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Witchcraft
Chapter one - Introduction to Witchcraft
by Ilil Arbel
Your world is rational and well ordered. Science, technology and regulated business are
part of it. Why bother with a subject that seems so Medieval, perhaps even obsolete?
What has Witchcraft to do with you, as you sit at your books, or at your computer?
Thinking about these threatening old tales and vague images of evil may even make you
uncomfortable. Is it at all worth your time?
Very much so. No pursuit is more important than the attempt to understand one's own
self. Magic preceded psychology, and the story of Witchcraft affords a significant
glimpse into the development of our minds and feelings. Somehow, in the innermost
recesses of our private thoughts, something still answers the call of the ancient horns of
the Wild Ride of the Fairies and witches. With all our modern achievements, we are the
same beings that once huddled in dark caves. It is good to acknowledge our heritage and
learn from it.
The story of the witches is as old as the story of humanity itself, as proven by prehistoric
evidence. They stayed throughout the centuries, sometimes openly, sometimes
underground, but always influential. They are still with us.
Unfortunately, much of what is known about Witchcraft is based on superstitious
nonsense, causing a bias toward a large group of people. This is unacceptable in today's
enlightened society, when most people try avoiding bigotry and prejudice. There has
never been a group of people as misunderstood as those who follow Witchcraft, or as its
followers call it, the Old Religion. It is estimated that nine million people have been
humiliated, tortured and murdered because the world did not comprehend their ancient
way of life.
In its purest form, the Old Religion is nature worship. It is also called Wicca, or The Way
of the Wise People, and the followers are far from evil - they see themselves as guardians
of the Earth and servants of a nature goddess. They are connected with the seasons, the
plants, the animals and the planet, and seek a balanced life. They have much in common
with ecologists. True, nothing in this world is untainted, and in the long history of
Witchcraft there have been those who followed Satanism, Devil worship, Black Magic,
Shamanism and Voodoo, among many other cults. But besides the fact that all those
disciplines profess to the ability of creating magic, they have very little in common with
true Witchcraft.
Upcoming chapters will discuss these Satanic activities as well as pure Witchcraft. It is
impossible to understand the history of Witchcraft without knowing something about the
Dark Side of magic. But it is important to realize that they are not, and never have been,
one and the same.
Naturally, a good old village witch, who had to make a living selling her products and
services, was a bit of a ham. While she could simply live and work in a clean cottage full
of fragrant medicinal herbs, it looked much more convincing if she had a skull and a few
bones on a shelf. It wouldn't hurt if her trusty cat was all glossy black rather than a tabby.
The sound of a bubbling cauldron had a good effect. And the broom looked better if it
was a bit charred by fire. The customers could imagine her flying out of her chimney,
cackling gleefully to herself as the sparks almost caught the broomstick. The image was
good for business.
But when the great Witch Craze began in earnest, and the witches lost their places as the
village doctors to become the enemies of the Church, people no longer knew what was
true and what was not. It was all a mix, anyway. Take the old broom, for instance. A
witch never really rode it through the air, of course. Where did this bizarre story come
from?
The answer is surprisingly simple. Witches used long, dark wooden poles to perform a
special fertility dance. They rode the pole as if it was a hobbyhorse, and jumped as high
into the air as possible. They believed that the higher they jumped, the better the crops
could grow. Sometimes they "rode" the poles to their nightly gatherings, jumping up and
down all the way. Occasionally the neighbors saw them, though they wouldn't follow
them too far, as ordinary folks were superstitious and afraid of the dark in those days. The
neighbors couldn't quite understand what the witches were doing, singing and jumping
like that. Could they be preparing to take off and fly? It seemed very likely. Of course all
the witches' doings were secretive, it was part of the Old Religion. They had to do
something with this pole between festivals. So what better way to hide its purpose than to
disguise it as a broom? All you had to do was to tie a few twigs and branches around it,
and there it was, ready to sweep your cottage.
The Old Religion existed since the Stone Age. In a tradition that old, there have to be
some rituals and forms of worship that may not appeal to everyone. Witches are aware of
it and keep their practices to themselves. With very few exceptions, such as Sybil Leek or
Aleister Crowley, who for various reasons made it their business to be known openly as
witches, you won't know who they are. Secrecy is essential, because even in today's
enlightened society, with all the laws against witches repealed, the presence of a witch
still produces anxiety in a community, sometimes even direct persecution. Imagine if
suddenly it becomes known in your hometown that the owner of the grocery store, or the
plumber, or the lawyer who lives across the street, is a practicing witch. Imagine if it is
your doctor, or the principal of your school. They will not be burned at the stake, of
course. But the town, most likely, will either stop using their services or demand their
resignation. It has happened many times.
The secrecy makes it difficult for those who have an open mind and truly want to
understand. Who are these elusive people? What do they really believe in? Where have
they originated? Do they have inherited traits, giving them paranormal, psychic powers?
Do they cause harm to anyone? One thing is clear. From our earliest history, from the
very beginning, the witches have been with us.
There are certain caves, at archaeological sites dating 30,000 BCE, located in the regions
between Russia and Spain. On the walls, and even on the ceilings of some of them, there
are many carvings and paintings of easily recognizable animals, mostly bisons, antelopes,
horses, bulls and deer. They are beautifully and realistically executed in both black and
colored scenes. The artists were good observers and could draw the animals with amazing
accuracy. However, there is also a repeated representation of a mysterious creature, who
could not have possibly roamed the plains with the animals. He is half man, half animal.
His face is human, but he has large horns adorning his head. He is covered with fur and
has a tail, but he stands upright and his feet and hands are human. His eyes are large, sad,
wise and very human. Many archaeologists agree that he is the image of a sorcerer or
witch, a powerful member of an ancient pagan religion. His followers probably believed
that he was a "shape changer," a man who could make magic and change at will to an
animal form. This school of archaeology believes that Western Witchcraft is a
continuation of this pagan religion.
Other theories are a lot less likely and if considered each by itself, only partially explain
the complicated origin of Witchcraft. Some people believe that witches were indeed in
league with the Devil. This is an outdated, primitive approach, particularly for those with
a scientific turn of mind, and a healthy skepticism about the existence of such an entity as
the Devil.
Another theory is based on the belief that all the witches' activities are based on nothing
but hallucinations. Smearing their bodies with hallucinogenic drugs could account for
flying dreams, images of savage demons and other interesting details of their Sabbaths.
Undoubtedly some covens did use drugs. There will be a chapter in this book, devoted to
the flora and fauna associated with Witchcraft, and it must be admitted right here that not
all plants were grown just for healing. Belladonna, Monkshood, Datura, and Nightshade
were often used at the festivals, and they were hallucinogenic when properly prepared.
But they were only a small part of the activities, mostly recreational in nature or an aid to
altered states of consciousness. Dismissing the entire proceedings as hallucinogenic
dreams is, at best, an oversimplification of a very complex subject.
Another important theory is the connection between Western witches and the Fairies,
Pixies, and other "Little People" of Europe. Combining this theory with the one about the
ancient, Stone Age religion may explain, once and for all, where witches come from.
There are many races of pygmies living in the world today. Some examples are the
pygmies of Africa, Malaysia, New Guinea and The Philippines. The pattern of their lives
is similar - they are generally pushed around by their bigger neighbors. As a defense, they
develop a secretive lifestyle. They are usually great hunters, almost magically able to
stalk and attract their prey. They possess poison arrows which they can shoot with
uncanny accuracy. They move with such agility and stealth that it seems as if they can be
invisible at will. Their neighbors invariably think they have magic powers. The pygmies
are hostile, in general, but if well treated may become friendly, and share their knowledge
of herbs, hunting and weather patterns, or even leave gifts or exchange goods with their
neighbors. Powerful enemies, faithful friends, always acting under the cover of the dark
night, no matter where they live.
Races like that existed in Europe. There are old rock dwellings in the Isle of Man,
Ireland, Scotland, Finland, and Russia in which you had to be about two to three feet tall
to fit comfortably if standing upright. While individuals of this height exist, of course,
there is no whole nation left in Europe today that is of this stature, so these dwellings
provide an important clue.
Let's review the origin of witches in the British Isles as an example. When the various
invaders, such as the Romans, Saxons, and Normans entered the area, they encountered
these small people. They gave them various names - Fairies, Pixies, Sidhe, and so on.
Some names still have a meaning for us today. The term Pixie, for instance, is derived
from Picts, a well-known old race from Northern England and Scotland. Other name
origins are obscure. As usual, the Little People were hostile to their conquerors. They
stole cattle and destroyed crops, resenting the fact that they were driven away from the
best lands. But some friendships occurred, too, sometimes even leading to marriages
between the invaders and the larger of the Little People.
Having a "Fairy wife" was a good thing. The ladies may have been small in stature, but
they were very clever and pretty, and sometimes brought not only superior knowledge of
the region and its natural resources, but also wealth. A very happy marriage occurred as
late as 1380 A.D. between the chief of the MacLeod Clan in Scotland and a noble Fairy,
who gave him a famous gift, the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan. It still exists in a Museum.
Many of the descendants of this marriage live today. There are also tales of Roman,
Saxon or Norman girls who ran away to become the wives of the King of the Fairies or
his Lords. It was believed these women led wonderful, long lives in Fairyland, away from
the toil and trouble of our "ordinary" world. These enchanting folktales will be discussed
in a chapter devoted to the great literary figures in Witchcraft.
Some of the Little People lived in tiny rounded houses made of wood. There were no
windows, only a smoke hole in the ceiling, admitting a delicate twilight into the room.
The roof was rounded, too, and covered with sod. In spring, under the gentle rains and
soft sunlight of the region, the houses sprouted grass. From a little distance, the grass
made the houses look exactly like small green hills. You could get in through a door on
the side of the house, but also through the smoke hole in the ceiling, which was usually
equipped with a ladder for the convenience of the sentries. So the big neighbors could see
the Little People going in and out of the side of the so-called hills, or go down a smoking
chimney. How easy it was to make up stories about the mysterious Little People, the
Sidhe, who lived inside hills and disliked sunlight. Even more important, how obvious is
the origin of the story of a flying witch that could get in and out of a house through the
chimney! After all, if she didn't fly, how else could she get to the roof? An old hag like
her surely couldn't climb so high?
The Romans mingled with the Little People and had many descendants. These RomanBritons stayed after the Romans left. They were larger than the original Little People, and
looked a bit different. But they had, of course, much sympathy and understanding with
them. When the Roman priests left, they took the gods with them, as was the custom of
those years. So even if the Roman-Britons didn't do so before, naturally they now started
worshiping the same sweet, kind nature goddesses the Little People worshiped. After all,
the native goddesses could so easily be identified with the Roman Diana or Venus. The
bonds of family relationships and religion were strong. Together the two races faced the
new invasions of the Saxons, Normans, Vikings, and eventually the Catholic Church.
The Saxons were good farmers, stolid, serious people, and they didn't like the frivolity of
the Little People. So they banished them to the heaths, were they lived for generations,
and were called the "Heathens." Curiously, we still refer to non-Christians by that name.
The Little People went about their business, carrying on their night festivals, coloring
their nude bodies with green paint made of certain herbs, and generally enjoying life. The
Saxons disapproved, in principle, but being human, sometimes mingled anyway. The
charm of the Little People was, at times, irresistible. The descendants of the mixed
marriages were even larger than those who married Romans, since the Saxons were taller
and heavier.
Then Came the Normans, and they liked the Little People very much. The Normans were
not strongly Christian, they disliked the Saxons, and they found an affinity with the
Heathens. Many of the Heathens took employment with the Norman Lords. For some
reason the Little People were always very good with horses. This was a skill the Normans
respected, as they were very fond of horses. The mischievous Little People delighted in
the enmity between their old adversaries the Saxons, and the Norman lords. They felt
appreciated by their new employers, and often invited them to the night festivals they still
celebrated. The Normans couldn't resist. Outnumbered by the boring Saxons, they wanted
fun and adventure. There are stories of horses disappearing from stables and of Norman
Lords and Ladies riding all night, wearing strange disguises, on their way to attend the
festivals. Perhaps this was the beginning of the legends of the Wild Hunts of the Fairies
or the Wild Rides of the witches. Many, many mixed marriages took place.
Naturally, despite their mutual dislike, the Normans and the Saxons also started to mix.
The descendants of this three-way mix no longer colored their nude bodies in green paint,
but some continued to dye their clothes with this color. Wearing green clothes, you could
easily camouflage yourself in, say, Sherwood Forest with your Merry Men, and shoot
with uncanny accuracy at your enemies. You could have much fun stealing from the rich,
and giving to the poor, as good Fairies always did, couldn't you? Or you would wear your
green clothes at the May Games, which were similar to Witches' Sabbaths, complete with
the Great Maypole, feasts, and mystical initiations.
So here is how the origin of the witches begins to make sense. This is the story as it
occurred in England. The same stories, or very similar ones, took place in Finland,
Russia, Germany, and many other European countries. If the original Little People really
possessed paranormal powers, as so many of their contemporaries claimed, those powers
would be diluted by the mixed marriages, but not disappear. They would lie latent,
surfacing occasionally in succeeding generations, as all talents do. It's a long way from
the ancient heaths, and those who wished to maintain the traditions of the Old Religion
went through much pain and change through the years. So their descendants, friends and
followers, who are the witches of today, may possess some psychic powers, or they may
not. They follow a tradition as old as human civilization, but one that underwent many
upheavals and transformations. They love and serve the Earth, but are still feared by
humanity.
This book attempts to disentangle the mysteries and contradictions, without invading the
privacy the witches wish to keep. Their history deserves a thorough and sympathetic
examination. Like the members of any other group of people, they should be understood
and respected for whom they are and what they stand for, without bigotry and prejudice.
Go to chapter 2: The Dawn of Witchcraft »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter two - The Dawn of Witchcraft
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
Good hunting and fishing determined the survival of the Stone Age tribe. A little later,
the number of domestic animals and the success of crops meant life or death. The tribe
also needed many children. They had to replace those who died in infancy and early
childhood, and few people lived beyond their thirties.
A division of labor existed from the earliest societies. Men hunted and fished. Women
gathered food and cared for the children. Men had a male god, who controlled the hunt.
The god wore horns or antlers, representing his power over the prey. Women worshiped a
great mother goddess. She insured fertility and controlled the magical and medicinal
powers of plants. Later, when agriculture was developed, both god and goddess protected
the domestic animals and the crops. A priestess and a priest worked together as the
representatives of the gods. They had ceremonies to influence the gods to help the people.
Slowly, the ideas of an afterlife and reincarnation began to emerge. The horned male god
took on the additional feature of the god of death. The female goddess added the moon
and its cycles to her domain. They were united in a sacred marriage, and shared fertility
rites.
Their myth, still alive today, is simple. The goddess represents life. The god represents
death. Life and death are a continuous cycle. The cycle contains three great truths loving, dying, and reincarnating to live again. Magic controls all of them. To fulfil love,
one must be born, unite with the loved one, die, and reincarnate. The cycle may repeat as
many times as necessary.
During the Stone Age the people believed that reincarnation occurred in groups. You
found yourself, life after life, with the same people. Witches no longer believe in group
reincarnation, but it is easy to understand why the Stone Age people did. They lived in
closely knit tribes and were afraid to be reincarnated among "strangers." Reincarnation
itself, however, is still an important part of the Old Religion.
All gods and demons emerge from humanity's relationship with nature. To understand the
minds of the prehistoric cave painters, one must look at isolated societies that still live in
a similar way. Many anthropologists call these people "primitive." This word gives the
incorrect impression of inferiority. These people are not inferior in any meaningful way.
They are just not living in our mechanized, Westernized society. Their way of life is just
as complex and rich; their minds are just as alert as ours. Furthermore, they maintain a
connection with nature that we have lost.
The Tasaday of Mindanao, Orochon of Siberia, Gilyaks of the Amur valley, and the
Australian aborigines work in surprisingly similar ways. Their cultures present evidence
about how the prehistoric mind worked.
The lives of these people are balanced with nature. The word is significant, because as
you will see in an upcoming chapter, the balanced life is one of the principles of
Witchcraft. Witches seek exactly what these people had maintained naturally for
thousands of years - a balance that was lost with the development of civilization.
The prehistoric people saw themselves as part of their surrounding, neither more nor less
important than the animals, the plants, the stones and the rivers. They believed that
inanimate objects had lives of their own. Judging by the behavior of the isolated societies
mentioned above, the Stone Age people often spoke with the fire, the stones, the water. If
you ask the Orochon or Tasaday about it, they will tell you that the inanimate object
understands and answers them.
The reasoning power of such people is different from ours. They see little difference
between the real and the unreal. They will rarely ask why something happens. Things
happen, and they will deal with the results. They use no written language and therefore
have a powerful memory.
Interestingly, even today, a witch keeps as few written records as possible. She must burn
all her papers when she realizes that she is near death, unless there is a very reliable witch
who will inherit the notes and include them in her own work.
Researchers always assumed that this habit existed because of the danger during the
Witch Trials. Every Medieval witch memorized as much as possible. When the
inquisition marched into her home to look for evidence, it was best not to have the
grimoires, as spell books are called, around the house. However, the truth about the
memorizing habit may be deeper. Perhaps the witch is still following the prehistorical
tradition of magic without written language.
We generally look for rational explanations for illnesses, sudden death, or accidents. The
Stone Age people thought differently. Spirits and invisible forces filled their world.
Magic caused distressing events. Someone conjured the malevolent spirits; perhaps the
spirits themselves were angry and wanted revenge. If a wild beast or a force of nature
caused death, then the supernatural force behind them actually made them do it. One had
to appease or control the force. The shaman, priest, or witch could achieve that by
establishing a relationship with the objects or the forces. In other words - he or she had to
use magic.
The entire physical world was alive, swirling with energy waves, for the shaman and the
witch. They established relationships with storms, water, and the seasons themselves. In a
deep enough trance, they entered into a two-way conversation with the elements. They
released their powerful souls from their bodies and let the souls kill the enemies or the
beasts, heal the sick, or direct the animals toward the hunters.
The people were, above and beyond anything else, hunters and gatherers. They depended
upon two factors. First, the availability of animals and plants; second, their ability to
escape extremely dangerous predators. Fortunately, their witches knew herbal medicine
and the setting of bones, and the hard life had some compensations. The tight communal
life encouraged an incredible level of nonverbal communication. To us, they would seem
telepathic, so well they understood each other without words. They were like flocks of
birds or schools of fish that react to a situation as one large creature. In addition, they had
supernatural endurance. This talent still exists in many isolated societies. For instance,
look at the "runners" in Tibet. These are men who can run distances that are considered
literally impossible by modern athletes. They do it in a trance, without much effort, and
arrive in good shape. It's all mind power.
The Stone Age magic-making was simple. They had dances that imitated the hunt and
controlled the hunted animals. The dancers wore antlers or bird masks, whirled, chanted,
and went into trances. These ceremonies, the beginning of Witchcraft, are painted over
and over on cave walls.
The image of the horned god may have started during these dances. Imagine a dancer,
wearing antlers to impersonate a reindeer or a stag. He is whirling in a trance, moving
with the rhythm of the chant and drums in the warm cave. The fire behind him throws a
strong shadow on the cave's wall. The shadow is strange and threatening, and it attracts
the attention of the tribe's artist, always sensitive to new images. He picks a bit of
charcoal from the fire, and quickly draws around the shadow. The drawing looks like a
man/beast. As the months go by, the artist draws him again and again, developing a new
image, adding the image into the magic.
It joined a wall already full of beautifully, accurately drawn pictures of animals and birds.
The artists of the Stone Age were hunters who killed many animals. As they cut the
animals for food, they learned much about anatomy. From necessity, they were also good
observers of the animals during their daily lives. The art, however, was neither artistic
expression nor a celebration of yesterday's successful hunt. It was, just like the dance, an
act of magic. By drawing an animal you controlled it. A picture of a successful hunt
today would produce one tomorrow. A picture of an animal giving birth would insure
fertility and good future hunts. Drawing dangerous animals falling into pits would make
sure they would not kill you, but die themselves first. This was Witchcraft.
There were the dreams, too. To the Stone Age mind, dreams had a reality as definite as
the waking world. The spirit, released from the body, walked the dream world; it spoke
with other dreaming spirits or with the spirits of the dead. The dreams revealed the future,
and were important to the well-being of the entire tribe. It is entirely possible that Out-ofBody-Experience (OBE) started like that. People who have experienced OBE claim a part
of their consciousness, or their soul, leaves their body and explores the world on its own.
Ancient cultures in all parts of the world described OBE. It is practiced today by people
of various religions and nationalities. Parapsychologists argue whether OBE exists, or if
it is a powerful dream form. Witches claim they just do it. At this stage of modern
research, there is still no proof either way.
As the climate changed and lost some of its harshness, people began to live longer, create
settlements, and develop agriculture. The witch's importance did not diminish. The
prosperity of crops and domestic animals, fertility of the land, and the continuous
development of herbal medicine remained the witch's domain.
Religion became more organized, but the job of the witches remained the same influencing the supernatural powers. It didn't matter if the people called them shamans,
shape-changers, wizards, druids, priestesses or witches. It didn't matter if they worked in
the woods, the meadows, or at the altar of the simple, beautiful new temples. They helped
humanity survive, worshiped the nature gods, served the earth.
And so it went on for generations. It continues today. The similarity between Witchcraft
in the various ancient cultures is so strong, and the relationship to today's Witchcraft is so
amazing, there is no possible way to assume it happened by chance. Let's look at a few
cultures. They are not in any order - it's more like a bit of time travel to places of interest.
In Denmark, archaeologists found the grave of a powerful Bronze Age witch. The grave
contained obvious evidence of wealth - gold, jewelry, costly swords. It also had various
items of Witchcraft, neatly arranged in a large bronze bowl. Identical Witchcraft
ingredients are still used in folk medicine, and similar tools are used by today's witch.
Here is a list of the items.
Folk medicine:
A lynx's claw.
A weasel's bones.
Snakes' vertebrae.
Iron pirate pieces. If struck over the body of a sick person, the striking of the pirate will
clear both physical and mental diseases and the effect of the evil eye.
Charcoal of an aspen tree. In today's folk medicine, the charcoal is useful if the tree was
hit by lightning. It is possible that the aspen in the grave was burned in the same way.
Magic items:
Horses' teeth.
Twigs of a rowan tree.
An iron knife.
A sword.
The old Scandinavian Sagas describe activities of witches which are still part of today's
ceremonies. They also tell the usual stories - shape changing, riding on poles, or sending
the soul out of the bodies.
Another interesting ancient connection exists in Mexico. A witch cult there was centered
around a goddess, or a "Witch Queen." She always carried or rode a broom. The broom,
to the Mexicans, symbolized purity and cleanliness. This is particularly important
because the Medieval European witch considered cleanliness and order essential. Her
contemporaries rarely bathed, and kept food debris on their straw-covered floors for
weeks. The witches in Mexico, just like the European ones, always wore big necklaces.
Men wore the same kind of leather apron as the Irish male witches.They worked in small
rooms to confine the power - much like the circles of power of the European witches.
There is no explanation to the similarity. Some historical researchers believe that perhaps
people traveled across the Atlantic before Columbus, and introduced the Old Religion to
Mexico. Or perhaps the needs of Witchcraft created similar evolution wherever and
whenever it was practiced.
Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome treated magic as if it was science. Not that they were
particularly concerned with pure science; they were more interested in practical results.
However, they had to know the medicinal and poisonous properties of hundreds of plants;
they knew how to use hypnosis; they understood human consciousness. The magicians
combined their practice with incantations and prayers, which is why today's scientists do
not take them seriously. But they were not much different. When achieving an identical
result, today's scientist credits it to reasoning or experimentation. The sorcerer assumed
they were given by a supernatural power.
Some great scholars in Greece worked as sorcerers. Pythagoras, the mathematician,
openly practiced philosophy, science and magic. He had a strong influence on Plato, not
himself a sorcerer, but clearly a believer. One can see that in his Dialogues Aristotle
suggested the influence of the magical theory in his History of Animals. Neither he nor
Plato feared the magicians, though many other people did. Obviously, they understood,
with their better education and sharp minds, what the sorcerers were doing.
Finding the roots of Ancient Greek Witchcraft and Hellenistic Witchcraft is easy. One
has simply to look at their great holidays. Take, for example, the Eleuisian holiday which
attracted thousands of people. Much like the May holiday participants in the British Isles,
the Greeks had games, theater, wine, food, dancing and music. Everyone was at least half
drunk and ready for religious ecstasy. Mystical rites included the purging of the fear of
death, the procession in honor of the dead, and the wild, whirling dancing. People fell
into trance-like states, many acting as if they were in direct communication with the gods.
It was similar to Voodoo possession - or to the ancient shaman/witch union with the
unseen forces. Naturally, some people were better at it than others, and some became
priests and priestesses.
The best known priestesses were those who worked at the Oracle of Delphi. They
dedicated their lives to the gods and practiced prophecy and divination. The priestess sat
over a cleft in the rocks, from which fumes of various drugs rose to envelop her body.
The drugs brought on a trance state, and under it she told the future. Another priestess or
priest had to explain the messages, because often they were hard to understand. Many of
the prophecies came true, and the practice lasted thousands of years. It is silly to dismiss
the whole thing as a lie, as the Catholic church later tried. Ancient Greece was a culture
of sophistication, intellect and learning. Could a handful of priests really trick these
people for so long?
The god Pan is another connection with witchcraft. In the Dianic tradition of Witchcraft,
one of the schools still active today, the horned god is still named Pan. Is it the same
deity? There are some differences. But this happens to every ancient religion. Take the
Judeo-Christian tradition. The current merciful God is very different from the angry
desert deity that took the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan, destroying entire
nations in His path. And yet any Priest, Minister or Rabbi would be horrified if you dared
suggest that it was another God - Jehovah is Jehovah! Well, Pan is Pan. Then and now, he
is a nature god, a part of every living animal and plant. And he is still with his goddess
and with those who call themselves the Guardians of the Earth.
Shape changing was common in Greece, too, as seen by both mythology and literature.
Zeus' love affairs are famous for it. He changed into a swan, a bull, or even a shower of
golden rain, as the occasion demanded. Also, the famous book The Golden Ass, by
Apuleius of Madaura tells of such a change. It is a story of Greek man who, with the help
of an untrained witch's apprentice, turns himself accidentally into a donkey. After many
misadventures, the goddess Isis restores him from the animal shape and he becomes her
priest.
There are several great Greek witches. Medea is probably the most famous witch of
antiquity. She is strong, possibly insane, and murderous. Hecate is first a moon goddess,
then a witch goddess who rules the nights and all its frightening creatures. Circe is a
sorceress who turns her lovers into swine when she tires of them. All the Greek stories of
the great, power wielding, magnificent witches view them as evil. This is because they
were, originally, priestesses of the Old Religion, worshipers of the mother goddess. The
"new" Greek religion saw them as competition and turned them into evil hags, as most
cultures do. For further proof, the texts often stress the witches' knowledge of herbal
medicine and magic - the obvious traits of the followers of Wicca, then as now.
The Romans used much magic in their daily lives. They employed magical astrology, and
used amulets, incantations, healing and cursing formulas.
The Romans had an interesting device, very similar to today's Ouija board. It was a metal
disk, supported by a wooden tripod. On its rim, the letters of the alphabet were inscribed.
The person performing the ritual suspended a ring on a thread, right above the disk. Some
incantation was said, and the ring began to swing like a pendulum, forming words and
answering questions.
The Aeneid describes magic extensively. Dido, the tragic heroin, is a powerful sorceress
whose magic eventually turns against herself, much like Medea's in Greece. Horace's
plays describe evil Witchcraft, including some horrifying ritual murder of children. Other
Roman poets describe necromancy and divination. Obviously, witches in Rome had a bad
reputation.
Romans, as a nation, enjoyed cruelty. One has only to look at their arena games and war
atrocities to see that. The stories about the witches reflect that taste. Unquestionably,
some Roman witches turned to the dark side. The records show that their help was often
used for poisoning, necromancy, and even attempts at raising of the dead and the creation
of zombies. It was a sad period for true followers of the Old Religion.
In Egypt, magic was entirely scientific. It was mixed with religion, but nevertheless
practiced as a precise and organized activity. From the mythologies and magic books it is
clear that they had a system of the Occult based on subjects. There are separate texts on
astrology, alchemy, formulas for magic in daily use, etc. The practitioners were
specialists. The ordinary people, in addition to consulting the experts, could also purchase
amulets and herbs for self protection and do-it-yourself magic.
Repeating the magic formula in exactly the same way, even down to the tone of voice,
was called "right speaking." The Book of the Dead stated that the gates to the other world
would not open to a person who did not know his secret name or who uttered it
incorrectly. The name of each gate in the other world also required correct reading and
pronunciation.
The Egyptians had many books containing formulas and incantations, spells and charms
for daily use. Amulets were important. They were worn by the living and put on the dead.
Amulets could be made of any material and sometimes carved with magic formulas.
Some shapes were particularly popular, such as the scarab and the heart. The Egyptians
even had amulets to protect each part of the body. The books often mention dreams and
shape changing. For example, there are spells in the Book of the Dead teaching the newly
deceased how to change into birds, crocodiles, or serpents.
The positive image of the witch lasted for generations. Eventually, however, patriarchal
monotheism took over in the West, first by Judaism and later by Christianity. With it, the
position of the witch deteriorated. The Bible often refers to witches in a negative manner.
They are always fiercely persecuted by the priests of Jehovah. Most notable is the Witch
of Endor, who is consulted secretly by King Saul. The story is interesting because Saul
killed many witches on the demand of the Prophet Samuel. She is one of the few
survivors.
Earlier, Moses and Aaron practiced Egyptian magic, described in detail in Exodus. They
turned a stick into a snake, for instance, during a competition with the Egyptian
magicians. The plagues visited on the Egyptians, including such things as pestilence and
darkness in the middle of the day, sound like malevolent Witchcraft. Naturally, the Bible
describes the plagues as punishment by God.
King Solomon, David's son, was supposed to be the wisest man of his generation,
perhaps the wisest ever to live on Earth. He was a magician as well. The book The
Wisdom of Solomon was written many years after his death, but much of it is probably
based on his words. In it he said that God gave him power and knowledge, and that his
studies included not only science but the Occult. In the original text, this included power
over demons. The sentence was mistakenly translated as power over the winds, because
the two words are similar in the original Hebrew. He also claimed knowledge of
exorcism.
Nevertheless, the Bible is determined that no witch should be permitted to live. The
reason is simple. A witch is not only a worshiper of a competing religion, but a symbol of
a matriarchal society. A society ruled by women is offensive to the male-dominated Jews
and Christians. So the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan is the point in time in which
the power of the Old Religion began its slow decline. It has taken many centuries and a
fierce struggle, but a gentle nature religion is no match to the powerful, military, new
religion. Starting from Mount Sinai, a fiery volcano in the desert, the Judeo-Christian
creed swept everything in its violent path and conquered the Western world.
Go to chapter 3: Under Early Christianity »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter three - Under Early Christianity
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
As we begin to examine the relationship between the Old Religion and the Catholic
Church, one thing must be clear. This book is not an attack on the Catholic Church. The
Church, as we know it today, is a wonderful organization. It is charitable, supportive of
many great institutions and a patron of learning. Naturally, no one can agree with
everything the Church does or thinks. We are entitled to disagreement, which, in turn,
boosts progress. However, while part of the historical clash of the religions is painful, it is
not told as criticism of the Church today. Over many centuries, the Church evolved into
the larger and richer organization we now know.
In addition, many of those responsible for the terror of the Witch Trials were more
administrators than men of God. They wanted property and power. Much like some
corrupt politicians, they thought that the end justified the means. On the other hand, some
Christians truly believed in the influence of the Devil, believed it with all their hearts, and
thought that by tormenting the body they saved the soul. It is difficult to understand, in
our century, how deeply superstitious most Medieval people were, and how much the
supernatural threatened their lives. Many acted out of ignorance and terror.
In 906, Regino, abbot of Prum, wrote an interesting document. It became known as the
Canon Episcopi. Few documents in history were so misunderstood; few caused so much
violence.
Regino described the habits of some misguided women who believed in their own
hallucinations and illusions. These women thought that the Pagan Goddess, Diana, flew
them over great distances. At those faraway places, they worshiped her and her husband,
the Devil. Regino, a compassionate man, made it clear that he believed the Devil himself
was responsible. The Devil made the poor women think that what happened in their
dreams really took place.
Sure, Regino was frustrated by the women's stupidity - how could they think that any god
could exist away from the one true faith, Christianity? However, not for a moment did he
believe in the flights, the Sabbaths, or anything else the women said they had done.
Until that time, the Church Fathers felt the same way, accepting Witchcraft as a stupid
hoax. After all, how could an illiterate bunch of women have power over God's world?
Nonsense! Any good Christian, using the name of Jesus, could get rid of the tricks of a
witch. St. Augustine, for example, heard that witches turned men into donkeys by feeding
them magical cheese. He thought it was funny. To the people who told him the story, he
said that such events must have been hallucinations or jokes.
Of course the Church did not approve of Witchcraft. The women who worshiped Diana
were sinful Pagans who tried to cheat good Christians. But they were powerless. Only
God had power over humanity.
If only they stuck to these views. If only there was no connection made between
Witchcraft and Dualism. Dualism was a belief that gave real power to evil as represented
by Satan. The horned God of the witches, as you will see later, looked very much like
Satan. If this connection was not made, perhaps humanity would have been spared the
carnage of the witch trials.
But the Church didn't understand Regino and disagreed, eventually, even with its own
early Fathers. The Church took Regino's document and twisted the meaning around. For
six centuries they read it as an admission that the women actually flew to worship at the
Sabbaths. Interestingly, Regino didn't even mention Witchcraft in the document. What he
asked was that the clergy would preach that such ideas are false. A gentle man, all he
wanted was to convince those women to desert Paganism and embrace Christianity. Poor
Regino. Had he seen the tortured and murdered victims, he would have been horrified.
For in the early centuries of Christianity, Paganism was not suppressed; Christians and
Pagans lived side by side. They did it for so long, that Christians took over some of the
Pagan gods, holy places and customs, in order to reconcile people to the new religion.
Pope Gregory the Great, for instance, went as far as ordering the placement of Christian
relics in Pagan shrines. He hoped that the people would gradually begin to think that the
old god was a new saint. Pagan feast days were used for Christian holidays. Christmas,
perhaps, is the most notable example. In the Bible, the exact date of Christ's birth is never
mentioned. So they placed it right over an important pagan holiday.
Those gods that did not become Christian saints were turned into demons. However,
many new converts to Christianity continued to worship them side by side with the new
God. One Saxon king had a temple with two altars, one for Christ and one for the
"Devils." If you look carefully at Christianity now, so much of the Pagan still remains the dove, the lamb, the sacred fish symbol, the ever-burning fire, the Virgin Birth, the
Resurrection, the Baptism - all were, once, Pagan symbols.
As far as the 12th century, priests complained that in Ireland, the people worshiped Pagan
Deities. In England, even some monks were caught worshiping Diana in woodland
shrines. This continued up to the 14th century. About the same time, the poet Petrarch,
while visiting Colonge, saw women performing Pagan rituals. Old habits die hard,
country people are conservative, and the transition was not as easy as the Church would
have it.
A 6th century Portuguese monk, acting as a missionary, complained that the women
worshiped their "devils" quite openly. The interesting thing here is that the monk
believed in the existence of those devils. He said the woods, streams, rivers and meadows
were full of the devils, and he saw them with his own eyes!
To entice the women to the new faith, churches were built over the old holy places. In the
British Isles, they were built over the shrine of Astarte in Northumberland, of Diana in
Bath, of Mithras in York. In Spain, they built them over sacred mounds. Still, the women
did not accept them. The priests complained that the women brought their old habits into
the new churches anyway - they sang, they danced, they performed strange rituals.
Many chieftains accepted the new faith because politically it was advantageous. Some
men followed. There was a good reason why the women stuck harder to Paganism -- the
Church despised women. According to the Bible, women caused the Original Sin. The
Church considered them weak, stupid, faithless, and hardly above beasts of burden. They
had no rights, no protection, no dignity. In almost every way, they were slaves. The
strong women of the Old Religion, the priestess, the Witch, the teacher, the healer,
became the enemy of all that was sacred. How could they accept Christianity?
Diana's cult remained so widespread, that the Church viewed her as an arch rival.
Eventually they started to refer to her as the "Queen of the Witches." Occasionally they
attempted to include her in the Church, like so many of the saints. But they soon realized
it was impossible. The Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, the most famous, or infamous, of
them all, declared that Diana was the Devil.
Naturally, a secret religion that allowed a woman an important place, appealed not only
to the hereditary witches, but to many converts as well. Recruits were never welcomed,
though, as they were always potential spies. So the religion went underground almost
totally and became a secret society. Many of the people that were later tortured and killed
had no connection whatsoever to the Old Religion. The real followers knew, from long
experience, how to hide.
This was a strange time. Many new sects came into being, and both Paganism and
Christianity influenced all of them. To many people, Jesus himself was a magician. He
exorcized demons. He healed the sick by "laying on of hands." He raised the dead and
made predictions. He claimed Divine Origin and Virgin Birth. It is true that he never tried
to prove himself, and claimed all his power came from God. He didn't want to be thought
of as a magician. But to the common people it mattered little.
To understand those times a little better, two sects should be examined - Gnostics and
Kabbalists.The Gnostics were not really Christians, and the Church did not approve of
them. They were people who wanted peace, mysticism, and a chance to think about the
universe. Most of them lived in the wilderness. Unfortunately, the Church destroyed
much of their writing with the usual thoroughness. That left us with only partial
knowledge of their nature.
The Gnostics disliked the world. They did not believe God created it himself, as He was
not interested in creating anything. He was totally removed from any matter, and existed
in a realm which was beyond matter. A split in the Godhead had occurred at some point.
This split they called The Fall, and it somehow created a demon, called the Demiurge.
The Demiurge created the Universe. Some said he did it with the help of Sophia, the
feminine side of God. The Demiurge also created six other demons, called Archons, to
help him in his work.
To make matters worse, the Demiurge had completely forgotten about The Fall, and
believed himself to be the only God. With the help of his Archons he created Man. Man,
therefore, is created and trapped by a god who has deluded himself. In other words, God
is crazy. Man's only hope to escape to his true home and the true God is through knowing
the true state of affairs. The word Gnosis, which is what the name of the religion is based
on, means Knowledge.
Naturally, the denial of the Christian God did not endear the Gnostics to the Church. And
the Demiurge was admirably suitable for identification with Satan. Evil by nature, a
fallen angel, self-deluded and cunning at the same time - what could be better? Heresy!
Kill the Gnostics!
Now, you could ask, where is the connection to Witchcraft? Gnosticism is a totally
different religion, isn't it? It does not love the world; it despises nature and its beauty; the
earth is a place to escape from rather than enjoy. Nothing in common, right? Wrong.
Religious teachings can always, but always, be twisted around to benefit someone.
This time of furious faith was the golden age of the magicians, and many of them had
Gnostic influence. For example, take Simon Magus - a very successful magician. Simon
Magus may have been a native of Samaria. At any rate, he was working there during the
time of the Crucifixion. His following, however, continued as far as the 4th century CE
and spread far and wide.
Simon was impressed by the apostle Philip's cures and exorcisms. He decided to be
baptized, but saw Christianity more like a magical system than a new religion. He
probably didn't care much about the distinction, being of a practical rather than a spiritual
nature. His intention was to buy the apostle's secret of "laying on of hands" for healing.
Very understandably, he thought it was a great magic trick.
Unfortunately, it offended the apostle Peter, who disliked Simon Magus immediately. On
their first meeting, Peter rebuked Simon for trying to buy the apostles' secret.
Incidentally, this is where the word "simony" is derived from - buying and selling of
priestly gifts or powers. Simon, who considered all of them professional magicians, could
not see what was wrong in buying a perfectly good trade secret for a fair price. He
probably thought Peter behaved like a pompous hypocrite, but being a particularly
pleasant man, Simon took the rebuke with good grace.
Simon's writings show a lot of female imagery. Paradise, for example, he described as the
"womb." The imagery links him strongly to the Old Religion. Unlike Jesus, he never
objected when people called him a magician. After his death, his successor called himself
Nenander, meaning Moon-man. Neander claimed to be the reincarnation of Simon
himself. In later centuries, one of the great objections made against Simon Magus was his
acceptance of women as equals. In true Wicca tradition, he viewed the power of the gods
as shared between male and female.
He had a disciple, a Phoenician sorceress called Helen. With her he established a sort of
trinity in which he was the Father and the Son, and she was the Holy Ghost. So in
actuality, he adapted the new religion to his own views. He and Helen were worshiped,
though, in front of statues of Zeus and Athena. So he certainly appealed to the Pagans as
well.
Helen was worshiped in many forms by the followers, particularly as Sophia, the Gnostic
Virgin of Light and wisdom. So here was a strong connection to Gnosticism. She was
also claimed to be Mary, Mother of Jesus, and occasionally Mary Magdalene. It was all
completely mixed.
Simon Magus, despite his bizarre activities, does not come across exactly like a charlatan.
Rather, he operated like a Shaman. True, he did practice some necromancy and even said
he had created a human being from thin air and a wandering soul. But these improbable
tales were probably just plain advertising and increased business. And many people
benefited from his healing.
His end is shrouded in mystery. The legend said he had a contest with the apostle Peter,
in front of the Emperor Nero, who was an admirer of Simon. He proved his powers by
flying at great height. Peter, supposedly calling on God, broke the spell and sent Simon
down to his death. Considering the fact that the flight was probably staged with wires,
and that Peter must have tampered with the mechanism, it is interesting that no one ever
charged Peter for the murder of Simon Magus.
The second sect to be examined is The Kabbalah. There are many arguments as to when
it started. The Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism. It is secret knowledge, forbidden to most
people. To study it, you had to be a scholar, male, over forty years of age and married.
Otherwise, you were never allowed to touch it. This patronizing attitude was justified by
saying that it presented a danger to lesser beings - such as unmarried men or any women.
It is available to anyone today, and is extremely interesting. Some good introductory
books will be mentioned in the bibliography. For the student of Witchcraft, it is a
valuable subject.
Some scholars say that one of the major books, the Zohar, was written in 1275 by the
Spanish Kabbalist Moses de Leon. But it is obvious the date means only that it was
written down on paper at that time. In oral tradition, it existed much earlier. Some sources
believe the Kabbalah was practiced at the time of the early Gnostics. Others go back even
further. There is no way to prove it, but the material gives the impression of extreme
antiquity.
The similarity between Witchcraft and Kabbalah is astounding, and is often overlooked,
mostly because researchers try to pin the origin of Kabbalah on Gnosticism. True, there is
a great similarity between Gnosticism and Kabbalah. This is because Gnosticism, as well
as Kabbalah, had much of their origin in the Old Religion, but the Old Religion existed
thousands of years before either of them.
The format of The Kabbalah is misleadingly simple. The base is a diagram of the sacred
tree of life; it is made by ten circles joined by twenty-two lines. The ten circles are called
Sephiroth in Hebrew. The word means "the emanations of God." Each soul undergoes a
fall from the top circle, the Godhead, through the other circles, each representing a stage
of creation, into our world and an earthly body. Then, the soul has to work on its climb
back into the Godhead, using the astral body, or the body of light, as its vehicle. The
creative Godhead is all pure thought. It is split in two, male and female, so the tree is
represented by a female side and a male side, equal in power and necessary for the
maintenance of the world.
Through various techniques of devotion, meditation, and concentration, it is possible to
release the soul. Then, by using the tree of life, you can travel the universe through the
twenty-two paths (those lines that connect the ten Sephiroth). Much can be learned that
way.
Another great Kabbalistic similarity to Witchcraft is the "Gimatria." This is a system of
conversion of words into numbers, and then back into other words of the same number. It
sounds simple, but it allows the practitioner to use words of power. Particularly important
are the forbidden names of various angels or even, at the ultimate, the unmentionable
name of God. The use of language is extended to various formulas and the manipulation
of words - very much like magic spells.
One such charm is open to anyone and is quite useful. It is not magic and has no true
mystery. It deals directly with your subconscious and could enhance your success with
various projects and goals. And yet it is so ancient that it goes back to the invention of
writing itself - when the written word was power. Try it.
Take a peace of paper, and in the shortest possible way, write down a sentence that
represents a goal. Let's say you want to be a professional artist some day, but have very
little time to paint or draw, because of your school obligations, part-time job, social life,
or sports. You regret that, because you know that to be an artist you must work at it. So
write "I AM A GREAT ARTIST." Now cross out letters so that each letter appears only
once. Here are the steps:
"I" is removed. You now have I AM A GREAT ARTST
"A" is removed. You now have I A M GRET RTST
"M" appears only once. "G" appears only once. No need to touch them.
"R" is removed. You now have I A M G R E T T S T
"T" is removed. You now have I A M G R E T S
"S" appears only one. No need to touch it.
After you do that, you will end with this bizarre word "IAMGRETS" which obviously is
meaningless. Stare at the word very intently for a long time. Carry it with you. Stare at it
often. It sinks, eventually, into your subconscious. You will find that in a few weeks
you'll be doing some unexpected things. Perhaps you will step into an art supplies store
and buy those water colors you promised yourself last spring. Or maybe you'll find
yourself drawing caricatures of your teachers at class (not a good idea - beware of being
caught). Or you will have an idea of sketching something as part of a school project,
perhaps an experiment in biology, which suddenly looks much better when presented
graphically. It works every time. This is a small example of Witchcraft at its practical
best.
Well, it can't be denied that Witchcraft does work. But the horror of the next few
centuries was not based on practical little magic things like that. Nor was it about the love
of nature and its worship. It was about humanity's relationship with a nonexistent entity
who had many names.
Go to chapter 4: The Trials »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
To understand the connection between Christianity and the Old Religion, one must make
the acquaintance of the Devil. Satan is an ambivalent fellow, and trying to figure out his
character, origin, and relationship to God is difficult.
Here is a sentence from Isaiah, stating with authority that God created evil. "I form the
light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things."
Clear enough. But if he was created by God, who is always good, how can the Devil be
bad?
Again, God wants to be killed in the person of Christ. It is his design, and it is meant for
the benefit of mankind. If so, why are those who execute Christ considered "Devilish" for
so long? They were doing God's will!
God is all powerful and all good. However, if God wanted to create a world which was
all good, and couldn't do it, than he is not all powerful. If he didn't want to make a world
which was all good, than He is not all good.
How do you get out of that? You create an Adversary, who is equal to God in power, and
is in a constant struggle with Him. But that doesn't work either. The notion is taken from
Persian Dualism, and to true Christians, this is heresy. The solution? God permits the
Devil to operate and make man into a sinner. In other words, an evil principle is needed
to test men's faith. This solution works until you ask the next question. Why is the sinner
punished for what is permitted by God?
This would lead nowhere. If you continue with the questioning, eventually you will hit
the wall -- it is so because the Church says that it is so. Well, heresy or not, the
Adversary, permitted or otherwise, remained. He had to. He was badly needed.
The Devil has many forms. He has superhuman intelligence and cunning, though
sometimes he can be tricked. He is a handsome fellow, unless he transforms himself into
an animal or a monster. He can perform miracles. He has tremendous legal expertise. He
has scientific knowledge and understands the nature of the universe -- and the psychology
of men and women. He can be, and often is, quite charming.
During those times, if you were a good Christian, you believed in him. For without sin
there is no overcoming temptation, no salvation, no need of a Church. Without Satan,
there is no Christianity.
On the other hand, Satan could not have existed without the Church. Pagans had no fear
of magic in itself. They were aware of magic used for good or for bad purposes, but the
power itself they considered neutral. Most importantly, it came from men and women,
natural to humanity itself. So the gods, demigods, spirits, etc., could never have given
birth to the powerful entity of Satan.
To Christians, supernatural powers should come only from God, as miracles. If the saints
did not perform them, then a demon did. Shows of second sight, moving of objects
without physical action, transportation by levitation and so on frightened them.
As the smaller spirits and demigods were changed into demons, only one entity was
strong enough to assume the role of the Adversary. The Devil took the shape of the
familiar horned god. Pan loved nature; he was one with the earth; he even looked right
with his horns and hooves. He was perfect for the job, and he got it. The new "evil entity"
and his hordes of demons were now ready to tempt and mislead mankind.
In 380, Emperor Theodosius declared that all his subjects had to become Christians.
Anyone following a different religion was a heretic. The heretics were to expect penalties
by an authority guided by divine wisdom. The Church didn't only kill the heretic - his or
her family and friends were also seized. Their property was confiscated. Anyone who
opposed them was declared a disciple of the Devil.
Christians now felt free to desecrate any temple - a good excuse to loot. In the process,
they destroyed an enormous amount of Pagan literature. This literature was irreplaceable,
and its destruction left us with huge holes in our understanding of the period. The Church
destroyed the theater and any nonreligious music; limited art to religious subjects;
declared that science was the Devil's tool. It ignored the natural world with all its
wonders, and feared it as temptation for sin. Life was just a preliminary to the glory of
the afterlife in Heaven.
In a world that closed upon itself and denied nature, the Witches were at a disadvantage
even before the great trials. They were part of a different, threatening way of life. The
Church declared a war on Paganism. In the name of saving people's souls it prepared to
kill any number of bodies.
For the body didn't matter at all. Pain and suffering were good if they happened in the
name of Christ. The salvation of one's soul depended on purity, celibacy, and iron
obedience. So what if the body of the sinner was tortured, or even killed? Only the soul
mattered. In one document, a priest declared that if an innocent person was executed, it
didn't really matter. God will recognize his own and the person will go directly to
paradise. The brief, sad life on this dreary, sinful world did not count. From the 11th
century on, the Catholic Church had many rival religions. They included Manicheans,
Catharists, Waldenses and Albagenses. All were Christian, but the Church declared they
were heretics. For various reasons, they also included Witchcraft, so to be a witch meant
to be automatically a heretic.
Part of the crusade against witches was the spreading of wild rumors about their immoral
and unnatural activities. The Church accused them of flying on broomsticks, having
demon lovers, and murdering Christian children. It was quite a successful campaign, and
brought a large number of women, some of them teen age girls or even children, to the
stake.
The professional witch hunter made a very good living. There is a story about Matthew
Hopkins, a professional witch hunter during the time of Puritans. The man developed a
practical and quick system of destroying his victims. He would go into a village, find out
who was unpopular with the Puritan regime, and report them. They would be tortured for
a confession, and Hopkins would be paid per head for each conviction. The victims
almost always confessed, since death was preferable to weeks of continuous torture.
Most of the victims, of course, had nothing to do with the Old Religion. They never saw a
coven or an initiation ceremony. They may have known a little herbal medicine and
possibly talked to their cats - strong evidence in those days. Enough to put them on the
rack or burn them at the stake.
In 1318 and again in 1320, the Pope brought Witchcraft under the jurisdiction of the
Inquisition. The inquisition, as usual, was ready to eradicate any heretic, so the witch
trials expanded. Women were made to confess to crimes that were everything the Old
Religion abhorred. People would say anything under torture, and the torture was too
horrible to describe in a book such as this. The women confessed, under this horror, the
orgy-like nature of the Sabbats. They admitted to submitting themselves to intercourse
with the Devil - often described as taking the shape of a male goat! They admitted to
casting spells that harmed their neighbors' health, domestic animals, or crops; of using
human body parts, even children's, in their magical brews; of cannibalism, particularly
involving newborn babies; of giving birth to the children of demons. All that and more from people who worshiped Nature, who were the guardians of the sacred earth.
As the hysteria continued, the Pope sent two Dominican inquisitors, Kramer and
Sprenger, to Germany. The two men wrote a book together, considered at the time the
best textbook on Witchcraft. The name of this book was, in Latin, Malleus Maleficarum,
which means The Witch's Hammer. It is still available today, in the translation of
Montague Summers. Summers was one of the few twentieth-century men to believe that
the witches got what they deserved. He later wrote a book of his own, The History of
Witchcraft, explaining the wickedness of Witchcraft. His book is a mind-boggling piece
of superstition, ignorance and hate. As Summers was an educated man, a respected man
of the Church, the book throws light on the obvious question: "How could they? How
could men of God torture and kill in the name of such nonsense?" Read The History of
Witchcraft. It's worth it. You'll understand what a Grand Inquisitor was really like.
The Malleus Maleficarun is horrifying. It explains the depraved nature of the Witch. It
permits, even encourages torture, as means of extracting confession. It approves of life
imprisonment for the repenting witch, and death to the unrepenting. It explains a sudden
insanity as demonic possession - thus allowing the torture of the insane, a practice that
lasted for centuries. The worst of it is that it is calmly arranged as a logical, clear,
methodical, legal text.
This monstrous book extended its influence until the middle of the 18th century. Even
Martin Luther was interested in it. Despite his objection to much within the Catholic
Church, he believed in the Devil, and had, apparently, a confrontation with him. There is
a story, substantiated by an ink stain in the castle of Wartburg, that the Devil tried to
harass Luther. Luther threw his ink bottle at him. One wonders about his state of mind
and his hallucinations.
Interestingly, Luther thought that witches rarely attended any Sabbats. According to
Montague Summers, he held that witches generally hallucinated it under drugs or in a
trance, but not always. On rare occasions, he thought, the Sabbats actually took place.
Obviously, Luther couldn't make up his mind. At any rate, he did not object to the witch
hunts or the executions. Perhaps he didn't care much.
There are always those who try to stop the madness of mobs. They are the enlightened,
the brave, the true heroes of their time. The philosopher Giordano Bruno, for instance,
burned at the stake for saying what St. Augustine said before -- that witches were just
sadly deluded women. Great doctors like Paracelus, Johan Wier and Thomas Syderham
risked their lives to fight it.
To end the madness, it took an inquisitor who could no longer tolerate it. Alonso Salaza y
Frias, after a mass execution in Navarre, decided to do an investigation of his own. When
it was finished, he openly declared that all the victims of this particular execution were
innocent. He then refused, officially, to accept any further accusation without tangible
proof. During trials, he would allow no torture. The property of the accused witch would
no longer be confiscated.
The public lost interest. Without the pleasure of seeing a woman humiliated and tortured
to death, and without the hope of material gains, what was the point of accusing anyone?
And you had to supply proof! What an innovation! No doubt, some bemoaned the good
old days, when all you had to do was point at someone you didn't like and wail: "witch!"
In England, they pretended they did not use torture, but some of their methods were so
near it that the distinction is not clear. They were actively hunting witches for centuries,
but eventually, in 1712, one witch was convicted but not executed. The British, like the
Spanish, began to lose interest in the spectacle of horror. In Scotland the last burning was
in 1727. In Germany, the last execution was in 1628. In France, it was stopped by a law
passed in 1682. Europe began to emerge from the darkness.
The horror story is not yet over, though. Witchcraft in early America will be dealt with in
the next chapter. While fewer people were executed in this country, it is probably the
worst example, since the immigrants came here to escape oppression.
Folk medicine:
A lynx's claw.
A weasel's bones.
Snakes' vertebrae.
Iron pirate pieces. If struck over the body of a sick person, the striking of the pirate will
clear both physical and mental diseases and the effect of the evil eye.
Charcoal of an aspen tree. In today's folk medicine, the charcoal is useful if the tree was
hit by lightning. It is possible that the aspen in the grave was burned in the same way.
Magic items:
Horses' teeth.
Twigs of a rowan tree.
An iron knife.
A sword.
The old Scandinavian Sagas describe activities of witches which are still part of today's
ceremonies. They also tell the usual stories - shape changing, riding on poles, or sending
the soul out of the bodies.
Another interesting ancient connection exists in Mexico. A witch cult there was centered
around a goddess, or a "Witch Queen." She always carried or rode a broom. The broom,
to the Mexicans, symbolized purity and cleanliness. This is particularly important
because the Medieval European witch considered cleanliness and order essential. Her
contemporaries rarely bathed, and kept food debris on their straw-covered floors for
weeks. The witches in Mexico, just like the European ones, always wore big necklaces.
Men wore the same kind of leather apron as the Irish male witches.They worked in small
rooms to confine the power - much like the circles of power of the European witches.
There is no explanation to the similarity. Some historical researchers believe that perhaps
people traveled across the Atlantic before Columbus, and introduced the Old Religion to
Mexico. Or perhaps the needs of Witchcraft created similar evolution wherever and
whenever it was practiced.
Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome treated magic as if it was science. Not that they were
particularly concerned with pure science; they were more interested in practical results.
However, they had to know the medicinal and poisonous properties of hundreds of plants;
they knew how to use hypnosis; they understood human consciousness. The magicians
combined their practice with incantations and prayers, which is why today's scientists do
not take them seriously. But they were not much different. When achieving an identical
result, today's scientist credits it to reasoning or experimentation. The sorcerer assumed
they were given by a supernatural power.
Some great scholars in Greece worked as sorcerers. Pythagoras, the mathematician,
openly practiced philosophy, science and magic. He had a strong influence on Plato, not
himself a sorcerer, but clearly a believer. One can see that in his Dialogues Aristotle
suggested the influence of the magical theory in his History of Animals. Neither he nor
Plato feared the magicians, though many other people did. Obviously, they understood,
with their better education and sharp minds, what the sorcerers were doing.
Finding the roots of Ancient Greek Witchcraft and Hellenistic Witchcraft is easy. One
has simply to look at their great holidays. Take, for example, the Eleuisian holiday which
attracted thousands of people. Much like the May holiday participants in the British Isles,
the Greeks had games, theater, wine, food, dancing and music. Everyone was at least half
drunk and ready for religious ecstasy. Mystical rites included the purging of the fear of
death, the procession in honor of the dead, and the wild, whirling dancing. People fell
into trance-like states, many acting as if they were in direct communication with the gods.
It was similar to Voodoo possession - or to the ancient shaman/witch union with the
unseen forces. Naturally, some people were better at it than others, and some became
priests and priestesses.
The best known priestesses were those who worked at the Oracle of Delphi. They
dedicated their lives to the gods and practiced prophecy and divination. The priestess sat
over a cleft in the rocks, from which fumes of various drugs rose to envelop her body.
The drugs brought on a trance state, and under it she told the future. Another priestess or
priest had to explain the messages, because often they were hard to understand. Many of
the prophecies came true, and the practice lasted thousands of years. It is silly to dismiss
the whole thing as a lie, as the Catholic church later tried. Ancient Greece was a culture
of sophistication, intellect and learning. Could a handful of priests really trick these
people for so long?
The god Pan is another connection with witchcraft. In the Dianic tradition of Witchcraft,
one of the schools still active today, the horned god is still named Pan. Is it the same
deity? There are some differences. But this happens to every ancient religion. Take the
Judeo-Christian tradition. The current merciful God is very different from the angry
desert deity that took the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan, destroying entire
nations in His path. And yet any Priest, Minister or Rabbi would be horrified if you dared
suggest that it was another God - Jehovah is Jehovah! Well, Pan is Pan. Then and now, he
is a nature god, a part of every living animal and plant. And he is still with his goddess
and with those who call themselves the Guardians of the Earth.
Shape changing was common in Greece, too, as seen by both mythology and literature.
Zeus' love affairs are famous for it. He changed into a swan, a bull, or even a shower of
golden rain, as the occasion demanded. Also, the famous book The Golden Ass, by
Apuleius of Madaura tells of such a change. It is a story of Greek man who, with the help
of an untrained witch's apprentice, turns himself accidentally into a donkey. After many
misadventures, the goddess Isis restores him from the animal shape and he becomes her
priest.
There are several great Greek witches. Medea is probably the most famous witch of
antiquity. She is strong, possibly insane, and murderous. Hecate is first a moon goddess,
then a witch goddess who rules the nights and all its frightening creatures. Circe is a
sorceress who turns her lovers into swine when she tires of them. All the Greek stories of
the great, power wielding, magnificent witches view them as evil. This is because they
were, originally, priestesses of the Old Religion, worshipers of the mother goddess. The
"new" Greek religion saw them as competition and turned them into evil hags, as most
cultures do. For further proof, the texts often stress the witches' knowledge of herbal
medicine and magic - the obvious traits of the followers of Wicca, then as now.
The Romans used much magic in their daily lives. They employed magical astrology, and
used amulets, incantations, healing and cursing formulas.
The Romans had an interesting device, very similar to today's Ouija board. It was a metal
disk, supported by a wooden tripod. On its rim, the letters of the alphabet were inscribed.
The person performing the ritual suspended a ring on a thread, right above the disk. Some
incantation was said, and the ring began to swing like a pendulum, forming words and
answering questions.
The Aeneid describes magic extensively. Dido, the tragic heroin, is a powerful sorceress
whose magic eventually turns against herself, much like Medea's in Greece. Horace's
plays describe evil Witchcraft, including some horrifying ritual murder of children. Other
Roman poets describe necromancy and divination. Obviously, witches in Rome had a bad
reputation.
Romans, as a nation, enjoyed cruelty. One has only to look at their arena games and war
atrocities to see that. The stories about the witches reflect that taste. Unquestionably,
some Roman witches turned to the dark side. The records show that their help was often
used for poisoning, necromancy, and even attempts at raising of the dead and the creation
of zombies. It was a sad period for true followers of the Old Religion.
In Egypt, magic was entirely scientific. It was mixed with religion, but nevertheless
practiced as a precise and organized activity. From the mythologies and magic books it is
clear that they had a system of the Occult based on subjects. There are separate texts on
astrology, alchemy, formulas for magic in daily use, etc. The practitioners were
specialists. The ordinary people, in addition to consulting the experts, could also purchase
amulets and herbs for self protection and do-it-yourself magic.
Repeating the magic formula in exactly the same way, even down to the tone of voice,
was called "right speaking." The Book of the Dead stated that the gates to the other world
would not open to a person who did not know his secret name or who uttered it
incorrectly. The name of each gate in the other world also required correct reading and
pronunciation.
The Egyptians had many books containing formulas and incantations, spells and charms
for daily use. Amulets were important. They were worn by the living and put on the dead.
Amulets could be made of any material and sometimes carved with magic formulas.
Some shapes were particularly popular, such as the scarab and the heart. The Egyptians
even had amulets to protect each part of the body. The books often mention dreams and
shape changing. For example, there are spells in the Book of the Dead teaching the newly
deceased how to change into birds, crocodiles, or serpents.
The positive image of the witch lasted for generations. Eventually, however, patriarchal
monotheism took over in the West, first by Judaism and later by Christianity. With it, the
position of the witch deteriorated. The Bible often refers to witches in a negative manner.
They are always fiercely persecuted by the priests of Jehovah. Most notable is the Witch
of Endor, who is consulted secretly by King Saul. The story is interesting because Saul
killed many witches on the demand of the Prophet Samuel. She is one of the few
survivors.
Earlier, Moses and Aaron practiced Egyptian magic, described in detail in Exodus. They
turned a stick into a snake, for instance, during a competition with the Egyptian
magicians. The plagues visited on the Egyptians, including such things as pestilence and
darkness in the middle of the day, sound like malevolent Witchcraft. Naturally, the Bible
describes the plagues as punishment by God.
King Solomon, David's son, was supposed to be the wisest man of his generation,
perhaps the wisest ever to live on Earth. He was a magician as well. The book The
Wisdom of Solomon was written many years after his death, but much of it is probably
based on his words. In it he said that God gave him power and knowledge, and that his
studies included not only science but the Occult. In the original text, this included power
over demons. The sentence was mistakenly translated as power over the winds, because
the two words are similar in the original Hebrew. He also claimed knowledge of
exorcism.
Nevertheless, the Bible is determined that no witch should be permitted to live. The
reason is simple. A witch is not only a worshiper of a competing religion, but a symbol of
a matriarchal society. A society ruled by women is offensive to the male-dominated Jews
and Christians. So the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan is the point in time in which
the power of the Old Religion began its slow decline. It has taken many centuries and a
fierce struggle, but a gentle nature religion is no match to the powerful, military, new
religion. Starting from Mount Sinai, a fiery volcano in the desert, the Judeo-Christian
creed swept everything in its violent path and conquered the Western world.
Go to chapter 5: Early America »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter five - Early America
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
The Colonial experience was entirely different from the European one. The settlers, many
of whom came from crowded cities, suddenly encountered open land, deep woods and
magnificent countryside. Experiencing nature for the first time had its threatening side
despite the beauty. Hostile native population, years of failed crops and starvation,
diseases and pirates were always there.
In addition, many of the settlers brought their old superstitions. The fear of the
supernatural did not disappear just because the people moved to a new country. They saw
"signs" in any natural event such as meteorites, comets, or thunderbolts. These poor
people used fasting and prayer to relieve the fear and the sense of helplessness.
Unfortunately, they believed that evil witches followed them to their new home. They
had books about sorcery, written by people who knew nothing about the Old Religion.
Some they brought from Europe, some they wrote in America. But unlike the Europeans,
the settlers were not interested in complicated religious discussions. They just wanted to
stop the witches from harming pigs, cattle, crops, and children.
Penalties for Witchcraft were the same as in Europe. However, the hysteria and mass
executions did not occur, except later in Salem. Perhaps because of the sparse population,
the settlers were more careful about destroying human lives.
The settlers saw the witches in two ways. One view assumed that the witches were
isolated individuals or members of a small coven. They meant to help themselves and
harm others, mostly for material gain. The second view was truly bizarre. The witches,
supposedly, were heretical members of a Satanic cult, intending to destroy the Puritan
outposts in America.
This demonic view was accepted in New England, where the Puritan clergy considered
themselves God's chosen people. They managed to create a serious climate of fear in the
population.
The most famous clergyman to hold that view was Cotton Mather. Apparently, he was
neither a monster nor a lunatic, but an intelligent, educated man, with some medical as
well as religious knowledge. And yet, he talked about an "army of devils" ready to strike
New England at any moment, and encouraged the settlers to fight a holy war against the
powers of Evil.
Why did such an man give in to a ridiculous superstition? First, as an orthodox Puritan,
he believed that the Puritans' worship was closer to God's wishes than all other sect's.
Therefore, they represented a great threat to Satan himself. Satan, supposedly, could deal
with any other Christians, but the Puritans were too holy for him. He just had to get rid of
them. Second, Mather believed that America, without Christianity until the arrival of the
settlers, was the Devil's homeland! Satan wanted to defend his kingdom against the
newcomers.
Here is a direct quotation from Mather: "It was a rousing alarm to the Devil, when a great
company of English Protestants and Puritans came to erect evangelical churches in a
corner of the world where he had reigned without any control for many ages." Mather
continues to say that the Native Americans were sorcerers and evil magicians.
As a result, about 95 percent of all American Witch executions were in New England. In
other parts of the country, the settlers were kinder. They accepted witchcraft as a reality,
but did not think about it as demonic conspiracy. They viewed witches as annoying, but
not as threatening to life and society.
In Maryland and Virginia, Witchcraft was a felony, but the courts, somehow, did not take
accusations of sorcery too seriously. Moreover, the accused were allowed to counter-sue
their accusers for defamation of character. If found guilty, the accuser had to pay the
"witch" a large sum of money. Naturally, this limited the accusations to very few. The
most important reason to persecute witches, throughout history, was the prospect of
material gain. If there was little chance of that, why bother?
The setters of New Netherlands, East and West Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware
opened their territories as safe havens. It is a great credit to them, because they never
really stopped believing that Witchcraft was dangerous. However, they did not let their
fears turn them into howling, savage mobs.
To the average man and woman of the seventeenth century the Devil was very much
alive. Many claimed they saw him in person. To one he appeared as a short black man
with cloven feet; to another he came as a well-dressed gentleman; a third saw him as a
white bird which promptly turned itself into a black cat. The most surprising description,
given by an accused witch at Salem, was that he came to her as a little deer. One wonders
how she knew that the harmless animal was the Devil!
He promised great rewards. To one young girl he offered money, clothes, and the
opportunity to travel around the world. To an old woman he promised the position of
Queen of Hell. Strangely, one farm girl asked him to do the chores for her - to drive the
pigs out of the field and take out the ashes. He agreed. Considering that the Devil was the
Prince of Hell, one wonders why the soul of a simple farm girl mattered so much to him.
Who could imagine that the Devil would stoop to deal with garbage and pig swill just to
get one person! And yet they believed, and accepted, without the need for proof.
Sometimes he had a verbal agreement with his conspirators, but at other times he acted
formally. He made a new witch sign a large black book with blood. Usually the Devil
committed himself to help the witch until her death, but sometimes the contract lasted for
a few years only.
After signing, the final act required placing the Devil's mark upon the body of the victim.
The marks could be anything - birthmarks, moles, scars, or skin discolorations, and had to
be insensitive to pain.
The older the person was, the easier it was to find marks on her. Age spots and warts
made the older women doubly suspect. Also, in a new settlement, strong resentment
existed against people who could not work very hard. An old woman, worn out by years
of suffering and toil, could not produce. Throwing her in jail, where she would soon die
from neglect, was a good way to get rid of her. Killing her directly was even better. If she
had any property that could be confiscated, no matter how little, many were ready to
point at her as a witch.
Supposedly, you had to agree to the contract of your own free will, as the Devil could not
force anyone to make a pact with him. Some claimed that he tortured them before they
agreed, but that was no excuse. To the Puritan clergyman, any amount of pain, even
death, was better than serving Satan. And why didn't the victim go right away to her
minister for help?
The Sabbats didn't exist in America. Unlike the Europeans, the Americans believed the
witch operated alone, despite the demonic plan to overthrow the Puritan settlements. No
gatherings were mentioned until the Salem incidents. But even then, the gatherings were
just a few witches getting together. The biggest ceremony ever described involved no
more than twenty-five witches. This is because a social gathering of any nature was
frowned upon by the Puritans. A result of such a lifestyle was that the people never
learned to get along. Endless fights arose among the people of Salem, and the attempt to
create a social gathering among the girls started the rumors about the Witchcraft.
The most feared was the "sea witch." Supposedly, the witch could control the winds at
sea. The settlers believed that when a witch was on board, she often caused a storm to
sink the ship. For some reason, they did not wonder why the witch would not be afraid of
drowning herself when the ship sank. So the torture and hanging of old women on those
ship was commonplace whenever a storm happened at sea. Often it was against the
captain's wishes, but the only way to prevent a mutiny was to allow the crew to have their
fun. In one well-known case, an old woman denied causing the storm. She was stripped
naked, tied to the mast, and exposed to the horrible gale and huge waves for the entire
night. Somehow she didn't die. In the morning, to end the torture and humiliation, she
confessed to being a witch and was immediately hanged.
Possession roused the greatest fear. The Puritans believed that witches ordered demons to
enter the bodies of their victims and torture them; that demons possessed all the mentally
handicapped, the physically deformed, and the insane; that suicide was caused by
possessing demons, who tortured the victim beyond endurance. It's incredible how little
investigation was made into the character of the accuser, particularly if she was a young
girl. In a society where men outnumbered women, the marriageable young woman
became a valuable asset. She had many years of hard work in front of her, while the old
witch, as mentioned above, outlived her usefulness.
This explains why the people in Salem were so eager to believe the hysterical girls who
accused the witches. These girls could have had an unknown disease - perhaps epilepsy,
or Huntington disease, which causes the same contortion of the body and convulsions as
cases of "possessions." They may have had some mental illness based on their fear of
Witchcraft. Or they could have been simply lying in order to get attention - common
behavior for frustrated, lonely, young persons. And yet, no one questioned their motives.
Just before the outbreak of terror, Salem had a new minister, Reverend Samuel Paris,
who was disliked by many of his congregation. A Harvard dropout, he worked most of
his life as a merchant in the West Indies trade. Later he entered the clergy and obtained
the Salem position, because other Clergymen didn't want it. The inhabitants were
constantly fighting and squabbling, and two former ministers resigned, unable to control
the people. Parris did not endear himself to the population by his immediate request for a
raise in salary and a land grant.
It was in this household that a group of young girls started to meet regularly. The notion
of a social gathering for girls, so obvious and normal to us, was not so under Puritan
regime. The only gathering allowed was in Church. But as the circle included the
Reverend Parris' nine-year-old daughter and eleven-year-old niece, it seemed harmless
enough. However, it was not restricted to this age group. Some young women were in
their teens, two were twenty years of age, and one was much older. This was Tibula, a
West Indian slave. She wanted to amuse the girls by playing with a bit of magic from her
Island home. She put the white of one egg in a cup to simulate a crystal ball, said some
charms, and supposedly could see the face of your future husband in it.
Innocent enough. But the girls, brought up with an intense fear of the supernatural, saw it
as a grave sin. They had to keep it as a secret, and even the youngest told nothing to their
families. As the winter progressed, they played with more magic tricks with Tibula.
Eventually, the strain of hiding such a horrible sin showed, and two of the girls went into
seizures. Everyone who saw them immediately assumed it was demonic possession. The
doctor, William Griggs, who was the uncle of one of the afflicted girls, said that the
sickness had no physical and natural explanation. He decided it was caused by the evil
eye of a witch. Reverend Parris leapt into action. He started rousing the villagers against
the powerful witches who, he believed, lived among them.
The first suspects were Tibula and her husband. Tibula, for some reason, admitted that
she had bewitched the girls, and named other conspirators. The accused were two
women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn. As soon as the names were mentioned to the
girls, they immediately said that yes, these were the witches that tormented them.
Previously they had no idea who to blame, so obviously this should have been a clue to
the villagers, but this was ignored. More girls became sick with "demonic" seizures.
Other witches, Tibula insisted, were involved, but she didn't know who they were. Parris
decided that a body of witches stood ready to destroy all the good Puritans of Salem.
They could be lurking anywhere, so many arrests were made. The girls agreed with any
name that was mentioned to them, and came up with some names of their own. Rebecca
Nurse, a woman who opposed Reverend Parris' appointment as minister, was charged not
only with bewitching the girls, but with the murder of several children who died some
time before. Martha Corey, one of the few people to wonder about the girl's motives, was
arrested immediately. Tibula now claimed that Martha and Rebecca were the missing
witches.
The jails filled to capacity. Sarah Osburn died without a hearing, still in jail. Tibula was
sold to someone in Virginia. Sarah Good had a baby in prison. More people started
accusing their neighbors, without the slightest evidence or proof. No one dared to object,
because opposition caused immediate arrest. Other villages joined the Witch hunt.
Cotton Mather, watching all of it from Boston, was requested to prepare a document
explaining the position of the church on sorcery, and suggesting legal procedures. The
paper was called "The Return of Several Ministers." It insisted that the possessed persons
be treated with all consideration and support, while the guilty treated decisively and
harshly. Mather suggested extreme care in the conduct of the trials and the avoidance of
noise and distractions.
Most important was his decision to use "spectral evidence" in court. If the vision of a
witch appeared to the suffering victim, then that witch was guilty as charged. In other
words, hallucinations were admitted as court evidence, and an alibi was, therefore,
useless. You could be in jail for months, but if a girl said you came to her in a vision and
bewitched her, this was as good evidence as if you came to her in person.
People argued. After all, the Devil could have taken on the image of the accused witch,
particularly if she was innocent! Possibly, agreed Mather. But very unlikely and only in
extraordinary circumstances. In most cases, the "specter of the witch" was the witch.
So the courts eagerly adopted spectral evidence as valid, even allowing ghosts that came
back to report who murdered them. Included were the apparitions of six children who
returned to earth, supposedly, to accuse Rebecca Nurse as their killer.
Mather's request that silence and good behavior be maintained in court, was, of course,
ignored. The possessed girls shrieked, fainted, pointed out new witches, and probably
enjoyed their power tremendously. They were also encouraged in the "doctrine of
fascination" which claimed that the witch could harm her victims by various acts done
from a distance. For example, if the witch bit her lip, the girls howled that they felt she
bit them, directly. The crowd went wild.
There is no point in describing each act and every trial. It was all an exercise in
ignorance, stupidity and gullibility of a deluded population, frustrated by harsh living and
a religion that offered no comfort or compassion. Fortunately, some "witches" escaped,
but the town hanged twenty people, including old Rebecca Nurse and the new mother,
Sarah Good. One old man was pressed to death - his tormentors put heavy weights on his
body to crush him and make him confess. It took him two full days to die.
Eventually, the madness stopped. Brave people like Robert Pike, who had also objected
to the Puritans' harsh treatment of Quakers, wrote against it. John Foster, a member of the
Governor's Councils, joined him. Twenty-four inhabitants of Andover organized a
petition. Judge Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned in disgust. They questioned the motives of
the girls and particularly the validity of spectral evidence. Public opinion, always volatile
in America, began to change.
Other states joined in the opposition. A group of New York clergymen denounced the
Salem courts, particularly the spectral evidence, and the assumption that any good,
normal person could suddenly start working for the Devil. The same was done in
Connecticut.
It ended with a whimper. No one took responsibility for the horrors, and a theory was put
forth to pacify the population. It said that all the participants, including accusers, judges,
and jurors, acted not out of malice but were controlled by the Devil. He wanted, as
suspected before, to destroy Puritan settlements. Therefore, he made it seem as if witches
were working in the area, while in reality there were no witches there at all.
The residents of Massachusetts accepted it. To make them even happier, Queen Anne of
England, who was consulted, absolved them of all responsibility, and only requested that
care and moderation should be the style of the future. And so the good residents of
Massachusetts regained their clear conscience. After all, the entire nightmare was not
their fault. The Devil made them do it.
Go to chapter 6: Witchcraft in Isolated Societies »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter six - Witchcraft in Isolated Societies
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
In many isolated societies, the belief in Witchcraft has never died. The witches don't hide
their activities, and live as important members of the society. This happens in the Maori
societies of New Zealand, the Barotse of Africa, and the Quiche of Guatemala. Among
the people of the Marquesas Islands, witches are respected, but feared as well.
All of these societies believe that magic is neutral. The witches can heal or curse,
depending on their character. Necromancy is widely spread, and the witches operate
mostly at night.
Spells and incantations have particular power when the witch uses parts of the patient's
(or victim's) body. Nail parings and hair are the best. If not available, the witch can use
clothes that have been worn by the person. The strongest magical potions are produced
from extremely unpleasant ingredients. The witch cooks the brains of dead babies,
menstrual blood, bits of human bones, pieces of gravestones, powdered frogs and toads,
and bats' blood.
Obviously, all that is a low form of the Old Religion, corrupted over the long centuries.
It's not even particularly interesting, unless one is a student of anthropology. But some
societies maintained a fascinating relationship to the Old Religion. Two forms are of
particular interest. The first includes witches who lived surrounded by the modern world,
but maintained the old ways. The second are the truly isolated groups.
An ancient group that has survived in Europe, almost intact, are the Basque witches.
They live in the area between Northern Spain and Southern France. Those witches have
maintained a system similar to the old covens; they have been relatively tolerated by the
Catholic Church for centuries; and they observe a strict code when initiating new
converts. Their order is headed by "La Señora," an immortal woman who lives in a cave
in the Pyrenees. This is clearly a description of the Mother Goddess in one of her many
guises.
The Gypsies in England, at least those involved in Witchcraft, also have a woman as their
leader, but she does not have to be immortal. When the leader dies, they "adopt" a new
leader. Sybil Leek, the great English witch, was their leader for many years. Obviously,
they worship a representation of the Great Goddess, a priestess, rather than the Goddess
herself.
Voodoo has its stronghold in Haiti and the West Indies. It is a mixture of African
religions and Catholicism, and embraces many gods. In Haiti the principal god is a Great
Serpent. Others are Papa Legba, the guardian of death, and Ogoun Badagris, the "Bloody
Warrior." However, Jesus and the Virgin Mary are just as important. They put the
Christian Cross in every shrine, together with symbols of the pagan gods.
Much magic is performed. Necromancy and animal sacrifices play a part of the ritual.
There is also a lot of spirit channeling and healing.
The zombies, or living dead, are controlled by a spirit called Baron Samedi. During
rituals, he is represented by a plain wooden cross, preferably taken from a cemetery. The
cross is dressed in a tailcoat and a tall hat.
When necromancy is performed, the Baron Samedi is invoked in a cemetery. Three
people must be present. They dress the cross on the grave with Baron Samedi's traditional
clothes, and burn incense and herbs. Then they request his help. They know the Baron
has arrived when the clothes on the cross flap as if disturbed by wind. Some actually
claim to see him - a tall black man with white beard and eyeless sockets in his head,
though he can see very well.
The participants ask the corpse various questions. If it answers them, the corpse is
rewarded by a limited time as a zombie. The zombie acts as the servant of the people who
raised him, and performs tasks for them.
An interesting cult exists in Brazil. It is based on spirit possession, and the followers are
mostly Afro-Brazilians. The gods had been brought from Africa, originally, but they
adapted completely to Brazilian life.
To attend the ceremony, you don't have to be a believer. With the usual Brazilian
hospitality, anyone is warmly welcomed. The ceremony takes place in an open pavilion,
with the sacred area inside a railing. Many chairs and benches are arranged for the
comfort of the spectators. There are drums ready, and an altar with images of the gods
and of Catholic saints. Under the altar there are various bowls containing wine, beer,
palm wine, and some food. Stones are arranged there for the visiting spirits, who will sit
on them and eat and drink the offerings before possessing the mediums.
The whole idea is the possession. With dance, song, drumming and the shaking of some
gourd-like musical instruments, the spirits, called encantados, are invited to enter the
bodies of the mediums. Excited by the heat, the dance and the music, the mediums go
into a trance. One by one, they are possessed by the spirits. The trance goes on almost all
night.
Most followers of this system are poor and have extremely hard lives. They believe that
the supernatural world helps them survive the difficulties of this world. The encantados
enjoy entering the bodies of living beings, so becoming a medium is thus a responsibility
of each person toward a specific spirit. They do not deny the Christian God - on the
contrary, they believe he is the greatest power in the universe. They love Jesus and the
Virgin Mary. But the little spirits of their old religion are much closer. They take an
interest in the people's lives, and should be given the pleasure of entering the bodies of
the worshipers in return. It is a kind, warmhearted system, and like Witchcraft, interested
in achieving results.
But the most important connection is the relationship to nature. Everything in nature is
supposed to belong to the encantados - bodies of water, forests, animals and birds. In a
charming modern addition, vacant buildings also belong to them, because they claim the
land on which the vacant house was built. While the house is occupied, the encantados
graciously allow the humans to use it.
It's better not to make them angry. Like all spirits, if not treated properly, they resent it
and may do some mischief. But they never kill or torment anyone. At worst, they hide
your possessions, slam doors, scare you by whispering among themselves, or appear like
phantoms. Generally, it is easy to enlist their help, and there is no need for official
witches and sorcerers. Anyone can join.
Brazil has another form of worship, found mostly around the fishing and sailing areas. It
centers around the goddess Iemanja. She is a powerful entity, original to Africa, but
greatly transformed. Iemanja is the Queen of the Sea, protector of sailors and fishermen.
All who die at sea go to her luxurious underwater palace, so the sailors prefer that to
dying in bed. But she never drowns anyone herself. She is a kind, magnificently beautiful
goddess, occasionally rising from the sea to greet the sailors. They sing songs in her
honor at night, when the trail of moonlight shines on the water. The storytellers say this is
Iemanja's hair, floating on the waves. Obviously, Iemanja is a manifestation of the Great
Goddess in one of her many forms.
The second form of isolated Witchcraft includes Shamanism n Siberia, the Eskimos, the
aborigines of Australia and many Native American tribes.
The Shamans work like the traditional, Stone Age witches. They move between this
world and the world of the spirits. The people rely on the Shamans to enter the dangerous
supernatural world and act on their behalf.
The reindeer herders and the fishermen of Northern Asia live around the western shore of
the Bering Sea. Most are nomads who live in felt tents. Imagine living such a hard life,
surviving long, harsh and threatening winters. When the day's work is over, there is
nothing to do but huddle in a warm, dark tent. Watching the Shaman summon spirits, or
have a contest with a disease-producing demon, is good fun. He is also responsible for
retrieving your soul if you happened to have lost it through sickness, or if a demon has
enticed it into the lower regions of nature. You can always trust the Shaman to get it
back.
Shamans in this area have two guardian spirits. One is a kind, understanding spirit of a
long-dead Shaman. The other is in the shape of an animal. He can be dangerous and
tricky, but very useful.
The Shamans dress beautifully, the clothes made of skins and embroidered with the
symbols of the trade. They usually carry a tambourine drum, ready to be beaten when
summoning spirits.
At night, the Shaman puts out all the lights in the house or tent. He begins to sing and
beat the tambourine. The songs start softly, and then, slowly, grow in intensity. The
Shaman goes into a trance. Suddenly, the audience hears other voices, made by various
spirits. The audience joins in the singing and drum beating, and starts imitating the
sounds of the spirits. The Shaman then is possessed by the spirits, and under their
influence gives their messages to the people. Eventually the spirits bid the people
farewell. When the lights are on again, the Shaman will be found exhausted, perhaps
even fainting, lying on the floor.
When going into the spirit world, the Shaman does it during the day. He is accomplishing
this difficult adventure by being in two places at once. The body performs dances in this
world, showing the audience what his soul is doing in the other world. The dance may
show fights, discussions, or anything else that is happening to the soul. Once the purpose
is accomplished, the soul of the Shaman returns to the body.
There are as many female Shamans as males, and there is a complete equality between
the sexes. This is because a shaman is considered sexless, and even the males wear
female symbols on their decorated clothes.
Anthropologists have often noted that many people do not wish to be shamans. It takes a
certain character, and in many ways the personality resembles that of the witch. The
Shaman is a loner who likes to spend much time in meditation, and usually has vivid
dreams since childhood. Invariably, he or she is quite intelligent.
The similarities among Shamans defy geography. The native diviners of South Africa are
recognized early, or may enter the life because of an illness or spirit possession. The
same is done by Native Americans. The Woyo woman of West Africa must be possessed
by a god, while still young, and chosen for the profession of a diviner. She cannot enter
training without it.
The aborigines in Australia are strongly connected with magic and sorcery. Much of it
follows the familiar lines, but one practice is of particular interest - death caused by
sorcery. If a person committed a particularly horrible crime, the sorcerer places a curse to
make him "half dead." The community withdraws from the person, and rites are
performed, showing that he is no longer part of the living, but is now a member of the
society of the dead. In almost all cases the person actually dies, probably from shock or
the lack of desire to live under such circumstances. Add to that the deep-seated fear of
sorcery, and a person has no chance to survive at all. Some researchers believe that this
was exactly the way Stone Age people punished their criminals.
By observing those isolated societies, and comparing them to Stone Age Witchcraft,
much can be learned about the development of the Old Religion. Obviously, the
supernatural world plays an important part in many lives, then as well as now. The
current follower of the Old Religion is still quite comfortable with this unseen world and
its powers.
But the witch has never ignored this world. It's impossible to separate the Old Religion
from the living, breathing planet. The next chapter deals with Witchcraft's immensely
important relationship with the plants and animals. The love of nature is the core of the
witches' being - which is why they see themselves as the Guardians of the Earth.
Go to chapter 7: Flora and Fauna »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter seven - Flora and Fauna
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
Tales of plants and animals that have served witches can fill an entire book. Imagine
talking cats, killer trees, flowers that make you fly and lambs that grow inside fruit. These
are not fairy tales told just for fun; people actually believed in them, and some were even
partially true.
The connection to animals and plants goes back to Stone Age predecessors of modern
witches, who are still guardians of the earth. The drawings of animals on cave walls show
it clearly. The giant cave bear, for instance, was considered the Master of Animals. The
hunters worshiped him, and he granted them permission to hunt. Dangerous animals,
such as the saber tooth tiger, the woolly rhinoceros, or the mammoth, could only be
conquered, or avoided, by magic and ritual.
Later, many gods, demigods and other powerful entities appeared in animal form. The
Celtic god Cernunnos, master of the forest and all its animals, appeared often as a stag.
Even more significant are Cernunnos' many appearances as an antlered man. In this form
he looked exactly like the shape-changing sorcerer of the Stone Age.
The imaginary menagerie included domestic animals, like the cat, and those of wood and
field, such as the hare. The garden contained the witch's cultivated plants, and the weeds
that flourished near by.
Let's start with the menagerie. Every witch had her "familiar," an animal that had been
given to her by Satan himself. The animal was a pet as well as a demon, much loved and
well taken care of by the witch. It received good food, careful grooming, and sometimes
even wore clothes during cold weather. The witch protected it fiercely, and killing a
familiar was an invitation to serious revenge. In return, the animal spied, robbed, and
sometimes killed for the witch.
Funny as all that may sound, the people believed in this relationship. The witch's
neighbors even thought that the animals talked to the witch in human language. This can
explain the terror they held for the villagers. If an old woman regularly talked to her pet,
as lonely people usually did, she was doomed. A familiar was also recognized by always
being close to the witch, usually following her wherever she went, and by its superior
intelligence.
CAT
Cats are the ultimate Familiars. Everything about the cat was, and still is, magical. Watch
your own cat going about its mysterious business. See how it suddenly looks at a corner
of the room, intent on something that clearly isn't there. It can be creepy on a stormy
night, even when you know very well that there is no such thing as a ghost! Sometimes
your cat, dozing peacefully, suddenly leaps to the next room as if possessed. You laugh at
its antics, but what did it really hear there? Even today, wonderful and loveable as they
are, cats hold a terror for some people. Some won't stay in a room alone with a cat. Look
at the changing eyes - the pupils are narrow slits during the day and large and round at
night. Changing just like the moon. So they imagined that the cat saw the future with
those moon-like, magical eyes, and probably also ghosts and goblins. Cats could also
forecast the weather. If they played wildly, high wind was expected. If they sat with their
back to the fire, no doubt a cold spell was due. And if they washed their ears carefully,
rain was imminent. The most feared cat was the black one, considered Satan's property at
the all times. During the Middle Ages people senselessly slaughtered cats for no reason
other than the belief that they were demons.
GOAT
The goat connection may be even more significant than the cat. It goes back to antiquity.
A powerful clan in ancient Greece, the Palentids, claimed they were originally descended
from a sacred goat. The horned and hoofed Greek goat-god, Pan, is one of the most
important entities of Witchcraft.
Thor, the Norse god, was worshiped before the other gods of Valhalla. Some say he
existed as early as the stone-age. Thor drove a great chariot, pulled by two giant,
powerful goats. They symbolized thunder and lightning.
Medieval legends say that the Devil created the goat. Satan himself often appeared with
goat's horns, and sometimes changed his shape completely into a goat. During the
Sabbaths, he traditionally came as a three-horned goat, the middle one used as a lamp.
HARE
Hares were strongly associated with witches. The hare is quiet and goes about its
business in secret. They are usually solitary, but occasionally they gather in large groups
and act very strangely, much like a group of people having a conference. A hare can
stand on its hind legs like a person; in distress, it utters a strange, almost human cry
which is very disconcerting to the listener.
Watching such behavior, people claimed that a witch could change her form at night and
become a hare. In this shape she stole milk or food, or destroyed crops. Others insisted
that hares were only witches' familiars.
These associations caused many people to believe hares were bad luck, and best avoided.
A hare crossing one's path, particularly when the person was riding a horse, caused much
distress. Still, the exact opposite superstition claimed that carrying a rabbit's or hare's foot
brought good luck. There is no logic to be found in superstitions.
SPIDER
They are tiny, menacing, and some are poisonous. Yet, they have always been admired
for their wonderful weaving and their hunting ability. No wonder they were put on the list
of witches' familiars. Spiders could invade anyone's house for the witch's benefit. Also,
they could hide in the witch's clothing and talk to her while she went about her business,
perhaps offering her some advice.
CROW
The crow is almost too obvious. The medieval villagers considered it ugly, for some
reason. Actually, it's a beautiful, glossy black bird with a truly elegant shape, but there's
no accounting for taste. Perhaps they disliked the crow because it emits a hoarse cry
rather than a song, and it's obviously quite good at stealing things from farmers. The
villagers thought the crow spied for the witch all day by flying anywhere it wanted, and
then reported at night. And it could easily accompany her on her own flights to the
Sabbaths.
BUTTERFLY
Few people know how the butterfly got its name. The witch was supposed to change her
shape into this insect. She then flew to the dairy, and stole milk, cheese and, of course,
butter!
BEE
The enterprising witch did not keep bees only for the honey. She didn't really need that so
much. What she wanted was the wax - to make images of her enemies and destroy them
in image magic.
TOAD
Toads were favorite familiars. They were dressed in velvet, given bells to decorate their
legs, and were expected to dance to music (though it's doubtful they ever did.) The little
horns on their head suggested the devil, and the witches used toad's spittle in their
ointments. Toads could predict storms by rushing quickly and suddenly into the water;
they could hear the thunder long before humans could. In addition to all these marvelous
qualities, old toads had precious jewels growing inside their heads, so it was worthwhile
protecting a toad until it reached old age. Of course no one ever saw one - there's never
any jewel in a real toad's head - but people believed it was incredibly beautiful and
protected the lucky wearer from poison.
Let's step into the magic garden. The witch's neighbors were quite certain you could
recognize a witch by what grew in her garden. If you had a yard full of nightshades,
monkshoods, thorn apples and henbanes, it really looked suspicious, because these plants
were used to prepare the ointment that helped a witch fly.
The fact that the plants were also good for healing and cosmetic purposes meant little.
And some of the plants were not even deliberately cultivated. Deadly nightshade was
made into eye drops, monkshood was used to exterminate wolves, and thorn apples and
henbanes just sprouted everywhere. They still do. But people found it more exciting to
think of them as the witch's tool of destruction.
It is interesting to note that so many of the plants in the witch's garden are now
recognized as hallucinogenic. All the nightshades, for instance, contain substances called
tropane alkaloids. These alkaloids produce hallucinations and trance states. They are also
toxic enough to produce insanity and even death if used in larger quantities. The use of
hallucinogens go back to ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome. They were also used in
Afghanistan, Africa, India and parts of the Middle East. People thought they could help
in conjuring demons and as an aid to prophecy. The mixture of Belladonna, henbane and
mandrake, when rubbed on the body, produces dreams about flying. These hallucinations
feel so real, that many witches believed they really flew. They confessed that to their
torturers during their trials, and were burned at the stake. The mixture also produced
dreams of changing into animals. Some witches honesty believed they turned into fish or
geese, and threw themselves into deep water. Some drowned.
The plants have a good, medicinal side. Henbane is a painkiller. Belladonna is used as
eye drops. They were part, in the hand of a good practitioner, of the entire herbal lore,
much of which is still in use in medicine.
However, the hallucinogens caused more trouble then good, and much of the bad name
the Old Religion acquired is a result of using drugs. First, the preparations were given, in
some covens, to young people just starting out as witches. The idea was to make the
initiation easier and more interesting, but the result was a life-long addiction. It also
connected Wicca with the Satanists and with the followers of Voodoo, who used drugs
freely. In the history of Witchcraft, these plants and preparations are possibly the worst
habit some witches had. It must be noted, however, that not all covens used, or approved
of the hallucinogens. Many witches realized that the use of drugs is one of the stupidest
and most dangerous habits a human being can indulge in, then as well as now.
BELLADONNA
Belladonna, the Deadly Nightshade, was the Devil's favorite plant. Like many other busy
persons, the Devil found relaxation in the hobby of gardening. He tended this particular
plant every night of the year, except on "Walpurgis Night," when he usually prepared for
the witch's Sabbat and neglected his hobby. So this was the night to go harvest some
Belladonna, if you needed it. You got a black hen and let it lose. For an unexplained
reason, the Devil could never resist a black hen. So he would go chasing it, away from
the Belladonna. Now the plant could be harvested without danger to the person. Why
should anyone want this poisonous weed, you might ask? Well, if you rubbed it on your
horse's body, it would bring the animal great strength! No record is left of the fate of all
those black hens the Devil busily chased all over Europe. Hopefully, they found their way
back to the chicken coops.
MANDRAKE
The best mandrakes, people thought, grew under the gallows. A mandrake is a strange
plant. The shape of its root looks just like a human being. It is lifelike and twisted, and
many believed that a small demon lived in it. Capturing the demon brought great power,
but it was extremely dangerous. The demon objected to having the plant pulled out of the
ground. It caused him great pain, and his agonized shriek could kill the man who
destroyed the plant. So a system had to be developed. First, the man stuffed his ears with
wax. Then, he dug around the plant until only a few roots held it to the ground. Now he
got a dog, attached one end of a long rope around its neck, and the other end around the
plant. The man went a certain distance, and then held a plate of food toward the dog. The
dog leapt toward the food, and in the process, released the mandrake from the ground.
The dog was expected to sacrifice his life for the benefit of his owner. However, as the
plant never really shrieked, or made any other effort to revenge its destruction, many
dogs simply got a good meal out of it. The trick, now, was to bathe the root in wine and
wrap it in silk. This pacified the demon, who now became the owner's advisor. When all
was said and done, the disappointment must have been terrible. After all, a root, no
matter how weird it looked, could never talk to anyone, let alone give wise advice. So it
was finally established that the tiny demons really preferred the company of witches to
that of ordinary mortals.
ELDER TREE
If the witch felt like drinking some milk, she entered the elder tree, traveled in it, and
settled near someone's cow barn. The long branches went into the barn during the night,
and milked all the cows.
YEW TREE
Even without the connection to witches, yew trees had many superstitions attached to
them. It was best not to lie down under a yew, despite the nice cold shade. The tree would
suck the life out of anyone, as soon as he or she fell asleep. In Sherwood Forest, as in all
of England, Yew was used to make bows and arrows. Robin Hood used them all his life.
When he was about to die from his wounds at his last battle, he asked his merry men for a
favor. He wanted to shoot one last arrow and be buried where it landed. They brought
him his old bow, and with a superhuman effort, Robin shot one arrow and died. The men
went to look for it and found it had landed in an ancient graveyard, under a venerable
yew tree. And so they buried Robin there, in the shade of the tree that gave him so much
while he lived.
Yew always grew in graveyards, anyway. People believed that the tree drank the poison
from the ground which was infected by dead bodies. Naturally, it became known as the
favorite of witches - they were known to spend much time in graveyards, anyway.
FIR TREE
In Germany, as late as the nineteenth century, people danced around the fir during
religious festivals. But the songs were not Christian - they dated back to pagan times. It
was believed that an imp lived in the tree, a kind and benevolent spirit. The fir was
decorated with lights, flowers, eggs and other such objects. Some believed this was the
origin of the Christmas tree.
In the northern countries the respect for the fir is deep seated. It is considered the home
for the mysterious King of the Forest. Some people still refuse to cut a fir tree, and if it
falls by itself, perhaps during a storm, the wood is not sold, but given in charity.
The garden and menagerie described here were mostly European, but many interesting
plants and animals belonged to other cultures. Some were strongly connected to various
forms of sorcery.
THE BAROMEZ
This combined plant/animal belongs to the Tartars, by the Caspian sea. The Baromez was
a lamb. It had superb wool, silky and warm, much sought after. However, it wasn't born
the usual way. In the faraway land where the Baromez lived, certain "gourd trees"
produced large fruit. At night, the ripe fruit opened, and the cute, tiny lambs jumped out
of the fruit. They were attached to the fruit by an umbilical cord, so they could not free
themselves from the tree. This was the job of the enterprising sorcerer/shepherd, who
released the lambs, reared them and sold their wool - no doubt for a large profit.
DUCKS
Not a particularly romantic animal, you would say. But if you were a sailor, traveling by
an unspecified Pacific island, you may have changed your mind. A tree grew with its
roots in the water. Giant fruit hung limply over the waves. A sorcerer or witch would
come to the tree, sing a strange song, and suddenly the fruit began to open. Inside was
fluffy, silky material, attached to the bill of a duck. The duck hung on for a while, drying
its feathers in the strong sun. Then it dropped with a thud into the sea and swam away.
The sorcerer either let it go or took it home, depending on the ritual needed.
BARNACLE GOOSE
Well, if a duck, why not a goose? A real goose, Branta leucopsis, caused trouble during
the Middle Ages for both Rabbis and Priests. It nested in the Arctic, and was seen by
sailors in grounds which were covered with large barnacles. Naturally, the sailors
assumed the bird hatched from the barnacles. The rabbis had trouble deciding if the goose
was a fowl, appropriate food for Orthodox Jews, or a Shellfish, forbidden to them. The
priests had similar problem. Is it a fish, permitted during Lent, or a fowl, forbidden at this
time?
MIRAJ
The story of the Miraj comes from somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and it's probably the
funniest magical beast ever invented. It's easy to imaging two or three hard working
witches sitting over a cup of strong palm wine, discussing the hard times, wondering
what new enterprise they can come up with. They must have had a good sense of humor,
because the Miraj was a killer unicorn rabbit. It looked innocent enough. It was large,
yellow, and had a long black horn in the middle of its forehead. The animals around it
knew the danger, though, and ran for their lives whenever they saw it coming. The Miraj
could eat anything, even animals much larger than itself, such as pigs and cattle. The
witch's job was to charm away and control the Miraj when she noticed one or two
infesting the neighborhood. The villagers never saw a Miraj themselves, obviously, but
they preferred to keep it this way. After all, what were they paying the witch for? Every
profession has its hazards, right? Let the witch face the deadly killer unicorn rabbit!
Go to chapter 8: The Great Literary Figures »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter eight - The Great Literary Figures
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
A traveler knew he was lost, and by his own doing. The night before, he had foolishly
decided to continue on his way, instead of staying safely at an inn. He shivered under the
icy wind of the early morning. The pale winter sunlight streamed through the tops of the
gigantic, dark conifers of the Russian forest. The traveler cursed himself for being so
headstrong and stupid, and then crossed himself hastily, casting frightened looks around
him. Who could tell what lurked in the depth of the great forest? His curse might conjure
something he didn't wish to encounter, like a wood spirit or a devil.
Murmuring a prayer, the traveler continued along the narrow lane. It was too cold to
stand still, anyway. With luck, perhaps he would meet a woodcutter or a hunter. He
strained his ears for the cheerful sounds of a barking dog, or the ax felling a tree, but the
silence was deep. Suddenly, he noticed the faint smell of smoke. Cautiously, afraid of
losing the trail, he followed the scent. He couldn't tell if it led him deeper into the forest,
but after a short distance he came upon a clearing.
In the middle of the clearing stood a small hut, made of dark, weathered wood. It had a
low roof, beautifully thatched, and small windows with heavy wooden shutters.
Tremendously relieved, the traveler started running toward the little hut. Suddenly he
stopped short, catching his breath. The hut stood on two giant chicken legs!
The traveler could see the rough, pebbly skin, and the sharp claws on the feet. The legs
twitched occasionally, making the house sway softly. The traveler watched, horrified, as
the smoke from the chimney swayed and danced with it. He hid carefully behind a bush.
Better to be lost forever, better to be devoured by a bear or a pack of wolves than to be
caught by the owner of this hut.
For this was the house of Baba Yaga. The greatest, most powerful, malevolent Russian
witch. Once caught, man, woman or child would be her slave, and eventually, her dinner.
Baba Yaga's favorite food was human flesh. True, sometimes a person could trick her, or
perhaps even gain her affection, and be released. Sometimes she had a favorite, and
became the person's Godmother. This was great honor. But generally, it was best to avoid
her.
The house lifted one leg, shook, and started turning around. A door now faced the
traveler. It opened and out came Baba Yaga. She looked like an ordinary old woman,
wearing a simple peasant dress and a red scarf around her head. Her black, beady eyes
darted around, and she sniffed; very likely she smelled the traveler. But she must have
been in a hurry, and didn't want to bother with him for the moment. She whistled. From
around the house came a giant wooden mortar and a bronze pestle, walking and tumbling
clumsily. Baba Yaga jumped into the mortar and grabbed the pestle. She moved it though
the air like an oar, murmuring a magic charm to herself in a singsong voice. The mortar
leapt into the air, and sailed off with a rush of wind, high into the tree tops.
The traveler wiped his brow and went in the opposite direction. He made good speed, and
in a few hours came across some woodcutters. He said nothing of his encounter and
followed their directions out of the cursed forest. It was better not to talk of Baba Yaga.
But people did talk of her. There is a huge body of folktales about Baba Yaga in Russia,
and many similar tales in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German folklore called her
Brechta, Bertha, Holde, or simply, The Witch. You probably know her from the old tale
of Hansel and Gretel, the two children who visit her in the famous gingerbread house.
Strangely, this monstrous figure sometimes took on endearing qualities. She was very
wise, demanded justice, and sometimes protected abused children or young maidens. The
Cinderella story, where the Fairy Godmother helps the young girl marry Prince
Charming, is originally based on this fearsome witch.
Perhaps it's not really that strange. The folktales are old and wise, too. The tellers knew
that good and evil always mixed in everyone, even in the soul of a superhuman figure.
And they had plenty of time if they wanted to think about such matters in those days.
During the long, Northern evenings, you could think about life, protected from the frozen
wind in your warm hut. Or you could meditate under the huge stars of the lovely
Mediterranean nights, while tending your sheep, or sitting in a garden full of fragrant
white flowers, chosen to match the moon. The storytellers developed an understanding of
human nature that was probably better than that of the modern psychologist. Every witch,
goblin or fairy symbolized a trait of human nature. Every act of heroism, cowardice or
justice explained something about ourselves, our emotions, our thoughts. As we haven't
really changed much, we can still benefit from knowing those tales.
Further North was a land of even darker magic. When sea faring merchants wanted to
insure a safe trip, they went to the famous Finnish wizards. The Northern magicians had
power over the icy oceans. They could ride whalebones instead of ships, and make good
time doing it, too. They controlled the winds and the waves. A careful, intelligent captain
would go to a good wizard to buy a "wind rope" before setting sail. It looked like a
simple sailor's rope, but the wizard himself tied three knots in it. During the trip, if the
captain needed a steady breeze, he untied the first knot. The second knot produced a
strong wind. The captain hoped he would never have to untie the third knot. Only in a
great emergency he risked it - and created a violent storm.
The greatest Finnish wizard was Vainamoinen. Like many other Northern wizards, his
power hid in sounds. He invented the harp, and sang magical melodies. Born of air and
water, he controlled these elements, as well as the land. His song drove the icy oceans to
storms, moved earth, and grew plants. Vainamoinen could sing objects that were not
there into being, and make other objects disappear. He once sang an entire forest to the
ground so that his people could grow barley.
The power of the word, the sound, and the song is not lost. Every religion has words that
are forbidden, that should never be pronounced. Many have the notion that naming things
brings power over them. In modern Witchcraft, every magic spell is the legacy of those
old magicians and their control of sound.
Legends tell that some of the Northern magicians learned their craft in Spain. The Devil
owned the "Black School," as they called it. On a sun-drenched, nameless mountain, a
hole in the ground opened to reveal ancient stairs, cut directly in the rocks. They led
down to the eternal gloom of a huge, damp underground cavern.
No human teachers ever taught there, and the students got their instructions in two ways.
Every morning, glowing, burning letters appeared on the moist, oozing stone walls. They
arranged themselves into the daily lesson. Also, the books were blank, without any
writing. When you opened them and turned the pages, bright letters suddenly appeared,
gleaming softly in the darkness. They would stay there for the day and then disappear
until tomorrow.
The students did not pay for the schooling with money. However, the last person to leave
each class had to give his soul to the Devil. Not that the students objected to the bargain.
They knew well in advance that studying in the Black School led to a partnership with
Satan. They considered it worthwhile.
Another great singer/wizard was Taliesin, a Welsh musician who lived in the 6th century.
He left The Book of Taliesin, a collection of sad songs of battles and loss. Many legends
were written about his magical powers, but the strangest legend is the story about his
birth.
His mother, a sorceress herself, gave birth to an incredibly ugly son. She wished to give
him happiness by making him wise. Using various herbs, she created a special potion that
would give her son wisdom. Unfortunately, a young assistant magician tricked her and
used the potion himself. The furious sorceress chased the thief for days. He was clever,
and both were expert shape-changers, so the chase was fast and furious. Both took the
shapes of various animals or plants. Finally, he found a heap of barley, turned himself
into a single grain and mixed with the rest. But there was no escape. The sorceress saw
which grain was really the young magician, turned into a bird and ate the grain.
So now she carried the magic seed inside her. When she turned back into a woman, she
realized she was pregnant - the seed turned into a baby. She swore to kill it as soon as it
was born. But she gave birth to a boy so beautiful, so glowing and sweet, that she could
not keep her vow. This was Taliesin, born of magic and pain. Unlike the dishonest
assistant magician he replaced, Taliesin was always good and faithful, loved by his
people, obeyed by the elements. But he carried this pain with him forever. He never sang
any song of joy.
In the old stories, sadness always comes with magic. It is as if the human soul, given
power, has to pay a price. Few paid a higher price than Merlin, probably the most famous
magician to exist.
There are too many stories, too many legends about Merlin, making it difficult to find the
core of truth. His youth was shrouded in mystery, until he appeared in the court of a
usurping British king, Vortigern. There he made himself known as a magician, and told
the king that the rightful heir, Uther Pendragon, would soon kill him and reclaim his
thrown. All events happened exactly as Merlin predicted. He arranged the marriage
between Uther and Queen Ingrain, and the boy Arthur, the greatest British king, was born
Battles raged between tribes, and conflicts among factions. Merlin knew Arthur's life was
in constant danger. This had to be prevented, for the sake of the nation. Merlin took the
child, with his parents permission, and disappeared with him for fifteen years. Arthur's
childhood with Merlin is a secret. No one knows where they hid, or how Merlin educated
the child. But obviously everything was done properly. Arthur emerged as the stuff of
legend. If you are interested in Arthur, you can find many wonderful books about him in
any library. But this is not the place to describe the Arthurian legends, since it is Merlin's
story we are dealing with. He directed Arthur, even constructed the round table for him,
and Arthur's reign simply cannot be separated from the greatness of Merlin's natural
magic.
He could not prevent the bitter end of Arthur's reign, however. And in the end, knowing
the future disaster, he disappeared. The better known legend of Merlin's end is not
inspiring. Supposedly he fell in love with a young woman, a fairy or an enchantress. She
imprisoned him in a tree, where he was to wait, sleeping, until his people needed him
again. The story is not in character for Merlin. He was too old, too wise, too dignified to
fall for a young, half-educated sorceress. In addition, the tale is too similar to other stories
about the fall of mighty heroes caused by some charming woman. It seems to be a simple
folktale.
The second story, though less known, is much more fitting. Seeing that the end of
Arthur's kingdom was near, Merlin took Britain's thirteen treasures with him into hiding.
The place he chose was an invisible island, somewhere off the Welsh coast. He is still
there, waiting until his people call him to come back. He will then return, carrying
Britain's treasures with him. Perhaps he will bring Arthur, too.
So the magician never died. Interestingly, neither did Vainamoinen. When life was no
longer worthwhile, he just sailed a pure copper boat into a secret place between heaven
and earth. The theme of immortality is forever played in Witchcraft.
Take Dr. Faustus, for instance. He was a distinguished German scholar in the university
of Wittenberg. During the day he studied religion, but at night the young scholar studied
Black Magic and Necromancy. Eventually, he became obsessed with the Black Arts and
stopped his religious studies. In addition, he led a fast life and drank so heavily that he
aged before his time.
Unhappy with his life, he conjured a devil called Mephistopheles straight from hell. The
devil was eager to make a pact with the scholar. They negotiated, and in the end Faustus
sold his soul to the devil. The rewards were twenty-four years of supreme supernatural
power, and a youthful appearance.
He got all he wanted. He became young and handsome again, and for twenty-four years
he had unlimited power, which he regularly abused to harm his neighbors. And even in
the end he acted dishonorably. Rather than submit to his fate, he repented, or pretended to
repent, exactly a month before he had to join Mephistopheles in hell, and spend all his
time lamenting his sins. But the trick didn't work. At the appointed night, in the presence
of many of Faustus' friends, the messenger from hell came to take him. They saw him
vanish in a gray, thin vapor, accompanied by Mephistopheles.
It is interesting to note that in all dealings with the devil, it is invariably the human who
tried to cheat. Apparently Satan is a gentleman - always keeping his word, giving
everything he promises. Many times, the human wins his freedom. But, then again,
human life is short, while Satan has eternity. He can afford to wait. There are always new
human souls for the taking.
There are many other great literary figures of witches and sorcerers. You can read about
them in the folktales of the brothers Grimm, the fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen,
and in many world mythologies. In modern literature, few witches are better than The
Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch, in Frank Baum's Oz series. They
are marvelous books, and it's unfortunate that so many people just see the movie and
neglect the wonderful literature. Also, there are the great Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S.
Lewis, starting with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The wicked witch there has
all the qualities of the great literary witches.
And finally, there is Gandalf. In modern literature, he stands alone. Since Merlin, there
has never been such a magnificent Wizard. Gandalf is the central figure in J.R.R.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Ring trilogy and The Hobbit. In a way, Gandalf is Merlin,
orchestrating the salvation of an entire world from a power of evil that will certainly
destroy it. No student of the history of Witchcraft should miss the joy of Tolkien's books.
But the literary world is also full of stories of nameless witches. Particularly interesting
are the stories of country girls in the British Isles who marry into Fairyland. The
connection between the Little People, Fairies, and witches has already been discussed in
a previous chapter. The men who married fairy wives had also been discussed. But how
did the young women marry fairy husbands?
Usually, the girls are beautiful and clever, but a bit lazy. They dislike their chores, they
dream of something other than common village life. Sometimes the girl herself is
suspected of having supernatural powers; sometimes she is just a little different from
everyone else.
One day the girl is alone, perhaps washing laundry by the river, or driving the domestic
animals home. Accidentally, she encounters a handsome young man. They start to meet
often, but always secretly. The girl knows that her people will disapprove of the stranger.
In some stories, after a while, the girl's secret is discovered, and she has to run to her
lover's people for protection from the irate villagers. In other stories, the girl simply
decides to leave the village and join him wherever he lives. Either way, she is led to a
green hill. A door miraculously opens and she enters into what seems to be the inside of a
mountain. Often there are deep stairs cut into it. However, she really enters Fairyland,
where she marries the young man who turns out to be either the king of Fairyland or one
of his sons or nobles. She lives an enchanted life, sometimes finding immortality, and
surrounded by untold wealth.
It is interesting that while seemingly disapproving of the girl's conduct, the tellers always
described the great rewards of living in Fairyland. As usual, the charm of the Little
People won over principle. Perhaps this is the strength of Witchcraft, real or literary, then
and now - once you know it, once you really understand, it has an irresistible appeal. So
despite the persecutions, horrors and misunderstanding, the Old Religion is still very
much alive. And in the next chapter, you will see the way it is practiced today.
Go to chapter 9: Witchcraft Today »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Witchcraft
Chapter nine - Witchcraft Today
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
A thousand years ago or today, if you asked a witch why she practices the Craft, her
answer would be universal: It accomplishes results. However, the many "workbooks" and
"spell books" on the market won't necessarily teach you how to become a witch or to
perform magic. Pursuing witchcraft without a coven, without ceremonies, without
initiation does not generally work. At best, it will probably be self delusion; at worst, it
can do some psychological damage. There are some witches who work alone. There are
even courses one can take in big cities such as New York or San Francisco. But
Witchcraft is more than just a few spells - it's a religion. Without the tenets, the
commitment, the depth of feeling for the earth - it's just an imitation.
There is no doubt that magic still exists, and that it can be powerful. But how do you
define it in a world such as ours? If all the nonsense is dismissed, it means using some
abnormal ability or a talent. The witch creates a change in circumstances - a change that
would not have occurred naturally. Some people have psychic powers, just as others have
a natural talent for painting or music. When trained, the powers are enhanced. When used
in the correct manner, they are quite successful. Naturally, these powers can be used
either for good or for evil. Those who use it for good tend to become witches. Those who
use it to do harm call themselves Satanists or Devil Worshipers. There is always a choice.
As seen in previous chapters, all isolated societies have ceremonies, initiations, and some
form of magic. Witches, the descendants of such people, have not lost the knowledge.
Other organized religions tend to ignore the magical connection, with one exception prayer. All religions claim that prayer accomplishes tangible results. What is prayer but
an attempt to convince the supernatural to do what we want?
Most witches believe that the power is found inside their own bodies. This is the reason
why some witches prefer to work in the nude - they feel that the clothes block the power's
release. Other witches work partially nude or dressed in loose robes. In today's society,
with its relaxed attitude toward the human body, nudity is not a problem. After all, the
witches do not engage in any immoral activity during the ceremonies. But during the
Middle Ages, or even the 18th century, people sometimes didn't take off their clothing
even to bathe. They wore special "bathing robes" for the purpose, so that they would not
have to look at their own nude bodies! It is easy to imagine the uproar when the nudity of
the witches was discovered. Naturally the general population assumed the witches
engaged in orgies.
In the East, it is commonly believed that each person generates a personal
electromagnetic field. It is called the Aura. Many Westerners agree that the Aura exists,
and some parapsychologists and physicians are currently investigating it. Many books
about the subject are available, so there is no need to go into a discussion of the Aura
here, but it does bring up an interesting point. Those who see the Aura, whether with the
naked eye or with the new scientific apparatus, say that clothes do interfere with the
observation of color and vibration of the Aura. Investigation, therefore, is always carried
out in the nude. As it is possible that some of the magic is dependant on the Aura, it
would be interesting if someone would conduct a combined study.
There is so much more that can, and should be done. Today's New Age scene makes
practicing Witchcraft easier than ever. There is a climate of greater tolerance to these
matters, and other disciplines benefit as well - such as parapsychology, homeopathy, and
the more serious research into the occult. Those disciplines are not at all alike, but there
are occasional overlaps that are immensely interesting. One such connection is the
subject of Out of Body Experience, or as parapsychologists usually refer to it - OBE.
OBE is the condition in which the person undergoes separation between body and soul.
The body remains asleep or immobile, while the soul travels the world or even the
universe. The condition has been observed by such different people as Tibetan monks,
German mystics, and Medieval witches. No one really knows how it happens, or if
something actually leaves the body. Some say it's simply a vivid dream, or a
hallucination. Others feel that one's consciousness is able to "stretch" to any distance, but
the soul has nothing to do with it. We don't know.
Witches have always done it. They believe that it is a dangerous pursuit, best done only
after strict training, and under a "buddy system," like scuba diving. When the soul leaves
the body, a shining "silver" cord seems to connect them to each other. The witches say
that it may snap and the person could die, unless carefully watched by the "buddy."
Many modern witches, and some researchers as well, tend to believe that this was the
base for the legend of the flying witch. The Medieval witches were so certain they
actually flew when they were out of body, that they confessed doing so to their
tormentors, much like what they did when they had flying dreams induced by drugs.
There is a large selection of books about OBEs. Particularly good are those written by
Robert Monroe, a modern American who had incredible experiences with OBEs and had
established a research center devoted to it.
Of course it is just one example. A combination of many disciplines, including the
understanding of religion and history, can do much to open our eyes to new possibilities.
Fortunately, some witches are willing to talk and cooperate, and their help is important.
One of them is Sybil Leek.
She is an extraordinary woman. A truly nice human being, and a warm and committed
family person and friend. A successful journalist, mostly in Radio and Television, and a
writer of the most interesting books. She leads a normal life in every way, but in addition
is, and has been since early childhood, a practicing witch. She has made it her mission to
educate the public about the difference between Wicca and Satanism. The reason is her
fear of the merging of the two systems. So many covens are sprouting, without the
benefit of the traditional training, that some, she feels, may be drawn to the dark side. She
strongly objects to the practice of occult knowledge without the mental discipline.
Dabbling with the powerful forces of the Occult without being able to fully control them
can be dangerous to the practitioners as well as to the people around them.
In addition, she is also concerned about the split in Witchcraft that took place during the
20th century. There are two major systems. One is the old Celtic Tradition which she
follows with her coven, Horsa, located in New Forest in England. The other was led by
the late Gerald Gardner, and is stronger in another part of England and in the Isle of Man.
Both systems are influential in America as well.
Many consider Gardner the father of the revival of Witchcraft in our time, though he
disagreed. He always maintained that good friends, who were members of a coven,
introduced and initiated him to Witchcraft. Either way, he certainly did much for the
followers of the Old Religion, and his books are outstanding for their accuracy and
historical interest.
Since 1951, the year in which the last laws against Witchcraft were repealed in England,
many covens, on both sides of the Atlantic, came out of hiding. During the years of
secrecy, they grew in different directions, and some have little or no resemblance to
original Witchcraft. While Sybil Leek objects to that, other people feel that it doesn't
matter. As long as the basic tenets are followed and no harm is ever done, there is no
reason to prevent evolution in the Old Religion.
It is impossible to outline a religion based on thousands of years in one short chapter. In
addition, so much is private and never revealed by any real witch. But some basic
knowledge of the Old Religion is necessary even in a historical review such as this book.
It is particularly important to set the record right, because the student can be misled by
the number of modern books that pretend to teach the actual ritual. Those books are fun
and mostly harmless, but they are not the Old Religion.
To understand how the Old Religion is structured, let's start with the description of the
Beginning. It is based on the old Celtic tradition, but of course it goes back much further.
In the beginning, there was Energy. The Energy was a mixture of the sublime, the
material and the etheric fire. The fire contained life and creative thoughts.
The Supreme Being used these to create vapor, which eventually condensed into water,
earth and air. They combined with the fire and together created physical and spiritual life.
Intelligent beings came to life. Some were lower than humanity, such as animals and
plants. Some were higher, such as angels and nature spirits. All slowly evolved over
millions of years into more complex and diverse forms.
This happened, and will happen again, not only on earth but throughout the universe. The
great energy, directed by the Supreme Being, allows growth and reincarnation for
everything - from the smallest creature to a star system.
Since spirit is always present, thought is a form of matter. By sending out thought, one
can build matter from energy. This is one way "magic" is done - the creation and
manipulation of events and matter in ways which are different from the usual.
Reincarnation allows continuous education. Each life, in the thousands of bodies the
spirit occupies, teaches and refines the spirit. It is slowly prepared for the final merging
with the creative force, when it will bring back all the rich experience to enhance the
source.
Nature is the body of this life force. We are all part of it, and hurting even a small section
is doing damage to the whole. This is why the witches are the guardians of the earth.
They seek to protect and heal it. Each blade of grass, snail, or elephant is as important to
the witch as her own body. This is why Witchcraft and ecology have so much in
common.
Witchcraft does not have a Bible, but it has a code. In other religions, most of the tenets
are based on the difference between good and evil. In Witchcraft, most of the tenets are
based on natural laws. They stress a balanced life, based on the understanding of the
cyclical nature of the universe and the earth.
To the witches, good and evil are human ideas. The powers they follow are neutral - they
can be used to heal or to destroy. By carefully staying with the rules, they avoid harming
anything.
Witches seek the Absolute Good by trying to find and correct imperfection within
themselves. They also try to transfer the idea of goodness to all that surrounds them. The
goodness within is the spark from the Supreme Being.
Evil must be shunned. Association with evil slows the pursuit of the absolute good.
However, since everything was created by the Supreme Being, there is no point in
judging other people's behavior. Each person is responsible for their own acts. So the
witch will not curse or put a hex on anyone - it will only hurt her own Karma. The world
is full of matters beyond one's control, but by using reason, the witch can avoid the
pitfalls and go successfully through each incarnation. She avoids blaming circumstances,
gods, or other people for her misfortunes, and tries to learn something from difficult
events.
Witches have no temples. They worship the Creative Force through nature. Representing
it are the Goddess and the God. The Goddess takes precedence - it is a matriarchal
religion - but the male principle, represented by the God, is greatly honored. He warms
the Earth to bring the harvest, and therefore is identified with the sun. He is also the
essence of the spirit within the woods, trees and water. The Goddess is the all-mother, the
symbol of fertility. She also represents the moon and its cycles.
It is easier to worship and identify with these two Gods, because they are part of the
Earth. The Supreme Being, who is above all else, is involved with the concerns of the
entire universe, and therefore more remote.
Through meditation, a witch can be in touch with higher beings. They help her with the
growth of her character and development of her life. But this should not grow into
dependency. Each person is responsible for her or his own growth, so mediation and
contact with those beings are limited. As the spirit evolves, higher vibrations are
developed, and one becomes closer to the Supreme Being. This makes magic easier to
achieve.
The clue for witchcraft is the ability of the witch to see, really see, the connections and
relationships in the universe. Since the Creative Force of the Supreme Being made the
universe, everything is connected. When the connections are perceived, they can be
manipulated. The witch does exactly that. You can learn a hundred different incantations
and magic brews, but unless you see the hidden unity between two things or events which
seem to be far apart by time and space - you'll accomplish nothing.
All this is organized into the tenets, which are as important to the witch as the Ten
Commandments are to the follower of the Judeo-Christian traditions.
The tenets are not in order. They are all equally important and depend on each other.
Following them is as essential to being a witch as the knowledge of magic or the
celebration of the ceremonies. There are various versions, but for the greater part they are
in agreement.
* The tenet of reincarnation. Each human being has three parts - the body, which is the
earthly vehicle; the mind, which is the reasoning part; the spirit, which is the immortal
part. The spirit inhabits many bodies until it has learned enough to return to the Supreme
Being.
* The tenet of the balanced life. One must learn to live a life which is orderly, balanced
and free of any excess. Body and mind must be healthy. One must work and support
oneself. Relationships must be reasonably good. Lifelong education must be pursued.
Duty to one's family and community must be honored.
* The tenet of the harmony with the universe. One must realize the unified nature of the
universe and one's place in it. Harmony is essential for the successful life and the Karma.
* The tenet of tolerance. One must accept the fact that others have different opinions, and
endure it without suffering or inflicting pain.
* The tenet of learning. Learning should not be limited to books. Practical as well as
theoretical learning is essential, and it must be applied to everyday life. It is best to learn
personally, from a mentor, and at one's own pace. One should realize what one is best at,
and learn to specialize.
* The tenet of trust. All love must be accompanied by trust. This means love of every
kind, toward people, animals, nature or the universe. Without trust love is meaningless.
To practice Witchcraft, the witch needs a few tools. They are very much the same since
the dawn of the Old Religion, and are basically simple.
A sword, used for forming magic circles.
A knife, used to guard against evil.
A white-handled knife, used for cutting herbs or heather for the broom with which the
witches sweep the circles clean.
A wand - for small private rituals, such as praying to the Guardian Spirits.
The Pentacle, a five or six-pointed star, used as an amulet, and carried at all times.
A censer - a vessel for burning incense.
Four candlesticks to burn in honor of East, South, West, and North.
The scourge - a knotted rope, used as a symbol of power and of suffering.
The cords -symbolic of the binding quality of the power.
While many of the practices are unknown, some are no longer a secret. Since the witches
believe that the original Wicca came from the East, the altar is placed in the east. In
addition, the witches start from the east when forming the circle. The representatives of
the God and Goddess generally stand in the east, too.
Prayers are made toward the north. In the old days, the witches believed that the North
was the direction of Paradise. It was underground, in a hollow earth, and the northern
lights shone from there.
A circle is purified. The priest and priestess, as representatives of the God and Goddess,
bless cake and wine in a short ceremony. They place a cauldron in the middle of the
circle, and spirit is poured in and ignited. Herbs and flowers are thrown in. The priestess
and priest, standing in a pose that represents the magical pentacle, chant a prayer.
Everyone dances around the cauldron. After that, there is a feast, including the blessed
cake and wine.
The circle represents a sacred place between our world and the world of the gods. It is
drawn with chalk or paint on the floor, or simply drawn as a mark on the carpet. Another
symbolic circle is drawn in the air with a magical knife. The circumference of the circle
is between nine and 11 feet, unless there is a reason for a larger circle, perhaps to include
a larger coven. The inside is blessed and purified, and is considered the gods' domain. It
contains the power inside it, and does not let it dissipate.
Obviously, this is a beautiful, nature oriented, peaceful religion. But if one is not stable
and balanced, the control of magic can be psychologically damaging. An unlimited use of
the power may lead to Satanism. The Satanist has little self control, as Satanism does not
demand it. So he or she is always willing to promise instant, powerful results to those
who seek their aid. Satanism, therefore, is tempting for the new student who is not always
patient, and wants to see quick results. Also, it has drama and style, and is more exciting
than the balanced, controlled way of the Wicca. It glorifies unlimited mental power and
justifies any excess as the natural state of humanity.
For example, an important difference is the way the gods and spirits are treated. To the
witch, everything depends on free will. Even the choice of obeying the Goddess and God
is exactly that - a choice. The price for such liberty is that the Gods do not have to give
the witches what they want, either. If asked, the Gods may answer the request, or they
may decide otherwise. The witch does not expect the requests to be answered regularly.
The favors certainly cannot be demanded, and they are never bartered. There is no such
thing as a sacrifice, for instance. No witch ever thinks - God, if you do such and such for
me, I'll say twenty prayers. Or if you answer my request, I'll give to my favorite charity.
Also, the Gods are never blamed for any natural calamity, such as an earthquake, or a
forest fire. Such things are part of the natural history of the planet, and if the witch suffers
because of it, well, that's the way the world is. The only prayer the witch would say could
be something like: "Dear Mother Goddess, give your daughter the courage and the
strength to bear this calamity." These are not the exact words - they are not available - but
this is the gist of it.
The Satanist, on the other hand, feels the need for control. The entities he approaches, be
it demons or the spirits of the dead, are conjured and commanded to do the magician's
bidding. If the spirit manages to release itself from the spell, it generally turns on the
magicians and destroy them.
However, it must be understood that the power itself is the same whether used by the
witch or by the Satanist. The energy is coming from the same source, and is neither good
nor evil. It's just there, available to those who can use it. The Satanist knows about the
unity of the universe as well as the witch, and conducts his or her magic accordingly.
To put a curse on someone, there must be a link made between the man, the "medicine"
or charm, and the magician. The magician will obtain a few fingernail clips, some hair, or
at least some clothing of the victim and establishes the link. If such objects are not
available, the magician tries to create an artificial link. He will hide a magical object in
the victim's house, or will create a wax image in his likeness. Occasionally, the magician
will create a psychic link by simply declaring the need for it. The energy of magic then
goes through the link as if it were a channel.
While witches have no need to tamper with other religions, the Satanists must. There is
no Satanism without Christianity. As seen in a previous chapter, Satan, or the devil, is a
Catholic creation. There is no real Satanic bible, Satanic code, or Satanic tenet. All that
exist are the reverse of those of the Catholic Church. So the Satanist ritual is a crude and
unpleasant mockery of the Church. Mutilated crucifixes, the Lord's Prayer read
backwards, obscenities inserted into the Bible readings are some of the rituals.
These practices are mainly stupid and lacking in good taste. Unfortunately, Satanists
engage in some other, much more dangerous activities. There is evidence of desecration
of cemeteries, animal mutilation, and even, though rarely, ritualistic murders. While not
everything is known about their cult, there is no doubt that the animal mutilation is a
form of sacrifice. The desecration of cemeteries is done for the purpose of digging out the
dead bodies. The Satanists need the bodies for practicing necromancy.
The power of the Satanists should not be underestimated. Like the witches, they have
psychic powers, and a variety of physical and mental tools. There are incantations and
magic words, which are really a way of setting vibrations in a certain way. They use
wands, rings of power, various herbs, and knives. The clothing is specially designed, with
embroidery of the names of the demons or other forces.
Aleister Crowley was an interesting modern Satanist, living between 1875 and 1947.
Crowley studied the occult from a very young age, with a particular interest in the dark
side of magic. Blood, torture, and mutilation fascinated him. He even neglected to get his
Cambridge degree because of his involvement with magic. For a short while he was part
of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - an organization close in philosophy to
Witchcraft. However, he was rather quickly expelled.
After that, Crowley completely dissociated himself from the Old Religion. It was much
too tame for his taste, which leaned toward the dramatic. He called himself "The Great
Beast" and his services were quite showy. He wore a wardrobe of incredible ritual
garments, had an impressive collection of ceremonial swords and knives, and conducted
the services on a huge altar, decorated with extremely tall, valuable antique candlesticks.
The combination of the opulent surroundings, his magnificent voice, and his extremely
dominant personality made him one of the most famous modern Satanists. For a long
time Crowley had a large following.
Addiction to drugs and heavy drinking, however, destroyed his body as well as his mind.
Still, he left books that may be of interest to the student of modern Witchcraft. Despite
his many problems, Crowley was a very intelligent man and an interesting writer. His
love of the theatrical, however, interfered with the accuracy of his writing. For example,
he was blamed for practicing necromancy and human sacrifice, which in reality he never
did. Not only he did not deny the activities, some people claim he actually started the
rumors - to enhance his reputation as the "Great Beast." So one does not know how
seriously to take some of his statements.
Another interesting Satanist is Anton LaVey. He is the founder of the Church of Satan,
and the author of The Satanic Bible. As said above, it's not really an official bible. It's
really just LaVey's views. He maintains the traditional ideas, though, that Satanism is the
reverse of Christianity. God, to him, represents evil, while Satan, who is good, will
eventually triumph.
Interestingly, LaVey admits that he had never seen Satan. He feels Satan is a mirror
image of humanity. While one can communicate with him, much like the way one
communicates with God, Satan cannot be conjured or summoned any more than God can.
The smaller demons and devils he considers mere dreams and hallucinations. This
interesting approach got him many followers. Most of his success, though, he owes to his
sense of drama, like Crowley, and his ability to manipulate people. His attitude to
Witchcraft is clear. He despises witches and all they stand for, and considers them
hypocrites. Obviously, Satanism has very little to do with Witchcraft, and is best avoided
by the serious student. In addition, it has little to offer by comparison. A little instant
gratification, sure, but not the depth of the Old Religion. It is a much younger religion,
too, a mere few hundreds of years old, while the Old Religion had been here from the
beginning.
In a religion this old, obviously there have been ongoing evolutions, and many
branchings of the roads. It is good and even necessary that it should be so. But still, it is
always important to maintain a balance, as the witches say. So we all benefit if the Old
Religion is kept, at least by some, in its ancient and pure ways. As we are entering the
twenty-first century, we do so with an ecosystem partially destroyed by our own lack of
respect for nature. Perhaps it is time to learn from the ancient Guardians of the Earth.
They can help us restore our planet to its former health and beauty. And then the sad eyes
of the old Shape-Changer, the wise and innocent man/beast whose picture is so
beautifully drawn on the dark walls of Stone Age caves, will no longer accuse us of the
destruction of his beloved domain.
Go to the glossary »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
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Glossary
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.
Alchemy: Medieval forerunner of chemistry, particularly interested in changing base
metals into gold.
Amulet: An object worn as a charm against evil, or for good luck.
Astarte: A Near Eastern fertility goddess.
Astral body: A spiritual body believed to exist apart from the physical body, and to
survive death.
Astrology: The study of the positions and aspect of the heavenly bodies, and how they
influence human affairs.
Athena: The Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare and crafts.
Aura: Electromagnetic field believed to be generated by the human body.
Baba Yaga: A powerful Russian witch.
Coven: An assembly of at least thirteen witches.
Demiurge: A Gnostic deity or demon, who created the material world.
Encantados: Friendly Brazilian spirits. They own the natural world and like to possess
consenting mediums for short periods of time.
Familiar: A spirit who takes an animal form and becomes the companion of a practicing
witch.
Grimoire: A manual of magic spells.
Hallucination: Distorted perception of objects or events, caused by mental disorder or
drug, and appearing extremely real.
Heresy: A religious doctrine that disagrees with the dogma of the Catholic Church.
Iemanja: A Brazilian Sea Goddess.
Incantation: Ritual recitation of spells.
Kabbalah: A body of Jewish mystical teachings.
Karma: The effect of a person's actions during a succession of many lives.
Matriarchal society: A society in which the mother is the head of the family and descent
is traced though the mother's side.
Maypole: A pole decorated with streamers, held by the people dancing around it.
Mithras: The ancient Persian god of light, guardian against evil.
Necromancy: The magic art of communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to
predict the future.
Occult: Relating or dealing with the supernatural.
Parapsychology: The study of telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, and related
subjects.
Pentacle: A five pointed star, an important Wicca symbol.
Possession: The state of being dominated by a spirit.
Puritans: A group of English Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries believed in
strict religious life.
Reincarnation: Rebirth of the soul in a new body.
Sabbat: A periodic gathering of witches.
Satanism: The worship of Satan, characterized by mocking of Christian rites.
Sea Witch: A witch who specializes in controlling the seas or oceans.
Shaman: A member of a tribal society who is a link between the spirit world and the
visible world; also functions as a sorcerer.
Sophia: The Gnostic feminine side of God, and the goddess of light and wisdom.
Spectral Evidence: The activities of ghost or an apparition of the living, accepted at court
as if performed by a real person.
Telepathy: Mind-to-mind communication of thoughts.
Tenet: Principle or body of principles accepted the core of a religion.
Thor: The Norse god of thunder.
Valhalla: The hall of the Norse gods.
Voodoo: A Caribbean religion, based on a mixture of Catholicism and African tribal
religions.
Zeus: The principal god of the Greek pantheon.
Zohar: The principal book of the Jewish Kabbalah.
Zombie: A corpse animated by supernatural power.
Go to the bibliography »
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
home | contact | top © copyright MCMXCV - MMV Encyclopedia Mythica.
All rights reserved.
Featured items
Search
Feedback
Submit Article
Mythology
Folklore
Bestiary
Heroes
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What's new?
Miscellaneous
Pronunciations
Links
Witchcraft
Bibliography
Adler, Margaret. Drawing Down the Moon. Boston: Beacon Press. 1979.
Baskin, Wade. The Sorcerer's Handbook. New York: The Philosophical Library. 1974.
Booth, Sally Smith. The Witches of Early America. New York: Hastings House. 1975.
Davis, Wade. The Serpent and the Rainbow. New York: Warner Books, 1985.
Frazer, James George. Folklore in the Old Testament. New York: Tudor Publishing
Company. 1923.
Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough. New York: Crown Publishers. 1981.
Gardner, Gerald. Witchcraft Today. New York: Magickal childe Publishing, Inc. 1954.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience.
New Jersey: Castle Books. 1991.
Icelandic Folktales I. Ghosts, Witchraft and the Other World. Reykjavic: Icelandic
Review Library. 1977.
Kris, Maria. Witchcraft Past and Present. Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press. 1970.
Leacock, Seth and Ruth. Spirits of the Deep. New York: Doubleday Natural History
Press for the American Museum of Natural History. 1972.
Leek, Sybil. The Complete Art of Witchcraft. New York: Signet. 1973.
Lehmann, Arthur C. and Myers, James E. Magic, Witchcraft, and religion. New York:
Mayfield Publishing Company. 1993.
Levabeck, Brian P. Witchcraft in Early America. New York and London: Carland
Publishing, Inc. 1992.
Luck, Georg. Arcana Mundi. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. 1985.
Mathews, John. A Celtic Reader. Northampton: Thorsons Publishing Group. 1991.
Michelet, Jules. Satanism and Witchcraft. New York: The Citadel Press. 1971.
Schultes, Richard Evans and Hofmann, Albert. Plants of the Gods - Origins of
Hallucinogenic use. New York: Alfred Van Der Mark Editions. 1979.
Schwartz, Howard. Lilith's Cave. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 1988.
Skinner, Charles M. Myth and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits and Plants. Philadelphia
and London: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1911.
Spence, Lewis. Egypt, the Myth and Legend Series. London: Senate, an imprint of Studio
Editions. 1994.
Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. New York: Funk and Wagnalls.
1972.
Summers, Montague. The History of Witchcraft. New York: Barnes & Noble. 1993.
The Enchanted World Series. Chicago: Time Life Books. 1985.
Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco:
HarperColins Publishers. 1983.
Wendt, Herbert. Out of Noah's Ark. London: Readers Union, Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
1959.
Woods, William. A History of the Devil. New York: Berkley Publishing Corporation.
1974.
Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Dawn
3. Early Christianity
4. The Trials
5. Early America
6. Isolated Societies
7. Flora and Fauna
8. Literary Figures
9. Witchcraft Today
a. Glossary
b. Bibliography
home | contact | top © copyright MCMXCV - MMV Encyclopedia Mythica.
All rights reserved.