Conceptions of Witchcraft

The History of Witchcraft to 1800

Sep 2, 2009 Christopher Mansour

The Church tolerates magic during the early Christian era (AD 1-1000). But in 906 a.d, it lays the foundation for a religious persecution lasting until 1800.

After the Roman fall, Christianity gradually suppresses the remaining Pagan cultures. Knowledge of the witch, her druid counterparts, and old traditions begin to fade from memory. Despite waning Paganism, there lingers "a desire to manipulate [or] change" one's circumstances (Hufton 342). If magic teaches anything, then it is this: for good or evil, one can alter the circumstances of his/her life. Magic workers, called cunning folk, become prized for their knowledge of mysticism and magical lore.

Waning Paganism and the Cunning Folk

Cunning folk, stereotyped as 'white witches', tread a thin line "demarcating the force for good" from that of "evil"(Hufton 342). Any 'good' witchcraft, says the Church, must strive to remain on par with Christian beliefs. Undoubtedly, most cunning persons adhere to this understanding as a survival rule. Throughout the first ten centuries, magic workers provide rural peasants with a range of "folk beliefs and panaceas"(342) to enable them to cope with a frightening world (Hufton 340-341).

In the Medieval period, the Church has much difficulty "substituting" Pagan beliefs with its own "pantheon of sanctity"(Hufton 341). It reluctantly permits "a marriage with Pagan beliefs" as the means to eventually wean the masses into Christianity proper. The Church primarily fears pagan competition and a loss of credibility that would shatter its power base. In other words, the power of Christ could be undercut by the cunning folk's power; they dispense medical aid or magical "instructions"(Hufton 341). With their much-sought gifts, magic workers "[hold] a power [one] can only surmise"(341).

Cunning folk are 'doctors' and apothecaries, diviners and enchanters, who modulate their gifts to benefit the client and, in turn, receive "remuneration" for their praiseworthy "gifts and skills"(Hufton 342). Their role recalls the classical witch, but on a smaller scale. In the Russian folktale, "Vasilisa and the Witch", the protagonist's doll plays a role akin to a cunning woman. As Vasilisa plays, it "point[s] out to [her] a plant that would protect her skin from sunburn"(Kaye 196). Such lore enables Vasilisa to become "the most attractive young woman in the village"(196).

Imperialist Christianity

Historians do not "really know"(Bonewits 14) what happened to the ancient witches following the Christian conquest; a lack of evidence leaves historians--and neopagan devotees--wondering whether witches "merge with [or replace] the pagan clergy"(14) during the time of suppression, or replace the clergy "altogether". In 906, the Church moves against "Pagan survivals" throughout Europe (Bonewits 16). It institutes the Canon Episcopi, a document that sanctions persecution of alleged witches and attacks against "unconverted pagans" who still adhere to "their gods'" beliefs (16).

Any remaining witches, after 1000, are "mildly Christianized"(Bonewits 17-18). The "eleventh century" sees the elimination of most remaining Pagans worshipping "[foreign] deities in the Church's territory"(Bonewits 22). The Church kills or drives "far underground" the last vestiges of "Paleopagan cultures" in western and central Europe; "pacification" measures are enacted (Bonewits 22). Isaac Bonewits, himself a neopagan adherent, notes with grim irony how the Christians slew their "competition", then proceed to "slay each other,....[hunt witches], heretics, Catholics, and [even Protestants]"(28).

There is, however, a corrupt agenda behind the Church's persecution of outlawed (heretical) beliefs (Bonewits 22). The formation of the Inquisitions during the latter part of the eleventh century enables the Church authorities to derive a "lucrative source" of "wealth, power, and sexual satisfaction"(22). Nobles and Inquisitors alike would torture, rape, and execute alleged "heretics", then "consfiscate property taken from them"(22). Such corruption foreshadows similar atrocities committed by the Nazis. Gradually, the Church supresses witchcraft to increase its wealth and advance clergical careers.

The Public's Love of Magic and the Rise of the Dark Sorceress

But from the middle ages until 1800--the witch persecution--people crave more than mystical guidance. Some seek enchantments; one may wish to 'bewitch' a lover; another, a politician (Hufton 342). Vasilisa, herself, is a client of the magical doll's power. When the stepmother sends her to fetch light from Baba Yaga, a pretence for arranging the girl's murder, the doll promises: "do not be afraid, sweet Vasilisa...take me with you and Baba Yaga will not harm you"(Kaye 196). By feeding the doll, Vasilisa forms a contract of sorts, a bond to ensure its magical protection.

Popular ideas about witches change radically in 1484, after Pope Innocent VIII and church leaders circulate propaganda about Satanic “witchcraft"--a cannibalistic, nightmarish parody of Catholicism with "black masses" and witches for "black clergy"(Bonewits 25). They consider anyone using magic to be a heretic and a Satanist (Bonewits 23). Such notions, combined with the public’s growing awareness that cunning folk could, indeed, be “evil”(Hufton 343),frames the popular and ‘literary’ representation of the Satanic witch—a cunning woman gone bad who threatens entire communities (Hufton 343). Whence comes the nightmarish Baba Yaga.

The Russian folktale is born from the Early Modern and late Medieval notions of the witch. That Vasilisa needs Baba Yaga, not as witch but cunning woman, is evident. The doll's demand that Vasilisa respond "truthfully" and treat the Yaga with "great respect"(Kaye 196) creates a strange reciprocity; Baba Yaga only "devour[s] bad children"(197). After enslaving Vasilisa, Baba Yaga is astounded by her "industry" and "innocence". Humbled, the witch asks how she has completed the herculean tasks. Vasilisa replies, "with the help of my late mother's blessing"(Kaye 199). Rendered powerless by benovolent sorcery and motherly love, a humbled Baba Yaga grants the worthy maiden her freedom with a terrible gift, a magic skull that reduces the stepfamily to "three heaps of ashes"(Kaye 200).

Although Church propoganda and resentment of different religions is mostly responsible for the witch hysteria, it is the population itself that has changed. The majority adopts Christianity--the age of sorcerors and demons draws to a close.

Works Cited

Bonewits, Isaac. Witchcraft: A Concise History. 2001. Pocket PC Press. 10 Aug. 2009.

Hufton, Olwen. The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe. Vol. 1. New York:

Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

Kaye, Marvin, ed. Witches and Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old & New. Garden City: Guild America Books, 1989.

The copyright of the article Conceptions of Witchcraft in Children’s Books is owned by Christopher Mansour. Permission to republish Conceptions of Witchcraft in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Baba Yaga

Vasilisa

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