Exclusive Excerpt
The Intro to Occulture book shapes up!
As an exclusive bonus, here’s an excerpt from the almost finished book Introduction to Occulture (to be published in May). If you want more of the same/similar you can now also watch the recent class of the same name in the TEACHINGS section, and which stems from this book project.
Wicked, Wicked Witchcraft!
The folk practitioner and the demonological witch are not the same figure, however often historical records force them together. The cunning woman who healed by prayer and herbs, or the wise man who supplied protective charms, may have occupied a socially ambiguous but useful role. The witch of learned demonology, by contrast, served as a vessel for collective dread. The tragedy of the witch hunts lies partly in the violent collision between these worlds: local, often pragmatic magical practices interpreted through a grand narrative of cosmic treason.
The evidence we possess is therefore deeply compromised. Much of what survives from the witch persecutions comes from hostile sources—interrogation records, legal documents, theological treatises, confessions extracted under torture or threat. These sources are indispensable, but they are not transparent windows. They are mirrors warped by fear and power. When a frightened or exhausted accused person confesses to flying to a sabbath, copulating with demons, or cursing a neighbor’s livestock, what exactly are we hearing? A genuine belief? A suggested script? A mixture of fantasy, pressure, memory, and survival strategy? The historian must proceed carefully. But uncertainty does not make the records useless. On the contrary, it reveals the depth of the cultural drama.
