The folk magical traditions that colonists brought with them from England assumed that men and women could manipulate supernatural forces for their own ends. Cunning folk used a variety of fortune-telling techniques that they learned from manuals that circulated on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet neither magical beliefs nor magical practices were gender-specific: men as well as women resorted to and functioned as cunning folk. As English colonists turned to magic in hopes of divining the future, curing ailments, and protecting themselves or their loved ones from harm, their options were not limited to English techniques and English cunning folk. Although witchcraft prosecutions occurred throughout the British colonies in North America, the powerful influence of religious culture in New England produced a disproportionate number of cases and thus a disproportionate amount of information about magical beliefs and techniques. The assumption underlying folk magic contrasted sharply with the teachings of Puritan theology, which placed supernatural power firmly in God's hands.