The twenty-first century is the age of technology and information, and therefore, practically everyone knows who witches are. If you want, you can read a lot of different literature and watch exciting films on this topic or go on a theme holiday - Halloween. In this article we will try to reveal two questions: who are witches in fact and whether they exist in our time, or is it another myth that has reached the modern philistine since ancient times.
Plan of the article:
- Who are witches really?
- How do ordinary women devote themselves to witches?
- How to recognize a witch?
Who are witches really?
In the sixteenth century, the English lawyer William West formulated the definition that:
Witches were most often ordinary women who, by their will or deceit, succumbed to the persuasion of the demon and made a deal with him. These women are confident that they can spread curses everywhere with impunity, fly on broomsticks or pitchforks, spend the night with fun with men, and commit many other atrocities.
How do ordinary women devote themselves to witches?
Usually it all starts with the fact that at the moment of solitude the girls are a demon or the Devil himself. Most often he appears in the guise of a noble lord, hunter, soldier, or in the form of a beautiful young man. In doing so, he always tries to pretend to be her best friend. So, for example, he consoled the unfortunate, provided all kinds of food to the hungry, and money to the poor. Waiting for the moment when the poor woman can not keep her greed or stupidly trust the tempter - he will immediately call his price for his services. By payment is meant the rendering of fleshly devotion, entering the Vedov sect and, most importantly, renouncing all the saints and God. At this moment, even the most stupid simpleton will be able to understand who is really in front of her. In the event that she agrees to all conditions - immediately there is a conclusion of the transaction, as a result of which the soul of a woman passes into the power of the Devil for ever. To receive consent, the unclean can use many different tricks.
In those cases when the conclusion of the transaction was coming to an end - a special written document was signed. The binding is carried out only by blood, for this purpose a small cut was made on the hand of the future witch. After the "official" conclusion of the deal, the Devil left on the witch's body a completely devilishly devilish mark, which was a small mark.
Some time later, the devil is attached to the young witches, who will act as an assistant and lover. These creatures could penetrate into the houses in the form of fire tornadoes through the chimneys. Just the chimneys were for the witches a normal course, because, as they say, everything that happens backwards comes from the evil one. New witches were trained in various spells and harmful actions, they were taught how to wither, lime, to send infertility and much more.
According to different medieval stories, then the devilish creatures, at that time, were almost everywhere, especially near God-fearing people, the righteous and monastic cells. Thus, at that time it became very easy to become a witch. At that time, devils constantly tried to poison the daily life of monks by constantly turning pages in a prayer book or closing letters while reading, thus hinting that it was time to stop saving your soul and go to bed.
It should be noted that the Russian witches did not go in comparison with the West European ones, because they were less bad and spiteful.
Slavic witches were simple, rustic, custom, the Sabbat in them mainly took place on roads and bald mountains. And unlike the Sabbat of the West European witches, in the Slavic witches, he was more like a merry drunk and gulp, rather than a bloody desecration of the Christian faith. On such days witches were engaged mainly in love pranks, milking the neighbors' cows or causing damage. Through the chimneys on the broom they also flew, naturally and with the devils were closely known. If a woman was suspected of witchcraft or some kind of malicious deeds, then the peasants themselves lopili, basically it all ended.
But as regards the immediate disasters, at such times the human animosity increased, and when in Pskov in the fifteenth century there was a pestilence, then 12 witches were burned, who were accused of hastening the disease. There were other burnings, for example, during the reign of Tsar Aleksei, the elder Olen( along with roots and magic magic papers) was burned in the woods, who confessed that she helped spoil people, and taught them the secrets of witchcraft. However, unlike the European scale of the persecution of witches, the Russians were negligible. In the Russian people, the belief has become stronger: well, what a woman and not a witch. .. And do not burn all women now.
Until the thirteenth century, Europe officially did not believe in witches, strictly following the verdict of the Paderborn Cathedral from 785.But later, Thomas Aquinas himself, who was a famous teacher of the church, announced that witches still exist and harm people with their machinations. And in 1264, the year of Thomas Aquinas' death, the first public trial of witches took place in the history of mankind with their subsequent burning in the city of Languedoc. From this event began the hunt for witches.
After these events, all women who were clerks or clever, too low or tall, too beautiful or ugly, and also those who at least had a little noticeable fell under suspicion. Let us note an important historical fact: in the 16th and 17th centuries, not one hundred witches were burned at the stake. For example, in 1577 in Toulouse were sentenced to the burning of 400 witches, and in 1582 in Strasbourg - 134 witches. Thus, during the period of the grandiose "cleansing", several thousand women were tortured. There are also rumors that in one of the German districts reached the point that only 2-3 women remained alive. That's how people felt about witchcraft in those days.
Probably the witches appeared when a person began to show his interests to magic. The man of that time was sure that the forces of nature can, as a cripple, heal and heal, deliver morals and rid themselves of the disease, destroy and create something new. All people who were convinced that they were sorcerers or witches - believed in the power of the things around them and that they could control it, were engaged in occultism. Since ancient times, every witch has had his own deity, whom she worshiped.
For example, the Greek witches worshiped the goddess of hunting Artemis and the goddess of darkness and the night of Hecate. Also in the ranks of witches, Medea was also credited with making wax figures from the bodies of her enemies. Circe was also considered a witch, because she practiced turning people into pigs and driving them into her yard. It should be noted that there were not only evil witches, but also those whose deeds were based on good intentions. They worshiped the heavens and different seasons, grew various herbs and roots, possessed the gift of clairvoyance, healed the sick and predicted the fate of the stars. Ordinary people feared them and at the same time revered them.
After the adoption of the Christian faith, very much has changed. All sorts of rituals and witchcraft rituals were attributed to god-forgiving deeds. After all, if you follow Holy Scripture, then all the witches are led by Satan himself. And all those witches who at least once healed a person or who conducted a fertility rite were immediately ranked among the most dangerous foxes of the underworld. In those days it was believed that such witches carried out the orders of the Devil on earth.
After a few centuries, we can also meet witches. Especially when a person is bad at heart, he is confused and can not find a way out, then in that case many are looking for help on the side. Namely, about 80% of people turn to psychics, fortune tellers and presenter for help, if one characterizes one thing with witches.
So who are these witches really? About them you can say the following, these are people who know and know. Naturally, for many centuries, there were also charlatans who pretended to be leading, for profit.
In fact, the word "witch" does not carry in itself anything bad, its origin it received from the word "know".And this, in turn, means that a woman knows something that many people do not notice and do not know. Agree, because intuition in women is much better than in men. And only with the help of intuition can we approach the deep knowledge of ourselves and the world as a whole. It is because women have better intuition - it is much easier for them to understand the essence of all world phenomena and events, so it is much easier for them to understand how to behave in different life situations.
According to the decrees, the female soul itself is magical. Since it can intuitively know the surrounding world, which turned out to be much more accurate than logical cognition. Women, unlike the male half of the population, have a closer connection with nature, which is why it is much easier to get in touch with secret forces and understand how to use them for their own purposes. We draw your attention to the fact that this ability is absolutely natural for almost all women, and there is nothing supernatural or dangerous in this. It can be dangerous only if a woman uses her innate abilities with evil intentions or to the detriment of other people. In this case, calling her a witch, you will betray the negative meaning of this word.
In the old days, almost all village women were able to handle magic - good magic, which was sent only in good ways: protecting your hearth from spoiling and bad evil, preserving your beauty or a happy marriage, and so on. At the same time, most women did not equate to witches, and the very fact of the existence of magic was equated with an integral natural part of life.
The men's business was the sowing of bread, over which, before sending to the field, women necessarily whispered special words that were supposed to ensure a good harvest. Women were known for various lamentations, ritual songs, magic spells that turned almost all the events( wedding, birth of a child, etc.) into some kind of magical ritual that brought only well-being and peace.
Once again it is worth noting that a woman by nature is a magical creature, since nature is intuitive. But already lunar energy gives women a sharpened intuition. Therefore, by their magical nature, women are for the most part indebted to the Moon. Due to this, all women are little witches. Many magical rituals have long been associated with the Moon. It is for this reason that many people were terrified of the full moon, since it was believed that this time the witches were arranging their coven. In fact, everything is much easier - the full moon is the most optimal time to collect medicinal herbs, which have their greatest strength at this time. Thus, we can say with confidence that most of the fears of witches are due to ignorance of the truth.
Of course, there is also harmful magic, this is when women's natural magical abilities are used for evil purposes. Such a temptation should be avoided, although it exists and is quite large. It is not necessary in such cases to forget that once turning to the forces of evil, it will no longer be possible to say stop, since they will always return even in spite of the desire of the person calling them.
The canonical church and almost all unconventional theological concessions are categorically against Witchcraft. The reason for this is the following, which is not given to man by God from the beginning, it is given by the Devil in temptation. But everyone has the right to disagree with this interpretation, because each person has his own views on the world and life in general. Many, and to date, are skeptical of the possibility of the existence of witches and various evil forces. All this can be regarded in different ways. But, probably, not for nothing that the ancient Babylonians knew about evil spirits, demons, witches, etc. They wrote it down also so that people would know how to protect themselves from the evil influence of evil forces.
Even the civilization of Ancient Egypt recognized the existence of evil spirits. Egyptian priests at that time were endowed with a fairly deep knowledge, which we, people living in the 21st century, unfortunately, do not even seem to be possible. One of the directions at that time was the connection with the other world, or communication with the souls of the dead.
The Egyptians also had a "Book of the Dead" - it was a sort of systematic collection of the priestly theological science of the afterlife. They knew and believed that the world was also inhabited by evil forces. And so they used conspiracies and spells against witches, sorcerers, and evil spirits to protect themselves, their families and their homes.
Witches are also people, and how people can deal with both bad and good deeds. Many want to become witches, sorcerers, and for this they try by any means to develop these abilities, while making many mistakes and stupidities. If you have decided to join the ranks of witches, it is better to find yourself a good teacher who himself has magical abilities. In general, I believe that the best gift is a gift received at birth or received from one of the relatives.
People who engage in black magic, and do others harm and harm, how do they imagine their future life or life after death? Obviously, this will not be a heavenly and quiet life, so before you do something, you need to think very carefully and weigh it. And do not succumb to provocations from charlatans, in our time they have divorced too much, it's some kind of business where people are making money on someone else's grief and misfortune.
How to recognize a witch?
Flight test. The essence of this test is that the girl who was suspected of being associated with the Devil led to a big cliff and gave a broom in her hands. In the event that the girl broke on the rocks( which almost always happened), then she was found not guilty and justified.
Water test. About this method of verification is mentioned in the Babylonian code of Hammurabi and the Old Hindu book of Manu. Also not fully understood descriptions are given in the Avesta. And in the German legislation and the ancient German law, detailed descriptions of the testing with water were indicated. The essence of this method is that water is a pure element and it will not accept those people who are possessed and serve the unclean.
Also direct instructions for carrying out the water test are written in both Russian and Ukrainian judicial acts( called "The Judgment of God") of the 18th century. So, for example, in 1907 gentry and peasants conducted a water test to a noblewoman named Yavorskaya. First, she was stripped naked and tied together( as was always done in such cases).The thumb of the left hand had to be tied to the big toe of the right foot and the thumb of the right hand - to the big toe of the left leg. Between the legs and hands tied rope, then the woman was lowered into the water. In the event that she was drowning - she was formally recognized as innocent.
It should be noted that a detailed description of the entire procedure for testing the water is given in the product Kvitka "Konotop Witch".
Other verification methods. Another method of identification was called "Fight with a Witch", the essence of which is clear from the title. Figures with a similar event can be seen in the illustrations to the Finnish epic.
There are also opinions that a person who wants to see a real witch must look through an aspen harrow( made in 1 day), through a log or board in which there is a hole from the fallen bitch.
