Page 28 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Febrary/March 2020 Edition

28 Witchcraft, Magic and Satanism

Witchcraft, Magic and

Satanism

Continued from Page 27

Nathan Brooks is currently serving two
consecutive sentences of twenty-five years each
for his crimes.
Whether it be witchcraft or Satanism,
the common denominator is the devil and in
both cases, the Prince of Darkness is the
puppeteer, controlling the actions of his play
things who seek to be more powerful than
common mortals. A diabolical thought, that is, if
the devil exists, of course.
Occult expert, Christian Paige says, “It’s
difficult to establish the background of western
witchcraft as compared to African witchcraft,
for example, which has played both a magical
and religious role for millenniums. What makes
it hard is that witchcraft has been inspired by women were the evil witches to be hunted and participating in Black Masses because their
many pagan religions through which the down? husbands could not satisfy them sexually. The
practitioners believe that they can control or This is a key element of the witch-hunt argument was that only the devil could sexually
influence the forces of nature. With the era. Obviously the answer can be found in satisfy these women.
introduction of Christianity in Europe, and it’s theology. So, this was the most pervading
triumph over paganism, witchcraft was defined If we take a look at theological texts, like underlying theme of the witch-hunt.
as a practise associated with the devil.” Genesis, if you take it literally, it says that At the end of the Middle Ages,
Paige continues, “It was rumoured that woman committed the first sin when she gave in witchcraft trials, essentially religious in nature,
practitioners, especially women were endowed to the temptations of the devil. It was this were transferred over to the state.
with extraordinary powers. They could cast biblical passage that was the driving force The fact that Europe was continuing to
spells and curses. They could kill animals and behind the witch-hunt. Women were the most be hit by epidemics and famines, it was a sign
crops, make women sterile and men impotent. likely to seek an affiliation with the devil. that the devil was still running loose, and that the
They could even spread illnesses like the plague As The Witch Hammer uttered other church has failed to eliminated witchcraft from
and bring on natural disasters like floods, words along the same lines, the witch-hunt the face of the earth.
droughts and fires. In the eyes of the church and continued in full force. Trials abounded Now it was the states turn.
the Ecclesiastic Tribunal of the Inquisition, everywhere. By the 16th and 17th centuries, fear of
these actions bore the mark of the devil and had In France and Germany, the condemned were the devil was spreading worldwide. This was the
to be suppressed.” burned at the stake while England chose to hang beginning of the modern era.
In the fifteenth-century, both secular witches in the public square. The 17th century also marked the
and religious authorities condemned the crime Bestowed with the power of the church, beginning of humanism but there was still a
of witchcraft. Inquisitors had unstoppable rights, including the genuine fear of the devil.
Being in cahoots with the devil was right to question, in other words torture People felt threatened.
heresy, and the all-powerful Catholic Church suspects. There was fear that the world was
had decreed that heresy was a crime punishable The accused would confess to coming to an end and someone had to be held
by death. sacrificing children and attending Black Masses accountable for that fear. Someone had to be the
Enter Patrick Snyder who says, “What conducted by the devil himself. Supposedly, escapee goat and the religious texts at that time
we need to fully understand about the these rituals involved devouring children and were all pointing to women. They were the
Inquisition is the fact that it was a reaction by fornicating with male and female demons. allies of the devil.
the church to deviant behaviour . If we look at All demonologists speak of eroticism, a Theological speeches continued but now
history, there was the Inquisition against many sensual relationship with the witch or a sensual it was the secular judicial powers that were
philosophies that went against church doctrine relationship between the witch and the devil. hunting down the witches.
and there was the great witch hunt where the This idea is ever present. It is the main thrust of The hunt continued on into the 17th
witches were accused of heresy . So, the church demonologist speeches whether they be century before it started to subside.
saw things that it perceived as parallel to what it Ecclesiastic or Secular. It was quite fascinating So, the 16th and 17th centuries were
was doing and it wanted to impose its own and what we need to comprehend is that this when the witch-hunts were in full swing.
doctrine within these groups within the entire was the first time in history that women were Civil inquisitors scoured towns and country
population, so it intervened, partially of course, being seen naked in public. It was the first sides.
within these so call heretic groups. To fix the confrontation with the female body. In 1608, one of the most zealous of the
problem, the solution was to eliminate these Many demonologists often spoke of lot, Judge Pierre de Lancre was sent to La
deviants in a manner that was often drastic.” their admiration of the beauty of the female Bourre to purge the country of devil
In 1486, Dominican Inquisitors body . Remember, they weren’t just persecuting worshippers.
published, “The Witch Hammer,” a guide book haggardly old women, they were accusing In the name of Henry IV, King of France,
for Inquisitors in their battle against witchcraft. young women 15-19 years old of being witches. hundreds of young, attractive, peasant girls were
From the author’s perspective, women were the If we take Pierre Delong, a well-known tortured and burned at the stake.
devil’s main instrument, experts in the art of demonologist, he was filled with admiration for The first thing that the inquisitor did with
temptation. These daughters of Eve, carried the beauty female body and would recite poems, the assistance of a physician, was to strip the
with them the stigma of “The Original Sin”, often high erotic in nature, as he ranted on how woman naked, shave her completely naked from
they were the devil in the flesh, and they were evil witches were, just like the authors of The head to toe and look for the mark of the devil.
destined for no good. Witch Hammer, two clerks who were obsessed For them, that was the first clue that she was a
Why did the church persecute women so with eroticism. witch.
relentlessly? Why did the church decide that Women were accused of being too erotic (Continued on Page 29)