Existence Of Witches Research Articles

The Stigmatization of Health Remedies (Herbs, Stones and Charms) in King James I’s Daemonologie

This paper aims to analyze the stigmatization of concepts related to medicine and healing in King James I's Daemonologie as republished in 1604. In the early 1600's, witchcraft trials and persecutions were prevalent, and there was a widespread belief in the existence of witches and their malevolent activities. King James I had a strong interest in the subject and was involved in witch trials. The study's hypothesis is that in the King’s view, healing effects and properties of plants, stones or charms could be attributed to God or Satan. Therefore, when God’s help was excluded, such as in the case of witches, all beneficial or healing effects of witchcraft were considered the work of the Devil, who was thus deluding mankind. Through these ideas expressed in Daemonologie, King James I contributed to the stigmatization of healing practices and encouraged the fear and persecution of individuals suspected of engaging in such practices. This study of medical and health terminology will bring the traditional beliefs and practices that influenced medical knowledge at the time to the foreground. Some key points that will be detailed here are the influence of Galenic ideas, the different categories of medical practitioners and their social status, the knowledge of herbal medicines that had been passed down through generations as well as astrological influences, while also considering a comparison with the various medical treatises that were available at the time.

Wywoływanie chorób przez czarownice – poglądy uczestnika procesów czarownic (przypadek Czarownicy powołanej)

Published in 1639, the anonymous “Czarownica powołana” is a work addressed to judges dealing with proceedings in witchcraft cases. Its author, probably a clergyman, participated in such trials. Unlike many works of this kind, it did not encourage the tracking and killing of witches. “Czarownica powołana” belongs to a different trend and in many places is similar to the treatise of the German Jesuit Friedrich Spee, who was afraid of the rash condemnation of superstitious people who had nothing to do with practicing black magic. In “Czarownica powołana” the existence of witches and sorcery is not questioned, because it is considered to be a devilish science, which leads to making a pact with the devil with the ability to act in the world. Illness or death in connection with the accusation of witchcraft had serious consequences, including establishing who and how the witch had harmed. In the era of the plague epidemic, fear of strangers led to numerous massacres, especially in German cities, where the spread of the plague was explained more often than elsewhere by poisoning the wells by Jews, who were also burdened with engaging in magic and negotiating with the devil. The author was aware that some associate every disease with witchcraft. The devil can also cheat, making a person think that what he dreamed really happened, and people deluded by fantasies are willing to share these stories also in court during a trial. The author of “Czarownica powołana” was aware of this mechanism because he was concerned with the accusation itself (“powołanie”). In this context, “Czarownica powołana” – despite the author’s conviction about the existence of witches and their ability to cause disease and elementary disasters - is a progressive work, but this is evidenced by the lawyer’s dilemmas, not the priest’s fears.

„Co to są czary? Co za znaki ich?”

„What Is Witchcraft? What Signify It ?” Lithuanian Sermons And Methods Against Witchcraft From ThE End Of 17th And 18th Centuries
 Witchcraft as a crime attracted the attention of Polish-Lithuanian society in many aspects at the turn of 17th and 18th centuries. On the one hand, it was connected with a belief in its efficiency, in the existence of witches and sorcerers, and their covenant with the devil. The article analyzes two manuscripts: a prayer „Modlitwa przeciwko czarom i niebezpieczeństwom” and a sermon „Jako się strzedz czarów i potwarzy o nie”. The sermon utilizes contemporary rhetoric, stresses the importance of sin and appeals to the receivers through fear. What is somewhat surprising, the text maintains that most witchcraft happened with God’s permission, as God allows the devil to function in the society. The preacher was very skillful in using listeners’ emotions, building suspension and condemning peoples’ sins and bad deeds. There is no doubt he managed to attract the attention of the audience and had a real impact on the surrounding reality.

On Believing in Witches

In this paper I discuss Polycarp Ikuenobe's view that it is rational to believe, in an African context, in the existence of witches and witchcraft. First, I attempt to show that it is not possible to prove empirically that witches and witchcraft are real, as Ikuenobe assumes. I argue that even though witches and witchcraft are part of the social reality in which many Africans live, they do not have the same ontological status as theoretical entities in scientific research. Second, I try to show that Ikuenobe's attempt to demonstrate that the belief in witches and witchcraft has a rational foundation is not convincing. Admittedly, Africans, who live in magic-ridden cultures, have reasons that locally justify their belief in witches and witchcraft. However, when the justification offered for this belief is assessed by external standards, employed within scientific discourse, it turns out to be insufficient.

Freedom of Speech in Seventeenth-Century Thought

Belief in the existence of witches, the flatness of the earth, and the divine right of kings are among the fighting faiths that have been discarded in the free exchange of ideas. The thick integuments of ignorance and prejudice are sometimes penetrated by the titanic blows of the moralist, sometimes by the detached empiricism of the scientists. But the indispensable condition of progress has always been intellectual liberty. We owe our philosophy of intellectual liberty to the seventeenth century-to Milton, Spinoza, and Locke above all. They taught us that even the best-warranted beliefs must be continuously tested in the crucible of criticism to determine their continuing validity. They taught us too that reliance upon authority is a poor test of truth. A proposition should not be accepted because Milton advanced it, but because he was right-if indeed he was On some major libertarian issues, he and his fellow philosophers of the seventeenth century were not right. Although the thrust of their thinking supports an everbroadening principle of intellectual freedom, we should recognize that much that passed for wisdom in their time may very well have passed out of date. Their position was neither the most libertarian nor their insights the best in the realm of political and religious expression. For they believed that the established order could be criminally assaulted by mere opinions, words and words alone, as contrasted with deeds. Present-day libertarians should therefore understand that romanticized images of Milton or ritualized endorsements of Locke-or, for that

The Last Witch of England

JANE Wenham was the last person to be condemned to death as a witch in England. Her case in 1712 became the immediate basis for a spirited controversy. The fecund intellectual developments of the seventeenth century had prepared the way for a rational discussion of the supernatural. The Royal Society was exerting an everwidening influence. A new rationalism and scientific temper was extant in this age of Boyle and Newton. Thomas Hobbes had pointed metaphysical discussions directly to witches and their craft by attacking such beliefs.1 The Wenham trial was the match that touched off the twin powder kegs of prejudice and cynicism among interested writers. An ensuing skirmish resulted in the publication of nine pamphlets and four books, and led to the clarification of some opinions on the existence of witches. In quantity, the opinions were about equally divided. In logic there was a triumph for the opposition to superstition. The argument was climaxed by Bishop Hutchinson's epochal Historical Essay Concerning Witchcraft, published in 1718: and officially sealed by the subsequent repeal of the Statute against witchcraft in 1736. Only during the period from the reign of James the First to that of George the Second was the practice of witchcraft a capital offense in England. The death penalty had been demanded by James I, himself the author of a volume on demonology, because he held the practice of witchcraft to be a greater evil than murder. His Scottish background and his difficulties in bringing Anne of Denmark to England combined to reinforce his views. Nearly two hundred alleged witches were executed during this era. In the seventeenth century, important political personages had been involved; but, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, the practice of witchcraft had passed from high fashion to the humble cottages of forlorn old women in small villages. The victims no longer moved in the highest circles of the nation, but were ignorant servant girls and farm hands. Convictions were becoming fewer as the century drew to an end. The last recorded execution of an alleged witch was in 1682.2 The last conviction and condemnation was that of Jane Wenham of Walkerne in Hertfordshire in March 1712. Her sentence was commuted by the judge 1 Prior, M. E., Joseph Glanvill, witchcraft and seventeenth century science, Modern Philology, 30 : pp. 167-93, Nov. 1932. 2 Notestein, W., History of Witchcraft in Engiand, 1558 to 1718 (New York, 19I 1) p. 325134

On the Study of Science in Schools*

On the Study of Science in Schools*