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Witches
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True witches believe neither in Hell nor in a devil. Therefore, Wiccans are not Satan worshippers, despite lies developed to the contrary. They see God interwoven in all things created, and thus so worship. It is through the ignorance of religious superstition that such misogynistic beliefs have been birthed. It is on this page that we shall attempt to cleanse our world of the evil cloaked in such false robes of righteousness.

When the church turned away from any concept of magic in life, it was a short leap to equating with heresy anyone involved in that which could not be understood. the very fact that women had a "magical effect" on healthy males only provided further suspicion as to how they acquired such powers. After all, wasn't it Eve who was able to seduce Adam while in the very presence of God? Was it not she that they devil found so receptive to his seductive advancements? Even one so revered as St. Augustine condemned all women, even Mother, as the receptacles of evil.

This all came to a head under Pope Innocent VIII with the publication of the notorious Malleus Maleficarum (Witches Hammer) in 1489. Although the book has been universally denou8nced as "a monstrosity full of intellectual debauchery" proceeding out of "stupidity bordering on idiocy," since printing had just been developed, the "work" ran through some thirty editions, producing a tidal wave of emotion that still reverberates today. It's authors, two Dominican Inquisitors, Heinrich Institutoris and Jakob Sprenger were known as unsavory characters implicated in various forgeries and embezzlements. Their Maleus Maleficarum was a detailed commentary on the papal bull, issued by Pope Innocent VIII in 1484, and produced at perfect representation of a Catch 22 situation. The publication, built upon an internal issue of the Church, then stirred up a public outcry that in turn, forced action by the Church. With each turn of the screw, the issue gained impetuous.

Anyone with the gift of healing, the knowledge of herbs, a strange growth on their body, an ability to arose sexual desire in a man (it wasn't MY fault; she must have BEWITCHED me!), or those fingered by jealousy were in danger of the witch carts. Then, while being tortured, they would accuse others -- even mothers and daughters. SUCH was the EVIL of the self-righteous!

According to these Dominicans, both men and women could practice witchcraft, but the female of the species was far more inclined to do so. Although they authors protested against misogyny, their treatise was filled with an obvious hatred of women. "Because women are more concerned with things of the flesh than men; because, being formed from the rib of Adam, they are "only imperfect animals" and "crooked" whereas man belongs to a privileged sex from whose midst Christ emerged. (Der Hexenhammer, ed. J. W. R. Schmidt (1906) I, 99)

The chief reason for the increase of witches, the authors contended, lay in the "vile contention between married and unmarried women." They warned against the "spitefulness of womankind," from which the whole world suffered." (Cf. ibid., I, 127, 131) It would seem to me that a witch would have more power to control a man's sexual desires; so... .

Overall, this work represents a triumph of Satan, rather than the Spirit of Jesus, expressing a diabolical state of mind into which not a ray of  Christian charity falls, not a trace of the New Testament spirit. Its pages are haunted by primitive fanaticism with not a shred of compassion or understanding of the "spirit in which (we) have been called." Eventually, to even deny the existence of witches came to be considered as heresy. And, since it was not considered within the realm of mankind to "perform magic,' such gifts must come from the devil.

Many thousands suffered at the hands of the witch hunters before a few brave voices, primarily if not all of the Protestant variety, began to speak out against the witch carts. The strongest coming from the Dutch divine Balthazar Bekker (1634 - 98) who attacked the doctrine of diabolism  in his book, The World Bewitched. His contention was that Satan had a secondary role in the Bible. the true Christian was to focus on Jesus, not the devil. The devil, he argued, is only a servant of God, as pointed out in the Book of Job, and  can do no more than what The Almighty wills.

It is, however, true that the devil was involved in this witchcraft affair; he was present in the heart of it, as a cosmic monstrosity. His servants were on the scene, but they were not the legion of the poor terrorized, tortured, and cremated witches. NO -- what an incredible case of mistaken identities! -- his servants had entered into the Inquisitors and judges. They were the bewitched ones. Paul tells us that "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." So these officials were his instruments, without their being aware of it. Who but the devil stood behind these ecclesiastical and secular judges who carried out h is fiendish intentions? The devil has always stood, an unreal reality, on the side of the persecutors, the torturers, and the Inquisitors. He will go on exercising this function as long as religions exist to justify the actions of their adherents.

More to come.

hereticcoyote@aol.com

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