12/03/2007

Magicians and Witches

The witches
The word trims glass you can use in both goods, although the genus change bears different connotations and it is mostly expressed in feminine. Etimológicamente, witch seems to derive of the íbero "bruixa" and more clearly of the Galician 'bruxa.'

The term embraces three different concepts:
On one hand it would be applied a woman with a supposed capacity of supernatural powers.

For other, it would be applied those women turned in the Alchemy and in charms or magic prescriptions.

Lastly, the Catholic church also considers the witches like those women that without possessing such capacities or knowledge participate in witches' sabbaths. That is to say, in rituals of satanic court.

On the contrary that the magicians, the witches are identified with the alchemy and the divinatory arts while the magicians fewer pursued would be and identified with the magic arts and the wisdom. The term sorcerer is minority.

Historical evolution of the term
The origin of the witches is with all surety pagan. This women existed so much in the Greek (with unmistakable elements of the bacantes gear, hierarchy, drug use and rituals with animals) culture as in the Germanic (together to rites occultists) and Hebrew (together to supernatural powers) culture. Hebrew took the idea of Mesopotamia in turn. Historical documents demonstrate the existence of very prepared women in medical arts, practical of aborts and domain of poisons.

The art of flying
It is clear that the hallucinogens are behind the fantasies on flying witches. In certain drugs as the belladonna, the separation between the actual dose and the lethal one is very narrow, for what the poison cannot be ingested. Sticks with ointments with this drugs are the origin of the culture of the flying" "brooms. This sticks were good to consume the hallucinogen for via anal or vaginal. Another drug related with the witchcraft could be the henbane.

Transformation in animals
All the cultures have among the assignments of the capacities of magicians, witches or bewitching those of becoming animals. Although the popular culture of the north of Europe allocates the witches the preemptive transformation in a black winch.

For the Indian mapuche (Chile) Chon-chon, or trim glass, they are able to become bird.

The witches' sabbath
During the Half Age the physique is linked from the witch to its holding in parties of character orgiástico named witches' sabbaths (that means "field of the male goat" in Basque. It was believed that in these witches' sabbaths (or sabbat) the witches maintained carnal relationships with Satan that adopted the physique of a male cabrío.

These meetings seem to be the residual from the feminine Greek and Roman rites to the god baco and other rites of origin tracio. And surely those named witches were the inheritors of what was of the priestesses bacantes with the entry of the Christianity. The male cabrío seems to correspond the god of the fertility bread and the satyrs more.

The meetings in mounts or mountain caves to the heat of the fire are typical of the cults of origin tracio. To break animals or to be anointed with blood is part of the rite bacante.

The Sacred Inquisition
In the Half Age the persecution of all the pagan rites begins, all that is not Christian is pursued by its prospective binding with the malignant one. However, it is with Contrarreforma and with the Protestant different schisms when the persecution of the witchcraft is increased notably. It was with the papal bull Summis desiderantis affectibus, of Pope Inocencio VIII December of the year of 1484, 5 with which the persecution of witches was legalized, it tortures and run, generally afire in the blaze, beginning this way The Inquisition to pursue the sorcery.

It is in this period when one writes Malleus Maleficarum (I Hammer of Witches), written in 1486 by inquiring Henry Intitoris and Jacques Sprenger, dominicos, university professors of theology in Colony, a summary of descriptions of witchcraft types, how to recognize a witch and the different torture methods to apply.

Also in 1538 Pedro Plum tree he/she writes their "Reprovación of the superstitions and hechizerías." The historical most famous physique that was condemned to burn in the blaze under witch's accusation was Juana of Arch.

In Spain, the Inquisition stopped to pursue them soon after the process of the Witches of Zugarramurdi (second half of the XVII century), in which the inquisitors were in the face of the possibility of having to burn to several thousands of women if they were condemned. They solved the issue declaring that they didn't have partnership agreement with the devil and from then on he/she didn't burn to any other one.

Their reflection in the infantile literature
The witch has a main paper in the infantile stories, like in those gathered by the Siblings Grimm, she is the evil archetypal character. The most famous story witches are: The stepmother of Snow White that tries to murder this with a poisoned apple. The Mermaid's (the report of H C Andersen) witch that carries out a partnership agreement for which endows him/her of some legs in exchange for their voice.

The Beautiful Sleeper's evil witch, able to transform into dragon. The witch of the cottage of chocolate of Hansel and Gretel. The Dribble Yaga of the Russian folklore, reflected in the homonymous report of Aleksandr Nikolaievich Afanasiev, an old witch that he/she inhabits a magic house that is able to walk on bird paws.

The beauty and the ugliness
Traditionally he/she associates the image from the witch to an old, ugly and specially unpleasant woman, however it was believed that he/she enters their powers it was the one of being able to modify their optional aspect showing you like a beautiful and desirable youth. The witch would use this appearance to seduce the men and to take them to the perdition.

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