Magic vs. Miracle: The Relationship Between Christianity and Witchcraft

 The relationship between the early definitions of both religion and magic is quite fascinating. On the one hand, many people believe that Christianity is very much against magic and witchcraft because it correlates with the Devil, and supports the idea of working for Satan. Yet it is interesting to note that during the time Christianity was first established – a time when magic was actually accepted as a useful tool in society – Christianity seemed to have many similar traits as to witchcraft.

Michael Bailey noted in his article, "The Rise of Christianity and Early Medieval Europe to the Year 1000," that this was a very controversial issue in the development of the religious group. However, Bailey distinguishes the differences between Christianity and witchcraft right away. He stated that while witchcraft, as mentioned earlier, involves working with the Devil and demons, Christianity had a more divine intention. Both rites had a sense of power to them, but while witchcraft seemed to be labeled with a more wicked intention, Christianity was seen as an act from the Christian God (Bailey 44). Of course, Bailey notes later on in the chapter that many people still took part in magic as a means of getting something they want or need – such as a mother wanting to save her sick child.

It's still a controversial topic even in today's society, but it is interesting to see the dynamic between the two groups.

Bailey, Michael. Magic and Superstition in Europe. Plymouth: Rowan and Littlefield, 2007. Print.

Question:

1. What do you think about the connection between Christianity and magic? Do you think there is a connection at all?  

Faith in Magic: How Humankind Was Saved By a Witch

“They trust me to kill the Devil, and to save the world. And that's exactly what I'm gonna do!” ~ Dean Winchester,  Supernatural (TV Series)

Two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, modern saviors of mankind in the TV series, Supernatural, exist as hunters in the world of demons and the accompanying characters of horror and lore that surrounds it.  They slay all that is not considered of this realm, yet they themselves concoct weapons and defenses in many forms with a myriad of witches’ brews to do battle.  They cast spells, they conjure spirits, and form alliances with both sides that are of good and evil, manipulators of black and white magic, and everything in between.  And most notably, they do battle with Satan.  In all of this, having killed many a witches, could they themselves be considered also witches?

Though the above is of total modern fiction, much of the material is derived from a subject more prolific in history, and that is the battle between Satan and God, or rather, Jesus Christ, son of God.  After reading an excerpt in Kors and Peters book, Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700, the example of the Winchester characters came to mind immediately.  Casting out evil magic using magic in witch-like fashion without ever claiming to be such.  It’s in this frame of mind that while reading The History of Satan within the introduction, it was surprising to learn that theorists of witchcraft debated that in a battle between Satan and Jesus (Matthew 4) resulted in the transport of Jesus to the top of the Temple, and was proof that in fact Satan had the power to move witches (Kors and Peters).  Jesus, a witch?  It’s no secret within the Bible that Jesus repeatedly performs acts considered impossible by mere humans such as turning water to wine, raising of the dead, healing the sick and lame with a touch.  Systematically, Jesus produces magic as one could only consider the powers of a witch/magician in this context.  Son of God, a man that battles in the world of supernatural, using abilities that are impossible otherwise.  To further this point, Elaine Pagels, a Professor of Religion at Princeton University, also points out that the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote explicitly about how Jesus repeatedly defeats Satan in a struggle between supernatural forces, until eventually Satan takes form as Judas and betrays resulting in the final demise of Jesus (Thurston).  However, Jesus even prophesized this.  A magician's supernatural power indeed. 

Considering the above, to what extent do we delineate between faith and magic? (Is there a distinction?)

Kors, Alan C., and Peters, Edward. Witchcraft in Europe 400-1700, A Documentary History (Second Edition), Introduction: History of Satan, p. 6-7, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

Thurston, Robert. The Witch Hunts: A History of the Witch Persecutions in Europe and North America. The Devils Climb to Prominence, page number unknown.  Web. https://books.google.com/books?id=xCUuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT58&lpg=PT58&dq=Elaine+PAgels+jesus+witch&source=bl&ots=ujErG-scGv&sig=keJDzVrX0xvRSbyKo4oCNyC8MVY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAWoVChMI48eT0-rKxwIVwlweCh2lLwnB#v=onepage&q=Elaine%20PAgels%20jesus%20witch&f=false (visited August 27, 2015).

Magic or Miracle

For Fridays readings one of the most reoccurring themes was the use of magic in the Bible and differentiating what was "right' and what was wrong when it came to the use of magic. On quote from Sophie Page's book Magic in Medieval Manuscripts that seems to sum up this topic is "one group's magician could very easily be another group's holy man." As we have already read in past readings all forms of magic are in one way or another involve the agency of the Devil. With that in mind how did Christian theologians, saints, and holy man justify their works? What made a miracle different from the use of magic?

From the Rise of Christianity and Early Medieval Europe to the Year 1000 I found one quote that really stuck out to me regarding Jesus. The quote on page 15 of our course packet ends by saying that in the eyes of the casual observer Jesus fit "the very image of the magos". The reading then goes onto tell that there accusations for several hundreds of years that Jesus was a magician and had in fact studied magical arts while in Egypt. In the Travels of Marco Polo, Polo observes the magicians of Xanadu who can cause flagons of milk or wine to fill cups spontaneously. To me this feels along the same context of Jesus turning water into wine. What are some other instances of miracles performed in the Bible that parallel magical acts that we have read about thus far in class?

Two Legends, Two Genders, Two Magics- a Medieval Look

In Magic in Medieval Manuscripts, Sophie Page highlights two fifteenth century images that offer, to me, evidence of the ways in which gendered ideas have pervaded cultural representations of magic. The first image, located on page thirteen, is an illuminated depiction described as “Nectanebus bearing an astrological tablet” (Page). The second image, shown below, is described as “Erichtho conjures a dead soldier for Pompey” (Page).  Although Page does not directly compare the two images, her explanation of the gendered conceptions of magic serve to found a comparison- “male practitioners of magic tended to be associated with complex rituals...and knowledge of the workings of celestial bodies, whilst women were believed to work more closely with natural objects... [known] for their subversion of the natural” (Page 16). Thus, the medieval images provide commentary on gender, as well as magic.

In his image, Nectanebus is shown holding an astrological tablet, wearing dignified white clothing, and approaching a stately crowd of courtiers. Even if the stealthy location of the tablet indicates a need for Nectanebus to go cautiously forward to potential patrons, he still appears as a calm, wise figure, one who is educated and possibly accepted. On the other hand, the reader is given Erichtho, a witch who bears her teeth and is inextricably linked to the devil-like figures around her. The fictional character emphasizes the connection to nature associated with women who practiced magic. She wears earthy tones, yet brings hell with her through the back door into the serene, pastoral landscape, “subverting nature” as Page indicated. In the distance, one can view some tower-like architecture, possibly a church or village. All in all, the image perpetuates a sense of the alarming proximity of magic, portrayed by the disruption a witch supposedly wreaks in a peaceful land, one that could be the viewer’s own. Although neither necessarily exalts magical practice, the images demonstrate the engendered sensibility of magic: a composed, knowledgeable Nectanebus versus a wild, devil-influenced Erichtho. Such ideas can help us understand how women became primary targets in the “Great Hunt” the following century.

What did you make of the differences in the way magic was depicted in relation to men and women?

Page, Sophie. Magic in Medieval Manuscripts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004. Print.

 

 

The Intangibles- Fears & Witch Craze

Emotion, fears, terrors, fantasy, passions... These are all words employed by Lyndal Roper as she set the stage for her investigation of the witch craze. For me, the most intriguing aspect in the reading was the manner in which Roper approached the historical topic. A distinct turn away from the straightforward style of Brian Levack, which now appears as observation from a distance in comparison, Roper seems to have no qualms exploring the roles of the unconscious, the imagined, and the emotional landscape of the period in which a large number (dependent on locale) of witches were hunted, tortured, prosecuted, and/or executed. Therefore, it is not shocking that Roper opens with a story, the story of Ursula Gotz. The narrative, rather than expressed via trial testimony, village sources, or precise summary, brings the reader personally to the village, there to see it all played out. In this way, Roper accustoms the reader to her style, as she describes, “The answers...cannot be found in statistical surveys of witch-hunting. They demand that we venture into the passions of the unconscious, exploring the terrors and images which contemporaries found hard to put into words” (Roper 8). Therefore, the book is prepared to bring forth individuals of the period – their fears, neighbors, plights, and authorities- to foster an understanding of the overall phenomenon. However, Roper does lean towards her professed interest in psychoanalysis, unafraid to delve fully into the “disorientating” or “nightmare” world of the time (Roper 9). This may prove advantageous to a different perspective on the period, yet it may also detract from the actual historical contingencies and convergences that led to such a culturally-rooted hunt. Nonetheless, Roper offers an important contrast to Levack, her description and language tending to be more passionate, open-ended, and narrative, in line with the use of “witch craze” to denote the events of the time period.

Did you, as a reader of history, prefer Levack’s or Roper’s approach so far?

Roper, Lyndal. Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Print.