All the Witches in the Room Say, "Aye"

This was a fun read tonight. What a way to start off the week by reading about infanticide and depravities of the ugliest nature. While reading most of the parts in this chapter I found myself thinking, “Wow!” I also kept saying to myself, “Wait, what did they just say?” I reread many parts of this chapter more than twice. Many of the parts in here that I reread dealt with the killing of infants and filicide. I kept thinking to myself, “How could someone kill their own child and then consume them either in liquid or cooked form?” I cannot even begin to think about doing such a thing. In the beginning of the chapter, there was an idea that I thought was funny because of the reality it still has today, “The greater the urgency for and frustration of reform, the worse appeared the evils that reform was needed to combat.” Although I have not actually dealt with the evils being described here, I made the connection to the idea that the worse you make something in your head, the worse it will be in real life. To this extent, when people thought about how bad the things being thought about are, it is no wonder people feared witches and sorcery so much.

On that same page, it is talked how sorcery must be collaborative and that “… the individual sorcerer, of course, should be apprehended and punished, but the sorcerer also ought to be forced to reveal other members of the group (page 150).” This idea of “point the finger” follows to date. Although a lot of people today would be considered a snitch, courts still ask that members of certain groups help identify others in the group. Compared to today, however, the burden of proof would be much lower. If you are accused of witchcraft back then, it would take a lot less evidence to convict then today.

One term that was used that I found interesting was “Prince of darkness” on page 154. I found it interesting that this term was used back then to describe the being (although many people now may think of Ozzy Osbourne when they hear the name).  

                                            

                        The last graphic and disturbing detail I’ll leave you with comes from page 164. It is, of course, the part about piss in a vase. This part got me thinking, “What in the world is going on?” this part seriously had me gagging. Please tell me other people cringed at this part too. This part is definitely one of the grossest parts of the reading, besides the anus kissing. I really want to know why some of these things happen. What in the world went on in this time period (of course we have many depravities in our time as well).

            Thanks for rereading the most descriptive parts of the chapter again.