that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
This passage appears as part of the advice to the tribe of Levi, so that their priests will not pick up any of the unsanctioned religious practices that they will encounter in the lands to which God will send them. Deuteronomy places witches in a context with other deviant forms of religion: “necromancers” who attempt to practice magic, astrologers, and diviners who claim to see the future.
The principal dangers of witchcraft in this context are twofold: first, witchcraft as a practice stands outside of sanctioned religious structure. Witchcraft is that which we, the chosen tribe of God, ought not to do. Defining witchcraft as a negative quality (that which we do not do) rather than by a set of affirmative qualities (divining, say, which is a concrete activity), Deuteronomy opens the possibility of a language to describe witchcraft that can be molded to suit any number of witch-hunters working within different contexts, and toward different goals. In this passage the signal quality of witchcraft is
difference
, specifically difference from those who hold religious power.
Deuteronomy does supply a few details about witchlike behavior that would be important in early modern accusations against suspected witches, in particular the mention of “familiar spirits.” This obscure signifier will eventually morph into the Hollywood witch’s black cat, but the idea of familiar spirits will come to play a substantial role in the thinking about, and prosecution of, early modern witchcraft in Europe and North America.
The proscription against witchcraft in Deuteronomy reappears in the story of Manasseh, in 2 Chronicles 33:6:
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 1
Manasseh makes himself worse than the heathens, for in theory he ought to know better than to question the practices that God has set forth for him. Fortunately Manasseh, in the course of his affliction, humbled himself before God and saw the error of his ways. Witchcraft in this context appears as more a question of adherence or rejection of orthodoxy, rather than as a specific set of deviant practices. The degree of God’s disapproval becomes clarified, including what is truly at risk for a person practicing witchcraft, and yet we still have only the vaguest sense of what a “witch” really is.
If the Bible could not provide clarity on how to identify a witch, and how to deal with her once identified, academic theologians appointed themselves equal to the task. By the early modern period in England, the religious and intellectual landscape that would predominate in initial waves of North American settlement, there was no shortage of theologians willing to do just that.
THE EARLY COLONIES
Though witch trials continued to take place in England,Though witch trials continued to take place in England,, our attention turns now to the first appearance of witchcraft in North America. While most witch trials occurred within the general boundaries of Puritan Massachusetts and Connecticut, isolated examples elsewhere pop up throughout the first few generations of English settlement. For the most part, early North American witchcraft incidents were narrow in scope, limited to one or two suspects. However, witch trials in North America proved to be more widespread than might have been previously thought. The prevalent and codified belief in the threat of witches took on a marked role in a wilderness of uncertain safety and within fragile communities. The need to identify who within the community did not belong manifested itself very quickly as part of the community-building project of
This passage appears as part of the advice to the tribe of Levi, so that their priests will not pick up any of the unsanctioned religious practices that they will encounter in the lands to which God will send them. Deuteronomy places witches in a context with other deviant forms of religion: “necromancers” who attempt to practice magic, astrologers, and diviners who claim to see the future.
The principal dangers of witchcraft in this context are twofold: first, witchcraft as a practice stands outside of sanctioned religious structure. Witchcraft is that which we, the chosen tribe of God, ought not to do. Defining witchcraft as a negative quality (that which we do not do) rather than by a set of affirmative qualities (divining, say, which is a concrete activity), Deuteronomy opens the possibility of a language to describe witchcraft that can be molded to suit any number of witch-hunters working within different contexts, and toward different goals. In this passage the signal quality of witchcraft is
difference
, specifically difference from those who hold religious power.
Deuteronomy does supply a few details about witchlike behavior that would be important in early modern accusations against suspected witches, in particular the mention of “familiar spirits.” This obscure signifier will eventually morph into the Hollywood witch’s black cat, but the idea of familiar spirits will come to play a substantial role in the thinking about, and prosecution of, early modern witchcraft in Europe and North America.
The proscription against witchcraft in Deuteronomy reappears in the story of Manasseh, in 2 Chronicles 33:6:
And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 1
Manasseh makes himself worse than the heathens, for in theory he ought to know better than to question the practices that God has set forth for him. Fortunately Manasseh, in the course of his affliction, humbled himself before God and saw the error of his ways. Witchcraft in this context appears as more a question of adherence or rejection of orthodoxy, rather than as a specific set of deviant practices. The degree of God’s disapproval becomes clarified, including what is truly at risk for a person practicing witchcraft, and yet we still have only the vaguest sense of what a “witch” really is.
If the Bible could not provide clarity on how to identify a witch, and how to deal with her once identified, academic theologians appointed themselves equal to the task. By the early modern period in England, the religious and intellectual landscape that would predominate in initial waves of North American settlement, there was no shortage of theologians willing to do just that.
THE EARLY COLONIES
Though witch trials continued to take place in England,Though witch trials continued to take place in England,, our attention turns now to the first appearance of witchcraft in North America. While most witch trials occurred within the general boundaries of Puritan Massachusetts and Connecticut, isolated examples elsewhere pop up throughout the first few generations of English settlement. For the most part, early North American witchcraft incidents were narrow in scope, limited to one or two suspects. However, witch trials in North America proved to be more widespread than might have been previously thought. The prevalent and codified belief in the threat of witches took on a marked role in a wilderness of uncertain safety and within fragile communities. The need to identify who within the community did not belong manifested itself very quickly as part of the community-building project of
Similar Books
Playing With Fire
Deborah Fletcher Mello
This Song Is (Not) for You
Laura Nowlin
Seventh Heaven
Alice; Hoffman
The Moon and More
Sarah Dessen
The Rotary Club Murder Mystery
Graham Landrum
The Texan's Bride
Linda Warren
Blood and Redemption (Cassandra Myles Witch Series)
Electa Graham
Covenants
Lorna Freeman
Brown Girl In the Ring
Nalo Hopkinson
Gorgeous
Rachel Vail