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Maleficium

Maleficium 
Maleficium is the act of harmful sorcery or evil doing. It is generally associated with destructive and violent deeds against people or property. Witchcraft is also used synonymously with maleficium. This Latin term appears to derive from an earlier Hebrew word – mekashefah, or "a woman who does keshef – Hebrew for 'magic' or 'sorcery'" (Copenhaver 2015, 17). Its translations into Greek and later into Latin by Christians have formed the Hebrew term into maleficos – "evildoers" (2015, 17). Maleficium's origination in the Hebrew Bible of mekashefah appears in Exodus with association of impious and unlawful acts. Its appearance arises not only in religious texts, but in law, essays, and philosophical works. 
Apuleius, an early writer under the Roman Empire and Platonist, faced a trial against the accusation of maleficium. Apuleius made a distinction between the practice of magic, which he claimed to be "grounded in philosophy" (2015, 143), and the act of maleficium. In centuries preceding his trial the term maleficium was used to describe any criminal offense "with no suggestion of magical wrongdoing or sorcery" (2015, 93). 
While maleficium is synonymous with a variety of terms like witchcraft and evildoers, it has consistently maintained its meaning in terms of harmful action. Whether those harmful actions are irreligious, magical, or a criminal offense they can be described as an act of maleficium. 

Key Words: mekashefah, witchcraft, evildoer, magic 
Bibliography: 
"Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch to Live: Exod. 22:17-19 1.5" In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 17. 
Apuleius. 2015. "Dangerous and Forbidden Sorceries: Apuleius, The Defence 4.16" In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. 143. 
Copenhaver, Brian. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to Enlightenment. Penguin Classics. 

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