Before the Middle Ages, women were always respected in Germanic traditional cultural areas, especially those who were engaged in pharmacy and medical practice and could read and write. With the development of Christianity in Germanic areas in the early Middle Ages, the church believed that according to Christian teachings, women should be absolutely subordinate to men. The church belittles and vilifies women, fabricates witch images, persecutes women, and even burns so-called witches alive.
1484, two priests, Henrich and Yecobb, wrote "malleus maleficarum", which listed a variety of methods to identify witches in detail and launched a massive "European witch trial".
Witch trials in the Middle Ages had a very dark side, and most of the "witches" who were executed were innocent women. The unfair trial of women can be learned from the following documents: "If the defendant leads an immoral life, then it certainly proves that she is connected with the devil;" And if she is pious and dignified, then she is obviously pretending to use her piety to divert people's doubts about her demon society and attending the witch meeting at night. If she appears scared during the trial, then she is obviously guilty and her conscience betrayed her. If she believes that she is innocent and stays calm, then she is undoubtedly guilty: witches are used to lying shamelessly. If she pleads guilty to the charges against her, it will prove that she is guilty; If she is afraid, desperate, depressed and silent because of the terrible false accusation, it is already direct evidence of her guilt. If an unfortunate woman rolls her eyes in pain, it means that she is looking for her devil with her eyes; And if her eyes are dull and motionless, it means that she has seen her own devil and is looking at him. If she finds that she has the strength to endure torture, it means that the devil has supported her, so she must be tortured more severely; If she can't stand it and dies under punishment, it means that the devil let her die to show that she won't confess and reveal secrets. 」
However, what are the witches in classical mythology? Let's see:
Circe (Circe)
The most famous witch in ancient Greek mythology has powerful magic power. With the help of herbs, she can recite spells and summon the gods to cast spells. People who offend her will become animals and create the illusion that they don't exist. He can hide the moon and the sun, darken the earth and poison his enemies. From the god he often calls, we can see the kind of magic she uses. Later generations used to regard her name as a synonym for witch, banshee, witch, etc.
Mitija (Medea)
The princess and priestess Mitiga of Kocsis Island were unlucky all their lives. She fell in love with Prince Jason who came from other places to fight against his father in order to get golden fleece. However, this marriage ended in tragedy. Mitija is the goddaughter of the moon goddess, so she knows how to use a lot of dark magic. She can concoct elixirs, divination and poison. He is not only proficient in magic, but also very clever and cruel. He once killed his brother for Jason. Later, because Jason moved on, he married the princess of a neighboring country. In a rage, Mitiga, abandoned by her lover, made a dress full of poison and gave it to Jason's fiancee to kill her. He even personally killed the two young children he gave birth to for Jason, and finally rode away sadly.
Cassandra (Cassandra)
Because she can predict the future, she is classified as a witch. It is said that Cassandra's strength comes from the fact that one day Apollo, the god of truth, saw Cassandra and fell in love with her. Apollo gave her the ability to predict the future, but Cassandra refused Apollo's love. She was angry and cursed her, so that others would never believe what she said, so she was destined to know the truth forever but could not stop the tragedy. She's a Trojan. She predicted that Troy would be destroyed if Trojan horses were welcomed into the city, but no one believed that Troy died like this.
The above is the first impression of the ancients on witches. The word witch is a witch in English, which means witch, witch and so on. He originally came from old English Whicce, which means smart woman. The researcher of the witch Chai H explained that in ancient society, the special mysterious ability possessed by women had been discovered, and women who learned this ability were called witches. But in later generations, it shows that wizards are not necessarily limited to women, only women can serve. Although a few wizards are not women, male wizards still exist, and this phenomenon still exists today, and this phenomenon has not changed in modern times.
For example, Joe Lando, an Englishman who revived an ancient religion, founded a witch sect called Cardona Sect? Although Dr. Gadona is considered a male, he is undoubtedly a "witch". By the way, Giolando? Dr. Gadona was active in the field of witchcraft religion in the first half of the twentieth century. At the southern tip of the Isle of Man between England and Ireland, Chiasruwe, an ancient town, established the Witch Museum, which made him famous.
Witch Chai H appeared in the history of Europe. Only in the 16 and 17 centuries, the number of witches who fell victim to witch trials easily exceeded 200,000.
Isabel is one of these witches, who lives in Oldan. Gaudi. According to her confession in 1662, she was forced to enter witchcraft because of a demon she met on a sand dune. It is said that she can turn herself into a beast. The most typical ability to incarnate or fly in the air. The most typical ability possessed by witches. In addition to these abilities, witches are also considered to be able to interpret people's psychology through perspective.
Women who are pre-selected as witches also become witches one by one, so witches don't have to come from the human world.
In order to become a witch, that is, the entrance ceremony, heresy trial and witch hunting of witches. According to this ceremony, the witch's conversion means making a contract with the devil. Witches exist only because of demons. If the devil does not exist, we can say that the witch does not exist.
The witch's conversion is a contract with the devil, and the place where this relationship is called "contract" is indeed Europe and America. No matter how much you want to be a witch, you still can't be a witch by yourself. As another creation of contract, the devil often exists. What about the so-called devil? It will be mentioned later, but those who are pre-selected by this demon can only become witches if they want to be witches.
Then as a ceremony to become a witch, there will probably be the same ceremony! This kind of ceremony seems to be slightly different according to the times and places. However, a brief overview shows that the following ceremonies have been floating on the stage as part of * * * communication.
(1) Reject Christianity. Christianity is against believing in magic, so on the other hand, it believes in witchcraft, and witchcraft certainly excludes this religion. Needless to say, Christian crosses or rituals must be decided.
(2) Restrict converts from serving the devil. For witches, the devil is absolute. Therefore, what the devil said is what the absolute said. It is natural to follow these instructions.
(3) Don't forget the efforts to publicize the doctrine of believing in demons (witches) as much as possible. Adding new believers is regarded as the obligation of witches.
(4) Don't ignore the ritual of witch belief, and all rituals should be carried out with heart. Usually, thirteen witches' meetings need to be held regularly, which is called coven.
(5) In the group of monsters, you must learn the identification method as a witch, or have the identification method as a witch. In other words, it is clear what a witch should have. It is believed that witches have many freckles or moles on all parts of their bodies.
(6) It is the obligation of witches to hold a large-scale "witch gathering" called Sunday. This means strengthening the "restraint" of the witch comrades.
Although it is a contractual relationship for witches to join the church, it is not only "giving" from the witch's point of view, but also "getting" from the devil's point of view. In other words, the relationship between the two sides is equal and mutually beneficial, and both sides are mutually beneficial.
If so, what can a woman get from the devil because she has become a witch?
That is, as soon as the conversion ceremony of the "sexual satisfaction" witch is over, there are many sexual ceremonies waiting. This is a kind of sexual contact with the devil, and it is generally believed that a single order can be satisfied. Of course, sexual intercourse with the devil sometimes occurs before conversion. It is generally believed that sexual intercourse with the devil can get pleasure that ordinary people can't get. So some women can't forget the existence of the devil and become witches.
Sexual ceremonies, in most cases, seem to be held at Sunday banquets (witch gatherings or witch gatherings).
Although this "pay" is more, once she becomes a witch who "gets" more, it is generally believed that such a woman will never return to the world. Even though she exists as an earth woman in appearance, she has no choice because her heart and soul are given to the devil.
In order to serve as reliable evidence for witches to join the church, they can make vows to join the church, and there are still a few copies of these vows. When you look at this kind of thing, you can find that the oath is written in a comfortable and standby mirror writing way. The so-called mirror writing, also called "mirror writing", is the state of writing correct words on the mirror. So when I wrote from left to right, I also printed a strange magic seal.
However, to understand witches, we can also find some clues from works of art:
Witches are women who left personal files or written descriptions except for a few female rulers and upper-class women in history. Ironically, they were accused of being witches, not for positive reasons, but unexpectedly left traces of their lives in the historical records of the men's center. There are few works depicting them in art history, and Hans Baldon Green (1484/85 ~ 1545) is one of the few artists who have painted witches the most. From 1509 to Stra? Baldungrien's witch theme continued from the beginning of Berg's independent portal to the year before his death. As far as the works about 13 handed down from ancient times are concerned, Taiban was written before the Reformation, especially during the period from 15 12 to 15 17, when the visitors lived in Frejborg, southwest Germany. At that time, Baldung Grien was hired to draw the painting of Maria Altar, the main altar of Freiburg Cathedral, which was also the period when witches created most frequently.
Although most of these witches' paintings are exquisite sketches or woodcut prints drawn with quill pens dipped in ink, those exaggerated body movements, functional female nudity and mysterious atmosphere have triggered a strong dramatic tension in the works and the visual stimulation of the viewers, which is unforgettable. Incredibly, these witches' works appeared at the same time that Baldon Greene made altar paintings. On the one hand, the painter is committed to presenting an ultra-secular world centered on God, symbolizing holiness, redemption and chastity; On the other hand, he is obsessed with depicting the evil lair under Satan's jurisdiction, symbolizing evil, curse and lewdness. There seems to be a big gap between the painter's personal creative themes and interests and the works restricted by sponsorship in the public domain. Is this one of the characteristics that can't be ignored in Baldon Green's creation? How to explain this phenomenon?
Throughout the ages, women who can leave images in works of art are mostly portrayed and described by men. Most of them are favored by male power, and because they are the dependents of a "great" man: mother, wife, sister, daughter and mistress, they are fortunate to occupy a place in the artistic presentation of the men's center. Only a few women left portraits because of their outstanding personal achievements, such as female rulers, female artists, convents and so on. Upper-class women are shown their beauty, status, wealth or power, and these displays can be transformed into symbols, once again strengthening the power and wealth of their men. But the wizards who belong to the lowest and most marginal level of society are usually the poorest and most helpless people. Most of them are single, widowed and old, not to mention relying on men's help. Why do they become the objects portrayed by Baldung Grien, and most of them appear as anonymous groups? What is the purpose of these works, and what female images and witch views are revealed?
Martin Luther published his 95 theses in (1483 ~1546)1517, which was several years earlier than the prelude of the religious reform and as far as the peasant war (1524 ~/kloc). Baldung Grien's witch works successfully broke the tradition of loving icons, liberating Christian art from formal dogma and replacing it with nude portraits of witches, enemies of God and accomplices of Satan. Although many important artists, such as Cranach and Baldon, became followers of Luther after the Reformation, they read Luther's works, drew illustrations for them, and even made portraits of Luther and many works with secular themes, the secularization of Baldon Greene's works preceded the Reformation, so it was obvious that he was not influenced by Luther. Then, what is the motivation that triggered Baldung Grien to create these witch paintings before 15 17, and what is the important relationship between it and the painter's personal background, making friends, studying as a teacher and living area?
There is a phenomenon worthy of special attention in the witch works before Baldung Grien 15 17, that is, some works present the face of the witch world and the contents of its activities in a very rich and complicated way. As far as Baldung Grien's earliest extant work "The Witch Hexene Sabat" is concerned, the painter systematically and detailedly describes the preparation process and magic content of the magic banquet by using the linear characteristics of woodcut prints, and uses the color plate overprint technique (Clair-Obscure-Schnitt) to create rich colors and mysterious atmosphere: the night is deep, the wind is strong, and there is no place in the middle of the village. On the screen, objects symbolizing witches, such as long-handled forks, crystal mirrors, witch pots, bristle brushes, bones and so on, are scattered all over the floor, while cats and goats, the intimate animals of the two witches, appear in inconspicuous corners and backgrounds. In the foreground of the picture, three witches are surrounded by a clay pot with thick smoke, showing a tripartite confrontation. The witch on the right sits on the floor in a regular triangle formed by crossing three long-handled forks, symbolizing "the magic of sex". She gently lifted the lid of the clay pot between her knees with her left hand, and stuck a long-handled spoon to her right hand, watching the steam rise rapidly from the pot. This steam obliquely passing through the picture echoes another parallel steam in the middle scene, forming a strong moving line to guide the visual focus on the picture, and echoes the dead trees of the famous brand Baldung Grien on the right edge of the picture, which has the same containment effect. At the top left of the picture, a thin flying witch, with a sharp beak and head, is "transforming into an animal" on the rising steam.
The combination of witch, container and steam fits the story of cooking hail very well. However, cooking here is not by fire, because there is no fire under the urn, so witchcraft is not carried out by physical strength as shown in the illustrations in the early witch pamphlets, such as the illustration of "The Witch Summons the Storm" (1498) in ulrich Morito's De Lamisse. Baldung Grien shows and emphasizes that the motive force of cooking hail in the picture comes from the devil through these strange transcendental signs, such as jumping in the steam, small animals like toads, witches flying on the top of the steam, and words carved on the urn like spells.
The witch on the left of the photo is sitting with her back to the audience, and her right hand presses a long-handled fork to form one side of a regular triangle. She looked at the witch on the right, holding a cup in her left hand, extending obliquely upward parallel to the rising steam. Under his left arm, there is also a long-handled fork. Three sausages symbolizing male reproductive organs are hung on the fork, one of which is facing the water tank mouth hanging on the long-handled fork. Collecting sausages (male reproductive organs) in witchcraft means that witches have witchcraft that causes male impotence. As for an old witch kneeling between the left and right witches, her chest collapsed and her body was obviously thinner than that of the first two witches. She held high a plate shaped like a turtle and a piece of fine cloth symbolizing the mystery of nature as a form of worship. Under the cover of this exquisite cloth, witches can try to use the power from the earth to practice witchcraft; The turtle held high symbolizes the subversion of the Christian Eucharist and the praise and worship of the devil. Behind the old witch's diagonal, another witch is holding a torch to a witch riding a goat from the sky. The escaping witch clutched a long-handled fork with both hands, and there was an urn on the fork. It can be seen from the two tiny bones protruding from the mouth of the urn that the urn is filled with ointment extracted from children's bones.
In addition to the witchcraft activities that witches are engaged in, the symbols of witches in the Magic Banquet enrich the image meaning of the picture: back to back with the witch cooking hail, the cat bound by the long-handled fork triangle and the witch appear in front of the viewer; Like a metaphor of "turning into an animal"; The convex mirror symbolizes the work of divination, prophecy or curse carried out by wizards; It is recommended to refine the paste when dispersing bones; Bristle brushes and witches' loose hair are the causes of "waist rheumatism" (xenschu? ), a numb and stiff marker; Bristle brush can also be regarded as a brush for applying ointment; Dead tree is interpreted as the dead tree of wisdom in Christian tradition, but in divination, it is regarded as a place where the dead can be accommodated, goblins and ghosts can be hidden, or the residence of forest elves.
Baldung Grien's Magic Banquet recorded witches and witchcraft in very detailed images, and the forest and dark background directly set off the mysterious and unrestrained characteristics of witches. Although Satan does not appear directly in the picture, and many props used in witchcraft are only scattered, its symbolic meaning is better than the direct appearance of magic. The results of mysterious magic can also be observed in natural phenomena and natural objects, such as rising steam, dead trees and animals. According to the image tradition of the Middle Ages, the witch in the picture should be humble and respectful. Or it is a symbol of being close to nature, so that women can be integrated with the land with maternal characteristics and stimulate the power of life. This situation can also be seen in the works of xenszene of Albertina Art Museum. In addition, although the lush plants in the forest have a somewhat gloomy atmosphere on the night of the magic banquet, their naked bodies gallop freely in the wilderness jungle, directly conveying the spirit of freedom and openness and the primitive and barbaric power visually. The forest background on Baldung Grien's wild horse map has a similar effect. In addition, there are many arrangements in other works, such as > (Kinderaue), which shows two naked women taking care of a group of wrestling children in the wild, and the image of a witch named > (Drei Parzen).
The combination of witch and forest theme has become a very special type in Badong Green's witch works. Except for Albrecht Altdorfer (C. 1480- 1538), an early German artist and Danube painter, who sketched Aufbruczum Hexen Sabbat in 1506, the image of witch combining with forest almost became Baldungrien's. Scholars such as K. oettinger, D. Koeppling and S. Schade think Baldungrien may be influenced by Altdorfer's works [7]. Indeed, the elements that make up the picture, such as forest, night, smoke or steam, flying on a goat, scattered bones on the ground, and the composition method of the picture on the right, such as the almost straight thick trunk and the smoke curling from the bottom right to the top left, are all similar to Badong Green's Magic Banquet. The mysterious atmosphere and wild inner motivation make it easy to compare these two works.
The picture creation of "Magic Banquet" is completely different from the illustrations in some pamphlets about witches published earlier at that time. The latter is almost entirely based on the civilized society of the village, with occasional scenes of cultivated land and corral, but it is not a lonely forest, unlike Baldung Grien's works, which pursues openness and freedom in the primitive wild world and fully presents the natural religious roots of witchcraft.
These carefully arranged props symbolizing witchcraft in "The Feast of the Magic" will also appear repeatedly in Baldung Grien's witch paintings in the future, such as those painted in 15 14. In the sketch of "Hexensen" with feathers dipped in water in the Louvre Art Museum, you can also see sausages and water sticks hanging from a long-handled fork. Cats, goats, urns, steam, bones and convex mirrors. , also appeared in the works of witch plot in Albertina Art Museum. However, the complicated plot and numerous symbols in the picture of "The Magic Banquet" can't be found in Baldung Grien's other witch works, and it seems to be the general meeting of witchcraft. Where do these fantasies, compositions and images come from? Inherited from folk traditions or created by artists? What are the possible paper databases? Before clarifying the above problems, it is necessary to understand the concept of witches in the early sixteenth century.
The understanding of the nature and characteristics of witches changed greatly in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. From the etymological analysis of the word "Hexe" in German, we can find that the word "Hexe" is no longer the supernatural goddess and saint in ancient German: Hagedise；; After differentiation, this word is no longer published separately, referring to a woman who is wise and proficient in herbal medicine, or a priestess who has been trained in pharmacy and a female guardian of the temple: Hagia；; Instead, Hagse (Hagsche) in the early Middle Ages, a krauterweiblein who lived in forests or wasteland and knew how to prepare drugs and poisons, gradually evolved into Haxe, Haxe and Hexe, with both positive and negative meanings of treatment and fatal. After the 1480' s, the word "Hexe" in German still contains the meaning of herbal old woman and intelligent woman, but it has almost completely become synonymous with danger, malice and habit of hurting people with poison. These women-"witches", who continue the pagan tradition and have a high degree of autonomy, pose a great threat to the education of the Christian church, and eventually lead to a large-scale and institutionalized "witch persecution" tragedy for centuries. Accused people are often sentenced to cruel death. Although limited by the lack of eucalyptus data, it is still impossible to know how many people have been victims of the crazy "Hexenjad" atrocities in history. However, it is an indisputable fact that there are hundreds of thousands of people, and most of them are women.
From the evolution of the word "Hexe", it can be seen that after the Middle Ages, the Germans' understanding of the characteristics of witches has changed greatly. They are no longer traditional priests, intelligent women or people with supernatural abilities, but women who can use magic to hurt others, hold secret magic parties, fly at night, make agreements with demons and have sex. It is worth noting that these characteristics are not unique to women in medieval records. Many examples reveal that it is usually male scholars who reach secret agreements with demons; Not all people who have sex with demons are women, and men may also be tempted by banshees. According to the records of the church, both sexes can practice witchcraft, but only witches in Baldengrain's time can combine nocturnal and harmful witchcraft. In fact, until the 1480 s, witchcraft had no specific gender color, nor was it an activity exclusive to women. However, since 1487, interrogators of the heretical court stationed in South Germany, heinrich kramer (1430-1505) and Jakob Plenge (1436-/kloc-).
In the sixteenth century, the construction of witch characteristics began with the systematic statement of clergy, combined with the folk superstition of witch's supernatural ability, and was gradually established after influencing intellectuals' view of witch. However, intellectuals and ordinary people have different understandings of the characteristics of witches. For example, people think that witches' supernatural abilities are innate and must come from demons; On the grounds that people are not born with ghosts, only male scholars who have been trained in witchcraft have this ability, intellectuals conclude that witches' supernatural ability must come from the agreement and communication with demons, so it is heresy [. But in any case, people at that time, including intellectuals, believed that witches had supernatural energy and could perform witchcraft and harm people, livestock and property. He is also a loyal servant of Satan, who will secretly destroy the Christian church. Witches' destructive work includes: spreading infectious diseases, sudden death of livestock, impotence, killing and eating babies, stealing milk, summoning storms and so on. This is the result of practicing "Schwartz Magie, Maleficia". The knife cuts bread and fingers. If this super power is applied to benefit mankind, it is called "the fairy method of benefit" (Wei? E Magie), such as praying for rain after a long drought. In order to strengthen their witchcraft ability, witches need to fly to the magic banquet at night to supplement magic from the devil's ceremony. The scene of the banquet is like the witch map in Baldung Grien, flying around on a goat, fork or broom. During the magic sacrifice ceremony, they danced backwards in the harsh noise, ate or swallowed rotten soil raw, kissed the devil's temple to show their loyalty, and finally made coitus with the devil as the finale of the magic feast.
So far, there are three theories about the origin of witches. /kloc-In the 5th century, the Catholic Church killed some women in the name of witches in order to eradicate dissidents, and claimed that these "witches" were Satan's lovers, servants and even wives. Because of the propaganda of the church, people think that witches and Satan are inseparable, so ordinary people begin to have fear and hostility towards witches, and the church can be burned horribly. The second is the traditional witch who joins the witch club. The third is a modern witch, who can practice freely without the restrictions of coven.
Witches must receive strict training in astrology (astronomy), herbs (medicine and magic) and spells. However, when they were born, their knowledge of Europe was in a state of chaos, and only nobles and monks had the opportunity to receive education. Therefore, these women who have mastered the power of knowledge and are unwilling to sink with the secular world are mysterious and frightening in the eyes of ordinary people, because ordinary people do not know what power they have mastered. Witches don't believe in God, and their real refuge is Mother Nature, which is even more outrageous to church people.
The formalization of witch trials began with Innocent VIII (1484- 1492 reigned). Together with his priests, he carried out a terrible and ruthless policy against witchcraft. 1496, they wrote a book "The Hammer Against Witches". According to this book, witches are people who have a secret agreement with the devil to sell their souls to the devil, and they are descendants of the devil. The book also describes how witches and demons feast, eat people's hearts, dance wildly and indulge themselves. Tell them how to do "induced abortion" and take out the head, hands and feet of the fetus bit by bit. Witches' activities are regarded by the Christian church as heresy against God and must be severely punished, so it is a "sacred mission" to defend God to crack down on witches. From then on, the European church began the massacre of witches. As the Bible says, "A woman who practices witchcraft should not be allowed to live." (Exodus, 22: 18)
The Spanish Inquisition is generally considered to have the closest relationship with witch hunting, and its existence period happened from 1478 to 1834. Researchers believe that the essence of the inquisition's participation in the witch massacre is to eliminate people who don't believe in God in society, especially Protestants and Jews who are regarded as heterogeneous by Europeans. The most famous case at this time was that Ann Berlin was executed. One of the reasons is that she has six fingers and left no heir to her husband.
James succeeded to the throne of England and Scotland in 1603, and he published On the Devil in 1597. After he ascended the throne, many people were hanged, burned at the stake or otherwise punished, and the fanaticism in Europe did not disappear until the end of the seventeenth century when it moved to the American continent with the tide of immigration.
After the rise of feminist thoughts, feminist scholars interpret the history of women's persecution from the perspective of gender rights struggle, regard the history of witches as a portrayal of women's life history and are hostile to women's historical facts. In his book Schadenzauber und Die Magie des Korpers (1983), Sigrid Schade interprets witch persecution as: from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance, at the turn of the old and new times, when the society, politics and people are full of crises, the church takes women as scapegoats and punishes them to consolidate the patriarchal system. Norman Cohn and joseph hansen explained the history of witch persecution from the perspective of economy and power structure, and pointed out that single women in the lower class are particularly easy to be accused of being witches, which is typical of modern witches. Sigrid Brauner went further and explored this typical personality trait. On the one hand, he analyzed the negative comments on women in Male Hammer; On the other hand, from the discourses of Martin Luther, Paul Rabin and hans sachs, he analyzed how witches in the modern sense stand out and become the new female view of urban housewives. She reinterpreted the social function of family organization and women's family status with German humanism and Protestantism in the Reformation era, and proved that the promotion of women's role and status was an important reason for witch persecution at the turn of 15 and 16 century.
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