{"collection":"Paganism & Neopaganism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/pag/mm/mm01_06a.htm","path":"pag/mm/mm01_06a.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm01_06a.htm","text":"Concerning Witches who copulate with Devils. Why is it that Women are chiefly addicted to Evil superstitions?\nThere is also, concerning witches who copulate with devils, much difficulty\nin considering the methods by which such abominations are consummated. On\nthe part of the devil: first, of what element the body is made that he\nassumes; secondly, whether the act is always accompanied by the injection\nof semen received from another; thirdly, as to time and place, whether he\ncommits this act more frequently at one time than at another; fourthly,\nwhether the act is invisible to any who may be standing by. And on the part\nof the women, it has to be inquired whether only they who were themselves\nconceived in this filthy manner are often visited by devils; or secondly,\nwhether it is those who were offered to devils by midwives at the time of\ntheir birth; and thirdly, whether the actual venereal delectation of such is\nof a weaker sort. But we cannot here reply to all these questions, both\nbecause we are only engaged in a general study, and because in the second\npart of this work they are all singly explained by their operations, as will\nappear in the fourth chapter, where mention is made of each separate method.\nTherefore, let us now chiefly consider women; and first, why this kind of\nperfidy is found more in so fragile a sex than in men. And our inquiry will\nfirst be general, as to the general conditions of women; secondly, particular,\nas to which sort of women are found to be given to superstition and\nwitchcraft; and thirdly, specifically with regard to midwives, who surpass\nall others in wickedness.\nWhy Superstition is chiefly found in Women.\nAs for the first question, why a greater number of witches is found in the\nfragile feminine sex than among men; it is indeed a fact that it were idle\nto contradict, since it is accredited by actual experience, apart from the\nverbal testimony of credibly witnesses. And without in any way detracting\nfrom a sex in which God has always taken great glory that His might should\nbe spread abroad, let us say that various men have assigned various reasons\nfor this fact, which nevertheless agree in principle. Wherefore it is good,\nfor the admonition of women, to speak of this matter; and it has often been\nproved by experience that they are eager to hear of it, so long as it is set\nforth with discretion.\nFor some learned men propound this reason; that there are three things in\nnature, the Tongue, an Ecclesiastic, and a Woman, which know no moderation\nin goodness or vice; and when they exceed the bounds of their condition they\nreach the greatest heights and the lowest depths of goodness and vice. When\nthey are governed by a good spirit, they are most excellent in virtue; but\nwhen they are governed by an evil spirit, they indulge the worst possible\nvices.\nThis is clear in the case of the tongue, since by its ministry most of the\nkingdoms have been brought into the faith of Christ; and the Holy Ghost\nappeared over the Apostles of Christ in tongues of fire. Other learned\npreachers also have had as it were the tongues of dogs, licking wounds and\nsores of the dying Lazarus. As it is said: With the tongues of dogs ye save\nyour souls from the enemy.\nFor this reason S. Dominic, the leader and\nfather of the Order of Preachers, is represented in the figure of a barking to\ndog with a lighted torch in his mouth, that even to this day he may by his\nbarking keep off the heretic wolves from the flock of Christ's sheep.\nIt is also a matter of common experience that the tongue of one prudent man\ncan subdue the wrangling of a multitude; wherefore not unjustly Solomon\nsings much in their praise, in Proverbs x.: In the lips of him that\nhath understanding wisdom is found. And again, The tongue of the just is as\nchoice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth. And again, The lips\nof the righteous feed many; but fools die for want of wisdom. For this\ncause he adds in chapter xvi, The preparations of the heart belong to man;\nbut the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.\nBut concerning an evil tongue you will find in Ecclesiasticus xxviii:\nA backbiting tongue hath disquieted many, and driven them from nation to\nnation: strong cities hath it pulled down, and overthrown the houses of\ngreat men. And by a backbiting tongue it means a third party who rashly or\nspitefully interferes between two contending parties.\nSecondly, concerning Ecclesiastics, that is to say, clerics and religious of\neither sex, S. John Chrysostom speaks on the\ntext, He cast out them that bought and sold from the temple. From the\npriesthood arises everything good, and everything evil. S. Jerome in his\nepistle to Nepotian says: Avoid as you would the plague a trading priest,\nwho has risen from poverty to riches, from a low to a high estate. And\nBlessed Bernard in his 23rd Homily On the Psalms says of clerics: If\none should arise as an open heretic, let him be cast out and put to silence;\nif he is a violent enemy, let all good men flee from him. But how are we to\nknow which ones to cast out or to flee from? For they are confusedly friendly\nand hostile, peaceable and quarrelsome, neighbourly and utterly selfish.\nAnd in another place: Our bishops are become spearmen, and our pastors\nshearers. And by bishops here is meant those proud Abbots who impose heavy\nlabours on their inferiors, which they would not themselves touch with their\nlittle finger. And S. Gregory says concerning pastors: No one does more harm\nin the Church than he who, having the name or order of sanctity, lives in\nsin; for no one dares to accuse him of sin, and therefore the sin is widely\nspread, since the sinner is honoured for the sanctity of his order. Blessed\nAugustine also speaks of monks to Vincent the Donatist: I freely confess to\nyour charity before the Lord our God, which is the witness of my soul from\nthe time I began to serve God, what great difficulty I have experienced in\nthe fact that it is impossible to find either worse of better men than those\nwho grace or disgrace the monasteries.\nNow the wickedness of women is spoken of in Ecclesiasticus xxv: There\nis no head above the head of a serpent: and there is no wrath above the\nwrath of a woman. I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than to keep\nhouse with a wicked woman. And among much which in that place precedes and\nfollows about a wicked woman, he concludes: All wickedness is but little to\nthe wickedness of a woman. Wherefore S. John Chrysostom says on the text,\nIt is not good to marry (S. Matthew xix):\nWhat else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a\nnecessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic\ndanger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colours!\nTherefore if it be a sin to divorce her when she ought to be kept, it is\nindeed a necessary torture; for either we commit adultery by divorcing her,\nor we must endure daily strife. Cicero in his second book of The\nRhetorics says: The many lusts of men lead them into one sin, but the\nlust of women leads them into all sins; for the root of all woman's vices\nis avarice. And Seneca says in his Tragedies: A woman either loves\nor hates; there is no third grade. And the tears of woman are a deception,\nfor they may spring from true grief, or they may be a snare. When a woman\nthinks alone, she thinks evil.\nBut for good women there is so much praise, that we read that they have\nbrought beatitude to men, and have saved nations, lands, and cities; as is\nclear in the case of Judith, Debbora, and Esther. See also I Corinthians\nvii: If a woman hath a husband that believeth not, let her not leave him. For\nthe unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife. And\nEcclesiasticus xxvi: Blessed is the man who has a virtuous wife, for\nthe number of his days shell be doubled. And throughout that chapter much\nhigh praise is spoken of the excellence of good women; as also in the last\nchapter of Proverbs concerning a virtuous woman.\nAnd all this is made clear also in the New Testament concerning women and\nvirgins and other holy women who have by faith led nations and kingdoms\naway from the worship of idols to the Christian religion. Anyone who looks\nat Vincent of Beauvais (in Spe. Histo., XXVI. 9) will find\nmarvellous things of the conversion of Hungary by the most Christian\nGilia, and of the Franks by\nClotilda, the wife of Clovis. Wherefore in\nmany vituperations that we read against women, the word woman is used to\nmean the lust of the flesh. As it is said: I have found a woman more bitter\nthan death, and good woman subject to carnal lust.\nOther again have propounded other reasons why there are more superstitious\nwomen found than men. And the first is, that they are more credulous; and\nsince the chief aim of the devil is to corrupt faith, therefore he rather\nattacks them. See Ecclesiasticus xix: He that is quick to believe is\nlight-minded, and shall be diminished. The second reason is, that women are\nnaturally more impressionable, and more ready to receive the influence of\na disembodied spirit; and that when they use this quality well they are\nvery good, but when they use it ill they are very evil.\nThe third reason is that they have slippery tongues, and are unable to\nconceal from the fellow-women those things which by evil arts they know; and,\nsince they are weak, they find an easy and secret manner of vindicating\nthemselves by witchcraft. See Ecclesiasticus as quoted above: I had\nrather dwell with a lion and a dragon than to keep house with a wicked\nwoman. All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman. And to\nthis may be added that, as they are very impressionable, they act\naccordingly.\nThere are also others who bring forward yet other reasons, of which preachers\nshould be very careful how they make use. For it is true that in the Old\nTestament the Scriptures have much that is evil to say about women, and this\nbecause of the first temptress, Eve, and her imitators; yet afterwards in\nthe New Testament we find a change of name, as from Eva to Ave (as S.\nJerome says), and the whole sin of Eve taken away by the benediction of\nMary. Therefore preachers should always say as much praise of them as\npossible.\nBut because in these times this perfidy is more often found in women than\nin men, as we learn by actual experience, if anyone is curious as to the\nreason, we may add to what has already been said the following: that since\nthey are feebler both in mind and body, it is not surprising that they\nshould come more under the spell of witchcraft.\nFor as regards intellect, or the understanding of spiritual things, they\nseem to be of a different nature from men; a fact which is vouched for by\nthe logic of the authorities, backed by various examples from the Scriptures.\nTerence says: Women are intellectually like\nchildren. And Lactantius (Institutiones, III): No woman understood\nphilosophy except Temeste. And Proverbs\nxi, as it were describing a woman, says: As a jewel of gold in a swine's\nsnout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.\nBut the natural reason is that she is more carnal than a man, as is clear\nfrom her many carnal abominations. And it should be noted that there was a\ndefect in the formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a\nbent rib, that is, a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a\ncontrary direction to a man. And since through this defect she is an\nimperfect animal, she always deceives. For Cato says: When a woman weeps\nshe weaves snares. And again: When a woman weeps, she labours to deceive a\nman. And this is shown by Samson's wife, who coaxed him to tell her the\nriddle he had propounded to the Philistines, and told them the answer, and\nso deceived him. And it is clear in the case of the first woman that she\nhad little faith; for when the serpent asked why they did not eat of every\ntree in Paradise, she answered: Of every tree, etc. - lest perchance we\ndie. Thereby she showed that she doubted, and had little in the word of God.\nAnd all this is indicated by the etymology of the word; for Femina\ncomes from Fe and Minus, since she is ever weaker to hold and\npreserve the faith. And this as regards faith is of her very nature;\nalthough both by grace and nature faith never failed in the Blessed Virgin,\neven at the time of Christ's Passion, when it failed in all men.\nTherefore a wicked woman is by her nature quicker to waver in her faith, and\nconsequently quicker to abjure the faith, which is the root of witchcraft.\nAnd as to her other mental quality, that is, her natural will; when she hates\nsomeone whom she formerly loved, then she seethes with anger and impatience\nin her whole soul, just as the tides of the sea are always heaving and\nboiling. Many authorities allude to this cause. Ecclesiasticus xxv:\nThere is no wrath above the wrath of a woman. And Seneca (Tragedies,\nVIII): No might of the flames or the swollen\nwinds, no deadly weapon, is so much to be feared as the lust and hatred of\na woman who has been divorced from the marriage bed.\nThis is shown too in the woman who falsely accused Joseph, and caused him to\nbe imprisoned because he would not consent to the crime of adultery with\nher (Genesis xxx). And truly the most powerful cause which contributes\nto the increase of witches is the woeful rivalry between married folk and\nunmarried women and men. This is so even among holy women, so what must it\nbe among the others? For you see in Genesis xxi. how impatient and\nenvious Sarah was of Hagar when she conceived: How jealous Rachel was of\nLeah because she had no children (Genesis xxx): and Hannah, who was\nbarren, of the fruitful Peninnah (I. Kings i): and how Miriam\n(Numbers xii) murmured and spoke ill of Moses, and was therefore\nstricken with leprosy: and how Martha was jealous of Mary Magdalen, because\nshe was busy and Mary was sitting down (S. Luke x). To this point is\nEcclesiasticus xxxvii: Neither consult with a woman touching her of\nwhom she is jealous. Meaning that it is useless to consult with her, since\nthere is always jealousy, that is, envy, in a wicked woman. And if women\nbehave thus to each other, how much more will they do so to men.\nNext: Question VII Whether Witches can Sway the Minds of Men to Love or Hatred.","title":"Malleus Maleficarum Part 1 Question VI","type":"page"}