Musar על סנהדרין 134:22

מכשפה לא תחיה. Do not allow a witch to survive!" (22,17). Rabbi Yochanan in Sanhedrin 67, relates the term מכשפה to the fact that witches deny the existence and function of Divine messengers, i.e. פמליא של מעלה. The Chinuch describes the substance of such witches (whether male or female) in the following words: "At the time of creation, G–d assigned certain activities to everything that has been created; such activities are all meant to benefit the universe. This is the meaning of Genesis 1,12, that each variety of herb came into being למינהו, in its individual kind, with its individual function. Each had a spiritual counterpart assigned to it in the "higher" world. This is what Bereshit Rabbah 10,7 means when it says that every herb has its own מזל in Heaven. This מזל instructs the herb to grow.

The Rekanati writes that knowledge of what are the circumstances when something of this nature, i.e. contending with those who perform witchcraft, is permissible, is wide spread. Do not think that מעשה כשוף and מעשה שדים are one and the same thing. The Talmud in Sanhedrin 16, is explicit in identifying the machinations of Pharaoh's magicians i.e. בלטיהם, as the acts of שדים (Exodus 7,22), whereas the Torah refers to בלהטיהם (Exodus 7,11,) when the meaning is witchcraft. This teaches that כשוף can be performed without resorting to שדים, creatures commonly known as מלאכי חבלה, destructive agents. This is the way Rashi explains the matter. On occasion even שדים perform מעשה כשוף. They are known as the מלאכי חבלה, since מעשה כשוף, is invariably used destructively. So far the quote from the Chinuch.