THE KISS OF SHAME
WELCOME to the Libidofilms blog where the aim is to put sex into historical/socio/political context. This week, with Spring looming, we look back at the anti-woman nature of The Inquisition. As always, comments are invited. Scroll down to find the place.
Witchcraft, The Inquisition and The Devil’s Anus
By Marianna Beck
Conjure up an image of a witch these days and most likely it’s a cartoon-like fairytale representation of an evil old crone with a broom and a black cat. In reality, the history of witches is anything but benign folklore. It’s actually a bloody, sadistic history of epic
proportions — and one that provides chilling insight into how the Christian Church of Western Europe dealt with the merest hint of feminine power.
Originally, a wicce (female witch), practiced the healing arts, had a considerable knowledge of herbs and was not persecuted by the early Christian Church. In fact, in a ruling in 785, later confirmed by Charlemagne, the death penalty was applied to anyone who put a person to death for practicing witchcraft.
But the moderate attitudes held by the Catholic Church changed drastically by the 14th century and all manifestations of female power became suspect. Those practicing the craft of healing were denounced for consorting with the Devil and therefore guilty of the worst of all heresies.
The Flying Witch
The notion that many witches confessed to flying under torture is an interesting one when we consider the fact that many of these women were healers and aware of the properties of certain hallucinogenic plants. Ingesting psychotropic plants like belladonna, hemlock and mandrake for instance can certainly create the illusion of flying.
By 1486, two fanatical Dominican inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer (Dean of Cologne University) and Jakob Sprenger, published the hugely influential (The Hammer Against the Witches) — a handbook for future witch-hunters. It’s significant that in the title of this book, the word, “maleficarum,” (meaning wrongdoers) is in the feminine form. This implied that women were more susceptible to witchcraft than men because, as the text noted, “all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which in women is insatiable.”
Indeed the official handbook of the inquisitors of witchcraft declared that witchcraft and satanism were caused by women’s carnal lust since God “allows the devil more power over the veneral act, by which the original sin is handed down, than over all other human actions…because of its natural nastiness.”
Witches’ Sabbath In folklore, a witch is often construed to be sorcerer or
magician, associated with the spirits of nature. While not necessarily evil,
she, sometime he constituted a threat to the order of the cosmos,
So at the height of the European witch-hunt craze, which lasted from about 1560 to 1660, hundreds of thousands of women — some men and some children — were tortured and burned. To illustrate the insanity of this misogynistic mania, two villages in the area of Trier in Germany were left in 1585 with one surviving female each. Elsewhere, the Bishop of Genoa burned 500 people in three months, the Bishop of Bamburg 600 hundred, the Bishop of Würtzburg 900 hundred. One inquisitor Nicolas Remy burned 800 women in one day.
It’s generally estimated some 200,000 people executed in Europe.
Witches Swimming
One widely held belief, particularly in England was that a witch would not sink in water. The accused party would be subjected to something called swimming or "floating". The suspect would be thrown into water with her left hand or thumb tied to her right foot, and her right hand tied to her left foot. The guilty would float, the innocent sink, in the belief that water would reject corrupt agents of the Devil.
Since all women were therefore considered susceptible to sexual enticement by the Devil, they became the main focus of witch-hunts. They could be accused of causing infertility, impotence, birth defects, insanity, crop failure, storms or any unexplainable phenomena. If you had an unexplained skin tag somewhere on your body…an epileptic fit, any manifestation of a mental disorder….this was enough to be questioned.
Witches were often portrayed in the company of other demons that took the shape of animals — usually cats and dogs. Today, we still have the superstition of a black cat signifying evil or bad luck.
Under torture, victims were forced to confess details on other demonic rites including the drinking of menstrual blood, kissing the Devil’s anus, cooking children, flying at night on broomsticks to orgies, having intercourse with cats, dogs, frogs and crows and otherwise engaging in licentious behavior with any of the 7,405,926 under-devils in the service of Satan. (Yes, the Inquisition had determined this exact number along with its other list of Devil details).
Osculum Infame
The osculum infame is mentioned in nearly every single recorded account of a witches' in their confessions – usually extracted under torture. It was called the Kiss of Shame because it was generally regarded as the ultimate act of degradation.
The obsession with the Devil is fascinating. Inquisitors came up with all sorts of details about the devil’s anatomy including the size and temperature of his penis. He engaged in the forbidden acts which is why he is so frequently accused of sodomy. This became known as the osculum Infame…or Kiss of Shame. It was believed it was the kiss that allowed the devil to seduce women.
Witchcraft, The Inquisition and The Devil’s Anus
By Marianna Beck
Conjure up an image of a witch these days and most likely it’s a cartoon-like fairytale representation of an evil old crone with a broom and a black cat. In reality, the history of witches is anything but benign folklore. It’s actually a bloody, sadistic history of epic
proportions — and one that provides chilling insight into how the Christian Church of Western Europe dealt with the merest hint of feminine power.Originally, a wicce (female witch), practiced the healing arts, had a considerable knowledge of herbs and was not persecuted by the early Christian Church. In fact, in a ruling in 785, later confirmed by Charlemagne, the death penalty was applied to anyone who put a person to death for practicing witchcraft.
But the moderate attitudes held by the Catholic Church changed drastically by the 14th century and all manifestations of female power became suspect. Those practicing the craft of healing were denounced for consorting with the Devil and therefore guilty of the worst of all heresies.
The Flying Witch
The notion that many witches confessed to flying under torture is an interesting one when we consider the fact that many of these women were healers and aware of the properties of certain hallucinogenic plants. Ingesting psychotropic plants like belladonna, hemlock and mandrake for instance can certainly create the illusion of flying.
By 1486, two fanatical Dominican inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer (Dean of Cologne University) and Jakob Sprenger, published the hugely influential (The Hammer Against the Witches) — a handbook for future witch-hunters. It’s significant that in the title of this book, the word, “maleficarum,” (meaning wrongdoers) is in the feminine form. This implied that women were more susceptible to witchcraft than men because, as the text noted, “all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which in women is insatiable.”
Indeed the official handbook of the inquisitors of witchcraft declared that witchcraft and satanism were caused by women’s carnal lust since God “allows the devil more power over the veneral act, by which the original sin is handed down, than over all other human actions…because of its natural nastiness.”
Witches’ Sabbath In folklore, a witch is often construed to be sorcerer ormagician, associated with the spirits of nature. While not necessarily evil,
she, sometime he constituted a threat to the order of the cosmos,
It’s generally estimated some 200,000 people executed in Europe.
Witches SwimmingOne widely held belief, particularly in England was that a witch would not sink in water. The accused party would be subjected to something called swimming or "floating". The suspect would be thrown into water with her left hand or thumb tied to her right foot, and her right hand tied to her left foot. The guilty would float, the innocent sink, in the belief that water would reject corrupt agents of the Devil.
Since all women were therefore considered susceptible to sexual enticement by the Devil, they became the main focus of witch-hunts. They could be accused of causing infertility, impotence, birth defects, insanity, crop failure, storms or any unexplainable phenomena. If you had an unexplained skin tag somewhere on your body…an epileptic fit, any manifestation of a mental disorder….this was enough to be questioned.
Witches were often portrayed in the company of other demons that took the shape of animals — usually cats and dogs. Today, we still have the superstition of a black cat signifying evil or bad luck.
Under torture, victims were forced to confess details on other demonic rites including the drinking of menstrual blood, kissing the Devil’s anus, cooking children, flying at night on broomsticks to orgies, having intercourse with cats, dogs, frogs and crows and otherwise engaging in licentious behavior with any of the 7,405,926 under-devils in the service of Satan. (Yes, the Inquisition had determined this exact number along with its other list of Devil details).
Osculum Infame
The osculum infame is mentioned in nearly every single recorded account of a witches' in their confessions – usually extracted under torture. It was called the Kiss of Shame because it was generally regarded as the ultimate act of degradation.
The obsession with the Devil is fascinating. Inquisitors came up with all sorts of details about the devil’s anatomy including the size and temperature of his penis. He engaged in the forbidden acts which is why he is so frequently accused of sodomy. This became known as the osculum Infame…or Kiss of Shame. It was believed it was the kiss that allowed the devil to seduce women.
Labels: Inquisition, Malleus Maleficarum, Osulum Infame, witchcraft, Witches
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