Witchcraft, Demonology and Magic
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Translated by Wordport from Nota Bene Ver. 4 Document EPODE.599
http://akroterion.journals.ac.za THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY: AN ORGANISING PRINCIPLE IN HORACE’S EPODES? Sjarlene Thom (University of Stellenbosch) Over the years there have been various attempts to make sense of the Epodes as a collection, as well as of individual poems.1 Scholars who have focussed on the collection as a whole have tried generally grouping the poems according to metre2 or to subject matter into either different areas of criticism or different categories of invective.3 The subsequent scholarly debate centred on arguments why individual groups were identified and why a specific poem should fall into a specific group. My personal reaction to these attempts to structure the collection according to groups is rather negative for the following simple reason: too many persuasive alternatives are possible. No musical composition could at one and the same time be described for instance as a sonata, a suite or a prelude and fugue. If a piece of music displays characteristics of all these musical forms, a broader organisational principle has to be found to accommodate the individual sections. In the same way then – since so many different possible ways have been identified in which to pack out various groups of Epodes – it seems to make more sense to look at the Epodes as a unit in which a variety of cross-references or, to continue the musical analogy, variations on a theme, all support a central statement. There have also been scholars who focused on individual poems who have come up with striking or even ingenious individual interpretations, but more often than not they then ignored or discounted the larger unit in which the poems functioned. -
Questioning the 'Witch' Label: Women As Evil in Ancient Rome
Questioning the ‘witch’ label: women as evil in ancient Rome Linda McGuire Introduction It became popular during the early Roman Empire for authors to depict women using magic in their writing. Such women appeared in almost every literary genre (satire, love poetry, epic and novels) during a span of 150 years. They can be found in the works of Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid, Lucan, Petronius and Apuleius. They were not a particularly coherent group, although they share certain common characteristics. Besides their link with magic there is only one other thing that they all share in common – these women are called witches by scholars today regardless of the Latin terminology used to refer to them.1 What these scholars mean when they use the term ‘witch’ is difficult to know as this English word, which has associations with modern European history, is never explained. This paper seeks to question the validity of using this modern term in the context of an ancient society, in this case Rome. First of all, what do scholars mean by ‘witch’ today and what ideas lie behind this term. Second, what similarities exist between the witches of the late Middle Ages and women using sorcery in Latin literature? As the topic is broad, this paper will focus specifically on the crimes of these women. Finally, who in Roman society were connected with particularly evil or unnatural crimes such as baby killing or cannibalism? Was it magic practitioners or others in society? Part one: witches and their crimes First found in a ninth century manuscript, the term ‘witch’ is thought to derive from the old English word wicca, meaning someone who casts a spell.2 It is likely, however, that our understanding of the term today is influenced from the period known as the witch-hunts which affected most of Europe in the late Middle Ages and resulted in the deaths of many thousands of people. -
Evil Eye Belief in Turkish Culture: Myth of Evil Eye Bead
The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication - TOJDAC April 2016 Volume 6 Issue 2 EVIL EYE BELIEF IN TURKISH CULTURE: MYTH OF EVIL EYE BEAD Bilgen TUNCER MANZAKOĞLU [email protected] Saliha TÜRKMENOĞLU BERKAN Doğuş University, Industrial Product Design Department [email protected] ABSTRACT Evil eye belief is found in many parts of the world and it plays a major social role in a large number of cultural contexts. The history of evil eye bead usage dated back to ancient times, but upon time it’s meaning have been re-constructed by culture. This paper focused on an amulet based commodity “evil eye bead” used against evil eye and for ornament in Turkey. In order to analyze the myth of evil eye bead, two-sectioned survey was conducted. First section determined evil eye belief rate, participant profile and objects against evil eye. In the second section, the semantic dimensions of evil eye bead was analyzed in the myth level encompassing its perception and function as a cultural opponent act. This paper interrogated the role of culture, geography, and history on the evil eye bead myth. Keywords: Evil Eye Bead, Culture, Myth, Semiology. TÜRK KÜLTÜRÜNDE NAZAR İNANCI: NAZAR BONCUĞU MİTİ ÖZ Nazar inancı dünyanın bir çok bölgesinde bulunmakta ve kültürel bağlamda önemli bir sosyal rol üstlenmektedir.Nazar boncuğunun kullanımı antik zamanlara dayanmakla birlikte, taşıdığı anlam zaman içerisinde kültür ile birlikte yeniden inşa edilmiştir. Türkiye’de hem süs eşyası hem de kem göze karşı kullanılan nazar boncuğu bu makalenin ana konusudur. Nazar boncuğu mitini analiz etmek için iki aşamalı anket çalışması yürütülmüştür. -
A Re-Examination of the Omamori Phenomenon
The Hilltop Review Volume 7 Issue 2 Spring Article 19 April 2015 Ancient Magic and Modern Accessories: A Re-Examination of the Omamori Phenomenon Eric Mendes Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/hilltopreview Recommended Citation Mendes, Eric (2015) "Ancient Magic and Modern Accessories: A Re-Examination of the Omamori Phenomenon," The Hilltop Review: Vol. 7 : Iss. 2 , Article 19. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/hilltopreview/vol7/iss2/19 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Hilltop Review by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact wmu- [email protected]. 152 Ancient Magic and Modern Accessories: A Re-Examination of the Omamori Phenomenon Runner-Up, 2013 Graduate Humanities Conference By Eric Teixeira Mendes Fireworks exploded, newspapers rushed “Extra!” editions into print and Japanese exchanged “Banzai!” cheers at news of Japan`s crown princess giving birth to a girl after more than eight years of marriage… In a forestate of the special life that awaits the baby, a purple sash and an imperial samurai sword were bestowed on the 6.8 pound girl just a few hours after her birth - - along with a sacred amulet said to ward off evil spirits. The girl will be named in a ceremony Friday, after experts are consulted on a proper name for the child. (Zielenziger) This quote, which ran on December 2, 2001, in an article from the Orlando Sentinel, describes the birth of one of Japan`s most recent princesses. -
League with Satan. They Said, " He Casts out Devils by Beelzebub." 1
"AS OLD AS METBUSELAH." 449 league with Satan. They said, " He casts out devils by Beelzebub." 1 He is but an embodied falsehood, speaking lies, working a lie, professing to cast out Satan, that He may the better serve him. But the charge was as unwise as unveracious. The answer was easy : " If Satan cast out Satan, how shall his kingdom stand ? If he work against himself, how can his works serve him ? Then, if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your disciples cast them out ? By Beelzebub, too ? Let them be your judges."1 The cycle was completed ; fanatical resistance to the light had become fanatical denial of its existence. It was little wonder that Jesus met the deputation from Jerusalem with the question, "Why do ye transgress the commandment of God by your tradition ? • . Ye hypocrites ! well did Esaias prophesy of you, say ing, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips ; but their heart is far from me."3 "0 ye hypocrites ! ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times ?"4 A. M. FAIRBAIRN. "AS OLD AS METHUSELAH:" A CHAPTER IN ANTEDILUVIAN CHRONOLOGY. GENESIS V. AccoRDING to the generally accepted rendering of the fifth Chapter of the Book of Genesis, the lives of our antediluvian progenitors are to be reckoned by cen turies, the oldest of them completing a period of nearly a thousand years. Many suggestions have been ten- • Matt. xii 24- • Ibid. xii. 25-27. -
The Synagogue of Satan
THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN BY MAXIMILIAN J. RUDWIN THE Synagogue of Satan is of greater antiquity and potency than the Church of God. The fear of a mahgn being was earher in operation and more powerful in its appeal among primitive peoples than the love of a benign being. Fear, it should be re- membered, was the first incentive of religious worship. Propitiation of harmful powers was the first phase of all sacrificial rites. This is perhaps the meaning of the old Gnostic tradition that when Solomon was summoned from his tomb and asked, "Who first named the name of God?" he answered, "The Devil." Furthermore, every religion that preceded Christianity was a form of devil-worship in the eyes of the new faith. The early Christians actually believed that all pagans were devil-worshippers inasmuch as all pagan gods were in Christian eyes disguised demons who caused themselves to be adored under different names in dif- ferent countries. It was believed that the spirits of hell took the form of idols, working through them, as St. Thomas Aquinas said, certain marvels w'hich excited the wonder and admiration of their worshippers (Siiinina theologica n.ii.94). This viewpoint was not confined to the Christians. It has ever been a custom among men to send to the Devil all who do not belong to their own particular caste, class or cult. Each nation or religion has always claimed the Deity for itself and assigned the Devil to other nations and religions. Zoroaster described alien M^orshippers as children of the Divas, which, in biblical parlance, is equivalent to sons of Belial. -
Medieval Representations of Satan Morgan A
Rollins College Rollins Scholarship Online Master of Liberal Studies Theses 2011 The aS tanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan Morgan A. Matos [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls Part of the Christianity Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Matos, Morgan A., "The aS tanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan" (2011). Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 28. http://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/28 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Rollins Scholarship Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Liberal Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of Rollins Scholarship Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Satanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan A Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Liberal Studies By Morgan A. Matos July, 2011 Mentor: Dr. Steve Phelan Rollins College Hamilton Holt School Winter Park Master of Liberal Studies Program The Satanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan Project Approved: _________________________________________ Mentor _________________________________________ Seminar Director _________________________________________ Director, Master of Liberal Studies Program ________________________________________ Dean, Hamilton Holt School Rollins College i Table of Contents Table of Contents i Table of Illustrations ii Introduction 1 1. Historical Development of Satan 4 2. Liturgical Drama 24 3. The Corpus Christi Cycle Plays 32 4. The Morality Play 53 5. Dante, Marlowe, and Milton: Lasting Satanic Impressions 71 Conclusion 95 Works Consulted 98 ii Table of Illustrations 1. Azazel from Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal, 1825 11 2. Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness, James Tissot, 1886-1894 13 3. -
Fra Sabba Da Castiglione: the Self-Fashioning of a Renaissance Knight Hospitaller”
“Fra Sabba da Castiglione: The Self-Fashioning of a Renaissance Knight Hospitaller” by Ranieri Moore Cavaceppi B.A., University of Pennsylvania 1988 M.A., University of North Carolina 1996 Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Italian Studies at Brown University May 2011 © Copyright 2011 by Ranieri Moore Cavaceppi This dissertation by Ranieri Moore Cavaceppi is accepted in its present form by the Department of Italian Studies as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Ronald L. Martinez, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council Date Evelyn Lincoln, Reader Date Ennio Rao, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date Peter M. Weber, Dean of the Graduate School iii CURRICULUM VITAE Ranieri Moore Cavaceppi was born in Rome, Italy on October 11, 1965, and moved to Washington, DC at the age of ten. A Fulbright Fellow and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Ranieri received an M.A. in Italian literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996, whereupon he began his doctoral studies at Brown University with an emphasis on medieval and Renaissance Italian literature. Returning home to Washington in the fall of 2000, Ranieri became the father of three children, commenced his dissertation research on Knights Hospitaller, and was appointed the primary full-time instructor at American University, acting as language coordinator for the Italian program. iv PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I deeply appreciate the generous help that I received from each member of my dissertation committee: my advisor Ronald Martinez took a keen interest in this project since its inception in 2004 and suggested many of its leading insights; my readers Evelyn Lincoln and Ennio Rao contributed numerous observations and suggestions. -
Deus Ex Machina? Witchcraft and the Techno-World Venetia Robertson
Deus Ex Machina? Witchcraft and the Techno-World Venetia Robertson Introduction Sociologist Bryan R. Wilson once alleged that post-modern technology and secularisation are the allied forces of rationality and disenchantment that pose an immense threat to traditional religion.1 However, the flexibility of pastiche Neopagan belief systems like ‘Witchcraft’ have creativity, fantasy, and innovation at their core, allowing practitioners of Witchcraft to respond in a unique way to the post-modern age by integrating technology into their perception of the sacred. The phrase Deus ex Machina, the God out of the Machine, has gained a multiplicity of meanings in this context. For progressive Witches, the machine can both possess its own numen and act as a conduit for the spirit of the deities. It can also assist the practitioner in becoming one with the divine by enabling a transcendent and enlightening spiritual experience. Finally, in the theatrical sense, it could be argued that the concept of a magical machine is in fact the contrived dénouement that saves the seemingly despondent situation of a so-called ‘nature religion’ like Witchcraft in the techno-centric age. This paper explores the ways two movements within Witchcraft, ‘Technopaganism’ and ‘Technomysticism’, have incorporated man-made inventions into their spiritual practice. A study of how this is related to the worldview, operation of magic, social aspect and development of self within Witchcraft, uncovers some of the issues of longevity and profundity that this religion will face in the future. Witchcraft as a Religion The categorical heading ‘Neopagan’ functions as an umbrella that covers numerous reconstructed, revived, or invented religious movements, that have taken inspiration from indigenous, archaic, and esoteric traditions. -
Feasting in Homeric Epic 303
HESPERIA 73 (2004) FEASTING IN Pages 301-337 HOMERIC EPIC ABSTRACT Feasting plays a centralrole in the Homeric epics.The elements of Homeric feasting-values, practices, vocabulary,and equipment-offer interesting comparisonsto the archaeologicalrecord. These comparisonsallow us to de- tect the possible contribution of different chronologicalperiods to what ap- pearsto be a cumulative,composite picture of around700 B.c.Homeric drink- ing practicesare of particularinterest in relation to the history of drinkingin the Aegean. By analyzing social and ideological attitudes to drinking in the epics in light of the archaeologicalrecord, we gain insight into both the pre- history of the epics and the prehistoryof drinkingitself. THE HOMERIC FEAST There is an impressive amount of what may generally be understood as feasting in the Homeric epics.' Feasting appears as arguably the single most frequent activity in the Odysseyand, apart from fighting, also in the Iliad. It is clearly not only an activity of Homeric heroes, but also one that helps demonstrate that they are indeed heroes. Thus, it seems, they are shown doing it at every opportunity,to the extent that much sense of real- ism is sometimes lost-just as a small child will invariablypicture a king wearing a crown, no matter how unsuitable the circumstances. In Iliad 9, for instance, Odysseus participates in two full-scale feasts in quick suc- cession in the course of a single night: first in Agamemnon's shelter (II. 1. thanks to John Bennet, My 9.89-92), and almost immediately afterward in the shelter of Achilles Peter Haarer,and Andrew Sherrattfor Later in the same on their return from their coming to my rescueon variouspoints (9.199-222). -
Anti-Semite And
This Page Intentionally No Longer Blank Anti‐Semite and Jew JeanPaul Sartre [1944] Translated by George J. Becker Schocken Books ∙ New York Copyright © 1948 by Schocken Books Inc. Copyright renewed 1976 by Schocken Books Inc. All rights reserved under international and Pan‐American Copyright conventions. Published in the United States by Schocken Books Inc., New York. Distributed by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House Inc., New York. Originally published in France as Réflexions sur la Question Juive by Éditions‐Morihien. Copyright 1946 by Paul Morihien. Paris. Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data Sartre, Jean‐Paul. 1905— [Réflexions sur la Question Juive. English] Anti‐Semite and Jew / Jean‐Paul Sartre : Translated by George J. Becker : with a new preface my Michael Walzer. p. em. Previously published: New York, Schocken Books, 1948. ISBN 0‐8052‐1047‐4 I. Antisemitism. I. Title. DSI45.S2713 1995 305.8924—de20 95‐1929 CIP Manufactured in the United States of America First Schocken paperback edition published 1965. [‘95] 9 8 7 PREFACE Sometime in the second half of 1944, as the war in Europe drew to a close, Jean-Paul Sartre noticed that in discussions about postwar France, the imminent return of French Jews deported by the Nazis was never men tioned. Some of the speakers, he guessed, were not pleased by the prospect; others, friends of the Jews, thought it best to he silent. (Neither they nor Sartre knew how many of the deported Jews would never return.) Thinking about these discussions, Sartre decided to write a critique of anti-Semitism. Both the occasion and the subject of the critique were French. -
Witch Hunting
LE TAROT- ISTITUTO GRAF p resen t WITCH HUNTING C U R A T O R S FRANCO CARDINI - ANDREA VITALI GUGLIELMO INVERNIZZI - GIORDANO BERTI 1 HISTORICAL PRESENTATION “The sleep of reason produces monsters" this is the title of a work of the great Spanish painter Francisco Goya. He portrayed a man sleeping on a large stone, while around him there were all kinds of nightmares, who become living beings. With this allegory, Goya was referring to tragedies that involved Europe in his time, the end of the eighteenth century. But the same image can be the emblem of other tragedies closer to our days, nightmares born from intolerance, incomprehension of different people, from the illusion of intellectual, religious or racial superiority. The history of the witch hunting is an example of how an ancient nightmare is recurring over the centuries in different forms. In times of crisis, it is seeking a scapegoat for the evils that afflict society. So "the other", the incarnation of evil, must be isolated and eliminated. This irrational attitude common to primitive cultures to the so-called "civilization" modern and post-modern. The witch hunting was break out in different locations of Western Europe, between the Middle Ages and the Baroque age. The most affected areas were still dominated by particular cultures or on the border between nations in conflict for religious reasons or for political interests. Subtly, the rulers of this or that nation shake the specter of invisible and diabolical enemy to unleash fear and consequent reaction: the denunciation, persecution, extermination of witches.