A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 executions.[a][1] The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today.
In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of intimidating political opponents.[2] It can also involve elements of moral panic[3] or mass hysteria.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt
Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes,[1] specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456.[2]
In 1597, King James VI and I published a treatise, Daemonologie, a philosophical dissertation describing contemporary necromancy and the historical relationships between the various methods of divination used in black magic. This book is believed to be one of the main sources used by William Shakespeare in the production of Macbeth.
During his period of scholarship, A. E. Waite provided a comprehensive account of black magic practices, rituals and traditions in The Book of Ceremonial Magic (1911).[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_magic
Daemonologie—in full Daemonologie, In Forme of a Dialogue, Divided into three Books: By the High and Mighty Prince, James &c.—was first published in 1597[1] by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) as a philosophical dissertation on contemporary necromancy and the historical relationships between the various methods of divination used from ancient black magic. It was reprinted again in 1603 when James took the throne of England. The widespread consensus is that King James wrote Daemonologie in response to sceptical publications such as Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft.[2]
Daemonologie included a study of demonology and the methods demons used to bother troubled men. The book endorses the practice of witch hunting.
This book is believed to be one of the main sources used by William Shakespeare in the production of Macbeth. Shakespeare attributed many quotes and rituals found within the book directly to the Weird Sisters, yet also attributed the Scottish themes and settings referenced from the trials in which King James was involved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemonologie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible
Maleficium (plural: maleficia) as a Latin term, "An act of witchcraft performed with the intention of causing damage or injury; the resultant harm." In general, the term applies to any magical act intended to cause harm or death to people or property. Its modern spelling comes from "Early 17th century; earliest use found in George Abbot (1562–1633), archbishop of Canterbury. From classical Latin maleficium evil deed, injury, sorcery from maleficus + -ium". In general, the term applies to any magical act intended to cause harm or death to people or property.[1]
Maleficium can involve the act of poisoning or drugging someone.[2] Practitioners of maleficium are not exclusively females despite depictions in popular culture.[1] Those accused of maleficium were punished by being imprisoned or even executed.[3] Maleficium also used the practice of torture and it was generally considered to be performed through the power of the Devil.[2]
Historical opinion of maleficium had been traditionally dismissive, best represented by Hugh Trevor-Roper's comment in 1969 that witchcraft beliefs were little more than 'elementary village credulities'.[4] However, a series of influential works by Keith Thomas and Alan Macfarlane opened up an avenue of historical analysis on popular beliefs surrounding magic and maleficia. There were different charges of maleficium that were placed due to suspicion. Lewis and Russell stated, "Maleficium was a threat not only to individuals but also to public order, for a community wracked by suspicions about witches could split asunder".[5]
"Sorcery, the practice of malevolent magic, derived from casting lots as a means of divining the future in the ancient Mediterranean world".[6] Most scholars always[weasel words] assume that sorcery as a whole is always malevolent, but that witchcraft can be good or evil. Usually, the sorcerer and sorcery are feared by society.[citation needed]
During the 14th century, sorcery was more connected with cultures in India and Africa. A person that performs sorcery is referred to as a sorcerer, and they are thought of as someone who tries to reshape the world through the occult. Sorcerers were feared and respected throughout many societies and used many practices to achieve their goals. "Witches or sorcerers were usually feared as well as respected, and they used a variety of means to attempt to achieve their goals, including incantations (formulas or chants invoking evil spirits), divination and oracles (to predict the future), amulets and charms (to ward off hostile spirits and harmful events), potions or salves, and dolls or other figures (to represent their enemies)".[5]
Sorcery was also thought to sometimes rely on idols or old pagan gods, demons or the devil to get its power. Practitioners sometimes did this by performing rituals. One of the rituals that they performed was the slaughtering of an animal in a field to promote fertility. Sorcerers would do this with the assisted help or power of a god, a demon, or the devil.
During the 13th century, sorcery was involved in many deaths. They were thought to be done with magic, but were usually a result of poisoning. In 1324, there was a very famous case involving a series of events caused by sorcery in Ireland. Author George Melton wrote, "Lady Alice Kyteller was charged with performing magical rites, having sexual intercourse with demons, attempting to divine the future, and poisoning her first three husbands. In the Malleus Maleficarum (1486, "The Hammer of Witches"), the famous witch-hunter's manual, Dominicans Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger associated the practice of sorcery with a group of "witches" who allegedly practiced Satanism".[6] After this, many believed that magic had to deal with the devil rather than other gods and spirits.
In the Byzantine Empire astrologers (Lat. mathematici) were considered magical wrongdoers and so were heretics.[7]
The term appears in several historically important texts, notably in the Formicarius (printed 1475) and in the Malleus Maleficarum (1487).[citation needed]
The Knights Templar were accused by Philip IV of France of maleficium. The trial of the Knights Templar set a social standard for the popular belief in maleficium and witchcraft that contributed to the great European witch hunts.[8][page needed] In early New England, more men would get accused of such maleficium that was "non-malefic".[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleficium_(sorcery)
The Malleus Maleficarum,[2] usually translated as the Hammer of Witches,[3][a] is the best known treatise purporting to be about witchcraft.[6][7] It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinized name Henricus Institor) and first published in the German city of Speyer in 1486. Some describe it as the compendium of literature in demonology of the 15th century. Kramer blamed women for his own lust, and presented his views as the Church's position. The book was condemned by top theologians of the Inquisition at the Faculty of Cologne for recommending unethical and illegal procedures, and for being inconsistent with Catholic doctrines of demonology.
The Malleus calls sorcery heresy, which was a crime at the time, and recommends that secular courts prosecute it as such. The Malleus suggests torture to get confessions and death as the only certain way to end the "evils of witchcraft." When it was published, heretics were often sentenced to be burned alive at the stake[8] and the Malleus suggested the same for "witches." Despite, or perhaps because of, being condemned by the church, the Malleus was popular for a time among laypeople.
In 1519, a new author was added, Jacob Sprenger. Historians have questioned why since this was 33 years after the book's first printing, and 24 years after Sprenger died. Kramer wrote the Malleus after he was expelled from Innsbruck by the local bishop. Kramer was accused of illegal behavior and because of Kramer's obsession with the sexual habits of the accused, Helena Scheuberin during a trial. The other tribunal members suspended her trial.
The book was later revived by royal courts during the Renaissance, and contributed to the increasingly brutal prosecution of witchcraft during the 16th and 17th centuries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum
Summis desiderantes affectibus (Latin for "desiring with supreme ardor"), sometimes abbreviated to Summis desiderantes[1][2] was a papal bull regarding witchcraft issued by Pope Innocent VIII on 5 December 1484.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summis_desiderantes_affectibus
Belief in witchcraft in Europe can be traced to classical antiquity and has continuous history during the Middle Ages, culminating in the Early Modern witch trials and giving rise to the fairy tale and popular culture "witch" stock character of modern times, as well as to the concept of the "modern witch" in Wicca and related movements of contemporary witchcraft.
In medieval and early modern Europe, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used magic to cause harm and misfortune to members of their own community. Witchcraft was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings, such as a "Deal with the Devil". It was believed witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by the cunning folk. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or lynched. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished if found guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions - almost always of women who did not practice witchcraft.[citation needed] European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.
The topic is a complex amalgamation of the practices of folk healers, folk magic, ancient belief in sorcery in pagan Europe, Christian views on heresy, medieval and early modern practice of ceremonial magic and simple fiction in folklore and literature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_witchcraft
"Witch" stock character
The characterization of the witch in Europe is not derived from a single source. The familiar witch of folklore and popular superstition is a combination of numerous influences.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the recurring beliefs about witches were:
- The ride by night
- The pact with the Devil
- The formal repudiation of Christianity
- The secret nocturnal meeting
- The desecration of the Eucharist and crucifix
- The orgy
- Sacrificial infanticide, and
- Cannibalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_witchcraft
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distaff
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brethren_of_the_Free_Spirit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorginak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stregoneria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-cult_hypothesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunning_folk_in_Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_organization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleficium_(sorcery)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-hand_path_and_right-hand_path
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorium_Inquisitorum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_carpet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches%27_Sabbath
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_accusations_against_children
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_with_the_Devil
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familiar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_magic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Witches
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Order
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_Acts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_Act_1735
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliriant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesia
An oneirogen, from the Greek ὄνειρος óneiros meaning "dream" and gen "to create", is a substance or other stimulus which produces or enhances dreamlike states of consciousness. This is characterized by an immersive dream state similar to REM sleep, which can range from realistic to alien or abstract.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneirogen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_paganism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_modern_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_early_modern_period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_healer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_magic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Massachusetts_Bay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Colonies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_witchcraft
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