The history of witchcraft may be ancient but the fear and distant attitude towards it still remains. Maybe its because witches are composed of women who are free, respectful to nature and living things, and value knowledge and learning. Therefore, the war against witches is not so much about witchcraft.
In this blog, we’ll salute witch origins and invite all women of the world to connect with their inner witch and unite to protect their right to be just a woman.
Malleus Maleficarum: Manual For Hatred Against Women
It has been exactly 536 years since Malleus Maleficarum was published. Few books in history have been as influential as this one and hurt so many people. This book’s chapter; ‘Why Are More Women Addicted to Satanic Superstitions?’ offers incredible information and advice to judges and ‘believers’. Such as how to recognize witches, how to interrogate them, how to be tried, and how to execute them. In the section titled, it is possible to see the view of the ‘men‘s church, which rose in the company of a male god in the Middle Ages, to women.
Who Was the First Witch?
The bedside book of medieval witch hunters was responsible for the death of about 1.5 million people for exactly 300 years. Malleus Maleficarum served as a guide to identify witches and justify burning witches. Bridget Bishop was the first woman in the Salem witch trials. She was executed by hanging on 10 June 1692.
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Origin of the Word Woman
Let’s look at the female etymology. The word ‘Femina’, meaning woman, is derived from ‘fe’ and ‘minus’. In Greek, fe means ‘incarnation’ and ‘where the fetus is located, in short, woman. “fe” can also be seen as an abbreviation for “fides”, which means morality, honesty, and loyalty in Latin. The definition is completed thanks to the “minus”, which emphasizes that this form of being called “woman” is very weak in protecting her faith, that is, her “incompleteness”.
This book of laws and methodology of the Inquisition is a prime example of what theological decay can become. But unfortunately, it is not the only example. Long before the bloodiest book in the world, scribbles on women have a long history spread over a wide geography.
Never Ending Witch-Hunt
The phenomenon of witch-hunting is one of the forgotten crimes of patriarchal history. However it persists even though it has changed its name and shape. This subject has a long historical past spread over a wide geography and an ongoing future. The murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amani by law enforcement officers in Iran after she was battered and detained because she did not comply with the Islamic regime’s dress code, is nothing more than a modern example of misogyny, which patriarchal history tries to make us forget. Yes, we may no longer be accused of being witches and burned at the stake. However, the witch hunt continues in various forms today, and what happened in Iran is an example of this.
Zero Point of Witches
The phenomenon of witches and witchcraft is a special and interesting dimension of research on women’s issues. Yet the Middle Ages, is such a terrible period that it is still one of the biggest symbols of violence against women. Maybe that’s why we still see and embrace witchcraft as a counter-frightening/defense mechanism today. The scene of the expulsion from heaven should also be questioned in the context of witchcraft. Maybe this is where it all started!
First Witch In History
When we want to establish the relationship between patriarchy and religion, we can see that all monotheistic religions, starting with Judaism, follow the same line. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam belong to the same geography and culture and have a similar view of women. Sometimes the same or sometimes the continuation of the previous one, the provisions can be found in all three religions.
In the Torah, there is the belief that Eve was created to be a wife and friend to Adam. And that Adam and Eve were expelled from heaven and thrown into the world. This belief, which was later converted to Christianity and Islamic culture, although there is no such information in the Qur’an, can be accepted as the reason why women are despised in all three religions. The woman is held entirely responsible for the original sin. Another woman caused mankind to be expelled from Paradise; Lilith the first wife of Adam. Let’s remind, Lilith is depicted as a half-snake woman witch. What a coincidence!
Why Did They Burn Witches?
Thanks to this fictional basis, a general perception of women, which will preserve its continuity throughout history, has been created. Women are accused of being witches and burned. Their self-knowledge is taken from them, the healing memory formed as a result of their friendly relationship with nature is destroyed, and solidarity between women is tried to be ended; because violence against women causes other women to fear.
Time For Women Solidarity
It is obvious that there is an effort to discipline women in every sense. Work discipline, the discipline brought by the institution of the family, the reduction of the female body to the needs of men only, the erosion of the relationship with plants and animals in nature, general moralist formations, and most importantly the destruction of memory are just some of what the witch hunts have taken from us and imposed. In this context, it is not possible to say that the witch hunt is over, is it?
Because of what happened to Masha Amini, we women all over the world have been hurting for days; the anger, the rebellion inside us is growing strong. With the protests that started in Iran and grew all over the world, the voice of women all over the world is rising. The struggle of Iranian women should be the struggle of us all.
No pressure in the world can prevent women’s struggle for freedom. As they say, the world would shake if women were free!
