Fine Line between Magic and Witchcraft - Essay Example

Witchcraft WITCHCRAFT It was man who created devil out of his own happiness. God has heaven while Satan has hell and earth; God has angels while Satan has devils; God has his church and mosques and its priests while Satan’s church is ‘witchcraft’ and its priests are the witches. (Hoyt, C. A., & Moore, B. R. 1981) To draw a clear fine line between magic and witchcraft is not easy as both these are connected with the producing of effects which are beyond the natural powers of man by agencies which are other than divine (Occultism). In witchcraft but, it is commonly understood that either the idea of a diabolical pact is involved or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. There are various cases in which this supernatural aid is usually invoked, to awaken the compassion of love that are desired, to compass the death of any obnoxious person, to call up a dead person, or to bring calamity upon rivals, enemies and opponents. Witchcraft has been done by numerous people in nearly all the periods of world’s history. The traditional belief is that not only of the dark ages but also the witches and wizards of the post-reformation times were addicted to such practices and they entered into a compact with the Satan, adjured Sacraments and the Christ, observed ‘the witches sabbath’; they paid divine honor to the ‘king of darkness’ and in return they got from him supernatural powers like harming their chosen victims, doing what they desire to, for instance, riding through the air on a broomstick, and willing to perform any service which is needed to fulfill their nefarious purposes. (Thurston, H. 1912) During the Middle Ages and even today at times, witchcraft is performed by witches as an act of healing and curing illnesses. These Witch-healers were at times the only general medical practitioners for people who had no facility of doctors and hospitals and were terribly affected with poverty and diseases. Even the church itself had very less to offer the suffering peasantry yet the Witches healers were even killed as well as accused of helping and healing. A witch-hunter puts it as: “For this must always be remembered, as a conclusion, that by witches we understand not only those which kill and torment, but all Diviners, Charmers, Jugglers, all Wizards, commonly called wise men and wise women…and in the same number we reckon all good witches, which do no hurt but good, which do not spoil and destroy, but save and deliver…It were a thousand times better for the land if all Witches, but specially the blessing witch, might suffer death.” According to the church, which itself offered very less to the peasantry: “On Sundays after Mass, the sick came in scores, crying for help, -and words were all they got: “You have sinned, and God is afflicting you. Thank him; you will suffer so much the less torment in the life to come. Endure, suffer die. Has not the church its prayers for the dead?” (Jules Michelet, Satanism and Witchcraft) The Church had its own double standards as it had no issues with the upper-class men healing their auspices but female peasant healers wasn’t acceptable by the church at all. According to the church, its attack on the peasant healers was an attack on magic and not medicine because it is believed that the devil has great power on earth and the peasant women whether use this power for good or for evil is equally frightening to the church and the state. The more Satanic powers these witches possess to help themselves and use them against God’s order the less dependent they become on God and the Church. The cures of illnesses by magic even though successful were at the end of the day an accursed interference with the will of God and a task which has been achieved by the help of the devil. God would obviously prefer working through priests and doctors rather than Witch-healers, this was the point of view of the Church. So the witch-healers weren’t acceptable at all by the church. (Ehrenreich, B., & English, D. 1973) The remedies of witch healers have been tested by various people in these years. The herbal remedies which were developed by these witches still have a place in modern pharmacology. They had digestive aids, anti-inflammatory agents and pain-killers. When the Church said that the pain in labor was basically Lord’s just punishment for Eve’s original sin, these witch-healers used ergot for the pain of labor and even today, to hasten labor and aid in the recovery from childbirth, the modern pharmacology uses Ergot’s derivatives as the principle drugs. To inhibit uterine contractions when a threatening of miscarriage happened in the females, the witch healers used Belladonna which is still used as an anti spasmodic. An English Witch is said to have discovered Digitalis which is an important drug in treating heart diseases. But the remedies of most of the other witches were purely magical. A witch healer is an empiricist, a person who relies on her senses rather than faith or doctrine, a person who believes in cause and effect, trial and error. She had complete trust on her ability to find ways of curing diseases, dealing with pregnancy and childbirth either through medications or through her charm. Her magic was her science basically. She was not only religiously passive but actively inquiring too. Due to all these reasons a witch-healer was a great threat to the Church as the Church, in contrast, was totally anti empirical and did not believe in the views of the witch-healers at all. So the Church thoroughly believed that senses are devil’s playground, a place where he tries to lure men away from the faith which is exactly what it does to these witch healers and thus witch-healers aren’t acceptable at all.(Ehrenreich, B., & English, D. 1973) In Papua New Guinea, witchcraft is quite popular an issue. The practical focus of their religions and hierarchy’s absence is reflected in vivid involvement of the Papua New Guineans in the rite maintenance of their own physical and spiritual well-being. Henchmen and their hereditary chiefs act as religious specialists, only in a few chiefly societies generally. Love magic, healing or preventing minor illnesses and gardening will be few areas in which it is expected of adults to acquire magic spells as a lot of people in Papua Guinea possess good knowledge of sorcery and witchcraft. Big men are often purport to be more powerful spirit mediums as they posses good knowledge of both deadly war sorcery and healing powers too. Therefore, in Papua Guinea witches are aberrant or marginalized individuals who are suspected to harm people by using their relations with spirits and other cosmic forces. Even when a person is about to die or dies suddenly in Papua Guinea, then certain mediums are invited so as to discover the causes of death or illness as well as to find out the identity of the sorcerer or the witch who might have been involved in this calamity. (Culture of Papua New Guinea 2013) Magic as a practice finds no place in any religion whether it is for the good or for the bad, as the humans have complete faith in God and his powers and deeply believe that nothing that we do should be without God’s permission. SOURCES: Thurston, H. (1912). Witchcraft. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 12, 2013 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15674a.htm Culture of Papua New Guinea - history, people, clothing, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family. (n.d.). Countries and Their Cultures. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Papua-New-Guinea.html#Comments_8 Hoyt, C. A., & Moore, B. R. (1981). Witchcraft. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Ehrenreich, B., & English, D. (1973). Witches, midwives, and nurses: A history of women healers. Old Westbury, N.Y: Feminist Press. Read More