Malleus Maleficarum: intro

The Malleus Maleficarum (Hexenhammer in German) is a witchhunting manual from the 1400s. It is a disturbingly evil book that has lead to the death of thousands during the witchhunts (though some sources do debate its impact). It was written by Dominican clergymen Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, though Kramer appears to have written the bulk of it. Allegedly, Sprenger’s name was attached to give it more credibility, because Kramer was a known pest in his area.

It was the first book to deal with witchcraft, though an earlier work, the Formicarius, touched on the topic. The story goes that the entire existence of the book was is the result of Kramer being angry at not being allowed to ask probing, inappropriately sexual questions to a woman during a heresy trial. So he went back to Cologne and wrote an entire book to explain his views.

It is almost three separate books in one, and each section isn’t really related to any of the others. They were intended for different audiences. Book one was a theological text aimed at showing "proof" of the existence of witches. Book two was about the powers of the witch and pact that she was supposed to have made with either Satan or a demon. The text is unclear and often seems to conflate the two. Book three is legal and aimed at giving judges the proper “rules” to follow when dealing with a suspected witch.

Originally written in Latin and drawing heavily from the works of Aquinas, the book embraces the quaestio format, to an almost nauseating degree, often veering into random topics that only barely relate to the question posed.

Nyx, the goddess of night

Not being one of the 12 Olympians, Nyx is a relatively unknown goddess with little lore or legends about her. Most of what we have are descriptions of her from other deities, though what we do know is fascinating. Even for a goddess, she was ancient, being among the first children of Chaos and the mother of many who unfortunately ended up more well known than her. That is perhaps why she was such a powerful goddess. Her age and her legacy made her fearsome. While we don't know much, what we do know is that she was strong. Strong enough to terrify Zeus, who was himself obviously exceedingly powerful and feared. In Homer's Illiad 8.15-20 it explicitly states about Zeus' strength: ἐξάπτεσθε θεοὶ πᾶσαί τε θέαιναι: ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἐρύσαιτ᾽ ἐξ οὐρανόθεν πεδίον δὲ Ζῆν᾽ ὕπατον μήστωρ᾽, οὐδ᾽ εἰ μάλα πολλὰ κάμοιτε. ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ καὶ ἐγὼ πρόφρων ἐθέλοιμι ἐρύσσαι, αὐτῇ κεν γαίῃ ἐρύσαιμ᾽ αὐτῇ τε θαλάσσῃ: σειρὴν μέν κεν ἔπειτα περὶ ῥίον Οὐλύμποιο δησαίμην, τὰ δέ κ᾽ αὖτε μετήορα πάντα γένοι...

Circe's Powers

Circe, the female entity that attempted to trap Odysseus on his journey home, is an interesting figure who seems to occupy two worlds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary specifically calls her “powerful sorceress” 1 and she is called “goddess” a few times ( Odyssey 11.9 and 12.21). This sets her apart from other goddesses in the story because most of her actions come from the sorceress aspect, not the goddess. The nature of her magic, with it requiring touch to work and it being the only time in the Odyssey where this concept is used, lets her be viewed in a different light than, for example, Athena. For Circe, sorcery is her drugs and potions, which are called “bewitching” several times( Odyssey 10.339, 349) and her wand, which is called “magic”( Odyssey 10.314). Hermes also refers to what she does with drugs as a “magic spell”( Odyssey 10.311) when he gives Odysseus the herb. She does with sorcery what other goddesses would simply do as a result of them being goddess...

Satan

Let’s talk about Satan, because why not? The entity that became the Satan of the New Testament and Christianity as a whole has its basis in the Old Testament. Note: basis. But it didn’t exist there in anything resembling the form that it took in later centuries. In the Old Testament, Satan is not a name like it tends to be used today. It’s just a word meaning “adversary”. In Hebrew, this is שָׂטָן and does not refer to this entity specifically. It is used multiple times thoughout the Old Testament to refer to multiple things. At one point, an angel of the lord was explicity referred to as שָׂטָן (Numbers 22:22). It seems like a general word for anything in the way. So, it is not necessarily clear what the entity is, though it is implied that it has some relation to the בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים, the sons of God (Job 1:6). The text does not specify exactly what it is, but makes it sound like a sort of cosmic pest in a celestial court, something under complete control of the Elohim. Everything i...

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