The Malleus Maleficarum-or how to begin your own witch hunt

While visiting a close friend and browsing through both his literature and other 'occult' items, I came across The Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger.

This book was orginally published in 1928, re written in 1948, and this copy says that it was published in 1971. The cover is a slick paperback and contains two pen and ink drawings depicting on what witches are supposed to look like, according to the Catholic Church Beliefs.

The first picture shows a demon riding on the back of a cat, and the second picture shows a group of women being burned at the stake at the hands of several men.

After studying the Salem, MA massacre in school, I borrowed this book to read and compare notes.

Details

This book has been translatedn from German-I believe by the Reverand Montague Summers, who also includes a Bibliography and various notes throughout the book.

The book is divided into three sections: The First Part-concerning the three parts of witchcraft, which are Witches, the Devil and the Almighty God-whom allows the evil to happen; The Second Part-concerning the methods and works of witches and how to annul or dissolve their powers or spells; The Third Part-concerning legal proceedings concerning witches and all heretics.

The First Part-Witches, the Devil and God (& the Catholic Church)

The first part is 88 pages long.

In the first paragraph, the authors argue that in the Catholic Church- anyone who believes that another can change shape or form without aid from God is a heretic, because God is responisible for all things. (Which leaves me to wonder about the importance of writing this book in the first place)

Once that is established, the book goes on to explain that although the devil may tempt man, he may not have power over God's creatures. And that God allows his creatures to be tempted by the devil.

Devils are subserviant to certain influences of the stars as in magicians, but do not have any power over corporeal objects and witches of course have less power than devils.

Devils do not have the ability or power to cause a permaneant state of disease or wellness and cannont produce a true form. In fact, the devil's power is not by 'witchcraft' means at all but by being extrememly crafty and sly.

The first chapter does admit that although there may not be witches, there are heretics and humans who allow the devil to use their bodies and minds for demonic devices-With God's permission of course.

But if a witch believes that her spell or invocation caused a certain outcome to certain events, then she is seriously decieved (by the demon).

The Divine Law at this time was that not only were witches to be avoided but that they were to be put to death. By putting the witch to death, the Church believed they were freeing the spirit-and they use two Biblical chapters to explain this. Deuteronomy 18 and Leviticus 19.

On into the first chapter, we read that to deny witches is to deny the Bible because witches are written about throughout the Bible.


From the first pages of the first book, we see that witches have been blamed from everything concerning failed marriages to importence. Always, the witch is believed to have made a secret pact with the devil and is to be put to death in order to release her soul.

After the existence of witches is thoroughly explored and finally accredited, the next few pages deal with the devil and his powers.

It seems the devil can cause reactions without the aid of the witch, yet she can not cause reactions without the aid of the devil. (I use the term she loosely, because in this book the witches are all female in sex).

The Second Part-concerning the methods and works of witches and how to annul or dissolve their powers or spells

This part deal with how to determine who the witches are and how to get rid of them.

There are 5 ways in which the devil's power is hindered.

1st-God fixes a limit on the devils power-there is a brief discussion in which a man asks the devil to help him kill a neighbor, but the devil is unable to help because the man continually makes the sign of the Cross and has strong Christian faith.

2nd-the power is hindered by some external force- (no example)

3rd-the power is hindered by some external miracle of power

4th-the power is hindered the good providence of God

5th-sometimes the power is hindered by the devil himself who decides to act cautiously.

Witchcraft at work

The most obvious way to tell if a witch has been at work is to wait and see if the witch tells on herself. Apparently she is so happy with her evil doing, she will tell you that she has bewitched your land, animals, ect.

Cows that do not deliver milk, famines, crop failures and birth defects are all signs that bewitching has taken place.


How to become a witch is also discussed here.

Apparently, the coven meets at a pre appointed date and time and the devil appears before them in a form of a young man.

The new inductee then pledges to turn her back on the Catholic Church (although all religion now a days) and never venerate the Sacramant. If the inductee agrees to this, the devil stretches out his hand, and the inductee stretches out her hand and swears with her palm up to uphold these rules.

Then the devil will say that this in not enough and require that she give her body and soul to him and that she bring others, of both sexes to him to induct into the coven.

Finally she is to make unguents from the limbs and bones from children that have been baptized and this will fulfill his wishes.

The Third Part-concerning legal proceedings concerning witches and all heretics.

At the time of this writing, the witches were condemned to death by judges known as Inquisitors. Although the witches are labeled 'evil' they are tried for heresy because of their beliefs going against the Bible.

The Catholic Church upholds the belief that there are two types of judgement. God judges the inner man, and men judge the inner thoughts of man as in relation to the outer actions the man takes.

At this point I was surprised to find that there are certain steps that the Church takes before denouncing a woman as a witch. According to the History books, if a woman as much as looked cross-eyed at a Bishop, she was labeled and sentenced to death for witchcraft, but according to this book, there are steps to be taken before the untimely death of a witch.

As in all legal matters, the evidence is gathered up. Witnesses questioned, the judge tries to make sure that the witness is not a mortal enemy of the accused or out to make trouble.

The witch must have a general exam in which the Inquisitor or judge looks for marks that are left by the devil. These are considered secret signs in which the devil uses to claim these witches as his own. Some of these signs may be, large moles, or birth marks. Or unexplained bruises or discoloration of the skin in hidden areas, like the back or buttocks.

I did find that death is not the only solution to curing witchcraft. Sometimes if the witch would just denounce the devil and admit to witchery, and re take the Lord's Supper-then it was all cleared up.

Apparenetly torture and death were a last resort, when the witch refused to admit to her wrong doings and dealings with the devil.

My Thoughts

Having being raised in a Baptist Church, I loved having the Biblical references handy that I could compare the verses next to my own Bible verses.

Despite this, I found this book to be the hardest book I have ever tried to read. Although the book only contained 275 pages, it took me several months to chop my way through it.

Each of the three sub books presented a series of questions and then symbolic and Biblical referenced answers. I did find the book seemed to repeat itself in opposites as in the opening paragraph when it stated that there were no witches, then later stated there were witches.

I resented the fact that although wizards were spoken of briefly, witchcraft seems to be mainly a woman's obsession because 'women are weaker in spirit' than men.

I laughed at the signs of witchcraft which included birth marks, birth defects and famine.

I rate this book a 5 because of it's historical accounts and Biblical references.