A brief history of the evolution of the image of witches you didn't know

The image of a witch wearing black clothes and a pointed hat flying on a broomstick in the night sky has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. As for whether witches really existed? How did it evolve? Few people can explain it clearly. The author of this article has perfectly answered these questions around the evolution of the image of witches. After reading it, not only will you have a new understanding of the image of witches, it will also trigger your deeper thinking about the witch culture. Wizards, in primitive society, were considered to be the medium of gods. They were both priests and doctors, possessing mysterious powers and the ability to control nature. In the wizarding community, there are both wizards and witches. For example, "Mandarin" has the saying: "The male is called cowardly, while the female is called witch". "Shu Wen," said, "Witches, witches wish also, women who can do things invisible by dancing to subdue gods, like a two-sleeved dance, agree with workers." From this description, we can see that in the beginning, wizards are all They are wise men who can sing and dance, and hold multiple roles, which differs greatly from the image of modern wizards. So, what happened that turned them into the image of a vicious old woman wearing a pointed hat, wearing a black dress, and riding a broom? All of this must start from the Middle Ages.

Before the 14th century, there were no large-scale witch trials in Europe, but there was a contradiction between religion and witchcraft—"we must put witchcrafts to death." This witch hunt tragedy lasted for hundreds of years. There are signs in the Bible. Most people, especially farmers in Western Europe, were living in extremely harsh environments-"There were no shops, gravel roads, and no public services... The houses were damp and smelly, extremely uncomfortable, and there were livestock and people living in the house. Live under the same roof". In the 14th century, the Black Death ravaged Europe, the plague claimed at least 30% of Europe’s lives, and the shadow of death enveloped the European continent. The frequent occurrence of climate disasters in Europe and successive failures of agricultural products made it worse for people. Therefore, people began to blame the wizards, thinking that the disaster was brought about by them, and a witch hunt that swept across the continent of Europe quietly began. At first, the victims of the witch hunt were male and female, but with the publication of Malleus Malefic arum in 1487, everything changed.

This book, written by two Catholic monks, pointed the finger at women and declared: "Witchcraft is the lust of the flesh, which is never satisfied in a woman; the devil knows that women love the pleasures of the flesh, so it is sex The joy of enticing them to be loyal." The book also records in detail the methods of identifying witches, including but not limited to fire, flooding, weight identification, tear identification, and acupuncture identification. These methods of identification seem to be no different from nonsense today, but at the time, they were regarded as truth, and many innocent women were tortured and died tragically as a result.

Most of the people considered to be witches are marginalized people, old and poor, or widows living alone. In the most notorious Salem Witch Trial in the history of witch hunts [1], this was the case with the first three women accused of being witches. One of the three of them is a female slave of Indian descent, one is a female beggar, and the other is a low-level female who is married to a laborer and rarely takes part in church gatherings, although the social status is slightly higher. In the eyes of the people, these isolated women were mysterious and dangerous. This kind of fear and suspicion has even continued to this day. When talking about witches, everyone will automatically make up for an ugly old woman.

Three-piece witch: black dress, broom, peaked hat Besides identity, a typical image of a witch has three elements: black clothes, riding a broomstick, and a pointed hat. So how did this image come about? Peaked cap In the Middle Ages, women were required to wear a hat when they appeared in public, otherwise, they would be considered inappropriate. Therefore, during this period, the image of the witch is usually a naked woman with disheveled hair. In the 17th century, some woodcut paintings showed that witches would wear hats, but they were only wearing ordinary soft hats, which still had nothing to do with pointed hats. It wasn't until the beginning of the 18th century that the image of a witch wearing a peaked hat appeared in children's books, and because most of these children's books are cheap stall books, we can see everywhere them. Therefore, with their help, the image of a witch with a pointed hat quickly took root in the minds of the public.

But why does the peaked hat have a relationship with the witch? At present, there are two theories that are widely circulated. One theory is that the witch's peaked hat is derived from the Jewish hat. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council [2] required Jews to wear a Judahite so that anti-Semites could distinguish between Jews and non-Jews.

Since the 13th century, people have always believed that there is an ulterior relationship between Jews and Satan, so their pointed hats have become a symbol of evil. When the painter painted the devil who was chanting the spell, he would paint it with a Jewish peaked hat. By 1431, Hungarian law even stipulated that it required the reported wizards to wear Jewish peaked hats to show the public.

The second argument is that the peaked hat is related to the Quakers. [3] The Puritans believed that members of the Quakers would be keen on witchcraft and would trade with Satan to sell their souls. Therefore, there were constant contradictions between the two factions. By the 18th century, this contradiction reached its peak. It was during this period that the image of a witch wearing a peaked hat began to appear in the public eye, so some people believe that the peaked hat of a witch originated from the daily clothing of Quaker members.

Black clothes Black is considered a bad color in the West, and I have always considered witches a symbol of evil, so black, which is opposed to the light, is undoubtedly the most suitable for them.

Riding a broomstick The image of the flying witch was first seen in 906 in a monastic discipline instruction book for bishops written by Regino of Prüm (Regino of Prüm) in Trier, Germany-Canon Episcopi. This book records several women who were tempted by Satan and flew on the backs of animals with Diana, the god of witches [4] at night. After this convention, the image of witches riding broomsticks at night and flying to participate in the witch club was established.

Of course, in addition to broomsticks, in folklore, witches also ride other objects. For example, in Russian folktales, the witch Baba Yaga rides a bowl and flies in the air with a spoon. But most of the time, people still assume that the broomstick is the flying tool of the witch. So, why is it a broom? First of all, since most women were housewives at the time, and their prime time and energy were spent on housework, the broom, as the most common housework tool, naturally became a symbol of them. The group of homemakers is also a high-risk area for "witches". Therefore, broomsticks have gradually become a means of transportation for witches in people's eyes. In addition, because the hostess put the broom next to the chimney or the door when she went out, the neighbors or friends who came to visit would know that there was no one at home, which also triggered the association of people using the broom as a flying tool.

In addition to flying, the broom can also act as a stand-in for a witch. In the 17th century, Isobel Gaudí, a Scottish witch, claimed that she could turn the broom into a stand-in for herself. Every night when she went out to attend the witch club, she would turn the broom into a stand-in and put it on the bed to deceive. Live your own husband. Voltaire once wrote in "The Dictionary of Philosophy": "... any castle would have a fairy, and every village had its witch and a male coward. Alchemists surrounded the king, and the ladies listened to the astrologers. The proverbs...people possessed by gods and ghosts are wandering in the fields, and everyone is arguing that they have met a witch...". Whether a witch dressed in black, wearing a pointed hat, and flying on a broomstick in the night sky really exists, in fact, no one knows, but more often she only exists in people's imagination and narratives. With the subsequent religious reforms and the Industrial Revolution, witchcraft gradually lost its light, and witches also slowly stepped off the stage of history and became legends. *Reference material [1] Salem Witch Trial refers to a series of hearings and lawsuits in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Province between February 1692 and May 1693 that were accused of using witchcraft. The trial resulted in the death penalty of twenty people (14 of them were women) and all but one of them were hanged. Another five died in prison (two of them were young children). [2] The Fourth Lateran Council: Convened by Pope Innocent III in 1215. The decisions made at the meeting not only established the culmination of church life and the power of the Pope but also symbolized that the power of the Holy See has dominated every aspect of the Latin Christian world. [3] Quaker: Also known as the fraternity or sect, it is a sect of Protestant Christianity. [4] Diana: The goddess of the moon in Roman mythology, Hecate in Greece. Later theologians regarded it as the god of the underworld and the god of witchcraft and magic. Hecate has an insatiable sexual desire and is in charge of aphrodisiacs and herbs.