Things took a dark turn when the MIL ingested a toxic potion consisting of 12 different essential oils. The story gets even murkier from there and might leave you stunned by how far this obsession truly went. A global study that involved more than 140,000 people found that about a billion people across 95 countries believe in witchcraft. Because discussing witchcraft remains a sensitive or taboo topic in many cultures, many respondents likely hid their true beliefs. In these cases, superstitious beliefs and daily rituals become so deeply ingrained that they completely take over a person’s life.