users are portrayed as being both ideologically and diametrically opposed.

* Separate but Equal: Black and white magic are exactly the same thing, differentiated only by their end goals and intent. According to this theory, the same spell could be either white or black; its nature is determined by the end result of the spell.

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