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Religion and the Witch craze

This opened the door for a whole new world of accusations and executions to take place. With the churches stricter guidelines, those who felt they fell short of "Gods will" often felt extremely guilty which led to more accusations of witchcraft stemming from a need to release the guilt they felt as a result of failing the church. Those feeling extremely guilty would often try to place the blame elsewhere and that often meant on someone else. The Catholic priests thought that their sexual guilt was related to the witches. Women were thought to have power over man because their beauty and sexual prowess could be used as a means to convert an innocent. The Protestant clergy thought that if you didn't follow their strict rules then you would succumb to the power of the devil. If animals died or children became sick, it must be the devil at work through a witch.
             The church often spoke more the repercussions of worshipping the devil and of his many forms more than the sermons pertained to God as a means of forcing conformity among the community. The Protestant Reformation established the bible as the sole source of religious truth and had it translated into several different languages and most took the translations literally as in Exodus 22:18. It did not matter that the translated version did not mean what it was originally intended to mean. The translation of it took on an entirely new meaning to which the word "witch" now meant a sorcerer that had made a pact with the devil from simply meaning someone who works in darkness and mutters things. The change in the translated meaning was the meaning that was taught by the clergy to society as a means of reinforcing the "truth" of what the church was teaching. The clergy used the "Wrath of God" for committing sins to instill fear into the people. This along with the idea of what it meant to sin and the guilt associated with the act and repercussions of committing a sin was a large catalyst in intensifying the search for evil and eradicating it from society all stemming from the enormous influence the church had over the people during this period in time.


Essays Related to Religion and the Witch craze

1. Witch Trials in Eruope

... persecutions of witches. The witch trials served as an opportunity for the government to increase its power and profits due to the contradictory views science and religion had of witchcraft. The government posed the witch-hunt movement in hope of acquiring wealth from the persecution. In order to achieve power, the government accused and tortured women and men for unknown, unexplainable events that occurred. The judges" minds were obscured by their craze for supremacy that they ... did not look for reasons or explanations for such happenings. As the government's power grew, the ... ...

  • Word Count: 339
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. How Far Can The Rise In Witch Trials In The Seventeenth Century Be Explained By Economic Factors

... as militant Catholic reformers such as Peter Canisius, emphasises fear of the devil in their writings. Kieth Thomas argues in "Religion and the Decline of Magic", that the campaigns of reformers against magic and the medieval superstitious practices reinforced a witch hunting mentality. Emphasis on literal interpretations of the bible reinforced the message that "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live". Witch hunting seems to have been most intense in areas that contained ... accounts for the witch craze at Ellen Wogen after a plague epidemic in 1611 and the poor harvests at Trier during...

  • Word Count: 1385
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. The History of Witches

... man. Men today are known as wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers. In the 16th century the spelling changed from "wicche" to "witch". The origin of "wicca" and "wicce" aren't clear, but in Old English it was always associated with being wise, teaching and fortune telling. In the Wiccan religion, Witchcraft is what is practiced. According to law books ... in the Middle Ages, the act of witchcraft is talking and working with evil spirits.2 Witches were ... witches. The English Civil War was when the witch-craze all began. Every economic and social class was consumed with the idea of witches. ...

  • Word Count: 1676
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Witchcraft:its affects on reformers and europe

... die down a bit. However between 1560 and 1650 is where it was the strongest. This period was known as the, "witchcraft craze." Many people were accused, and prosecuted and many were put to death because of the ever-constant paranoia of witches. People were better off admitting that they were a witch, even if they were not; due to the horrible tortures that they would be put through ... Jews were 7. given a bad name. Terms such as, "synagoga," and "sabat," were later terms that were associated with witches. Two words that related to the Jewish religion were taken and then coined and used a...

  • Word Count: 2722
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Salem Witch Trials

... as a slave to cover her prison costs. On January 3, 1693 Governor Phipps reprieved all the "witches- still imprisoned if they were able to cover the jail costs. The Puritan religion, culture, and mind-set had a major effect on the citizens of Salem Village. I believe that The Salem Witch Trials reflected their mind-set in many ways. No one in that society would've ever ... guessed that the Devil would come to their town. They had such strict rules and such strong morals that a little craze turned the whole society around. The strongly ... believed in predestination and thought that hav...

  • Word Count: 1952
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The crucible: Motivations of the Which trials.

... their community is God's work. However, there are plenty of feuds and rivalries in the small town that have nothing to with religion, and many Salem residents take advantage of the trials to express long held grudges and revenge on their enemies. In the Novel there are key people in the town that manipulate the trials the most. One of these characters is Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris, a ... paranoid and insecure figure, begins the play with a precarious hold on his office, and the trials enable him to ... against because Elizabeth fired her after she discovered that Abigail was havi...

  • Word Count: 672
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Rise Of Witchcraft

... the witch varied, but they conformed to the same general pattern. (Klaits, 87). The differing religious views during the times also played a role in the increasing number of accusations of witchcraft. Jews were among those accused of witchcraft during the medieval era. The reason why religions opposite of Catholicism were coming under the microscope is because of the Inquisition. The majority of the European states embraced Catholicism as the official religion, thus the start of the ... torture, there still would have been a few witch trials, because of the concern of heresy; however, b...

  • Word Count: 1685
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography

8. Witchcraze

Witchcraft Craze in Europe In order to understand exactly what happened during the Witchcraze in Europe we must understand what it means first. The word witch comes from the Old English noun wicca, meaning "sorcerer" and the verb wiccan "to cast a spell (Muhlberger)." The meaning of witchcraft is a form of sorcery, or the magical manipulation of nature for self-aggrandizement, or for the benefit or harm of a client. This manipulation often ... involves the use of spirit-helpers, or families ("Witch Hunt"). Europe was going threw a very unstable time when the withcraze started. There was a lot...

  • Word Count: 1010
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Witchcraft

... It is quite well known that people are drawn toward the unknown, and yet that is what most people fear. The same thing holds for witchcraft, it is like a magnet for many, many people. This ancient pagan religion, whether true or false, has managed to survive throughout the centuries, using it's mythical past and the questionable human mind. Leading us down through history, from ... our European roots and up through one of the blackest periods in our history. Who would have really expected witchcraft to die there? ... NOT believe in witchcraft! This and the proclamation that to let a witc...

  • Word Count: 1513
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

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