Essay On Malleus Maleficarum

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In Malleus Maleficarum, and Witches, Not What You’d Expect, witchcraft and witches in general are explained very differently. In Malleus Maleficarum, a witch is defined as a woman who has been influenced by the devil to perform dark magic in order to advance the devil’s personal agenda. (Kramer and Sprenger 12) Throughout the text, witchcraft is explained to be a terrible thing, filled with demons, blood, and the devil. (Kramer and Sprenger 17) Not once in the text is there any mention of such thing as a good witch. However, in Witches, Not What You’d Expect, a witch is simply defined as any person who practices any form of magic. (Bolds Lines 6-7) This definition is expanded even more to include Pagans, Satanists, and even Christians. (Bolds Line 6) This is especially different from Kramer and Sprenger’s definition of a witch, as they viewed witches and witchcraft in general to be inherently secular in nature. (Kramer and Sprenger 2) Bolds offers a different perspective; one that explains witches as people from all walks of life, both religious and non-religious.
In Malleus Maleficarum, magic is defined as a tool used by the devil with malicious intent, and carried out by his witches. (Kramer and Sprenger 12) …show more content…
In Pre-Modern texts such as Malleus Maleficarum the overwhelming theme that attempts to explain witches is religion. Anything that was separate from the church was immediately deemed secular, and therefore wrong. This is made abundantly clear on the first page of Malleus Maleficarum when Kramer and Sprenger are explaining heretics. Modern texts such as Witches, Not What You’d Expect, offer a different explanation. One that does not have to do exclusively with religion. Modern definitions of a witch include religious individuals, and non-religious individuals. It states that modern witches are more in touch with the natural world and their surroundings, not the devil and
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