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Reclaiming witchcraft


Eldorado

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This wiki article on the Canon Episcopi shows that by the early 10th Century the concept of a witch existed in Europe, though, and I'll quote "It does not believe witchcraft as a real physical manifestation", and further says that while Satan exists, he is inducing dreams where the person thinks that they have carried out acts associated with witchcraft.

I'm of the opinion that the later witch hysteria was essentially political in nature and used as a means, in some countries, of simply clearing undesirables from the streets, and the settling of feuds. In some German states orphaned male street urchins formed a substantial number of those burnt for being "witches". Clearly this was not the case in Scotland during the reign of James VI, but he likely had issues with women, with his fantasies being fuelled by harsh and bizarre interpretation of a certain well known work of fiction combined with the Malleus Maleficarum.

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There are both witches who have burned at the stake and witch-hunters in my family history stretching back centuries. I've read parts of Malleus Maleficarum and it is quite an enlightening book. Apart from the so called Wiccan witch that some new age books portray. In reality I think black witches ironically end up like the portrayal in Malleus Maleficarum. Even though from my pagan reading, even in paganism witches get a bad name. They are set aside from other good kinds of sorcery and magic, that isn't considered witchcraft. Witches are seen as something malicious to avoid.

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1 hour ago, Abramelin said:

I know. But they didn't have that option during the middle ages. It must have been a monstruous undertaking to compile something like an encyclopaedea based on existant manuscripts scattered all over medieval Europe and the Middle East, aside of having to translate those manuscripts.

As the article from eight bits mentioned a long lasting order of basically mystics trying to achieve it. I felt the need to add that the internet might be that very thing they sought. That's all. 

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54 minutes ago, Opus Magnus said:

There are both witches who have burned at the stake and witch-hunters in my family history stretching back centuries. I've read parts of Malleus Maleficarum and it is quite an enlightening book. Apart from the so called Wiccan witch that some new age books portray. In reality I think black witches ironically end up like the portrayal in Malleus Maleficarum. Even though from my pagan reading, even in paganism witches get a bad name. They are set aside from other good kinds of sorcery and magic, that isn't considered witchcraft. Witches are seen as something malicious to avoid.

Basically Christianity demonizes anything that isn't itself. So all folk magic become "satanic" and "evil". 

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Just now, XenoFish said:

Basically Christianity demonizes anything that isn't itself. So all folk magic become "satanic" and "evil". 

No, people do. Apparently you have too low of an IQ to actually be able to read. Even in what pagan books we are able to preserve witches are set aside from other forms of magic. Witches are typically seen as malicious even if they have a place in society, they are usually seen as abusing their role.

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Just now, Opus Magnus said:

No, people do. Apparently you have too low of an IQ to actually be able to read. Even in what pagan books we are able to preserve witches are set aside from other forms of magic. Witches are typically seen as malicious even if they have a place in society, they are usually seen as abusing their role.

Exodus 22:18

King James Version

18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Books on magick are just limited glimpses into a craft. One that is typically handed down. In either a bloodline or apprenticeship. A "witch" is just slang for a folk shaman. When Christianity came along it demonized anything outside of itself. So the folk magic practicioner become evil. Sure they could hex, bind, etc a person. But this idea of them being wholly satanic is a creating of your brand of faith. In more supersitious cultures people feared the power of such a person. Even necromancy (which is just divination) is seen as unholy. 

People need a reason to hate. If god hates it the faithful will hate it too. 

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7 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Exodus 22:18

King James Version

18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Books on magick are just limited glimpses into a craft. One that is typically handed down. In either a bloodline or apprenticeship. A "witch" is just slang for a folk shaman. When Christianity came along it demonized anything outside of itself. So the folk magic practicioner become evil. Sure they could hex, bind, etc a person. But this idea of them being wholly satanic is a creating of your brand of faith. In more supersitious cultures people feared the power of such a person. Even necromancy (which is just divination) is seen as unholy. 

People need a reason to hate. If god hates it the faithful will hate it too. 

So God hates you. Not only is witchcraft seen as a bad thing in the Old Testament, but also in the pagan books we have dating old as well. It's amazing you can't read this, but it's the third time I'm telling you. What witchcraft is is seen as a bad thing for a reason and it is commonly used to harm people and not help them. It commonly gets used for rebellious reasons to defy the King, contrary to the magic used to support the King. Even if there is a proper place for the craft it often gets misused for treasonous reasons.

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55 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

As the article from eight bits mentioned a long lasting order of basically mystics trying to achieve it.

An example:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brethren_of_Purity

Edited to add:

Instead of hijacking this thread using your remark about the internet as an excuse, I maybe should start a separate thread about it.

Edited by Abramelin
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This is a very interesting thread.  The only real thing I know about witches is that when my mother was angry at another woman she called her a witch and that Wiccans are not witches.   Thanks for the great conversation here.

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7 hours ago, Opus Magnus said:

There are both witches who have burned at the stake and witch-hunters in my family history stretching back centuries. I've read parts of Malleus Maleficarum and it is quite an enlightening book. Apart from the so called Wiccan witch that some new age books portray. In reality I think black witches ironically end up like the portrayal in Malleus Maleficarum. Even though from my pagan reading, even in paganism witches get a bad name. They are set aside from other good kinds of sorcery and magic, that isn't considered witchcraft. Witches are seen as something malicious to avoid.

It's not somethimg that could be proven, but I suspect that the Malleus Maleficarum has been used as a framework for those in power to demonize those they want to be seen as enemies. With "The Prince" by Machiavelli, and in modern times "1984" by Orwell, it's easier, very easy at times, to see how those works are used for malicious purposes, though I detect echoes of the Malleus Maleficarum in the current social media witch hunt hysteria against various "enemies", such as J.K. Rowling.

On whether there are bad or good witches, or that witchcraft per se is "evil", then I'll take my cue from Ancient Egypt, the prime fount of all magic, IMO. To them, magic, which they called heka, was a force that came into being at the same time as the universe as they perceived it, and was a force integral with and essential for the world. Therefore there could not be any good or bad magic, only magic being put to bad use, though they had no conception of anybody as a "witch", it was more a sense that bad forces were out there, the forces of chaos. Those most fitting the description of what we would see as a witch were not women, but men, and they were the multi tasking lector priests, stalwarts of society. Unfortunately a garbled understanding of what was well known and common place in Ancient Egypt morphed into "Hermes Trismegistus" and the Hermetica, the basis of later "magicians".

It's interesting that men like John Dee could dabble in "magic" without being accused of being an agent of Satan, but women who dabbled were seen as being in league with Satan, so there was a bias against women engaging in what was an early form of science. That's a broad brush though.

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Ok well, I'm not completely against witchcraft and people discovering it. The thing I find hypocritical though is a lot of people turn to witchcraft and say that the Christians persecuted their ancestors. The truth is it was probably their ancestors persecuting witches.

Then you have people who are saying Christianity persecutes witchcraft, and these are the same people who cry mental illness mental illness at everyone. Psychiatry is not exactly pro-witch. According to psychiatry if you believe you are a witch you probably are mentally ill.

The only point I was trying to make is that there is a lot more than what appears at the surface. In a lot of pagan myths the witch is actually portrayed as an evil character who brings misery and bad luck to everyone around them. It's not singled out in Christianity.  

 

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13 hours ago, XenoFish said:

People need a reason to hate. If god hates it the faithful will hate it too. 

It's been my experience that people don't really NEED a reason to hate, just an excuse to keep away guilt when they do it. 

From what I see today, the religion of Christianity is hated more than most others and Christ wasn't big into telling His followers to hate anything.  Granted, very, very few who call themselves by His name walk a perfect walk as He did, but that doesn't really matter to those who hate them.  It's all one to them.  

On topic... the modern example of a witch should be Hermione Granger :)   Smug, self-assured, sassy, and the actor who plays her in the movie is an adamantine beech in real life so Hermione has ALL the bases covered ;) 

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6 hours ago, and then said:

It's been my experience that people don't really NEED a reason to hate, just an excuse to keep away guilt when they do it. 

From what I see today, the religion of Christianity is hated more than most others and Christ wasn't big into telling His followers to hate anything.  Granted, very, very few who call themselves by His name walk a perfect walk as He did, but that doesn't really matter to those who hate them.  It's all one to them.  

On topic... the modern example of a witch should be Hermione Granger :)   Smug, self-assured, sassy, and the actor who plays her in the movie is an adamantine beech in real life so Hermione has ALL the bases covered ;) 

There is always a reason behind hatred. 

I don't hate Christianity. I hate those with that self righteous holier than thou attitude. The kind who think damn near everything is satanic or demonic.

I got in to the occult for 2 reasons. The first being curiosity and the second as two middle fingers towards the Christian God. I was taught very early on that I'd never be good enough for God's grace and God's son had to be murdered because I existed. So yeah, a very f'd up view. All fire and brimstone. 

Since I was doomed to hell from birth, I decided to go on my own terms. Magick it was. The big no no. 

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9 minutes ago, Opus Magnus said:

That's fine because I don't feel any guilt. I lost all my guilt in full confession to Jesus Christ. The one who is feeling guilty is the loser above. The self-admitted hater of many. The one who is showing signs of paranoid schizophrenia imagining, "These Christians are out to persecute me." He really needs help soon, I can't imagine how messed up his life probably is in actuality. If anyone on here was actually his friend they would be concerned in trying to give him a wellness check somehow.

You talk a lot of crap of a god loving fellow. 

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12 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

You talk a lot of crap of a god loving fellow. 

 

14 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

You talk a lot of crap of a god loving fellow. 

It is an interesting staple of those claiming enlightenment, gnosis, or saved by Jesus claims/tales of what an amazing person they now are “because” of , yet, demonstrate little ability to extend understanding, compassion or empathy. 
 


 


 

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Just now, Sherapy said:

 

It is an interesting staple of those claiming enlightenment, gnosis, or saved by Jesus claims/tales of what an amazing person they now are “because” of , yet, demonstrate little ability to extend understanding, compassion or empathy. 
 

A lot of things have changed since he was gone. My life isn't a wreck. I'm not crazy and I don't think anyone is out to get me. Except bill collectors.:lol:

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19 hours ago, Opus Magnus said:

- post removed -

There is no justification of this level of hate mongering to Xeno. Shame on you. 

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33 minutes ago, Opus Magnus said:

That's fine because I don't feel any guilt. I lost all my guilt in full confession to Jesus Christ.

Sociopaths don't feel get either. Just saying.

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1 minute ago, Sherapy said:

There is no justification of this level of hate mongering to Xeno. Shame on you. 

To be honest. I think a lot of people hold me to who I used to be. 

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1 minute ago, XenoFish said:

A lot of things have changed since he was gone. My life isn't a wreck. I'm not crazy and I don't think anyone is out to get me. Except bill collectors.:lol:

I know, you have come along way. It is his own lack of empathy, compassion, kindness and understanding, 

 

Perhaps he will see this as an opportunity for his own growth. 

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5 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

To be honest. I think a lot of people hold me to who I used to be. 

Not everyone, there are those that wish you the best and see and focus on your growth. You have come along way and will continue on. 
 

 

Edited by Sherapy
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