Witches' Sabbath: Difference between revisions

[[File:Hexensabbat.jpg|thumb|300px|16thSixteenth-century Swiss representation of Sabbath gathering from the chronicles of [[Johann Jakob Wick]]. Note Devilthe horned god seated on serpent-enlaced throne, witch performing the [[osculum infame]] upon a demon and another being aided by a demon to summon a storm from her [[cauldron]], while others carouse and prepare magic [[potion]]s]]

A '''Witches' Sabbath''' is a purported gathering of those believed to practice [[witchcraft]] and other [[ritual]]s. The phrase became especially popular in the 20th century.

In contrast to German and English counterparts, French writers (including Francophone authors writing in Latin) occasionally did useused the term andmore therefrequently, wouldalbeit seemstill relatively rarely. There seems to be deep roots to inquisitorial persecution of the [[Waldensians]]. In 1124, the term ''inzabbatos'' is used to describe the Waldensians in Northern Spain.<ref>Phillipus van Limborch, History of Inquisition (1692), [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=NohCAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA88 English translation (1816) p. 88], [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=cysymJOAxLwC&pg=GBS.PP316 original Latin here] </ref> In 1438 and 1460, seemingly related terms ''synagogam'' and ''synagogue of Sathan'' are used to describe Waldensians by inquisitors in France. These terms could be a reference to Revelation 2:9. (..."I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the [[synagogue of Satan]].")<ref> Hansen, ''Quellen'' (1901) [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=QXXX48OyGjcC&pg=GBS.PA186 p.186]</ref><ref>The verse in Revelation is pointed to by Wolfgang Behringer, ''Witches and Witch-Hunts''(2004) p.60</ref> Writing in Latin in 1458, Francophone author [[Nicolas Jacquier]] applies ''synagogam fasciniorum'' to what he considers a gathering of witches.<ref>Nicolaus Jacquier [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=fGtMAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA40 ''Flagellum'' (printed 1581) p. 40]</ref>

About 150 years later, near the peak of the witch-phobia and the persecutions which led to the execution of an estimated 40,000-100,000 persons,<ref>Alison Rowlands, Witchcraft Narratives in Germany, Rothenburg,1561-1652 (Manchester, 2003), 10.</ref><ref>"...the fear of a monstrous conspiracy of Devil-worshipping witches was fairly recent, and indeed modern scholarship has confirmed that massive witch hunts occurred almost exclusively in the early modern period, reaching their peak intensity during the century 1570-1670." Benjamin G. Kohl and H.C. Erik Midelfort, editors, On Witchcraft An Abridged Translation of Johann Weyer's De praestigiis daemonun. Translation by John Shea (North Carolina, 1998) xvi. </ref> with roughly 80% being women,<ref>Per Scarre & Callow (2001),"Records suggest that in Europe, as a whole, about 80 per cent of trial defendants were women, though the ratio of women to men charged with the offence varied from place to place, and often, too, in one place over time."</ref><ref>"Menopausal and post-menopausal women were disproportionally represented amongst the victims of the witch craze--and their over-representation is the more striking when we recall how rare women over fifty must have been in the population as a whole." Lyndal Roper Witch Craze (2004)p. 160</ref> the witch-phobic French and [[Francophone]] writers still seem to be the onlymain ones using these related terms, although still infrequently and sporadically in most cases. [[Lambert Daneau]] uses ''sabbatha'' one time (1581) as ''Synagogas quas Satanica sabbatha''.<ref>Daneau's work is included with Jacquier in 1581 printing, link above. See p. 242.</ref> Nicholas Remi uses the term occasionally as well as ''synagoga'' (1588). [[Jean Bodin]] uses the term three times (1580) and, across the channel, the Englishman [[Reginald Scot]] (1585) writing a book in opposition to witch-phobia, uses the term but only once in quoting Bodin. (<ref>The Puritan [[Richard Baxter]], writing much later (1691), also uses the term only once, in the exact same way–quotingway – quoting Bodin. Other witch-phobic English Puritans who were Baxter's contemporaries, like [[Increase Mather|Increase]] and [[Cotton Mather]] (1684, 1689, 1692), did not use the term, perhaps because they were [[Puritan_SabbatarianismPuritan Sabbatarianism|Sabbatarians]].)</ref>

In 1611, [[Jacques Fontaine]] uses ''sabat'' five times writing in French and in a way that would seem to correspond with modern usage. Finally, writing a witch-phobic work in French theThe following year (1612), [[Pierre de Lancre]] seems to use the term more frequently than anyone before.<ref> [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=lwVAAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA74 Pierre de Lancre] p. 74</ref>

In a 2009 translation of Dominican inquisitor [[Heinrich Kramer]]'s ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'' (1486), the word ''sabbath'' does not occur. AThere is a line describing a supposed gathering andthat usinguses the word ''concionem''; it is accurately translated as an ''assembly''. ButHowever in the accompanying footnote, the translator seems to apologize for the lack of both the term ''sabbath'' and a general scarcity of other gatherings that would seem to fit the bill for what he refers to as a "black sabbath".<ref>"It is sometimes argued that the Malleus was of minor influence in the spread of the conception of sorcery as a satanic cult because the black sabbath, which formed a major element in later notions of sorcery, receives little emphasis. Yet, here the black sabbath clearly is mentioned..." --footnote 74, Christopher S. Mackay, The Hammer of Witches, A Complete Translation of Malleus Maleficarum p. 283 fn. 74. The original work with the line Mackay refers to is page 208 as [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=0NE7AAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PP208 found here].</ref>

*[[c:File:Hans_Baldung_-_Witches_Sabbath_-_WGA01221.jpgThe Witches (Hans Baldung)|''The Witches' Sabbath'']] by [[Hans Baldung]] (1510)

The book ''[[Compendium Maleficarum]]'' (1608), by [[Francesco Maria Guazzo]], illustrates a typical witch-phobic view of gathering of witches as "the attendants riding flying goats, trampling the cross, and being re-baptised in the name of the Devil while giving their clothes to him, kissing his behind, and dancing back to back forming a round."

The descriptions of Sabbats were made or published by priests, jurists and judges who never took part in these gatherings, or were transcribed during the process of the [[witchcraft trials]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Witchcraft: The Sixth Sense|last=Glass|first=Justine|publisher=Wilshire Book Company|year=1965|location=North Hollywood, California|pages=100}}</ref> That these testimonies reflect actual events is for most of the accounts considered doubtful. Norman Cohn argued that they were determined largely by the expectations of the interrogators and free association on the part of the accused, and reflect only popular imagination of the times, influenced by [[ignorance]], [[fear]], and religious intolerance towards minority groups.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cohn|first1=Norman|title=Europe's inner demons : an enquiry inspired by the great witch-hunt|date=1975|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0465021314|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/europesinnerdemo00cohn}}</ref>

[[File:Frans Francken (II) - Witches' Sabbath.jpg|thumb|290px|''Witches' Sabbath'' (1606) by [[Frans Francken the Younger]]. Note amorous [[imp]]s, brewing of magic potions and magical flight of witches up a chimney]]

[[File:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes - Witches Sabbath - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|290px|''[[Akelarre|Aquelarre]]'' ([[Basque language|Basque]]/Spanish Witches' Sabbath; circa 1797-1798) by [[Francisco Goya]]. Note offering of baby to Devil in goat form, witch with collection of aborted foetuses and skeletal [[changeling]] ]]

Many of the diabolical elements of the Witches' Sabbath stereotype, such as the eating of babies, poisoning of wells, [[host desecration|desecration of hosts]] or [[osculum infame|kissing of the devil's anus]], were also made about heretical Christian sects, [[leper]]s, [[Muslim]]s, and [[Judaism|Jew]]s.<ref name=ginz>{{cite book|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Carlo Ginzburg; translated by Raymond|title=Ecstasies deciphering the witches' Sabbath|date=1991|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0394581637|edition=1st American|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eV0ZhvAkHC0C&pg=PA1}}</ref> The term is the same as the normal English word "[[Biblical Sabbath|Sabbath]]" (itself a transliteration of Hebrew "[[Shabbat]]", the seventh day, on which the [[God|Creator]] rested after creation of the world), referring to the witches' equivalent to the [[Christian Sabbath|Christian day of rest]]; a more common term was "synagogue" or "[[synagogue of Satan]]"<ref name=Kieckhefer>{{cite book|last1=Kieckhefer|first1=Richard|title=European witch trials : their foundations in popular and learned culture, 1300–1500|date=1976|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|location=London|isbn=978-0710083142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2hmFIAlaxqQC}}</ref> possibly reflecting anti-Jewish sentiment, although the acts attributed to witches bear little resemblance to the [[Sabbath in Christianity]] or Jewish [[Shabbat]] customs. The ''Errores Gazariorum'' ("''Errors of the Cathars"''), which mentions the Sabbat, while not discussing the actual behavior of the [[Cathars]], is named after them, in an attempt to link these stories to an heretical Christian group.<ref>{{cite book| last=Peters |first=Edward| contribution=Sorcerer and Witch| editor-last=Jolly |editor-first=Karen Louise

Other historians, including [[Carlo Ginzburg]], [[Éva Pócs]], Bengt Ankarloo and Gustav Henningsen hold that these testimonies can give insights into the belief systems of the accused. Ginzburg famously discovered records of a group of individuals in northern Italy, calling themselves ''[[benandanti]]'', who believed that they went out of their bodies in spirit and fought amongst the clouds against evil spirits to secure prosperity for their villages, or congregated at large feasts presided over by a goddess, where she taught them magic and performed divinations.<ref name=ginz /> Ginzburg links these beliefs with similar testimonies recorded across Europe, from the ''armiers'' of the [[Pyrenees]], from the followers of [[Signora Oriente]] in fourteenth century [[Milan]] and the followers of [[Richella]] and 'the wise Sibillia' in fifteenth century northern Italy, and much further afield, from [[Livonia]]n [[werewolf|werewolves]], [[Dalmatia]]n ''[[krsnik|kresniki]]'', [[Hungary|Hungarian]] ''[[táltos]]'', [[Romania]]n ''[[căluşari]]'' and [[Ossetians|Ossetian]] ''burkudzauta''. In many testimonies, these meetings were described as out-of-body, rather than physical, occurrences.<ref name=ginz />

{{quoteblockquote|Magic ointments...produced effects which the subjects themselves believed in, even stating that they had intercourse with evil spirits, had been at the Sabbat and danced on the [[Brocken]] with their lovers...The peculiar hallucinations evoked by the drug had been so powerfully transmitted from the subconscious mind to consciousness that mentally uncultivated persons...believed them to be reality.<ref>Lewin, Louis ''Phantastica, Narcotic and Stimulating Drugs : Their Use and Abuse''. Translated from the second German edition by P.H.A. Wirth, pub. New York : E.P. Dutton. Original German edition 1924.</ref>}}

is the use of unguents conferring the power of "flight" and "shape-shifting."<ref> Harner, Michael J., Hallucinogens and Shamanism, pub. Oxford University Press 1973, reprinted U.S.A.1978 Chapter 8 : pps. 125–150 : The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft.</ref> Recipes for such "flying ointments" have survived from early modern times{{when?|date=November 2021}}, permitting not only an assessment of their likely pharmacological effects – based on their various plant (and to a lesser extent animal) ingredients – but also the actual recreation of and experimentation with such fat or oil-based preparations.<ref>Hansen, Harold A. The Witch's Garden pub. Unity Press 1978 {{ISBN|978-0913300473}}</ref> Ginzburg makes brief reference to the use of entheogens in European witchcraft at the end of his analysis of the Witches Sabbath, mentioning only the fungi [[Claviceps purpurea]] and [[Amanita muscaria]] by name, and stating about the "flying ointment" on page 303 of 'Ecstasies...' :

– in short, a substrate of shamanic myth could, when catalysed by a drug experience (or simple starvation), give rise to a 'journey to the Sabbath', not of the body, but of the mind. Ergot and the Fly Agaric mushroom, while hallucinogenic,<ref> Schultes, Richard Evans; Hofmann, Albert (1979). The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens (2nd ed.). Springfield Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. pps. 261-4.</ref> were not among the ingredients listed in recipes for the flying ointment. The active ingredients in such unguents were primarily, not fungi, but plants in the nightshade family [[Solanaceae]], most commonly [[Atropa belladonna]] (Deadly Nightshade) and [[Hyoscyamus niger]] (Henbane), belonging to the [[tropane]] alkaloid-rich tribe [[Hyoscyameae]].<ref> Hunziker, Armando T. The Genera of Solanaceae A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001. {{ISBN|3-904144-77-4}}.</ref> Other tropane-containing, nightshade ingredients included the Mandrake [[Mandragora officinarum]], [[Scopolia carniolica]] and [[Datura stramonium]], the Thornapple.<ref> Schultes, Richard Evans; Albert Hofmann (1979). Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use New York: McGraw-Hill. {{ISBN|0-07-056089-7}}.</ref>

The alkaloids [[Atropine]], [[Hyoscyamine]] and [[Hyoscine|Scopolamine]] present in these Solanaceous plants are not only potent and highly toxic hallucinogens, but are also fat-soluble and capable of being absorbed through unbroken human skin.<ref> Sollmann, Torald, A Manual of Pharmacology and Its Applications to Therapeutics and Toxicology. 8th edition. Pub. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia and London 1957.</ref>

* ''[[Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath]]'' – 1989 book by Carlo Ginzburg

* [[Special Shabbat#Shabbat%20Chazon%20%E2%80%93%20of%20Vision Chazon – of Vision|Shabbat Chazon - Sabbath of Vision]], aka "Black Sabbath"

*{{cite book |author=Wilby, Emma | title=Invoking the Akelarre: Voices of the Accused in the Basque Witch-Craze 1609-14 | year=2019 | publisher=Sussex Academic Press | isbn=978-1845199999}}