White witch

White witch or good witch are qualifying terms in English used to distinguish those witches who do not use magic to harm others from those witches that do. It can refer to either fictional characters with such characteristics or to actual practitioners of folk magic called cunning folk or witch doctors; individuals who charged money for removing the supposed effects of witchcraft. In medieval and early modern Europe, theologians taught that all witches, "good" and "evil," were the work of the devil, but popular belief made a sharp distinction. Evil witches were feared, but the people were grateful for the efforts of white witches. Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971), p. 534.

Sir Walter Scott spoke of a white witch in his novel "Kenilworth" (1821)::You must know that some two or three years past there came to these parts one who called himself Doctor Doboobie, although it may be he never wrote even Magister Artium, save in right of his hungry belly. Or it may be, that if he had any degrees, they were of the devil’s giving; for he was what the vulgar call a "white witch", a cunning man, and such like.

The antonym "black witch" is an entirely modern creation as it was not previously needed; in the past witches were viewed, almost without exception, as malefic, serving as imaginary scapegoats on which diseases and bad luck could be blamed. The terms "white witch" and "good witch" have been known in English from the 16th century but were fairly uncommon in ordinary use except in DevonFact|date=August 2008 until fairly recently. Perhaps the most famous "white witch" in modern literature is Glinda the Good Witch in L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and the film based on it.