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Witchcraft in Preliterate Societies

Witchcraft in Preliterate Societies. Functions as a common and socially accepted way of managing tension resolving social conflict leveling disparities in wealth and status explaining the otherwise unexplainable. Saul and the Witch of Endor Cornelisz Jacob van Oostsanen (1470-1533).

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Witchcraft in Preliterate Societies

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  1. Witchcraft in Preliterate Societies Functions as a common and socially accepted way of • managing tension • resolving social conflict • leveling disparities in wealth and status • explaining the otherwise unexplainable

  2. Saul and the Witch of Endor Cornelisz Jacob van Oostsanen (1470-1533) Jacob CORNELISZ VAN OOSTSANEN

  3. The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul William Blake (1757-1827) Apparition of the Spirit of Samuel to SaulSalvator Rosa (1615-1673)

  4. Witchcraft in European History was part of the Church’s efforts to stamp out heterodoxy and heresy • witchcraft was a response to social upheavals related to both religious and political changes • witchcraft was dealt with in a similar manner to the ways that the Church dealt with other non-sanctioned beliefs

  5. Rome Becomes Catholic • 313 – Constantine issues Edict of Toleration Christians no longer persecuted • 346 – Christianity becomes official religion of Rome • 379 –Emperor Theodosius accedes to the throne

  6. Catholicism Made Exclusive 380 – general decree against heretics It is our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans… Theodosian Code, XVI, 1, 2

  7. Catholicism Made Exclusive We command that those persons who follow this rule shall embrace the name of Catholic Christians. The rest, however, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative, which We shall assume in accordance with the divine judgment. Theodosian Code, XVI, 1, 2

  8. Other Beliefs Restricted • 388 – Intermarriage between Jews and Christians prohibited • 392 – traditional pagan religion prohibited • 429-439 – app. 150 laws issued defending and defining the Catholic faith • 438 – gladiatorial combat prohibited

  9. Arian controversy • Since the Son and the Holy Spirit were created by God the Father, they must be subordinate to him • Visigoths converted from paganism to Arianism because of first contact Arius (250 or 256 – 336)

  10. Arian controversy • Roman acceptance of Catholicism thus linked to rejection of Barbarians • Not resolved until ca. 500, when the Franks converted from paganism to Catholicism

  11. Albigensian Heresy • Followed Manichean ideas • the world as a place of constant struggle between a God of good and a God of evil • God of good = God of New Testament • God of evil = God of Old Testament • 1207 – Pope Innocent proclaims a Crusade against them

  12. The Inquisition • Permanent tribunal established in 1231 by Pope Gregory IX to combat heresy • Removed pursuit of heretics from bishops and entrusted this to the Dominicans and Franciscans

  13. Excommunicamus(February 1231) • Life imprisonment as a salutary penance for repentant heretics • Capital punishment for unrepentant heretics • Right of appeal to Pope denied (there were other informal possibilities)

  14. Tribunals • Headed by two judges (Inquisitors) • Initially a circuit court • Later acquired the power to summon accused persons to them

  15. Tribunal Procedures • A judge could bring charges against anyone, based on mere rumor • Accused was obliged to take an oath to tell the truth

  16. Tribunal Procedures • Accused did not know who the witnesses for the prosecution were and no opportunity to challenge or confront them • Defendant’s sole tactic was to reveal the names of his or her enemies

  17. Tribunal Procedures • Testimony for the prosecution was accepted from criminals, excommunicated persons, and other heretics • Lawyers and clerks were not allowed to defend an accused person, lest they be regarded as accomplices

  18. Tribunal Procedures • Individuals were summoned at home by the parish priest, who repeated the summons at High Mass the following Sunday • Accused questioned by the court with two witnesses present

  19. Tribunal Procedures • Accused was given a summary of charges against him/her • Refusal to take an oath to tell the truth was taken as a presumption of guilt • Testimony of two witnesses (who must agree) was sufficient proof

  20. Minor Infringements • Scourging, which included an obligation to appear in church, rod in hand, for public scourging • Pilgrimages • Wearing the “cross of infamy” (of yellow cloth) on the front and back of outer clothes

  21. Major Infringements • Life imprisonment – often commuted for lack of funds or enthusiasm • Capital punishment – public burning, carried out by secular authorities

  22. Famous Victims • Giordano Bruno – executed 16 Feb., 1600 • for teaching Copernicus’ ideas (and other crimes) • Galileo Galilei – condemned in 1632 for teaching Copernicus’ ideas, placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life (died 1642)

  23. The “Great Witch Craze” • 15th – 17th centuries • Widely varying estimates of numbers of victims • fewer than 100,000 to more than 500,000 • Associated with Black Death and with Reformation and other similar movements, i.e., times of social stress and crisis

  24. “Witches” • Usually elderly women, often widowed • Typically of poor and low status • Quarrelsome, assertive, argumentative, willing to verbally defend herself • Midwives and similar occupations

  25. “Witches” • Most were marginal and/or ambiguous figures • Woman as “temptress” • Men rarely accused • Relatives of female suspects • Criminals

  26. Salem Witchcraft Craze (1692-3)

  27. Witches are women

  28. Spanish Inquisition • Established in 1478 by Pope Sixtus IV • Replaced earlier Inquisition • Was an instrument to aid in the Reconquista

  29. Spanish Inquisition • Non-Christians were given the choice of • Expulsion • Conversion (anusim, “forced converts”; Hebrew) • Gained in influence when the Reconquista achieved its goal of reconquering Moslem-held territories • Spain 1492 • Portugal 1497

  30. Three Principle Targets • Moriscos – Moslems • Conversos, aka marranos, “pigs” – Jews who had converted to Christianity • Alumbrados – mystics from all 3 religions

  31. Spanish Inquisition • Exported to the Americas, where it was especially focused on indigenous peoples • Franciscan strategy in California known as reducción • Missions secularized by Mexico in 1827 • Permanently suppressed on 15 July, 1834

  32. Who are the “Witches” of Today? • People of different cultures & religions • Members of non-mainstream religions • Groups and individuals who do not conform to majority views • “Conservatives”, “Liberals”, “tea baggers”, • And?

  33. Warning Signs of a “Bad Religion” • The organization is willing to place itself above the law (probably the most important characteristic). • The leadership dictates (rather than suggests) important personal (as opposed to spiritual) details of followers' lives, such as whom to marry, what to study in college, etc. • The leader sets forth ethical guidelines members must follow but from which the leader is exempt. • The group is preparing to fight a literal, physical Armageddon against other human beings. • The leader regularly makes public assertions that he or she knows is false and/or the group has a policy of routinely deceiving outsiders.

  34. So Watch Out! For easy women… And cult leaders! Time Magazine December 4, 1978

  35. Wicca Cynthya Jensen, Ph.D. March 21, 2013

  36. Nin-khur-sag Figurine of Astarte with a horned headdress Connected with fertility, sexuality and war. Known as Aphrodite and Artemis in Greece. Venus to the Romans and Ashteroth in the Hebrew Bible. Her symbol is the crescent moon, which is depicted in this picture and is used as a symbol in today’s Wicca. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte#Astarte_in_Judah

  37. Enki • Enki was considered a god of life and replenishment, and was often depicted with two streams of water emanating from his shoulders, one the Tigris, the other the Euphrates. • Alongside him were trees symbolizing the female and male aspects of nature, each holding the female and male aspects of the 'Life Essence', which he, as apparent alchemist of the gods, would masterfully mix to create several beings that would live upon the face of the earth. Also known as Neptune. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enki

  38. Goddesses from Around the World Old Babylonian period “Ishtar, Queen of Night” relief. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar

  39. Goddesses from Around the World • This is Inanna on the Ishtar Vase in the French Museum Louvre. • She was the Queen of Heaven, Goddess of Love, War, Fertility and Lust • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna

  40. Goddesses from Around the World • Venus of Wellendorf, estimated to have been carved 24,000-22,000 BCE • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess#Sumerian.2C_Mesopotamian.2C_and_Greek

  41. Goddesses from Around the World • The Venus of Dolni Vestonice, one of the earliest known depictions of the human body, dates to approximately 29,000-25,000 (Gravettian culture of the Upper Paleolithic era) • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess#Sumerian.2C_Mesopotamian.2C_and_Greek

  42. Goddesses from Around the World • Statuette of Mut, mother, often interpreted as representing one of the earliest mother goddesses of Egypt • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess#Sumerian.2C_Mesopotamian.2C_and_Greek

  43. Goddesses from Around the World • Roman view of Isis – Worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patron of nature and magic. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess#Sumerian.2C_Mesopotamian.2C_and_Greek

  44. Goddesses from Around the World • The goddess Isis • She is portrayed as a woman wearing a headdress shaped like a throne, sometimes she is also shown with birds wings. • She is the Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis

  45. Goddesses from Around the World • Goddess Durga as seen as the supreme mother goddess by some Hindus. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess#Sumerian.2C_Mesopotamian.2C_and_Greek

  46. Triple Goddess The Greek goddess Hekate • Portrayed in triplicate, representing the maiden, mother and crone. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_deities#Triple_goddesses

  47. Triple Goddess • The Tridevi – the conjoined forms of Lakshmi, Parvati and Saraswati (triple goddesses), again representing the maiden, mother and crone. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess#Sumerian.2C_Mesopotamian.2C_and_Greek

  48. American Goddess Statue of Freedom (Columbia) Sits on top of the Capital Building in Washington, D.C.

  49. American Goddess Statue of Liberty Welcomes Immigrants to the United States Sacred Image of American Power

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