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Witchcraft (also called witchery or spellcraft) is the use of magical faculties, most commonly for religious, divinatory or medicinal purposes.[1] This may take many forms depending on cultural context.
The belief in and the practice of magic has been present since the earliest human cultures and continues to have an important religious and medicinal role in many cultures today.[1]
"Magic is central not only in 'primitive' societies but in 'high cultural' societies as well..."[2]
The concept of witchcraft as harmful is often treated as a cultural ideology providing a scapegoat for human misfortune.[3][4] This was particularly the case in the early modern period of Europe where witchcraft came to be seen as part of a vast diabolical conspiracy of individuals in league with the Devil undermining Christianity, eventually leading to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Protestant Europe. Witch hunts continue to this day with tragic consequences.[5]
Since the mid-20th century Witchcraft has become the designation of a branch of modern paganism. It is most notably practiced in the Wiccan traditions, some of whom claim to practice a revival of pre-Abrahamic spirituality.[6]
- 1 Etymology
- 2 Definitions
- 3 Alleged practices
- 4 By region
- 4.1 Europe
- 4.2 Russia
- 4.3 Spain
- 4.4 North America
- 4.5 South America
- 4.6 Asia
- 4.7 Oceania
- 4.8 Africa
- 5 Contemporary witchcraft
- 6 See also
- 7 Notes
- 8 References
- 9 Further reading
- 10 External links
From the Old English wiccecræft, compound of "wicce" ("witch") and "cræft" ("craft").[7]
In anthropological terminology, a "witch" differs from a sorcerer in that they do not use physical tools or actions to curse; their maleficium is perceived as extending from some intangible inner quality, and the person may be unaware that they are a "witch", or may have been convinced of their own evil nature by the suggestion of others.[8] This definition was pioneered in a study of central African magical beliefs by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, who cautioned that it might not correspond with normal English usage.[9]
Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European and British witchcraft, where "witches" could equally use (or be accused of using) physical techniques, as well as some who really had attempted to cause harm by thought alone.[10]
As in anthropology, European witchcraft is seen by historians as an ideology for explaining misfortune; however, this ideology manifested in diverse ways. Reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:[11]
- A person was caught in the act of positive or negative sorcery
- A well-meaning sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust
- A person did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbours
- A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or Occultism
Éva Pócs in turn identifies three varieties of witch in popular belief:
- The "neighbourhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbour following some conflict.
- The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has through magic increased her fortune to the perceived detriment of a neighbouring household; due to neighbourly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive and negative magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches.
- The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams.[12]
"Neighbourhood witches" are the product of neighbourhood tensions, and are found only in self-sufficient serf village communities where the inhabitants largely rely on each other. Such accusations follow the breaking of some social norm, such as the failure to return a borrowed item, and any person part of the normal social exchange could potentially fall under suspicion. Claims of "sorcerer" witches and "supernatural" witches could arise out of social tensions, but not exclusively; the supernatural witch in particular often had nothing to do with communal conflict, but expressed tensions between the human and supernatural worlds; and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe such supernatural witches became an ideology explaining calamities that befell entire communities.[13]
In Christianity and Islam, sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch, and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts. Throughout this time, it was increasingly believed that Christianity was engaged in an apocalyptic battle against the Devil and his secret army of witches, who had entered into a diabolical pact. In total, tens or hundreds of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions the majority were men.[14][15] "Warlock" is sometimes mistakenly used for male witch.[16] Accusations of witchcraft were often combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.
The Malleus Maleficarum, (Latin for "Hammer of The Witches) was a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants[17] for several hundred years, outlining how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. This book was not given the official Imprimatur of the Catholic Church, which would have made it approved by church authorities, but was used by the Inquisition nevertheless.
In the modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the satanic ritual abuse moral panic. Such accusations are a counterpart to blood libel of various kinds, which may be found throughout history across the globe.
White witches[edit]
Throughout the early modern period, the English term "witch" was not exclusively negative in meaning, and could also indicate cunning folk. "There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners, 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding' witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however 'cunning-man' and 'wise-man' were the most frequent."[18] The contemporary Reginald Scot noted, "At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'".[19] Folk magicians throughout Europe were often viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing,[20] which could lead to their being accused as "witches" in the negative sense. Many English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons seem to have been cunning folk whose fairy familiars had been demonised;[21] many French devins-guerisseurs ("diviner-healers") were accused of witchcraft,[22] and over one half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers.[23]
Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves mediators between the mundane and spiritual worlds, roughly equivalent to shamans.[24] Such people described their contacts with fairies, spirits often involving out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an "other-world".[25] Beliefs of this nature are implied in the folklore of much of Europe, and were explicitly described by accused witches in central and southern Europe. Repeated themes include participation in processions of the dead or large feasts, often presided over by a horned male deity or a female divinity who teaches magic and gives prophecies; and participation in battles against evil spirits, "vampires", or "witches" to win fertility and prosperity for the community.
Alleged practices[edit]
|This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2011)
Historically the witchcraft label has been applied to practices people believe influence the mind, body, or property of others against their will—or practices that the person doing the labeling believes undermine social or religious order. Some modern commentators[who?] believe the malefic nature of witchcraft is a Christian projection. The concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against their will was clearly present in many cultures, as traditions in both folk magic and religious magic have the purpose of countering malicious magic or identifying malicious magic users. Many examples appear in ancient texts, such as those from Egypt and Babylonia. Malicious magic users can become a credible cause for disease, sickness in animals, bad luck, sudden death, impotence and other such misfortunes. Witchcraft of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the malevolence aside, or identify the supposed evil-doer so that punishment may be carried out. The folk magic used to identify or protect against malicious magic users is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.
There has also existed in popular belief the concept of white witches and white witchcraft, which is strictly benevolent. Many neopagan witches strongly identify with this concept, and profess ethical codes that prevent them from performing magic on a person without their request.
Where belief in malicious magic practices exists, such practitioners are typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while beneficial magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people – even if the orthodox establishment opposes it.
Spell casting[edit]
Probably the most obvious characteristic of a witch was the ability to cast a spell, "spell" being the word used to signify the means employed to carry out a magical action. A spell could consist of a set of words, a formula or verse, or a ritual action, or any combination of these.[26] Spells traditionally were cast by many methods, such as by the inscription of runes or sigils on an object to give it magical powers; by the immolation or binding of a wax or clay image (poppet) of a person to affect him or her magically; by the recitation of incantations; by the performance of physical rituals; by the employment of magical herbs as amulets or potions; by gazing at mirrors, swords or other specula (scrying) for purposes of divination; and by many other means.[27]
Conjuring the dead[edit]
Strictly speaking, "necromancy" is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy – although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The Biblical Witch of Endor is supposed to have performed it (1 Sam. 28), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham:[28][29][30]
Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to the devil; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arise from death.[31]
By region[edit]
In Early Modern European tradition, witches were stereotypically, though not exclusively, women.[14][34] European pagan belief in witchcraft was associated with the goddess Diana and dismissed as "diabolical fantasies" by medieval Christian authors.[35] Witch-hunts first appeared in large numbers in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and 15th centuries. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were from 1561 to 1670.[36]
The familiar witch of folklore and popular superstition is a combination of numerous influences. The characterization of the witch as an evil magic user developed over time.
Early converts to Christianity looked to Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with magic lessened.[37]
The Protestant Christian explanation for witchcraft, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle witches, commonly involves a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. The witches or wizards engaged in such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments; observe "the witches' sabbath" (performing infernal rites that often parodied the Mass or other sacraments of the Church); pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness; and, in return, receive from him preternatural powers. It was a folkloric belief that a Devil's Mark, like the brand on cattle, was placed upon a witch's skin by the devil to signify that this pact had been made.[38] Witches were most often characterized as women. Witches disrupted the societal institutions, and more specifically, marriage. It was believed that a witch often joined a pact with the devil to gain powers to deal with infertility, immense fear for her children's well-being, or revenge against a lover.
The Church and European society were not always so zealous in hunting witches or blaming them for bad occurrences. Saint Boniface declared in the 8th century that belief in the existence of witches was un-Christian. The emperor Charlemagne decreed that the burning of supposed witches was a pagan custom that would be punished by the death penalty. In 820 the Bishop of Lyon and others repudiated the belief that witches could make bad weather, fly in the night, and change their shape. This denial was accepted into Canon law until it was reversed in later centuries as the witch-hunt gained force. Other rulers such as King Coloman of Hungary declared that witch-hunts should cease because witches (more specifically, strigas) do not exist.
The Church did not invent the idea of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force whose practitioners should be put to death. This idea is commonplace in pre-Christian religions. According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witchcraft contained many of its elements even before the emergence of Christianity. These can be found in Bacchanalias, especially in the time when they were led by priestess Paculla Annia (188BC–186BC).
However, even at a later date, not all witches were assumed to be harmful practicers of the craft. In England, the provision of this curative magic was the job of a witch doctor, also known as a cunning man, white witch, or wise man. The term "witch doctor" was in use in England before it came to be associated with Africa. Toad doctors were also credited with the ability to undo evil witchcraft. (Other folk magicians had their own purviews. Girdle-measurers specialised in diagnosing ailments caused by fairies, while magical cures for more mundane ailments, such as burns or toothache, could be had from charmers.)
In the north of England, the superstition lingers to an almost inconceivable extent. Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil ... The witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man, and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham.[39]
Such "cunning-folk" did not refer to themselves as witches and objected to the accusation that they were such.[citation needed]
Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, casting spells, cursing people, making livestock ill and crops fail, and creating fear and local chaos.
The Russian word for witch, ведьма (ved'ma) literally means "one who knows", from Old Slavic вѣдъ "to know").[40]
Pagan practices formed a part of Russian and Eastern Slavic culture; the Russian people were deeply superstitious. The witchcraft practiced consisted mostly of earth magic and herbology; it was not so significant which herbs were used in practices, but how these herbs were gathered. Ritual centered on harvest of the crops and the location of the sun was very important.[41] One source, pagan author Judika Illes, tells that herbs picked on Midsummer's Eve were believed to be most powerful, especially if gathered on Bald Mountain near Kiev during the witches' annual revels celebration.[42] Botanicals should be gathered, "During the seventeenth minute of the fourteenth hour, under a dark moon, in the thirteenth field, wearing a red dress, pick the twelfth flower on the right."[43]
Spells also served for midwifery, shape-shifting, keeping lovers faithful, and bridal customs. Spells dealing with midwifery and childbirth focused on the spiritual wellbeing of the baby.[43] Shape-shifting spells involved invocation of the wolf as a spirit animal.[44] To keep men faithful, lovers would cut a ribbon the length of his erect penis and soak it in his seminal emissions after sex while he was sleeping, then tie seven knots in it; keeping this talisman of knot magic ensured loyalty.[45] Part of an ancient pagan marriage tradition involved the bride taking a ritual bath at a bathhouse before the ceremony. Her sweat would be wiped from her body using raw fish, and the fish would be cooked and fed to the groom.[46]
Demonism, or black magic, was not prevalent. Persecution for witchcraft, mostly involved the practice of simple earth magic, founded on herbology, by solitary practitioners with a Christian influence. In one case investigators found a locked box containing something bundled in a kerchief and three paper packets, wrapped and tied, containing crushed grasses.[47] Most rituals of witchcraft were very simple—one spell of divination consists of sitting alone outside meditating, asking the earth to show your fate.[48]
While these customs were unique to Russian culture, they were not exclusive to this region. Russian pagan practices were often akin to paganism in other parts of the world. The Chinese concept of chi, a form of energy that often manipulated in witchcraft, is known as bioplasma in Russian practices.[49] The western concept of an "evil eye" or a "hex" was translated to Russia as a "spoiler".[50] A spoiler was rooted in envy, jealousy and malice. Spoilers could be made by gathering bone from a cemetery, a knot of the target's hair, burned wooden splinters and several herb Paris berries (which are very poisonous). Placing these items in sachet in the victim's pillow completes a spoiler. The Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and the ancient Egyptians recognized the evil eye from as early as 3,000 BCE; in Russian practices it is seen as a sixteenth-century concept.[51]
Baba Yaga rituals[edit]
The most well-known aspect of Russian witchcraft is arguably the folklore of Baba Yaga. Sixteenth-century legend portrays Baba Yaga as all-knowing and connected to death and contemplation. It was also said that she devoured children. Baba Yaga is often depicted as a guardian of the fountain of water and life, in triple form with two sisters. The concept of the triple Goddess also occurs in Egyptian, Celtic, and Greek witchcraft.[52]
While altars to deities are usually constructed to invoke or evoke the subject, altars to Baba Yaga are only for contemplation. Legend does not recommend contacting Baba Yaga because she is unforgiving and does not have time to waste. An altar to Baba would consist of birch wood and leaves, animal imagery, mortar, pestle, broom, and food and drink. Because Baba Yaga is always hungry, food and drink are especially recommended. Her favorites are Russian coulibiac, samovar with blocks of fine Russian tea, and water pipes.[53]
Societal view of witchcraft[edit]
The dominant societal concern re those practicing witchcraft was not whether paganism was effective, but whether it could cause harm.[54] Peasants in Russian and Ukrainian societies often shunned witchcraft, unless they needed help against supernatural forces. Impotence, stomach pains, barrenness, hernias, abscesses, epileptic seizures, and convulsions were all attributed to evil (or witchcraft). This is reflected in linguistics; there are numerous words for a variety of practitioners of paganism-based healers. Russian peasants referred to a witch as a chernoknizhnik (a person who plied his trade with the aid of a black book), sheptun/sheptun'ia (a "whisperer" male or female), lekar/lekarka or znakhar/znakharka (a male or female healer), or zagovornik (an incanter).[55]
Ironically enough, there was universal reliance on folk healers – but clients often turned them in if something went wrong. According to Russian historian Valerie A. Kivelson, witchcraft accusations were normally thrown at lower-class peasants, townspeople and Cossacks. People turned to witchcraft as a means to support themselves. The ratio of male to female accusations was 75% to 25%. Males were targeted more, because witchcraft was associated with societal deviation. Because single people with no settled home could not be taxed, males typically had more power than women in their dissent.[56]
Witchcraft trials[edit]
Witchcraft trials occurred frequently in seventeenth-century Russia, although the "great witch-hunt" is believed[by whom?] to be a predominately Western European phenomenon. However, as the witchcraft-trial craze swept across West European countries during this time, Orthodox Christian Eastern Europe indeed partook in this so-called "witch hysteria." This involved the persecution of both males and females who were believed to be practicing paganism, herbology, the black art, or a form of sorcery within and/or outside their community. Very early on witchcraft legally fell under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical body, the church, in Kievan Rus' and Muscovite Russia.[57] Sources of ecclesiastical witchcraft jurisdiction date back as early as the second half of the eleventh century, one being Vladimir the Great's first edition of his State Statute or Ustav, another being multiple references in the Primary Chronicle beginning in 1024.[58]
The sentence for an individual found guilty of witchcraft or sorcery during this time, and in previous centuries, typically included either burning at the stake or being tested with the "ordeal of cold water" or judicium aquae frigidae.[59] The cold-water test was primarily a Western European phenomenon, but was used as a method of truth in Russia prior to, and post, seventeenth-century witchcraft trials in Muscovy. Accused persons who drowned were considered innocent, and ecclesiastical authorities would proclaim them "brought back," but those who floated were considered guilty of practicing witchcraft, and burned at the stake or executed in an unholy fashion. The thirteenth-century bishop of Vladimir, Serapion Vladimirskii, preached sermons throughout the Muscovite countryside, and in one particular sermon revealed that burning was the usual punishment for witchcraft, but more often the cold water test was used as a precursor to execution.[59]
Although these two methods of torture were used in the west and the east, Russia implemented a system of fines payable for the crime of witchcraft during the seventeenth century. Thus, even though torture methods in Muscovy were on a similar level of harshness as Western European methods used, a more civil method was present. In the introduction of a collection of trial records pieced together by Russian scholar Nikolai Novombergsk, he argues that Muscovite authorities used the same degree of cruelty and harshness as Western European Catholic and Protestant countries in persecuting witches.[60] By the mid-sixteenth century the manifestations of paganism, including witchcraft, and the black arts—astrology, fortune telling, and divination—became a serious concern to the Muscovite church and state.[61]
Tsar Ivan IV (reigned 1547-1584) took this matter to the ecclesiastical court and was immediately advised that individuals practicing these forms of witchcraft should be excommunicated and given the death penalty.[61] Ivan IV, as a true believer in witchcraft, was deeply convinced[citation needed] that sorcery accounted for the death of his wife, Anastasiia in 1560, which completely devastated and depressed him, leaving him heartbroken.[62] Stemming from this belief, Ivan IV became majorly concerned with the threat of witchcraft harming his family, and feared he was in danger. So, during the Oprechnina (1565-1572), Ivan IV succeeded in accusing and charging a good number of boyars with witchcraft whom he did not wish to remain as nobles. Rulers after Ivan IV, specifically during the Time of Troubles (1598-1613), increased the fear of witchcraft among themselves and entire royal families, which then led to further preoccupation with the fear of prominent Muscovite witchcraft circles.[63]
After the Time of Troubles, seventeenth-century Muscovite rulers held frequent investigations of witchcraft within their households, laying the ground, along with previous tsarist reforms, for widespread witchcraft trials throughout the Muscovite state.[64] Between 1622 and 1700 ninety-one people were brought to trial in Muscovite courts for witchcraft.[65] Although Russia did partake in the witch craze that swept across Western Europe, the Muscovite state did not persecute nearly as many people for witchcraft, let alone execute a number of individuals anywhere close to the number executed in the west during the witch hysteria.
Franciscan friars from New Spain introduced Diabolism, belief in the devil, to the indigenous people after their arrival in 1524.[66] Bartolomé de las Casas believed that human sacrifice was not diabolic, in fact far off from it, and was a natural result of religious expression.[66] Mexican Indians gladly took in the belief of Diabolism and still managed to keep their belief in creator-destroyer deities.[67]
North America[edit]
In 1645, Springfield, Massachusetts, experienced America's first accusations of witchcraft when husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons accused each other of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial, Hugh was found innocent, while Mary was acquitted of witchcraft but sentenced to be hanged for the death of her child. She died in prison.[68] From 1645–1663, about eighty people throughout England's Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of practicing witchcraft. Thirteen women and two men were executed in a witch-hunt that lasted throughout New England from 1645–1663.[69]
The Salem witch trials followed in 1692–93. These witch trials were the most famous in British North America and took place in the coastal settlements near Salem, Massachusetts. Prior to the witch trials, nearly 300 men and women (mostly women) had been suspected of partaking in witchcraft and over 30 of these people were hanged.[70] The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted 29 people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, 14 women and 5 men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. At least five more of the accused died in prison.
Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover, as well as Salem Town, Massachusetts. The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. All 26 who went to trial before this court were convicted. The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Town, but also in Ipswich, Boston, and Charlestown, produced only 3 convictions in the 31 witchcraft trials it conducted. Likewise, alleged witchcraft was not isolated to New England. In 1706 Grace Sherwood the "Witch of Pungo" was imprisoned for the crime in Princess Anne County, Virginia.
Accusations of witchcraft and wizardry led to the prosecution of a man in Tennessee as recently as 1833.[71][72][73]
Author C. J. Stevens wrote The Supernatural Side of Maine, a 2002 book about witches and people from Maine who faced the supernatural.
Witchcraft was also an important part of the social and cultural history of late-Colonial Mexico. Spanish Inquisitors viewed witchcraft as a problem that could be cured simply through confession. Yet, as anthropologist Ruth Behar writes, witchcraft, not only in Mexico but in Latin America in general, was a "conjecture of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion, in which Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures converged."[74] Furthermore, witchcraft in Mexico generally required an interethnic and interclass network of witches.[75] Yet, according to anthropology professor Laura Lewis, witchcraft in colonial Mexico ultimately represented an "affirmation of hegemony" for women, Indians, and especially Indian women over their white male counterparts as a result of the casta system.[76]
South America[edit]
In Chile there is a tradition of the Kalku in the Mapuche mythology; and Witches of Chiloé in the folklore and Chilote mythology.
The presence of the witch is a constant in the ethnographic history of colonial Brazil, especially during the several denunciations and confessions given to the Holy Office of Bahia (1591–1593), Pernambuco and Paraiba (1593–1595).[77]
Ancient Near East[edit]
The belief in sorcery and its practice seem to have been widespread in the past. It played a conspicuous role in the cultures of ancient Egypt and in Babylonia, with the latter composing an Akkadian anti-witchcraft ritual, the Maqlû. A section from the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000 B.C.) prescribes:
If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him.[78]
Hebrew Bible[edit]
According to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia:
In the Holy Scripture references to sorcery are frequent, and the strong condemnations of such practices found there do not seem to be based so much upon the supposition of fraud as upon the abomination of the magic in itself.[79]
The King James Bible uses the words "witch", "witchcraft", and "witchcrafts" to translate the Masoretic כשף (kashaph or kesheph) and קסם (qesem);[80] these same English terms are used to translate φαρμακεια (pharmakeia) in the Greek New Testament text. Verses such as Deuteronomy 18:11–12 and Exodus 22:18 ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") thus provided scriptural justification for Christian witch hunters in the early Modern Age (see Christian views on magic).
The precise meaning of the Hebrew kashaph, usually translated as "witch" or "sorceress", is uncertain. In the Septuagint, it was translated as pharmakeia or pharmakous. In the 16th century, Reginald Scot, a prominent critic of the witch-trials, translated kashaph, pharmakeia, and their Latin Vulgate equivalent veneficos as all meaning "poisoner", and on this basis, claimed that "witch" was an incorrect translation and poisoners were intended.[81] His theory still holds some currency, but is not widely accepted, and in Daniel 2:2 kashaph is listed alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans. Suggested derivations of Kashaph include mutterer (from a single root) or herb user (as a compound word formed from the roots kash, meaning "herb", and hapaleh, meaning "using"). The Greek pharmakeia literally means "herbalist" or one who uses or administers drugs, but it was used virtually synonymously with mageia and goeteia as a term for a sorcerer.[82]
The Bible provides some evidence that these commandments against sorcery were enforced under the Hebrew kings:
And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?[83]
Note that the Hebrew word ob, translated as familiar spirit in the above quotation, has a different meaning than the usual English sense of the phrase; namely, it refers to a spirit that the woman is familiar with, rather than to a spirit that physically manifests itself in the shape of an animal.
New Testament[edit]
The New Testament condemns the practice as an abomination, just as the Old Testament had (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6), though the overall topic of Biblical law in Christianity is still disputed. The word in most New Testament translations is "sorcerer"/"sorcery" rather than "witch"/"witchcraft".
Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism. Although Maimonides vigorously denied the efficacy of all methods of witchcraft, and claimed that the Biblical prohibitions regarding it were precisely to wean the Israelites from practices related to idolatry, according to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods. Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the Rabbis practiced "magic" themselves or taught the subject. For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaya studied every Friday together and created a small calf to eat on Shabbat (Sanhedrin 67b). In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles (i.e., coming from God rather than "unclean" forces) than as witchcraft.
Judaism does make it clear that Jews shall not try to learn about the ways of witches (Deuteronomy/Devarim 18: 9–10) and that witches are to be put to death. (Exodus/Shemot 22:17)
Judaism's most famous reference to a medium is undoubtedly the Witch of Endor whom Saul consults, as recounted in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28.
Divination and magic in Islam encompass a wide range of practices, including black magic, warding off the evil eye, the production of amulets and other magical equipment, conjuring, casting lots,and astrology. Muslims do commonly believe in magic (Sihr) and explicitly forbid its practice. Sihr translates from Arabic as sorcery or black magic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is the Surah Al-Falaq (meaning dawn or daybreak), which is known as a prayer to Allah to ward off black magic.
Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. (Quran 113:1–5)
Also according to the Quran:
And they follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut ... And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. (al-Qur'an 2:102)
However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers and Prophets, supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa – the spiritually accomplished. Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to Him that occur by His will and His alone.
Some Muslim practitioners believe that they may seek the help of the Jinn (singular—jinni) in magic. It is a common belief that jinn can possess a human, thus requiring Exorcism. Still, the practice of seeking help to the Jinn is prohibited and regarded the same as seeking help to a devil.
The belief in jinn is part of the Muslim faith. Imam Muslim narrated the Prophet said: "Allah created the angels from light, created the jinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.)". Also in the Quran, chapter of Jinn:
And persons from among men used to seek refuge with persons from among the jinn, so they increased them in evil doing.—(The Qur'an) (72:6)
To cast off the jinn from the body of the possessed, the "ruqya," which is from the Prophet's sunnah is used. The ruqya contains verses of the Qur'an as well as prayers specifically targeted against demons. The knowledge of which verses of the Qur'an to use in what way is what is considered "magic knowledge."
A Hadeeth recorded by Al-Bukhari narrates that one who has eaten seven dates in the morning will not be adversely affected by magic in the course of that day.
Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practises in Islam with pre-Islamic Turkish and East African customs. Most notable of these customs is the Zar Ceremony.[84][85]
Saudi Arabia[edit]
Saudi Arabia continues to use the death penalty for sorcery. In 2006 Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali was condemned to death for practicing witchcraft.[86] There is no legal definition of sorcery in Saudi, but in 2007 an Egyptian pharmacist working there was accused, convicted, and executed. Saudi authorities also pronounced the death penalty on a Lebanese television presenter, Ali Sabat, while he was performing the hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) in the country.[87]
In April 2009, a Saudi woman Amina Bint Abdulhalim Nassar was arrested and later sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft and sorcery. In December 2011, she was beheaded.[88]
A Saudi man has been beheaded on charges of sorcery and witchcraft in June 2012.[89]
Belief in the supernatural is strong in all parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time.[90] It is estimated that 750 people have been killed in witch-hunts in the states of Assam and West Bengal since 2003.[91] More than 100 women are tortured, paraded naked, or harassed in the state of Chhattisgarh annually, officials said.[92] A social activist in the region said the reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg.[93]
In Japanese folklore, the most common types of witch can be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes.[94]
The fox witch is, by far, the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the kitsune-mochi, and the tsukimono-suji. The first of these, the kitsune-mochi, is a solitary figure who gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The kitsune-mochi then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of "The Grateful foxes".[95] However, once a fox enters the employ of a human it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared. A fox under the employ of a human can provide many services. The fox can turn invisible and find secrets its master desires. It can apply its many powers of illusion to trick and deceive its master's enemies. The most feared power of the kitsune-mochi is the ability to command his fox to possess other humans. This process of possession is called Kitsunetsuki.
By far, the most commonly reported cases of fox witchcraft in modern Japan are enacted by tsukimono-suji families, or "hereditary witches".[96] The Tsukimono-suji is traditionally a family who is reported to have foxes under their employ. These foxes serve the family and are passed down through the generations, typically through the female line. Tsukimono-suji foxes are able to supply much in the way of the same mystical aid that the foxes under the employ of a kitsune-mochi can provide its more solitary master with. In addition to these powers, if the foxes are kept happy and well taken care of, they bring great fortune and prosperity to the Tsukimono-suji house. However, the aid in which these foxes give is often overshadowed by the social and mystical implications of being a member of such a family. In many villages, the status of local families as tsukimono-suji is often common, everyday knowledge. Such families are respected and feared, but are also openly shunned. Due to its hereditary nature, the status of being Tsukimono-suji is considered contagious. Because of this, it is often impossible for members of such a family to sell land or other properties, due to fear that the possession of such items will cause foxes to inundate one's own home. In addition to this, because the foxes are believed to be passed down through the female line, it is often nearly impossible for women of such families to find a husband whose family will agree to have him married to a tsukimono-suji family. In such a union the woman's status as a Tsukimono-suji would transfer to any man who married her.
Witchcraft in the Philippines is often classified as malevolent, with practitioners of black magic called Mangkukulam in Tagalog and Mambabarang in Cebuano; there are also practitioners of benevolent, white magic, with some practising both. Mambabarang in particular are noted for their ability to command insects and other invertebrates to accomplish a task, such as delivering a curse to a target.
Magic and witchcraft in the Philippines varies considerably across the different ethnic groups, and is commonly a modern manifestation of pre-Colonial spirituality interwoven with Catholic religious elements such as the invocation of saints and the use of pseudo-Latin prayers (oración) in spells, and anting-anting (amulets).
Practitioners of traditional herbal-based medicine and divination called albularyo are not considered witches. They are perceived to be either quack doctors or a quasi-magical option when western medicine fails to identify or cure an ailment that is thus suspected to be of malevolent, supernatural origin (often the work of black magic). Feng shui, an influence from Filipino Chinese culture, is also not classified as witchcraft, and it is seen as a separate realm of belief altogether.
In Pakistani mythology, a common perception of witch is a being with her feet pointed backwards.
An expedition sent to what is now the Xinjiang region of western China by the PBS documentary series Nova found a fully clothed female Tocharian mummy wearing a black conical hat of the type now associated with witches in Europe in the storage area of a small local museum, indicative of an Indo-European priestess.[97]
Cook Islands[edit]
In pre-Christian times, witchcraft was a common practice in the Cook Islands. The native name for a sorcerer was tangata purepure (a man who prays). The prayers offered by the ta'unga (priests)[98] to the gods worshiped on national or tribal marae (temples) were termed karakia; those on minor occasions to the lesser gods were named pure. All these prayers were metrical, and were handed down from generation to generation with the utmost care. There were prayers for every such phase in life; for success in battle; for a change in wind (to overwhelm an adversary at sea, or that an intended voyage be propitious); that his crops may grow; to curse a thief; or wish ill-luck and death to his foes. Few men of middle age were without a number of these prayers or charms. The succession of a sorcerer was from father to son, or from uncle to nephew. So too of sorceresses: it would be from mother to daughter, or from aunt to niece. Sorcerers and sorceresses were often slain by relatives of their supposed victims.[99]
Papua New Guinea[edit]
A local newspaper informed that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft.[100]
The term witch doctor, a common translation for the South African Zulu word inyanga, has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches".
In Southern African traditions, there are three classifications of somebody who uses magic. The thakathi is usually improperly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others. The sangoma is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime. She also practices some degree of medicine. The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of malicious magic). The inyanga's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use. Of these three categories the thakatha is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male.
Much of what witchcraft represents in Africa has been susceptible to misunderstandings and confusion, thanks in no small part to a tendency among western scholars since the time of the now largely discredited Margaret Murray to approach the subject through a comparative lens vis-a-vis European witchcraft.[101] Okeja argues that witchcraft in Africa today plays a very different social role than in Europe of the past—or present—and should be understood through an African rather than post-colonial Western lens.
In some Central African areas, malicious magic users are believed by locals to be the source of terminal illness such as AIDS and cancer. In such cases, various methods are used to rid the person from the bewitching spirit, occasionally physical and psychological abuse. Children may be accused of being witches, for example a young niece may be blamed for the illness of a relative. Most of these cases of abuse go unreported since the members of the society that witness such abuse are too afraid of being accused of being accomplices. It is also believed that witchcraft can be transmitted to children by feeding. Parents discourage their children from interacting with people believed to be witches.
As of 2006[update], between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of their homes.[102] These children have been subjected to often-violent abuse during exorcisms, sometimes supervised by self-styled religious pastors. Other pastors and Christian activist strongly oppose such accusations and try to rescue children from their unscrupulous colleagues.[103] The usual term for these children is enfants sorciers (child witches) or enfants dits sorciers (children accused of witchcraft). In 2002, USAID funded the production of two short films on the subject, made in Kinshasa by journalists Angela Nicoara and Mike Ormsby.[104]
In Ghana, women are often accused of witchcraft and attacked by neighbours. Because of this, there exist six witch camps in the country where women suspected of being witches can flee for safety.[105] The witch camps, which exist solely in Ghana, are thought to house a total of around 1000 women.[105] Some of the camps are thought to have been set up over 100 years ago.[105] The Ghanaian government has announced that it intends to close the camps and educate the population regarding the fact that witches do not exist.[105]
In April 2008, in Kinshasa, the police arrested 14 suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic.[106] Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs.[107] While it is easy for modern people to dismiss such reports, Uchenna Okeja argues that a belief system in which such magical practices are deemed possible offer many benefits to Africans who hold them. For example, the belief that a sorcerer has "stolen" a man's penis functions as an anxiety-reduction mechanism for men suffering from impotence while simultaneously providing an explanation that is consistent with African cultural beliefs rather than appealing to Western scientific notions that are tainted by the history of colonialism (at least for many Africans).[108]
It was reported on May 21, 2008 that in Kenya, a mob had burnt to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft.[109] In Tanzania in 2008, President Kikwete publicly condemned witchdoctors for killing albinos for their body parts, which are thought to bring good luck. 25 albinos have been murdered since March 2007.[110] In the Meatu district of Tanzania, half of all murders are "witch-killings".,[91] while particularly albinos are often murdered for their body parts on the advice of witch doctors in order to produce powerful amulets that are believed to protect against witchcraft and make the owner prosper in life.[111]
In the Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River about 15,000 children branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. In Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009 and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, human rights organization Amnesty International said.[112] Every year, hundreds of people in the Central African Republic are convicted of witchcraft.[113]
Complimentary remarks about witchcraft by a native Congolese initiate: "From witchcraft ... may be developed the remedy (kimbuki) that will do most to raise up our country."[114] "Witchcraft ... deserves respect ... it can embellish or redeem (ketula evo vuukisa)."[115] "The ancestors were equipped with the protective witchcraft of the clan (kindoki kiandundila kanda). ... They could also gather the power of animals into their hands ... whenever they needed. ... If we could make use of these kinds of witchcraft, our country would rapidly progress in knowledge of every kind."[116] "You witches (zindoki) too, bring your science into the light to be written down so that ... the benefits in it ... endow our race."[117]
Among the Mende (of Sierra Leone), trial and conviction for witchcraft has a beneficial effect for those convicted. "The witchfinder had warned the whole village to ensure the relative prosperity of the accused and sentenced ... old people. ... Six months later all of the people ... accused, were secure, well-fed and arguably happier than at any [previous] time; they had hardly to beckon and people would come with food or whatever was needful. ... Instead of such old and widowed people being left helpless or (as in Western society) institutionalized in old people's homes, these were reintegrated into society and left secure in their old age ... . ... Old people are 'suitable' candidates for this kind of accusation in the sense that they are isolated and vulnerable, and they are 'suitable' candidates for 'social security' for precisely the same reasons."[118]
In Nigeria, several Pentecostal pastors have mixed their evangelical brand of Christianity with African beliefs in witchcraft to benefit from the lucrative witch finding and exorcism business—which in the past was the exclusive domain of the so-called witch doctor or traditional healers. These pastors have been involved in the torturing and even killing of children accused of witchcraft.[119] Over the past decade, around 15,000 children have been accused, and around 1,000 murdered. Churches are very numerous in Nigeria, and competition for congregations is hard. Some pastors attempt to establish a reputation for spiritual power by "detecting" child witches, usually following a death or loss of a job within a family, or an accusation of financial fraud against the pastor. In the course of "exorcisms", accused children may be starved, beaten, mutilated, set on fire, forced to consume acid or cement, or buried alive. While some church leaders and Christian activists have spoken out strongly against these abuses, many Nigerian churches are involved in the abuse, although church administrations deny knowledge of it.[120]
In Malawi it is also common practice to accuse children of witchcraft and many children have been abandoned, abused and even killed as a result. As in other African countries both African traditional healers and their Christian counterparts are trying to make a living out of exorcising children and are actively involved in pointing out children as witches.[121] Various secular and Christian organizations are combining their efforts to address this problem.[122]
Also in Malawi, according to William Kamkwamba, witches and wizards are afraid of money, which they consider a rival evil. Any contact with cash will snap their spell and leave the wizard naked and confused. So placing cash, such as kwacha around a room or bed mat will protect the resident from their malevolent spells.[123]
Contemporary witchcraft[edit]
Modern practices identified by their practitioners as "witchcraft" have grown dramatically since the early 20th century. Generally portrayed as revivals of pre-Christian European ritual and spirituality, they are understood to involve varying degrees of magic, shamanism, folk medicine, spiritual healing, calling on elementals and spirits, veneration of ancient deities and archetypes, and attunement with the forces of nature.
The first Neopagan groups to publicly appear, during the 1950s and 60s, were Gerald Gardner's Bricket Wood coven and Roy Bowers' Clan of Tubal Cain. They operated as initiatory secret societies. Other individual practitioners and writers such as Paul Huson[124] also claimed inheritance to surviving traditions of witchcraft.[125]
During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft in English-speaking and European countries began to increase, inspired particularly by Margaret Murray's theory of a pan-European witch-cult originally published in 1921, since discredited by further careful historical research.[126] Interest was intensified, however, by Gerald Gardner's claim in 1954 in Witchcraft Today that a form of witchcraft still existed in England. The truth of Gardner's claim is now disputed too, with different historians offering evidence for[127][128] or against[129][130][131] the religion's existence prior to Gardner.
The Wicca that Gardner initially taught was a witchcraft religion having a lot in common with Margaret Murray's hypothetically posited cult of the 1920s.[132] Indeed Murray wrote an introduction to Gardner's Witchcraft Today, in effect putting her stamp of approval on it. Wicca is now practised as a religion of an initiatory secret society nature with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood. There is also a large "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no initiatory connection or affiliation with traditional Wicca. Wiccan writings and ritual show borrowings from a number of sources including 19th and 20th-century ceremonial magic, the medieval grimoire known as the Key of Solomon, Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis and pre-Christian religions.[133][134][135] Both men and women are equally termed "witches." They practice a form of duotheistic universalism.
Since Gardner's death in 1964, the Wicca that he claimed he was initiated into has attracted many initiates, becoming the largest of the various witchcraft traditions in the Western world, and has influenced other Neopagan and occult movements.
Stregheria is an Italian witchcraft religion popularised in the 1980s by Raven Grimassi, who claims that it evolved within the ancient Etruscan religion of Italian peasants who worked under the Catholic upper classes.
Modern Stregheria closely resembles Charles Leland's controversial late-19th-century account of a surviving Italian religion of witchcraft, worshipping the Goddess Diana, her brother Dianus/Lucifer, and their daughter Aradia. Leland's witches do not see Lucifer as the evil Satan of Christian myth, but a benevolent god of the Sun and Moon.
The ritual format of contemporary Stregheria is roughly similar to that of other Neopagan witchcraft religions such as Wicca. The pentagram is the most common symbol of religious identity. Most followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals. An emphasis is placed on ancestor worship.
Feri Tradition[edit]
The Feri Tradition is a modern witchcraft practice founded by Victor Henry Anderson and his wife Cora. It is an ecstatic tradition which places strong emphasis on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.
Most practitioners worship three main deities; the Star Goddess, and two divine twins, one of whom is the blue God. They believe that there are three parts to the human soul, a belief taken from the Hawaiian religion of Huna as described by Max Freedom Long.
See also[edit]
- ^ a b Bengt Ankarloo & Stuart Clark, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Biblical and Pagan Societies", University of Philadelphia Press, 2001
- ^ Bengt Ankarloo & Stuart Clark, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Biblical and Pagan Societies", University of Philadelphia Press, 2001, p xiii
- ^ Jeffrey Burton Russell. "Witchcraft - Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- ^ Pócs 1999, pp. 9–12.
- ^ Pearlman, Jonathan (2013-04-11). "Papua New Guinea urged to halt witchcraft violence after latest 'sorcery' case". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- ^ Adler, Margot (1979) Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 45–47, 84–5, 105. Witchcraft in today's world is no longer practiced in secrecy and covens are made all over the world using many different beliefs.
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "witchcraft (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ Cohn, Norman (1975). Europe's Inner Demons. pp. 176–9. ISBN 0-465-02131-X.
- ^ Evans-Pritchard, Edward Evan (1937). Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. Oxford University Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN 0-19-874029-8.
- ^ Thomas, Keith (1997). Religion and the Decline of Magic. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 464–5. ISBN 0-297-00220-1.; Ankarloo, Bengt and Henningsen, Gustav (1990) Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1, 14.
- ^ Pócs 1999 pp. 9–10. The first three categories were proposed by Richard Kieckhefer, the fourth added by Christina Larner.
- ^ Pócs 1999 pp. 10–11.
- ^ Pócs 1999 pp. 11–12.
- ^ a b Gibbons, Jenny (1998) "Recent Developments in the Study of the Great European Witch Hunt" in The Pomegranate #5, Lammas 1998.
- ^ Barstow, Anne Llewellyn (1994) Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts San Francisco:Pandora. p. 23.
- ^ For a book-length treatment, see Lara Apps and Andrew Gow, Male Witches in Early Modern Europe, Manchester University Press (2003), ISBN 0-7190-5709-4. Apps, Lara; Gow, Andrew (2003). Male Witches in Early Modern Europe. Manchester University Press. p. 8.
- ^ The Emergence of Modern Europe: C. 1500 to 1788, by Britannica Educational Publishing, p.27. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- ^ Macfarlane p. 130; also Appendix 2.
- ^ Scot 1989 V. ix.
- ^ Wilby, Emma (2006) Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits. pp. 51–4.
- ^ Emma Wilby 2005 p. 123; See also Alan Macfarlane p. 127 who notes how "white witches" could later be accused as "black witches".
- ^ Monter () Witchcraft in France and Switzerland. Ch. 7: "White versus Black Witchcraft".
- ^ Pócs 1999, p. 12.
- ^ As defined by Mircea Eliade in Shamanism, Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Bollingen Series LXXVI, Pantheon Books, NY NY 1964, pp. 3–7.
- ^ Ginzburg (1990) Part 2, Ch. 1.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, the Compact Edition, Oxford University Press, p. 2955, 1971.
- ^ for instance, see Luck, Georg, Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds; a Collection of Ancient Texts, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985, 2006; also Kittredge, G. L., Witchcraft in Old and New England, New York: Russell & Russell, 1929, 1957, 1958; and Davies, Owen, Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736–1951, Manchester University Press, 1999.
- ^ Semple, Sarah (2003). "Illustrations of damnation in late Anglo-Saxon manuscripts". Anglo-Saxon England 32: 231–245. doi:10.1017/S0263675103000115.
- ^ Semple, Sarah (1998). "A Fear of the Past: The Place of the Prehistoric Burial Mound in the Ideology of Middle and Later Anglo-Saxon England". World Archaeology 30: 117. JSTOR 125012.
- ^ Pope, J.C. (1968). Homilies of Aelfric: a supplementary collection (Early English Text Society 260) II. Oxford University Press. p. 796., lines 118–125, from the second manuscript in an appendix to De Auguriis, lesson XVII from Ælfric's "Lives of the Saints".
- ^ Meaney, Audrey L. (1984). "Aelfric and Idolatry". Journal of Religious History 13 (2): 119–35. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.1984.tb00191.x., source of English translation from Anglo-Saxon.
- ^ Brian Levack (The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe) multiplied the number of known European witch trials by the average rate of conviction and execution, to arrive at a figure of around 60,000 deaths. Anne Lewellyn Barstow (Witchcraze) adjusted Levack's estimate to account for lost records, estimating 100,000 deaths. Ronald Hutton (Triumph of the Moon) argues that Levack's estimate had already been adjusted for these, and revises the figure to approximately 40,000.
- ^ "Estimates of executions". Based on Ronald Hutton's essay Counting the Witch Hunt.
- ^ Drury, Nevill (1992) Dictionary of Mysticism and the Esoteric Traditions Revised Edition. Bridport, Dorset: Prism Press. "Witch".
- ^ Regino of Prüm (906), see Ginzburg (1990) part 2, ch. 1 (89ff.)
- ^ H.C. Erik Midelfort, Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany 1562–1684,1972,71
- ^ Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (2000) "The Emergence of the Christian Witch" in History Today, Nov, 2000.
- ^ Drymon, M.M. Disguised as the Devil: How Lyme Disease Created Witches and Changed History, 2008.
- ^ Mackay, C., Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
- ^ See also Ryan, W.F. The Bathhouse at Midnight: An Historical Survey of Magic and Divination in Russia, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 524.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004,) page 252.
- ^ a b Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 847.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 623.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 797.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 705.
- ^ Valerie A. Kivelson, "Male Witches and Gendered Categories in Seventh-Century Russia," in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 45. No. 3 (July, 2003), Cambridge University Press, url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3879463, page 610.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 313.
- ^ Janet and Stewart Farrar, A Witches Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook (Washington, Phoenix Publishing, Inc.) 1984. Page 316.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004), page 586.
- ^ Raymond Buckland, The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-Paganism (Detroit: Visible Ink) 2002. Page 160.
- ^ Raymond Buckland, The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-Paganism (Detroit: Visible Ink) 2002. Page 540.
- ^ Judika Illes, The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts (Element: London, 2004) page 260.
- ^ Valerie A. Kivelson, "Male Witches and Gendered Categories in Seventh-Century Russia," in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 45. No. 3 (July, 2003), Cambridge University Press, url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3879463, page 609-610.
- ^ Christine D. Worobec, 1995. "Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Prerevolutionary Russian and Ukrainian Villages." Russian Review 54, no. 2: 165. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed November 21, 2013).
- ^ Valerie A. Kivelson, "Male Witches and Gendered Categories in Seventh-Century Russia," in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 45. No. 3 (July, 2003), Cambridge University Press, url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3879463, page 617.
- ^ Russell Zguta, "Witchcraft Trials in Seventeenth-Century Russia," American Historical Review 82, no. 5 (December 1977), 1190.
- ^ Zguta, 1190.
- ^ a b Zguta, 1189.
- ^ Zguta, 1187.
- ^ a b Zguta, 1191.
- ^ Zguta, 1193.
- ^ Zguta, 1193-94.
- ^ Zguta, 1195.
- ^ Zguta, 1196.
- ^ a b "Diabolism in the New World". ABCCLIO. 2005. Retrieved 10/2/2013.
- ^ Cervantes, Fernando; Kenneth Mills (1996). The Hispanic American Historical Review. Duke Universtity Press. pp. 789–790. Retrieved 10/2/2013.
- ^ "Springfield's 375th: From Puritans to presidents". masslive.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ^ Fraden, Judith Bloom, Dennis Brindell Fraden. The Salem Witch Trials. Marshall Cavendish. 2008. p. 15.
- ^ George Brown Tindall; David Emory Shi (2013). Jon Durbin. Retrieved 10/3/2013, ed. America: A Narrative History (Brief Ninth Edition, Volume One ed.). W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-393-91265-4.
- ^ Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, Volume LX, August 10, 1834, Number 17,057 (From the Nashville (Tenn.) Herald, of 22d July) (transcribed at http://www.topix.com/forum/city/jamestown-tn/TPAPB6U4LVF0JDQC8/p2
- ^ History of Fentress County, Tennessee, Albert R. Hogue, compiled by the Fentress County Historical Society, p.67 (http://books.google.com/books?id=b1wvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA67; transcribed at http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.tennessee.counties.fentress/260.258/mb.ashx)
- ^ Touring the East Tennessee Backroads By Carolyn Sakowski, p.212<http://books.google.com/books?id=rLBrUbj02IcC&pg=PA212>
- ^ Behar, Ruth. Sex and Sin, Witchcraft and the Devil in Late-Colonial Mexico. American Ethnologist, 14:1 (February 1987), p. 34.
- ^ Lavrin, Asunción. Sexuality & Marriage in Colonial Latin America. Reprint ed. Lincoln, NB.:University of Nebraska Press, 1992, p. 192.
- ^ Lewis, Laura A. Hall of mirrors: power, witchcraft, and caste in colonial Mexico. Durham, N.C.:Duke University Press, 2003, p. 13.
- ^ (Portuguese) João Ribeiro Júnior, O Que é Magia, p.48-49, Ed. Abril Cultural.
- ^ International Standard Bible Encyclopedia article on Witchcraft, last accessed 31 March 2006. There is some discrepancy between translations; compare with that given in the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Witchcraft (accessed 31 March 2006), and the L. W. King translation (accessed 31 March 2006).
- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Witchcraft". Newadvent.org. 1912-10-01. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ^ Nahum 3:4; 1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Chronicles 33:6; 2 Kings 9:22; Deuteronomy 18:10; Exodus 22:18
- ^ Scot, Reginald (c. 1580) The Discoverie of Witchcraft Booke VI Ch. 1.
- ^ Dickie, Matthew (2003). Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World. Routledge. pp. 33–35. ISBN 0-415-24982-1.
- ^ I Samuel 28.
- ^ Geister, Magier und Muslime. Dämonenwelt und Geisteraustreibung im Islam. Kornelius Hentschel, Diederichs 1997, Germany.
- ^ Magic and Divination in Early Islam (The Formation of the Classical Islamic World) by Emilie Savage-Smith (Ed.), Ashgate Publishing 2004.
- ^ BBC News, "Pleas for condemned Saudi 'witch'", 14 February 2008 BBC NEWS
- ^ Usher, Sebastian (2010-04-01). "Death 'looms for Saudi sorcerer'". BBC News.
- ^ "Saudi Authorities Behead Woman for 'Sorcery' - Middle East - News". Israel National News. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- ^ "Saudi man executed for 'witchcraft and sorcery'", BBC News, June 19, 2012
- ^ "Jaipur woman thrashed for witchcraft". The Times of India. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
- ^ a b Witchcraft is given a spell in India's schools to remove curse of deadly superstition. The Times. November 24, 2008
- ^ Fifty 'Witches' Beaten By Mob. Sky News. December 22, 2008
- ^ Indian villagers 'killed witch'. BBC News. March 27, 2008
- ^ Blacker, Carmen. The Catalpa Bow : A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan. New York: Routledge Curzon, 1999. 51–59.
- ^ "The Grateful Foxes – Japanese foxtales". Academia.issendai.com. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- ^ Blacker, Carmen Catalpa Bow p. 56.
- ^ Nova, "China's Tocharian Mummies", 38:40–39:10.
- ^ "Ta'unga". Dictionary of Cook Islands Languages. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ William Wyatt Gill (1892). Cook Islands Custom. pp. 14–15.
- ^ Woman suspected of witchcraft burned alive CNN.com. January 8, 2009.
- ^ Okeja, Uchenna (2011). "An African Context of the Belief in Witchcraft and Magic," in Rational Magic. Fisher Imprints. ISBN 1-84888-061-8.
- ^ Thousands of child 'witches' turned on to the streets to starve.
- ^ Kolwezi: Accused of witchcraft by parents and churches, children in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being rescued by Christian activists. In Christianity Today, (September 2009): http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/september/27.62.html.
- ^ "Film Addresses Children's Rights in the Congo". Inter-Congolese Dialogue. Internews Network. 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2011.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d "Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile". BBC. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ^ Penis theft panic hits city.., Reuters.
- ^ 7 killed in Ghana over 'penis-snatching' episodes, CNN, January 18, 1997.
- ^ Okeja, Uchenna (2011). "An African Context of the Belief in Witchcraft and Magic," in Rational Magic. Oxford: Fisher Imprints. ISBN 1-84888-061-8.
- ^ Mob burns to death 11 Kenyan "witches".
- ^ Living in fear: Tanzania's albinos, BBC News.
- ^ Wicasta 2011. Albino Child 'Kidnapped By Witch Doctors For Tribal Sacrifice (23 September): http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/blogs/?p=348
- ^ By Faith Karimi CNN. "Abuse of child 'witches' on rise, aid group says". CNN. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
- ^ "The dangers of witchcraft". Reuters. February 4, 2010.
- ^ Janzen & MacGaffey 1974, p. 54b (13.9.12).
- ^ Janzen & MacGaffey 1974, p. 54b (13.9.14).
- ^ Janzen & MacGaffey 1974, pp. 54b-55a (13.9.16).
- ^ Janzen & MacGaffey 1974, p. 55b (13.10.8).
- ^ Gittins 1987, p. 199.
- ^ Stepping Stones Nigeria 2007. Supporting Victims of Witchcraft Abuse and Street Children in Nigeria: http://www.humantrafficking.org/publications/593.
- ^ Houreld, Katharine (2009) Church burns 'witchcraft' children. Associated Press.
- ^ Byrne, Carrie 2011. Hunting the vulnerable: Witchcraft and the law in Malawi; Consultancy Africa Intelligence (16 June):
- ^ Van der Meer, Erwin 2011. The Problem of Witchcraft in Malawi, Evangelical Missions Quarterly (47:1, January): 78–85.
- ^ Kamkwamba, William. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Harper Collins. 2009. Page 14.
- ^ Huson, Paul Mastering Witchcraft: a Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens, New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1970.
- ^ Clifton, Chas S., Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America, Lanham, MD: Altamira, 2006, ISBN 0-7591-0202-3.
- ^ Rose, Elliot, A Razor for a Goat, University of Toronto Press, 1962. Hutton, Ronald, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1993. Hutton, Ronald, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Oxford University Press, 1999.
- ^ Heselton, Philip. Wiccan Roots. ISBN 1-86163-110-3.
- ^ Heselton, Philip. Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration. ISBN 1-86163-164-2.
- ^ Kelly, Aidan, Crafting the Art of Magic, Llewellyn Publications, 1991.
- ^ Hutton, Ronald, Triumph of the Moon, Oxford University Press, 1999.
- ^ Ruickbie, Leo. Witchcraft Out of the Shadows. ISBN 0-7090-7567-7.
- ^ Murray, Margaret A., The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, Oxford University Press, 1921.
- ^ Hutton, R.,The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Oxford University Press, pp. 205–252, 1999.
- ^ Kelly, A.A., Crafting the Art of Magic, Book I: a History of Modern Witchcraft, 1939–1964, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1991.
- ^ Valiente, D., The Rebirth of Witchcraft, London: Robert Hale, pp. 35–62, 1989.
- Alan Macfarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England, Psychology Press, 1999 (orig. 1970)
- University of Kansas Publications in Anthropology, No. 5 = John M Janzen and Wyatt MacGaffey: An Anthology of Kongo Religion: Primary Texts from Lower Zaïre. Lawrence, 1974.
- Studia Instituti Anthropos, Vol. 41 = Anthony J. Gittins: Mende Religion. Steyler Verlag, Nettetal, 1987.
Further reading[edit]
- Ashforth, Adam (2000). Madumo, A Man Bewitched. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-02971-9.
- Easley, Patricia Thompson (August 2000). A Gobber Tooth, A Hairy Lip, A Squint Eye: Concepts of the Witch and the Body in Early Modern Europe (M.A. Thesis). UNT Digital Library.
- Favret-Saada, Jeanne (December 1980). Deadly Words: Witchcraft in the Bocage. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29787-5.
- Favret-Saada, Jeanne (2009). Désorceler. L'Olivier. ISBN 978-2-87929-639-5.
- Geschiere, Peter (1997) [Translated from French Edition (1995 Karthala)]. The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa = Sorcellerie Et Politique En Afrique — la viande des autres. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-1703-0.
- Ginzburg, Carlo; Translated by Raymond Rosenthal (June 2004) [Originally published in Italy as Storia Notturna (1989 Giulio Einaudi)]. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-29693-7.
- Henderson, Lizanne, Witch-Hunting and Witch Belief in the Gàidhealtachd, Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland Eds. Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007
- Hutton, Ronald (1999) The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Oxford, OUP.
- Hyatt, Harry Middleton. Hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft, rootwork: beliefs accepted by many Negroes and white persons, these being orally recorded among Blacks and whites. s.n., 1970.
- Lindquist, Galina (2006). Conjuring Hope: Magic and Healing In Contemporary Russia. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-84545-057-1. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- Levack, Brian P. ed. The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America (2013) excerpt and text search
- Moore, Henrietta L. and Todd Sanders 2001. Magical Interpretations, Material Realities: Modernity, Witchcraft and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa London: Routledge.
- Pentikainen, Juha. "Marnina Takalo as an Individual." C. JSTOR. 26 February 2007.
- Pentikainen, Juha. "The Supernatural Experience." F. Jstor. 26 February 2007.
- Pócs, Éva (1999). Between the Living and the Dead: A perspective on Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age. Budapest: Central European University Press. ISBN 963-9116-19-X.
- Ruickbie, Leo (2004) Witchcraft out of the Shadows: A History, London, Robert Hale.
- Stark, Ryan J. "Demonic Eloquence," in Rhetoric, Science, and Magic in Seventeenth-Century England (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), 115-45.
- Worobec, Caroline. "Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Prerevolutionary Russia and Ukrainian Villages." Jstor. 27 February 2007.
External links[edit]
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Witchcraft
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Witches.
|Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Witchcraft.
- Witchcraft on In Our Time at the BBC. (listen now)
- Kabbalah On Witchcraft – A Jewish view (Audio) chabad.org
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Witchcraft
- Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands, 1886, by John Linwood Pitts, from Project Gutenberg
- A Treatise of Witchcraft, 1616, by Alexander Roberts, from Project Gutenberg
- University of Edinburgh's Scottish witchcraft database
- 'Witchcraft and Statecraft, A Materialist Analysis of the European Witch Persecutions'


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4. Place white chips and whipping cream in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Beat in cream cheese. Spread on cooled crust. Prepare FRUIT TOPPING. Arrange fruit over chip mixture; carefully pour or brush topping over fruit. Cover; refrigerate assembled tart until just before serving. 10 to 12 servings.
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Obama powers to re-election despite weak economy
President Barack Obama waves as he walks on stage with first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha at his election night party Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, in Chicago. Obama defeated Republican challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Photo by


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Rodman Hall
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Visa Instructor announces upcoming exhibition.
Local business offers Brock students & instructors 10% discount on art supplies.
Visual Arts Instructor announces upcoming exhibitions.
Visa Professor delivers lecture at the University of Guelph.
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Walker Morris launches 20th anniversary of its Children's Calendar Painting Competition
Walker Morris has launched the special 20th anniversary of its annual Children's Calendar Painting Competition.
Delay in registering companies as charitable incorporated organisations download
Although no definite date was given for the regulations under the Charities Act 2011 enabling charitable companies to convert to a CIO, these were expected in 'early 2014'.
Walker Morris launches 20th Children's Calendar Painting Competition
Walker Morris has launched the 20th anniversary of its annual Children's Calendar Painting Competition, which raises money for Yorkshire's Martin House Children's Hospice.
Walker Morris funds training of NSPCC ChildLine Schools Service volunteer
Employees from law firm Walker Morris have raised £1,989.49 through charity fundraising efforts for the NSPCC.
Walker Morris employees donate more than 150 gifts to Zest Health for Life charity
Walker Morris employees have donated more than 150 gifts to Leeds charity Zest Health for Life in its annual gift donation.
Charity Commission issues revised public benefit guidance download
On 16 September 2013, the Charity Commission published its revised public benefit guidance for all charities.
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Alan Harper of Walker Morris explains the general rules in relation to the ownership of the main types of IP.
Charity trustees: it's your decision download
The new guidance explains in detail how charity trustees should approach making decisions affecting their charity.
All things being equal: so far, so good — the Public Sector Equality Duty download
The Public Sector Equality Duty was brought in by the Equality Act 2010 and came into force in April 2011.
Walker Morris presents prizes for its 19th Children's Charity Calendar Competition
Walker Morris has presented 50 children with prizes at a special presentation ceremony at its offices for its 19th annual Children's Charity Calendar Painting Competition.
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Proposed changes to Register of Charities from 2014.
Walker Morris launches 19th Children's Calendar Printing Competition
Walker Morris has launched the 2013 Children's Calendar Printing Competition, which is now in its 19th year.


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Anyone else think it's awesome that this guy played mandolin and sung in Hang On?
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Scott Pilgrim was a great movie.
Arrested Development was a great show.
However I am not a big fan of Michael Cera seeing as he plays the same exact character in just about everything he has ever been in. Also, I don't really see the point of having him play/sing on that song other than just for the hell of it. It turned out well though.
oh god what does this even mean
Australia untoured since 1996! said:
Scott Pilgrim is the coolest movie. It actually understands the new generation.
I think it's awesome that a Hurdy Gurdy is on the song. I don't even really know what a Hurdy Gurdy is but it's a hilarious name.
A hurdy gurdy is of the old generation, and it's ridiculous you don't know what it is.
I'll watch Scott Pilgrim when it comes out on 16 mm.


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Man United vs Stoke Player Ratings
It was the Wayne Rooney show as Manchester United survived an early scare to clinch a comfortable 4-2 victory over Stoke at Old Trafford.
Man United
David De Gea - 7
Was clearly dreaming when the free-kick was taken, which eventually led to Stoke's first goal. That was a wake up call for him as he heroically kept the scores at 1-0 till Rooney equalized. There was nothing he could have done to prevent the Kightly goal though.
Rafael - 6.5
His no nonsense defending and ensured no Stoke player had a clear opportunity on goal, even if it meant he could not venture forward as much.
Patrice Evra - 6.5
Another steady performance to left-back for the Red Devils, rampaging forward whenever he could and to good effect.
Rio Ferdinand - 7
While everyone was focused on his reluctance to put on the "Kick It Out" shirt, his on field performance was immaculate and kept a close eye on the big man Peter Crouch.
Jonathan Evans - 6
Came close to scoring but Begovic pulled off an instinctive save from point blank range. A steady figure at the back for United in the absence of Nemanja Vidic, although Kightly's goal had an element of farcical defending about it.
Antonio Valencia (74' off) - 7.5
A very effective wide player who consistently troubled the Stoke defence with his direct running and crosses. Picked out Van Persie well for United's second goal.
Michael Carrick - 6.5
Not a flair player by nature but very productive in the middle of the park. Another flawless midfield display from Carrick.
Paul Scholes (70' off) - 6.5
Pulled the strings from midfield with his trademark long range passes but made clumsy tackles all over the pitch and got booked after testing the referee's patience.
Wayne Rooney - 9
A perfect set piece goal from a header early on in the game. If only it had been at the right end of the pitch. Fortunately for Rooney, he managed to make amends later on with a more impressive headed goal to level the scores. Surely would have left the pitch with the match ball, with an assist for Welbeck and a simplest of tap-ins for United's fourth goal.
Danny Welbeck - 7
His finishing was dreadful in the first half but somehow managed to clip the top of the crossbar before half time. Was a changed man after the restart though, getting into pockets of space and got on the scoresheet seconds after the restart. Sir Alex Ferguson's attacking trio is slowly but surely starting to gel.
Robin Van Persie - 7.5
The Dutchman whipped in a beautiful cross from the wing to set up Rooney for the equalizer. He was later unmarked in the Stoke penalty box with no defender in sight and punished the visitors mere seconds before half time with a really neat finish. Showing the world he is worth every cent Fergie paid for him.
Anderson (70' on) - 6.5
Provided plenty of energy and added the extra bite in midfield to protect United's two goal advantage.
Nani (74' on) - 5.5
Did not do anything worth mentioning in the short time he was on which means his time on the bench would be an extended one especially with Valencia in red hot form.
Javier Hernandez (78' on)
Asmir Begovic - 6
Commanded his penalty area well but could only watch United put four goals past him. His entire defence was totally outclassed by the quality of United's passing and finishing.
Geoff Cameron - 6
A calm and reliable right back who made himself available in the wider areas of the field but allowed Van Persie too much time on the ball
Robert Huth - 5.5
Could not handle United's swift passing movement and did not use his physique to cause his opposition problems. A disappointing game for the German.
Marc Wilson - 5
His forward runs usually amounted to nothing and the left back struggled to cope with the likes of Valencia in the 74 minutes he was on the pitch. Should not have been so adventurous going forward and focused more on shackling the dangerous United winger.
Ryan Shawcross - 7
Made a nuisance of himself in the United penalty box and it paid off, forcing an error from Rooney 10 minutes into the game. Strong in the air and did not allow any aerial ball past him all game.
Steven Nzonzi - 6.5
An impressive midfield display from the former Blackburn man. Tried his best to destroy every United attack.
Dean Whitehead - 4
Helplessly chased shadows and was not effective at either end of the pitch. There was no way he deserved to play the full 90 minutes.
Charlie Adam - 7
Silenced his critics with a sparkling display - especially in the opening 45 minutes. Seemed like the only one in a Stoke shirt who could properly put the ball into United box. The outcome of the match could have been very different if he had more time on the ball.
Michael Kightly (74' off) - 7
Powered his way past the entire United midfield and defence when he learnt he was going to be substituted and scored a goal from nothing. Judging by the body language of his teammates, he was probably one of the few who played with a belief that his side could get something from this game.
Jonathan Walters (77' off) - 6.5
Too defensive minded at times, which was a real waste for Stoke as he always has that awereness to be at the right place at the right time.
Peter Crouch - 6.5
Crouch was his usual self, winning majority of the balls targeted at him but could not get the better of Ferdinand who made it a point to give his fellow Englishman a hard time.
Michael Owen (74' on) - 6
Surprisingly played in a deeper role and not the fox in the box like before, probably due to his fitness and age but offered little in the short time he was on.
Matthew Etherington (77' on)
Wilson Palacios (86' on)


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ALPENA - The Alpena Regional Medical Center Finance Committee received and approved the finanical audit as presented, and will watch the new fiscal year closely due to predicted upcoming changes in health care. Auditors Mike Baker and Nick Meader of Plante and Moran, LLC presented the 2011-12 financial audit reports to the committee on Thursday, and the committee will recommend the audit's approval to the full board during its next regular meeting.
"There were no difficulties performing the audit, and there were no significant adjustments. The biggest change was an increase in cash/cash equivalents," Meader said.
According to Baker, health care reforms will bring a shift from uninsured and commercial insurances to new health insurance exchanges including Medicaid starting in 2014.
"The biggest issue is reimbursement rates for health insurance exchanges, the big unknown," Baker said.
According to Baker some of the major trends in health care include consolidations, closures, stark law violations, cost containment, struggles with volume, increase in compensated care, changes to insurances, and property tax issues.
Overall, Baker said ARMC has a "strong balance sheet," but contributing factors and possible changes to health care, including a 2 percent cut to Medicare scheduled for Jan. 1, 2013, will require controlling expenses.
"You had a good year financially, but you have to continue to key in on the expense side ... 2012 is shaping up to be a big year for health care," Baker said.
In other business:
Emily Siegmon can be reached via e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 358-5687.


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To the UT Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders
Under the co-direction of Jair C. Soares, M.D. and Alan Swann, M.D. the UT Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders focuses on the search for the causes and the development of new treatments for these severe mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. It is comprised of an active research team who specialize in clinical neurosciences (neuroimaging, neurophysiology, cognitive neurosciences, and genetics), as well as clinical psychopharmacology and interventions research.
Find out more about research and our clinic at 713-486-2627
Visit our Resources page for links to learn about mood disorders
Visit our Research page to learn about our ongoing clinical trials.
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Mood Disorders Specialty Clinic
Located in the largest medical center in the world, housed in a new state-of-the-art facility, and led by internationally-renowned physicians, the Mood Disorders Clinic is an ideal venue for the treatment and evaluation of individuals with mood disorders. Drs. Soares, Swann, and Gajwani are internationally recognized as leading authorities in the field of mood disorders. (read more)
Location & Contact
The UT Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders
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1300 Moursund Street, Suite 206
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Our affiliates include the following:
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21 Kindergartners, 1 great experience!
This week, I finished my observation hours for my education class, and much to my surprise I became fairly upset when I realized that I wouldn't be coming back anymore. I have been spending my time observing in the same kindergarten classroom at the Early Learning Center here in Alliance since the beginning of last semester. I have spent almost one whole school year with 21 kindergartners and really got a chance to see them grow. The time that I have spent with the kids at the Early Learning Center has really helped me to understand more of the kind of teacher I would like to be one day. I had such a great experience working with this class! The class consisted of nine boys and 11 girls, who were, for the most part, really well behaved. The cooperating teacher that I worked with could not have been a better mentor for me. Right away, I picked up on certain cues and methods she used in teaching the students and was able to also use them myself when working with the students. This gave the students more respect for me and helped me to establish a great relationship with them.
The day before my last day of observation, the students and teacher presented me with a gift. The gift was a book with a picture of the class on the front, and inside each child completed a page with a sentence entitled "Miss Farmerie and (their name)" as well as drawing of a picture of us together. They also gave me a travel coffee mug that they had each signed and drew on (the teacher caught on to my obsession with coffee)! The moment they gave me these gifts, I was speechless. I was so touched and thankful that they would think of me. I believe that, in that moment, I truly realized why I wanted to be a teacher so much. Not because of the gifts or any of that, but because I knew that I had impacted them, and helped them in some way because they were thanking me for it. I had established a bond with those 21 kindergartners as my first observation class, and I will never be able to replace that. As soon as I drove away from the school on that final day, reflecting upon everything I have done there, I realized how happy I am to be going into the field of education, and how excited I am to be a teacher!


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- Includes: Pressure plate and clutch disc
Wondering what kind of transmission you have? Click Here to find out!
It's recommended that you add an SR Performance Braided Stainless Steel Hydraulic Clutch Line during your new clutch install. Stock plastic clutch lines can fail during aggressive driving. Stainless steel clutch lines help prevent gear lockout and provide superior clutch pedal feel, even under the toughest conditions.
Technical Note. It is recommended to install a new flywheel with this replacement clutch for the 2011-2012 Mustang GTs & V6s. Please view our flywheel page for 2011-2012 steel and aluminum flywheel replacements.
Mustang Fitment: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Details >>