"Let me mention on this occasion the very impressiv story told by
Baroja in 'The world of witches' of an Spanisch Inquisitor who around 1600
already suggested to his colleagues to stop preaching about the dangers of
witchcraft. He had noticed that there didn't seem to be any witches as long
as nobody spoke of them.
But ONE sermon was enough to have the next a row of people before his office who
wanted to denounce their neighbours... (loc.cit. S. 188)
A very wise man indeed.
(And quite an old argument against those who still want to blame only the
Church for
early-modern witch-persecution who was in fact mainly the work of secular
courts and never-ending denounciation amongst the population itself.)"
Dear Niklaus:
Concerning this question, it is very illuminating to read that -at
least in Spain- when a woman was accused of witchcraft she desperately tried
to be put in the hands of the "Santa Inquisicion", because she knew it was
her only chance to scape from a hard punishment. (J.M. BLAZQUEZ MIGUEL,
*Eros y Tanatos. Brujeria, hechiceria y supersticion en Espanna", Toledo, 1989)
In fact, the Church was usually very sceptical about flying witchs...
Another interesting question is how the image of the witch was
built. Caro Baroja and other scholars believe that classical poetry had
something to do in this process; and literature 'infected' reality: "Yo te
conjuro, anima sola, con tres elementos; yo te conjuro, anima sola, con los
tres vientos; yo te conjuro, anima sola, con la sangre de Lucano"; this is
a conjure that one witch confessed to use in an Inquiry. Lucan's blood in
Castille! (see J. Caro Baroja and F. Rico's lectures given at the Congreso
Nacional de Brujulogia, San Sebastian, septiembre 1972, Madrid, 1975)
Carlos
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