The Belief Of Magic And Witchcraft

The belief in magic was another factor that widen the social gap between the lower and elite classes. Similar to James, the English elite believed in witchcraft and encouraged witch-hunting, yet the English elite did not participate in the hysteria of the “witch-hunting” like the lower classes did. However, The belief in witchcraft within the elite class conversely created a new subject for intellectual debate. The idea of dark magic and witchcraft “formed part of a popular subculture, separate and distinct from Hermeticism and mystical beliefs which had been seen were current in intellectual circles at this time.” Even though the elite disregarded the paranoia that erupted with witchcraft, the fear of common people refused to be settled. This led James I and Parliament enacting the Witchcraft Act of 1604, stating witchcraft as a crime punishable by death and the “practice or exercise any Witchcraft Socerie, Charme, or Incantment wherebie any person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed on his or her bodie.” Additionally, other judicial processes concerning witchcraft trials were introduced as well.

It is now established how both men and women practiced magic, yet the issue on why women as a gender were singled out particularly in witchcraft persecution is still vague. “The most well-documented characteristic of those persons who were prosecuted for witchcraft is that they were predominantly, if not overwhelmingly, female.” Many wonder where the idea of women specifically committing dark magic originated. The idea of the English witch was comprised of a progression of beliefs and practices of rituals common of the Pagan practicing. This idea comes from where the “early Christian Church insisted that ...

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...chosomatic dealings, such as a process know as “watching, in the course of which the suspect was kept awake, sometimes for two or three nights at a stretch, in the hopes that she would be betrayed by her familiars visiting her.” A “familiar”, was an interchangeable spirit that would perform the witch’s evil magic for her. Familiars were often considered a spirit, an animal, or a fairy. “More importantly, the familiar was the witch’s second ‘self’,’ acting for her and embodying her power; harming a familiar would injure the witch it served.” The sleep deprivation, along with “general rough handling and psychological pressure, allied to leading questions, helps explain why witches were so prone to confess.” The physiological battering of these women from their communities often led to their eventual “confession”, as a desperate way to just stop the tormenting.