#witch-cult

[witchboxco]

Wicca is Not an Ancient Religion

It always surprises me how few people know that Wicca is not an ancient religion. The revival of witchcraft originated in early 20th century England amongst a number of secretive covens. These covens believed in a (since discredited) hypothesis that the witch trials of early modern Europe had been a response to an underground coven called the "Witch-Cult," which they thought to be an ancient coven of Pagan witches that survived the Christianization of Europe. This hypothesis was popularized by the writings of anthropologist Margaret Murray, but it has since been debunked by modern scholars.

Due to various social, economic, and religious factors in the middle of the 20th century, covens in England started to pick up momentum, and the practice of witchcraft started to gain visibility. The person who brought it into the public eye was Gerald Gardner. An Englishman and retired civil servant with a shock of white hair and piercing eyes, he certainly looked the part. According to Gardner, in a secretive ritual in in September 1939, he was initiated by the New Forest coven in southern England, which he believed to have origins in the Witch-Cult. From there, Gardner formed his own coven, Wicca gained publicity worldwide, and it has since been one of the fastest growing religions on earth.

However, amongst many other academics who specialize in early modern Europe, Professor Ronald Hutton argues that the New Forest Cult was not ancient, and was, in fact, founded in the 20th century by various witchcraft practitioners who were inspired by Margaret Murray's writings and wished to revive what they incorrectly believed to be an ancient religion. In support of Hutton's argument, it is worth noting that those who were accused of witchcraft in early modern Europe were not witches at all. They were usually people who were outcasts, dissidents, or seen as strange in some way.

Despite the historical facts not aligning, the Witch-Cult hypothesis still lives on, and you'll often see it repeated in Wiccan books. Wicca, rather, is psuedohistorical; it does have some elements of pre-Christian witchcraft, but it is not a singular ancient tradition passed down through the centuries from coven to coven as the Witch-Cult hypothesis claims.

[lailoken]

"Magic is Not for All"

“It is a simple fact that not all people are Initiates. Magick is not for all . Admittedly, in a theoretical sense, Magick all people use it if only in an unconscious manner. This is no more than theoretical speculation aimed at a rosy picture of the world in which everyone is equal. The plain truth is that Magick is practised only by the few, even amongst occultists.

Such assertions might well lead to the conclusion that I am advocating a form of Spiritual Elitism and perhaps this is so. It is not so much that I am advocating it, but merely stating the facts which so many modern 'occultists’ attempt to ignore or whitewash over with their New Age egalitarian morals. Beyond the artificial hierarchical structures of temporal society and the spiritual hierarchies of many occult factions there is a small body of True Initiates; not necessarily the Secret Chiefs or Hidden Masters but people who have become the Magick which they practice. It is not for me to say whether or not such ‘True Initiates' are members of some hidden sodality , but it is perhaps a useful part of magical practice for us to believe 'as if’ they were, for such a belief gives an aggregate cohesion between the Adepts of every Path and so in turn may lead us to a convergent source for all Magick.

Apart from the egalitarian fallacy of the New Age there is also a good deal of nonsense regarding the term 'traditional'. The whole spectrum of occult paths is beset with 'genuine traditional teachers' and the like. Such over-sincerity smacks of simple falsehood, but it is nonetheless useful in obscuring the Real Traditions from the exploitation of the gullible masses. But what are these 'Real Traditions’? In discussing the 'Real Traditions’ I can only speak from personal experience, which is as valid or as invalid as that of the next charlatan. But so far as I am concerned, I would consider myself to practice the Traditional Sorcery of the Witch's Sabbat. Some may think that such a claim is too outlandish or obscure to prove or disprove.

The term 'Traditional' is normally confined to some sense of historical continuity with a specific emphasis upon an oral or theophanic teaching which is passed on from person to person over successive generations. This is a useful definition when applied to the native practices of Magick within primitive societies where, for instance, each generation has its spiritual guide or Shaman. But when applied to Traditional European Witchcraft it has numerous problems in attaining credible authenticity. There have been many claims by modern witches to ‘Traditional’ or 'Hereditary' authenticity but there is no definitive or concrete evidence to build an acceptable historical picture of the traditional Witch Cult—or so most historians say. The problem is that we cannot penetrate the historical veneer of the Inquisition and the Malleus Maleficarum; our viewpoint is constantly clouded by the Christo-mythologized history of the world. But we cannot simply discard the possibility of the Witch-Cult's traditional continuity because it is nigh impossible to prove.

To my mind there is enough evidence for us to believe 'as if’ the Witch-Cult has always existed. Firstly, there a continuous stream of magical symbolism throughout European history, obviously varying from region to region and from period to period but nonetheless possessing a degree of consistency for us to believe in the existence of a magical tradition. Secondly, this may be backed up by the archaeological evidence for the continuous use of magical charms for many hundreds of years e.g., witch bottles, wax or clay effigies, Witch's Ladders of knots, hex marks on buildings etc. This at least seems to infer the existence of a magico-ritualistic tradition of beliefs at a 'folk' level if not at the level of an organized cult.

None can deny that the idea of an ancient and secret cult surviving throughout the millennia is a fascination and is something in which we would like to believe; we may dismiss it as another symptom of the modern penchant for conspiratorial theories or perhaps see it as an intuitive hunch. Regardless, many believe 'as if’ it were the Truth. I would go further and suggest that it is this very 'as if’ belief which has existed for millennia; do not most societies possess their devils, sorcerers etc., and it is this very belief in such things which has reified itself in the reality of Witchcraft Today. Whether or not the Cult has always existed is perhaps immaterial. Yet the belief in its antiquity is an integral and necessary facet of our present magick. I have encountered Witchcraft practices of both a traditional and a hereditary nature but cannot conclusively prove this using acceptable historical evidence, and so my experience is only strictly valid within the field of my own life and within the lives of those who might trust my word. So for the sake of giving some authenticity to my own claims of Traditional Witchcraft I must offer an alternative definition of 'Tradition’. Without doubt there is historical evidence for continuous magical folk beliefs throughout European History and there is an 'as if’ belief in the existence of Witches and Sorcerers etc., but for myself the tradition of the Witch-Cult is not simply one of oral, theophanic, 'apostolic' or hereditary succession. It is rather an atavistic tradition — it is not necessarily a continuous lineage of Initiates but more a periodic and metempsychotic resurgence of Witch-Blood. It possesses a degree of historical continuity in that its Teachings are more or less consistent in their principles from Practitioner to Practitioner, but it is not wholly dependant upon visible or temporal means of perpetuation.

I would assert that the Secret Tradition of Sorcery exists as both a Reality and as a Belief. Its Reality is in the fact that in every century certain men and women are born with an innate knowledge and passion for the Arte Magical, far outreaching that of their contemporaries. Its belief lies in the minds of everyone; in the myths of clandestine sabbats and ancient primeval cults; in the collective fantasies of Gods, Demi-Gods and devils. The Belief held in the minds of the Many has its realization in the Flesh of the Few.

In the End as in the Beginning: Magick is not for all.”

—

Opuscula Magica

Volume 2: Essays on Witchcraft and Crooked Path Sorcery

by Andrew D. Chumbley

[666devilworship666-blog]

The Black Witch-Cult Of The Devil Worshippers . . . .

The concept of a Witch-Cult as defined by Margaret Murray in her book The Witch Cult In Western Europe has long been debunked, the idea that an organized Cult of Witches could have been maintained throughout European countries never likely . . . but I am an Atavistic Viewer of sorts with an empathic sense of the past culturally and I am certain that a Witch-Cult did exist among those who were Black Witches honouring the Devil and carrying out the Blackest of Unholy Rites. This was not organized in the sense that Murray recounted but rather on a Spiritual level, the Call of the Devil being answered by those in many lands such as England, Italy, France, Germany and Spain, I have seen this in past life visions, have felt it on an empathic level in various locations. I am speaking here of isolated practicing lone Witches and small Covens meeting at secret places to carry out the Workings so vividly portrayed by such painters as Goya. There are many who now refute this, even the modern day Witchcraft movement of Wicca who so hate any connections being made between the words Witchcraft and Diabolism . . . but this link existed. Of cause many Witches offered their Worship to Nature Gods and Goddesses of the lands they were born and brought up in, but those who believe there were no Witches delving into the practices of Devilry are mistaken. These Witches were the prototypes of the later Classical Devil Worshippers spoken of in history such as La Voison, Madame de Monstespan and the infamous Priest Guibourg during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. Devil Worship has never been completely eradicated, even after the horrors of the Witch-Craze it still existed in the underground chambers of Devil Worshipping Satanists, the secret Covens of Diabolic Witches and in the hearts of the lone Practitioners who kept alive this Darkest of Practices . . . it is said by some that the Famous Frenchman Gilles de Rais (who fought alongside Joan of Arc) was a Devil Worshipper and Necromancer, then we have strange affair of the Salem Witch Trials in North America 1692, which although motivated by many other aspects may well have had an underlying foundations of real Witchcraft at its core. Over the years Painters such as Goya and Norton, early film makers such Benjamin Christensen with his infamous Silent Movie Haxan (1922), novelists such as Dennis Wheatley and Joris Karl Huysmans and very recently the Film Director Robert Eggers with his 2015 Horror film offering The Witch have all perpetuated the dark aesthetic of the concept of Diabolic Witchcraft. This is history is long and its legends far reaching because there are roots to all of these Mysteries . . . as someone who has delved into the Black Arts of Devil Worship for many years and seen the powerful results of such practices and reached deep into the realms of Darkness and Communed with the Devil and other Spirits of His Dominion I have experienced these roots first hand. I can go no further than that for now other than saying that the old adage ‘no smoke without fire’ is often proven to be true!

Source of Picture: Francisco Goya

[blackdionysus]

Can someone tell me what all was wrong with Margaret Murray’s Witch-Cult hypotheses? I’m not good with history at all so while I’m seeing things that look good and things that don’t, I don’t know shit 

[wwalab]

[fiatlux93]

History of the theory of the Witch-cult

History of the theory

"Magic Circle" by John William Waterhouse, 1886

[edit]Pre-Murray

Witchcraft and witches were again popularized in 18th century Romanticism, which was in part a counter-movement to the Enlightenment.

In 1749, the Italian Girolamo Tartarotti made the claim that the religion persecuted in the witch-hunt was largely influenced by pagan traditions and iconography, though he did not claim that it was a pagan religion itself.[7] He did this in his 1749 treatise De Congresso Notturno Delle Lammie (On the Nocturnal Meeting of Witches), expanded in 1751 as the book Apologia del Congresso Notturno Delle Lammie (Defense of the Nocturnal Meeting of Witches), which defended his argument in the light of criticism.

In 1828, the German Karl Ernst Jarcke, a Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Berlin, was the first to claim that the religion persecuted in the witch hunt was not Satanic, but was in fact pagan in origin,[7] but he only added it in a brief commentary to the records of a German witch trial that were being published in a professional journal.[8] Jarcke's claim was that paganism had lingered on amongst the peasants after Christianisation, and that it had then been declared Satanism by the Church. He further theorised that the pagan religion evolved into Satanism, with the horned deity being considered to be Satan by its followers.[9]

Jarcke's theories were taken up and adapted by another German, Franz-Josef Mone in 1839. Mone was a staunch Roman Catholic and also a Germanic romanticist, and disagreed that the pagan cult (which he believed had involved human sacrifice and nocturnal orgies) had been Germanic in origin, but must have been Hellenic instead, based upon the mystery cults that had been brought to Germany by Greek slaves.[8]

1899 cover of Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches

In 1844 Jacob Grimm, one of the Brothers Grimm, made the claim that "the early modern image of the witch was a conflation of pagan traditions with later mediaeval stereotypes of heresy"; however, he did not claim that the witch cult had actually been a pagan religion.[7]

In 1862, French historian Jules Michelet published La Sorcière (The Witch), in which he adapted the theory further. Michelet, who was a liberal and who despised both the Roman Catholic Church and absolute monarchies, claimed that the Witch Cult had been practised by the peasants in opposition to Roman Catholicism, which was practised by the upper classes.[10] He claimed that the witches had been mostly women (he greatly admired the feminine gender, once claiming that it was the superior of the two), and that they had been great healers, whose knowledge was the basis of much of modern medicine.[11] He believed that they worshipped the god Pan, who had become equated with the Christian figure of the Devil over time.[12] When Michelet's La Sorciere was first published in France, it was, according to historian Ronald Hutton, "greeted with silence from French literary critics, apparently because they recognised that it was not really history".[11]

In 1893, an American woman, Matilda Joslyn Gage, published Woman, Church and State, in which she claimed that in the prehistoric world, humanity had been matriarchal, worshipping a great Goddess, and that the witches of the witch cult had been pagan priestesses preserving this religion.[13]

In 1897, the English scholar Karl Pearson, who was the professor of Applied Mathematics at University College London and an amateur historian and anthropologist, expanded on Michelet's theory. Pearson agreed with the theory of a prehistoric matriarchal society, and concured with Gage that the witch-cult was a survival of it. Pearson theorised that during the Christian era, the religion became focused around a male deity, which was then equated with the Christian Devil. Pearson also made the claim that Joan of Arc had been of the last few priestesses of the religion. He was, however, unlike Michelet or Gage, opposed to the group and to Goddess worship in general, believing that it was primitive and savage.[14]

Charles Leland was an American folklorist and occultist who travelled around Europe in the latter 19th century and was a supporter of Michelet's theories. In 1899 he published Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, which he claimed had been a sacred text for Italian witches. It made no mention of a horned god, but did mention a male deity known as Lucifer, as well as a female deity, the goddess Diana. Leland's work would provide much of the inspiration for the neopagan witchcraft religion of Stregheria.

from wiki