III. History- Outbreak of Hunts
The 1200s were a slow time, but it was a time that solidified the popular stereotype of the witch.
These ideas worked through the religious beliefs of the Devil. Witches were women who worked in pacts under the devil, had sex with demons, and ate children and stole man’s seeds (Russell 62).
Witches were believed to meet up in Sabbats, where there was “various forms of immoral activity” (Ancient Mysteries: Witches). They were believed to be lots of promiscuous sex as well as the feasting of newborn babies.
This idea of the Sabbat reflected all of society’s values. The most immoral behavior- sex, dancing, child murder- took place in these historical meetings. And all of them were projected onto women, which just showed how people thought of women in those times as “daughters of Eve”.
In the 14th century, the Black Death broke out all throughout Europe. Thousands died, and fear broke out. There was no scientific explanation of disease back then, and as a result, people believed that the black plague was the work of the devil. The Church established the Inquisition to target all of those heretics in association with the Devil as a means of fighting back (Ancient Mysteries: Witches).
Witchcraft was already associated with the Devil, so by the 15th century, witch-hunts grew and witches were persecuted for heresy (Russell 72).
By the mid- 1400s, the use of torture on accused witches was commonplace and produced many new stereotypes and ideas. People confessed to flying, controlling the weather, and casting spells under torture of the Inquisition (Ravensdale 59).
It should be noted how witchhunts were driven by the belief of the Devil, not necessarily on the evils of magic. Certain levels of sorcery were always present in society, but those accused of witchcraft were thought to be practicing forms threatening to the Gods of their time.
The Romani people, the “G*psies” were a group “dark- skinned, nomads” who came to Europe around this time (Guilley 146). They were polytheistic practitioners of the magic arts who were rumored to come from Eygpt, and therefore a threat to the dominant European religion. They were also branded as “witches” and then exiled, executed, and deported. The racism against them was solidified in 1530 when it became “unlawful” to be a G*psy (Guilley 147).
There was also an undeniable level of misogyny. In 1484, the Malleus Maleficarum stated that women were weak, inherently evil creatures, and therefore more susceptible to the Devil’s evil.
“What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colours… I have found a woman more bitter than death, and good woman subject to carnal lust.
Other again have propounded other reasons why there are more superstitious women found than men. And the first is, that they are more credulous; and since the chief aim of the devil is to corrupt faith, therefore he rather attacks them.”
In addition to these descriptions, the “Malleus Malifcarum” gave a direct guide on how to torture and get confessions from these women.
Women who were accused were most often women who did not fit the roles placed on them by society. They were widows, single women, deformed women and women in the most vulnerable positions. Women did not have much political or financial power, so there was little helping them once they were accused (Russell 113).
Women also accused other women as a result of misogyny. When accusing someone, the accuser was given attention and listened to. This was a rare occurrence for many women in those times, and accusing other women ironically empowered them. This form of empowerment took place in the Salem Witch Trials in addition to the underlying political schandal; the girls doing the accusing were receiving attention and credibility that teenage girls in the seventeenth century were not given (Ancient Mysteries: Witches)
In this specific trial, the girls claimed they were taught voodoo by their slavewoman. The establishment of Voodoo was a result of racism of those times in America. West Africans were brought to Haiti, the Carribean islands, and Saint Dominigue to become slaves for white plantation owners. Slaves came from many different regions and beliefs, but their beliefs flourished into one called Voodoo (Guiley 349).
This new religion scared white plantation owners, and they saw these new gods and traditions as a challenge to their own. Others believed that these religions were a result of black slaves inherent “animalistic” nature, and it was their white savior duty to save them with their religion. They forced Christianity onto their slaves, and severely punished those found practicing Voodoo. Those found disobeying were mutilated, sexually disfigured, and burried alive (Guilley 350).
However, these threats did not stop the Voodoo followers. They practiced Christianity in front of their masters, but used Voodoo in private. They even incorporated Christian hymns and words into their religion to hide as well as enrich Voodoo.
Voodoo continued and spread throughout America and around the world, as did many other forms of witchcraft and magic beliefs.
