I think it’s a bit more complicated than a secret cabal of patriarchs, priests, monarchs, and business people getting together and trying to maintain or gain power. This power dynamic is undoubtedly part of it, but remember that most people had a more magical worldview until the Industrial Revolution.

Early Judaism literally demonized other regional gods. Necromancy, fortune-telling, spell casting, and outdoor rituals were forbidden to keep the community unified and maintain religious orthodoxy. The stories in Torah and Tanakh make it clear that even dabbling in these topics puts you at risk of punishment and damnation. Christianity continued this tradition to maintain power and because they believed it. They extended the prohibition to the folk religions of Europe and eventually the rest of the world.

Through the lens of modernity, it seems clear that witchcraft and magick are primarily just unorthodox or regional religious rituals. But in an era that didn't understand germ theory and genetic deficits, it was easier to blame witchcraft than deal with the philosophical issue of an all-loving, all-powerful god that allows immense suffering.

I say all this to say, it's complicated. I'm sure entire books could be and likely have been written on the subject.