Are there really witches?

YES.

Lets start out and first define the word "witch"

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the word witch originates from Middle English wicche, from Old English wicca.

It is defined as:
- a person that is believed to wield malignant supernatural forces. Usually women and often attributed as being "in league with the devil"
- an old ugly woman
- a charming female
- a practitioner of Wicca * more on that later

As you can see above, the word is associated frequently and regularly with the popularized image of the biblical or cinematic "witch".
If you are asking if these types of witches exist, then the short answer is NO.
In fact these images are prejudicial, bigoted, very short sighted, hate-mongering and spring more from misunderstanding, misrepresentation and fear of the unknown.

For those who choose to quote the King James bible... "Suffer not a witch to live" I suggest they do a little research and come to realize this was a "spin" put on the scripture by persons with an "agenda". The original passage read "Suffer not a POISONER to live".


Now back to the "practitioner of Wicca" definition...
Wicca is one of, but not the only spiritual path that comes under the umbrella of Paganism. (See the Wikipedia Paganism related link below for a full definition).

Let me be very clear… Not all practitioners of Wicca or even many of the diverse Pagan paths call or consider themselves witches. And Not all people who call or consider themselves witches are Wiccan or even Pagan.

There are dozens of personal stories about how people have come to their personal spiritual paths and what those paths mean to the various people.
Many will give you a personal spin on the use and meaning of the word "witch", all of them are valid to the individual, but can and will be challenged by others who believe theirs is the correct view.
Questions of faith, spirituality, belief and religion are always subject to this kind of problem. However, in the spirit of trying to fully answer the original question, the long answer is YES.
There are thousands of people in the world today in many countries who proudly and reverently call and consider themselves witches. It would be foolish, short-sighted, not to mention rude to discount the beliefs of that many people.


In the Harry Potter sense, no. In the sense of a pagan religion, yes.