like this book, I mean I really love it. The book gives a reader a good broad historical over of witch’s spirit flight and the witches sabbath. The book also teachers techniques on how to achieve spirit flight. When the inquisition began in like the 13 century there was hardly any mention of the spirit flight or witches sabbath. Then a couple of centuries later the inquisition record are filled with stories of the witches flight and the witch’s sabbath. Yet how accurate are these records. The accused suspect were mostly women who were old poor widows with no one to defend them. Their stories were given under conditions of extreme torture. The inquisitors also asked leading questions. While most were innocent, they told these outlandish stories to escape from being tortured, burned and killed. If these accounts are so inaccurate, then why do modern witches invest so much time studying them.
There could be some facts to this. To appease their tormentor, the victims may have pulled some folklore from their memories in order to concoct these tales. What the Catholic church said about these witches was abominable. Witches were accused to blighting crops, causing sickness, poisoning wells, eating unbaptized babies, and engaging in orgiastic behavior. These accusations were nothing new. In fact, the Romans used to say the same thing about the Christians. Later when Christianity became the dominant religion of Europe and Catholicism was the main faction the church would turn it’s attention to heretical sects of Christianity. The first to go were the Cathars and then next the Waldensian. The same charges were leveled against them. Later on lepers would be targeted.
Spirit flight has some basis in reality or mythology I should say. There was the spirit flight of the Dame Holda or Herodia or Diana, where in their parade of women would fly through the sky. They would fly to a sabbath or festival or they would raid someone’s house and if food was left for them, they were blessed if not their wine would be turned to vinegar. Then there was the wild hunt usually led by Odin, Herne or Gabriel. They would fly though the sky picking up anyone who was unlucky to be out. Then there were the strix owls. Some thought they were witches but none the less these owls took flight entered people’s houses and stole their children. Then they would boil the children in a cauldron and eat them.
Obviously, spirit flight is not a physical thing rather a mental thing. Some experts back in the day believed that the spirit left the body in order to join the festivities. Other experts thought it was a delusion. The methods for arriving at the sabbath included applying a flying ointment on oneself or on a broom and that would transport the witch. Sometimes they would ride a goat or transform a person to an animal and use them instead.
The Sabbath could take place in a variety of locations. Sabbaths could be held in churches, open fields, in houses , out in nature. The traveling witch would not only find other witches but they would find the Deevil himself leading the festivities with the sabbath queen sitting quietly by his side. One could also
find, demons, fairies, ancestors and witches long since deceased their.
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