Witches were not supernatural

[spidergoat]

First of all, the idea that witchcraft was even anything more than a delusional fantasy was the first position of the Roman Catholic Church. So, we should give credit when it's due. The rise of witchcraft trials happened to coincide with the decline in the church's hegemony represented by alternative sects. This was the first purpose of the church's practice of torture. They used it the same way George Bush used it, to elicit information on rivals in order to stamp them out.

Why was this applied to witchcraft? ...A practice originally thought not to exist? And why did their trials and gruesome executions rise to the level of about half a million people before it declined? The answer is twofold.

The most interesting aspect of this phenomenon is that witches really did exist, and burning them was probably appropriate given the beliefs of the day. Witches were said to ride broomsticks and travel to distant parties with other witches. Well, it turns out that people really did experience these things. What is normally left out of witchcraft reports, and was thought not to be significant was that the witches rubbed a potion on their skin prior to their journeys. No less a figure than Galileo found out about this and acquired a recipe, which he applied to a volunteer, who experienced a pleasant state of numbness and hallucinated flying to a distant land with strange sights and music. The active ingredient was atropine, found in several European herbs. The ointment was rubbed on areas of the skin with many blood vessels, such as the genitals, often using an applicator that resembled a broomstick. So, witches were real people tripping on a drug. But, drugs were not understood as they are now, and the hallucinations were probably interpreted to be the work of supernatural forces.

The reason for half a million deaths was due to false confessions elicited through torture where the suspect, not necessarily a drug tripper, was forced to name others, leading to a pyramid scheme of sorts. The business was profitable to the church, since they charged the family of the witch for the torturing and trial services, and held a lavish banquet afterward.

In the end, the church lost out to rivals anyway, and it's power diminished. Witches were still burned, but not at the same level, or backed by professional torturers and torturing equipment.

 

[SkinWalker]

Much like the "witches" of modernity, I would imagine the witches of antiquity fancied themselves mysterious and "magical" -a pretense of sorts that bought into with their incantations and potions. The belief that magic and sorcery is a real force that has the ability to affect reality is one that is still very much alive in Africa, Asia, Polynesia, Europe and even the Americas including the United States.

In some nations and regions witches are feared and to be accused of being a witch could mean death by a mob afraid of your "power." In the United States, today, people fancy themselves "witches" and desire the label. I think, perhaps, the witches of medieval Europe and early America were occasionally self-proclaimed, but in periods and regions where the fear was exploited and accusations made, the "witch" excuse became a convenient way for a patriarchal hegemony to dominate commoners.

The common plant used for "broom rides" was belladonna. Atropa belladonna contains tropane alkaloids and only a handful of its berries would be sufficient to kill an adult. But, if ingested in moderation (i.e. less than a handful!) A. belladonna can cause hallucinations and delirium among other "trippy" symptoms. Along with "deadly nightshade," it's also called "devil's cherries."

 

[swarm]

The common plant used for "broom rides" was belladonna. Atropa belladonna contains tropane alkaloids and only a handful of its berries would be sufficient to kill an adult. But, if ingested in moderation (i.e. less than a handful!) A. belladonna can cause hallucinations and delirium among other "trippy" symptoms. Along with "deadly nightshade," it's also called "devil's cherries."

The dautura family, angel's trumpets, deadly nightshade, thorn apple, jimson weed, bella dona as well as hen bane and broom, are very unpredictable with the alkaloids varying by wildly throughout the plant and from season to season. Also the dose vs. overdose is not large and the drug messes with your perception of how intoxicated you are.

Stick with street drugs. The "deadly" part is not marketing hype and in particular trying to follow Carlos Castaneda's book or "flying oinments" will get you killed.

Also these are delirients. They aren't happy rave candy.

 

[Hapsburg]

Much like the "witches" of modernity, I would imagine the witches of antiquity fancied themselves mysterious and "magical" -a pretense of sorts that bought into with their incantations and potions.

Both yes and no. Most of the people harassed and tried as "witches" really had nothing to do with people who practised folk magic.
Those that did practise folk magic were Christians who believed in a kind of folk Christianity that melded folk customs and lore with Christian beliefs and ideas. But these people were, often, accosted and harassed, and prosecuted when the Church changed its position on witchcraft. The more professional practitioners of this kind of folk Christianity were Christian mystics and esoterics, who became the foundation of the Western occult tradition during the Renaissance and the revival of Hermeticism.

But using "witchcraft" to define all of these people is a retroactive naming that spawned with the Witchcraft and Pagan revival of the early 20th century. It's tenuous at best to describe past forms of folk magic as "witchcraft" and all practitioners of it as "witches".

 

[Pandaemoni]

The most interesting aspect of this phenomenon is that witches really did exist, and burning them was probably appropriate given the beliefs of the day.

You also have to remember that confessions made under torture were though valid to the medieval mind. They believed that God would intervene in a real way to give you the fortitude to withstand the pain were you innocent. (Just as they really did believe that trial by combat, trial by fire or trial by water could prove guilt or innocence, because iit was God passing the judgment.)

Most witches who were burned were executed first, then burned, but in any event people at the time viewed it as a service to the witch. If she confessed under torture to a priest, she could be absolved and death then protected her saved soul from a relapse. The witch, despite the pain, was often described as happy, because she died saved.

 

[Nasor]

Most witches who were burned were executed first, then burned...

Yeah, my understanding was that the only people who were burned alive were unrepentant heretics. Witches were generally hung or strangled first, then the corpse was ceremonially burned.