And yet, a belief in witchcraft is so widespread and its character so similar from Africa to America, from the South Seas to Asia, that it must be related to something real in human experience. The answer seems to be that it provides a native theory of failure, misfortune and death. It allows us to believe that the blame for at least some of our suffering rests upon a peculiar power which can be exercised by certain people in our midst.
— Lyall Watson, Dark Nature