Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath.
Richard Kieckhefer|Carlo Ginzburg|Raymond Rosenthal
For centuries witches on trial admitted to taking part in gruesome sabbaths where they cast spells, worshipped a bestial devil, enacted obscenely blasphemous rites and even devoured corpses. Many scholars believe that such confessions, often under torture were just reflection of their persecutors' fantasies. Certainly as Carlo Ginzburg shows, witch hunters adapted the stereotypes earlier used descredit persecute lepers Jews.
The American Historical Review