Manifest Mother Issues

At long last, it's the birth of the traditional witch hunt in all it's glory. Fear mongering, emotional knee-jerk reactions to the apparent enemy, and the immediate and forceful putting down with anyone and everyone who disagrees with your opinions that you believe to be 100% factual and correct. So basically just regular politics but with more magic and mass murder.

What really stood out to me in this chapter, though, is how absolutely abysmally these two guys feel about women. They keep going on and on about how women are weak mentally and easily corrupted, and how they're just a necessary evil used to have children but will make your life miserable in the process. According to them, women are only good when they're gentle and subservient, and any other time they are the manifestation of Hell itself. No middle ground, no thinking "Hey, maybe she's just unhappy that I keep her chained to the stove 6 hours a day," just one or the other. Sounds to me like they had super fun home lives as kids that caused them to develop some serious mother issues.

Of course I'm getting ahead of myself, because I must mention that right out of the gate Kramer and Sprenger disable any and all possible debate by basically saying that everyone who disagrees with them is stupid and evil and needs to be punished for not acknowledging the far mentally superior beings who are lords Kramer and Sprenger. This typical type of mentality isn't uncommon in people throughout history, but the difference between modern and olden times is that a figurehead doing that today will get him super far with a small portion of the population who just so happen to have the same ideas, and exactly nowhere with the vast majority that is the rest of the world. Trying to pull that nowadays will only have the influence of getting people to make fun of him over the internet in a manner similar to this:

A large portion of the rest of the text is them trying to figure out what exactly witches are and are not able to do, such as overturning the Canon's declaration that any bodily transportation occurs only in the imagination, because nobody can ever seem to agree on any of this. Seriously though, at this point you'd think that SOMEONE would have at the very least come up with some theorem that at least most learned people could agree upon, but I guess real people don't work like the scientific community and witchcraft doesn't work like physics, so it's probably too much to think that a medieval Einstein would come along and solve the puzzle of the proverbial ether. This is why my best friend is a statistics textbook with a face drawn on the cover.

Guilty or Not Guilty. You still rot in Jail/Witch Frenzy!!

I have to admit, I am a little overwhelmed from this chapter. Not only was it long but it was very thorough. To me this chapter was about methodically charging and sentencing someone accused of witchcraft/heresy.

This process is so delicate yet utterly confusing. In a sense, its just one big cycle/loop. Once you get accused, innocent or not, you are going to go through a lot of #$%$#, pardon my french. Take for instance, page 221: "they have revoked their evidence and confessed that they have out of malice put that crime upon the accused. Therefore the prisoner in such as case is not to be sentenced hastily, but must be kept for a year or more before he is delivered up to the secular Court." So the person that is charging me and is my sole witness, says they lied and I still have to wait over a year before anything else happens. What kind of system is that? Moreover, Kramer's logic is so contradicting.

Let's dive a little further in the chapter and Kramer. He published this infamous book "Malleus Maleficarum," after being expelled from Innsbruek. (Wikipedia) I have very few good things to say about this fellow. He refutes anyone who disagrees with him especially about the existence of witchcraft. He depicts women as fragile and easily corrupt. In the chapter Kramer says "what else is a woman but a foe of friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, ...and domestic danger" (pg. 183). The chapter expands on the devil, the process of accusing, the process of judgment, etc.

Now let's dive into what's going on in my thoughts. Kramer talks about torturing the accused to produce a confession. I see copious things wrong with that. If it were me in that position, I would admit to whatever they are torturing me for. Having read how the system works, either way I'm screwed. It would takes miracle to walk out of this. Furthermore, Kramer uses the term "conjuring" as something a Judge or Priest can say, even though they are punishing a civilian("witch") for practically doing the same. In page 215, Kramer states that "the Judge or priest may use some method ...and say I conjure you by the bitter tears shed on the Cross by our Saviour..." This is the very typical style of witchcraft that Kramer sheds light on. The only difference is who is invoked.

I can't fathom what would have been going through the mind of some of the people. All the jargon coming out of priests and Judges would be so confusing. Unless you were an educated scholar, it wouldn't make sense. The jargon they use is so blended and mixed with multiple meanings. It's just a never ending cycle. Then you have the questioning and torture. Kramer says you are innocent till proven otherwise, but they practically treat the accused as guilty. The delicate process of getting accused and charged is so meticulous, but also incredibly contradicting. If you are accused your screwed.

Also, if you look up facts about Kramer and this publication, it's a very infamous book that led whether directly or indirectly 600,000-9,000,000  (over 250 years) of bled shed.(Wikipedia) The Malleus was the hand guide for inquisitors to identifying, prosecuting, and dispatching witchcraft/witches. I find that incredibly disappointing since this publication is contracting and harsh.