PAGANISM AND WITCHCRAFT

ARATHIGRACEREJIN JOEL

ANJANA

Paganism

• Literal translation “country dweller"

• Reverence for nature and natural order of life.

• Not religion per say due to absence of doctrine.

• Rejects monotheism.

Wiccan Tradition

• Wiccan tradition appreciates nature

• A system of belief

• Being a witch is to be a seeker, teacher and guide.

• Witchcraft believed not as the worship of Satan as it is viewed today.

Wiccan tradition toWitchcraft

What was Wiccan Tradition?

• wicce or wicca• synonymous to “divination”• earthly religion• foretell future• discover knowledge with the aid of supernatural powers• society without hierarchy• humanity without domination and fear

Advent of Christianity

• Edict of Milan 313 – legalized Christianity• Monotheism

Christian view on Wicca tradition• Wiccan- witchcraft –evil worship• Society of anti-human practices like infanticide, incest,

cannibalism etc.• Church’s contempt for women as cause of all sin (Eve’s sin)• Christianity persuaded society to believe women are more

inclined to evil witchcraft and devil worship especially old women, beautiful women, midwives

• Witchcraft considered monotheist (worshipping Satan), Parody of Church. (Wiccan tradition however was polytheistic)

WHO WERE THE WITCHES?

• Historically, the word "Witch" simply referred to someone with magickal power. Any magick-user might be called a Witch regardless of their religion. There were Catholic Witches, Protestant Witches, and Pagan Witches.

• Unfortunately, historians use the word "Witch" quite differently than most people do. When historians talk about Witches, they generally mean "magickal criminals” or “diabolists”

• Anyone could be accused of Witchcraft. Not even the Pope was safe.

• Most Witches were women. Women made up approximately 80% of the accused.

• Men were more common in the early trials, comprising a third of those accused before 1500.

• Accused Witches came from all religions. The majority appear to have been Christians, a smaller number were Pagan or Christo-Pagan.

• A significant number of Witches were healers, mid-wives, Elderly people, unmarried women and widows

• so mid-wives, magicians, diviners, healers, and scholars were accused.

• Satan was the father of heresy -- so Pagans, Christo-Pagans, and Christian heretics were killed.

• Satan encouraged all evils, especially sexual ones -- so gays, sexually independent women, criminals, and "loose" or beautiful women fell under suspicion.

• All suffering and ugliness was of the Devil, and that made the elderly, the plain, and the handicapped suspect.

Christian influence on witch hunting9th century: witches did not exist .. all witch craft as flying, curses, hexes and such were seen as

delusions and hallucinations. Penalties for healing was mild such as fasting- bread and water.12th century: Cathar movement. were declared heretics. Genocide against them. Pope Innocent

IV papal bull ad exstirpanda.. authorizing use of torture during inquisition.13th century: The popular concept of Witches as evil sorcerers is expanded to include belief that

they swore allegiance to Satan, had sexual relations with the Devil, kidnapped and ate children, etc

Black death. Conspiracy theories. lepers, Jews, Muslims and Witches were accused of poisoning wells and spreading disease.

14th century Major witch huntsRoman Catholic church created an imaginary evil religion, using stereotypes that had circulated

since pre-Christian timesHistorians have speculated that this religiously inspired genocide was motivated by a desire by

the Church to attain a complete religious monopoly they had to invent Witches and demons in order

to explain the existence of evil in the world. This debate, about how an all-good and all-powerful God can coexist in the world with evil is now called Theodicy

15th centuryAccelerated witch huntsBy choosing to give their souls over to the devil witches had committed crimes

against man and against God. The gravity of this double crime classified witchcraft as crimen exceptum, and allowed for the suspension of normal rules of evidence in order to punish the guilty."

Children's testimony was accepted. Essentially unlimited torture was applied to obtain confessions. The flimsiest circumstantial evidence was accepted as proof of guilt.

Martin Luther: This triggered the Protestant Reformation. In Roman Catholic countries, the courts continue to burn witches. In Protestant lands, they were mainly hung. Some Protestant countries did not allow torture

Circa 1550 to 1650: Trials and executions reached a peak during these ten decades, which are often referred to as the "burning times." They were mostly concentrated in eastern France, Germany and Switzerland. Witch persecutions often occurred in areas where Catholics and Protestants were fighting

De Praestigiis Daemonum"(Shipwreck of souls)—Witches did not exist. Satan promoted the belief that it did rejected confessions obtained from torture. Recommended that medical treatment instead of it.

16th century. Friedrich Spee von Langenfield, a Jesuit priest, wrote "Cautio

criminalis" (Circumspection in Criminal Cases). He condemned the witch hunts and persecution in Wurzburg, Germany. He wrote that the accused confessed only because they were the victims of sadistic tortures.

17th century witch hunting slowly died down. Very few trials. Execution was stopped.

18th century -19th centuryLinking neo pagan religions and nature based religions which

went against Christianity to Satan worshipping witches.

Malleus maleficarum (hammer of the witches)

It is a fascinating study of the authors' misogyny and sexual frustration. It describes the activities of Witches, the methods of extracting confessions.

Heinrich Kramer, a German Catholic clergyman

The Malleus Maleficarum asserts that three elements are necessary for witchcraft: the evil intentions of the witch, the help of the Devil, and the Permission of God. The treatise is divided into three sections, each one aimed at different audiences.

1. The first section is aimed at clergy and tries to refute critics who deny the reality of witchcraft, thereby hindering its prosecution. Theology and philosophical viewpoint on witchcraft. Must be real since the devil was real.

2. The second has no specific audience and seems to exist simply to lay the foundation for the next section. It describes the actual forms of witchcraft and its remedies. The powers, how they cast spells and how to protect oneself from witchcraft and sorcery.

3. The third section is to assist judges confronting and combating witchcraft, and to aid the inquisitors by removing the burden from them. How to conduct witch trials, methods of interrogation and torture.

Widespread due to advent of Gutenberg printing press.Soon considered to be false.

Methods of Persecution

Swimming test

• Derived from “trial by water”

• Prayer test• Touch test• Witch’s mark• Pricking and scratching tests

INSTRUMENTS

• Bootikens

• The pear

• TurcasFollowed by sticking pins or needles into

the raw and exposed skin of the fingers.

• Pincers

• Crushing• Stoning

• Strappado

• Burning• Hanging

References• http://www.patheos.com/Library/Pagan• http://www.paganspath.com/magik/pagan.• https://wicca.com/celtic/wicca/wicca.htm• http://www.witchway.net/wicca/what4.html• Ellerbe, H. (n.d.). The witch hunts : the end of magic and miracles.

Retrieved from The Nazaren Way of Essenic studies: http://www.nazareneway.com/dark_side_of_christian_history.htm

• Spring Wolf. (2008, November). The creation of modern witchcraft. Retrieved from Spring Wolf : http://www.paganspath.com/magik/createwitchcraft.htm

• Taniquetil, A. (1999). History of modern wicca. Retrieved from Sacred Well Congregation: sacredwell.org/wicca.html