There is also, concerning witches
who copulate with devils, much difficulty in considering the methods by which
such abominations are consummated. On the part of the devil: first, of what
element the body is made that he assumes; secondly, whether the act is always
accompanied by the injection of semen received from another; thirdly, as to
time and place, whether he commits this act more frequently at one time than
at another; fourthly, whether the act is invisible to any who may be standing
by. And on the part of the women, it has to be inquired whether only they who
were themselves conceived in this filthy manner are often visited by devils;
or secondly, whether it is those who were offered to devils by midwives at the
time of their birth; and thirdly, whether the actual venereal delectation of
such is of a weaker sort. But we cannot here reply to all these questions,
both because we are only engaged in a general study, and because in the second
part of this work they are all singly explained by their operations, as will
appear in the fourth chapter, where mention is made of each separate method.
Therefore, let us now chiefly consider women; and first, why this kind of
perfidy is found more in so fragile a sex than in men. And our inquiry will
first be general, as to the general conditions of women; secondly, particular,
as to which sort of women are found to be given to superstition and witchcraft;
and thirdly, specifically with regard to midwives, who surpass all others in
wickedness.
Why Superstition is chiefly found in Women.
As for the first question, why a
greater number of witches is found in the fragile feminine sex than among men;
it is indeed a fact that it were idle to contradict, since it is accredited by
actual experience, apart from the verbal testimony of credibly witnesses. And
without in any way detracting from a sex in which God has always taken great
glory that His might should be spread abroad, let us say that various men have
assigned various reasons for this fact, which nevertheless agree in principle.
Wherefore it is good, for the admonition of women, to speak of this matter;
and it has often been proved by experience that they are eager to hear of it,
so long as it is set forth with discretion.
For some learned men propound this
reason; that there are three things in nature, the Tongue, an Ecclesiastic,
and a Woman, which know no moderation in goodness or vice; and when they
exceed the bounds of their condition they reach the greatest heights and the
lowest depths of goodness and vice. When they are governed by a good spirit,
they are most excellent in virtue; but when they are governed by an evil
spirit, they indulge the worst possible vices.
This is clear in the case of the
tongue, since by its ministry most of the kingdoms have been brought into the
faith of Christ; and the Holy Ghost appeared over the Apostles of Christ in
tongues of fire. Other learned preachers also have had as it were the tongues
of dogs, licking wounds and sores of the dying Lazarus. As it is said: With
the tongues of dogs ye save your souls from the enemy.
For this reason S. Dominic, the
leader and father of the Order of Preachers, is represented in the figure of a
barking to dog with a lighted torch in his mouth, that even to this day he may
by his barking keep off the heretic wolves from the flock of Christ's sheep.
It is also a matter of common
experience that the tongue of one prudent man can subdue the wrangling of a
multitude; wherefore not unjustly Solomon sings much in their praise, in Proverbs
x.: In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found. And again, The
tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little
worth. And again, The lips of the righteous feed many; but fools die for want
of wisdom. For this cause he adds in chapter xvi, The preparations of the
heart belong to man; but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
But concerning an evil tongue you
will find in Ecclesiasticus xxviii: A backbiting tongue hath disquieted
many, and driven them from nation to nation: strong cities hath it pulled
down, and overthrown the houses of great men. And by a backbiting tongue it
means a third party who rashly or spitefully interferes between two contending
parties.
Secondly, concerning Ecclesiastics,
that is to say, clerics and religious of either sex, S. John Chrysostom speaks
on the text, He cast out them that bought and sold from the temple. From the
priesthood arises everything good, and everything evil. S. Jerome in his
epistle to Nepotian says: Avoid as you would the plague a trading priest, who
has risen from poverty to riches, from a low to a high estate. And Blessed
Bernard in his 23rd Homily On the Psalms says of clerics: If one should
arise as an open heretic, let him be cast out and put to silence; if he is a
violent enemy, let all good men flee from him. But how are we to know which
ones to cast out or to flee from? For they are confusedly friendly and hostile,
peaceable and quarrelsome, neighbourly and utterly selfish.
And in another place: Our bishops
are become spearmen, and our pastors shearers. And by bishops here is meant
those proud Abbots who impose heavy labours on their inferiors, which they
would not themselves touch with their little finger. And S. Gregory says
concerning pastors: No one does more harm in the Church than he who, having
the name or order of sanctity, lives in sin; for no one dares to accuse him of
sin, and therefore the sin is widely spread, since the sinner is honoured for
the sanctity of his order. Blessed Augustine also speaks of monks to Vincent
the Donatist: I freely confess to your charity before the Lord our God, which
is the witness of my soul from the time I began to serve God, what great
difficulty I have experienced in the fact that it is impossible to find either
worse of better men than those who grace or disgrace the monasteries.
Now the wickedness of women is
spoken of in Ecclesiasticus xxv: There is no head above the head of a
serpent: and there is no wrath above the wrath of a woman. I had rather dwell
with a lion and a dragon than to keep house with a wicked woman. And among
much which in that place precedes and follows about a wicked woman, he
concludes: All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman.
Wherefore S. John Chrysostom says on the text, It is not good to marry (S.
Matthew xix): What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable
punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a
domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair
colours! Therefore if it be a sin to divorce her when she ought to be kept, it
is indeed a necessary torture; for either we commit adultery by divorcing her,
or we must endure daily strife. Cicero in his second book of The Rhetorics
says: The many lusts of men lead them into one sin, but the lust of women
leads them into all sins; for the root of all woman's vices is avarice. And
Seneca says in his Tragedies: A woman either loves or hates; there is
no third grade. And the tears of woman are a deception, for they may spring
from true grief, or they may be a snare. When a woman thinks alone, she thinks
evil.
But for good women there is so much
praise, that we read that they have brought beatitude to men, and have saved
nations, lands, and cities; as is clear in the case of Judith, Debbora, and
Esther. See also I Corinthians vii: If a woman hath a husband that
believeth not, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is
sanctified by the believing wife. And Ecclesiasticus xxvi: Blessed is
the man who has a virtuous wife, for the number of his days shell be doubled.
And throughout that chapter much high praise is spoken of the excellence of
good women; as also in the last chapter of Proverbs concerning a
virtuous woman.
And all this is made clear also in
the New Testament concerning women and virgins and other holy women who have
by faith led nations and kingdoms away from the worship of idols to the
Christian religion. Anyone who looks at Vincent of Beauvais (in Spe. Histo.,
XXVI. 9) will find marvellous things of the conversion of Hungary by the most
Christian Gilia, and of the Franks by Clotilda, the wife of Clovis. Wherefore
in many vituperations that we read against women, the woman is used to
mean the lust of the flesh. As it is said: I have found a woman more bitter
than death, and good woman subject to carnal lust.
Other again have propounded other
reasons why there are more superstitious women found than men. And the first
is, that they are more credulous; and since the chief aim of the devil is to
corrupt faith, therefore he rather attacks them. See Ecclesiasticus xix:
He that is quick to believe is light-minded, and shall be diminished. The
second reason is, that women are naturally more impressionable, and more ready
to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit; and that when they use this
quality well they are very good, but when they use it ill they are very evil.
The third reason is that they have
slippery tongues, and are unable to conceal from the fellow-women those things
which by evil arts they know; and, since they are weak, they find an easy and
secret manner of vindicating themselves by witchcraft. See Ecclesiasticus
as quoted above: I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than to keep
house with a wicked woman. All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a
woman. And to this may be added that, as they are very impressionable, they
act accordingly.
There are also others who bring
forward yet other reasons, of which preachers should be very careful how they
make use. For it is true that in the Old Testament the Scriptures have much
that is evil to say about women, and this because of the first temptress, Eve,
and her imitators; yet afterwards in the New Testament we find a change of
name, as from Eva to Ave (as S. Jerome says), and the whole sin of Eve taken
away by the benediction of Mary. Therefore preachers should always say as much
praise of them as possible.
But because in these times this
perfidy is more often found in women than in men, as we learn by actual
experience, if anyone is curious as to the reason, we may add to what has
already been said the following: that since they are feebler both in mind and
body, it is not surprising that they should come more under the spell of
witchcraft.
For as regards intellect, or the
understanding of spiritual things, they seem to be of a different nature from
men; a fact which is vouched for by the logic of the authorities, backed by
various examples from the Scriptures. Terence says: Women are intellectually
like children. And Lactantius (Institutiones, III): No woman understood
philosophy except Temeste. And Proverbs xi, as it were describing a
woman, says: As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which
is without discretion.
But the natural reason is that she
is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her many carnal abominations. And
it should be noted that there was a defect in the formation of the first
woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a rib of the breast,
which is bent as it were in a contrary direction to a man. And since through
this defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives. For Cato says:
When a woman weeps she weaves snares. And again: When a woman weeps, she
labours to deceive a man. And this is shown by Samson's wife, who coaxed him
to tell her the riddle he had propounded to the Philistines, and told them the
answer, and so deceived him. And it is clear in the case of the first woman
that she had little faith; for when the serpent asked why they did not eat of
every tree in Paradise, she answered: Of every tree, etc. - lest perchance we
die. Thereby she showed that she doubted, and had little in the of God.
And all this is indicated by the etymology of the ; for Femina
comes from Fe and Minus, since she is ever weaker to hold and
preserve the faith. And this as regards faith is of her very nature; although
both by grace and nature faith never failed in the Blessed Virgin, even at the
time of Christ's Passion, when it failed in all men.
Therefore a wicked woman is by her
nature quicker to waver in her faith, and consequently quicker to abjure the
faith, which is the root of witchcraft.
And as to her other mental quality,
that is, her natural will; when she hates someone whom she formerly loved,
then she seethes with anger and impatience in her whole soul, just as the
tides of the sea are always heaving and boiling. Many authorities allude to
this cause. Ecclesiasticus xxv: There is no wrath above the wrath of a
woman. And Seneca (Tragedies, VIII): No might of the flames or the
swollen winds, no deadly weapon, is so much to be feared as the lust and
hatred of a woman who has been divorced from the marriage bed.
This is shown too in the woman who
falsely accused Joseph, and caused him to be imprisoned because he would not
consent to the crime of adultery with her (Genesis xxx). And truly the
most powerful cause which contributes to the increase of witches is the woeful
rivalry between married folk and unmarried women and men. This is so even
among holy women, so what must it be among the others? For you see in Genesis
xxi. how impatient and envious Sarah was of Hagar when she conceived: How
jealous Rachel was of Leah because she had no children (Genesis xxx):
and Hannah, who was barren, of the fruitful Peninnah (I. Kings i): and
how Miriam (Numbers xii) murmured and spoke ill of Moses, and was
therefore stricken with leprosy: and how Martha was jealous of Mary Magdalen,
because she was busy and Mary was sitting down (S. Luke x). To this
point is Ecclesiasticus xxxvii: Neither consult with a woman touching
her of whom she is jealous. Meaning that it is useless to consult with her,
since there is always jealousy, that is, envy, in a wicked woman. And if women
behave thus to each other, how much more will they do so to men.
Valerius Maximus tells how, when Phoroneus, the king of the Greeks, was dying,
he said to his brother Leontius that there would have been nothing lacking to
him of complete happiness if a wife had always been lacking to him. And when
Leontius asked how a wife could stand in the way of happiness, he answered
that all married men well knew. And when the philosopher Socrates was asked if
one should marry a wife, he answered: If you do not, you are lonely, your
family dies out, and a stranger inherits; if you do, you suffer perpetual
anxiety, querelous complaints, reproaches concerning the marriage portion, the
heavy displeasure of your relations, the garrulousness of a mother-in-law,
cuckoldom, and no certain arrival of an heir. This he said as one who knew.
For S. Jerome in his Contra Iouinianum says: This Socrates had two
wives, whom he endured with much patience, but could not be rid of their
contumelies and clamorous vituperations. So one day when they were complaining
against him, he went out of the house to escape their plaguing, and sat down
before the house; and the women then threw filthy water over him. But the
philosopher was not disturbed by this, saying, “I knew the rain would come
after the thunder.”
There is also a story of a man
whose wife was drowned in a river, who, when he was searching for the body to
take it out of the water, walked up the stream. And when he was asked why,
since heavy bodies do not rise but fall, he was searching against the current
of the river, he answered: “When that woman was alive she always, both in
and deed, went contrary to my commands; therefore I am searching in the
contrary direction in case even now she is dead she may preserve her contrary
disposition.”
And indeed, just as through the
first defect in their intelligence that are more prone to abjure the faith; so
through their second defect of inordinate affections and passions they search
for, brood over, and inflict various vengeances, either by witchcraft, or by
some other means. Wherefore it is no wonder that so great a number of witches
exist in this sex.
Women also have weak memories; and
it is a natural vice in them not to be disciplined, but to follow their own
impulses without any sense of what is due; this is her whole study, and all
that she keeps in her memory. So Theophrastus says: If you hand over the whole
management of the house to her, but reserve some minute detail to your own
judgement, she will think that you are displaying a great want of faith in her,
and will stir up a strife; and unless you quickly take counsel, she will
prepare poison for you, and consult seers and soothsayers; and will become a
witch.
But as to domination by women, hear
what Cicero says in the Paradoxes. Can he be called a free man whose
wife governs him, imposes laws on him, orders him, and forbids him to do what
he wishes, so that he cannot and dare not deny her anything that she asks? I
should call him not only a slave, but the vilest of slaves, even if he comes
from the noblest family. And Seneca, in the character of the raging Medea,
says: Why do you cease to follow your happy impulse; how great is that part of
vengeance in which you rejoice? Where he adduces many proofs that a woman will
not be governed, but will follow her own impulse even to her own destruction.
In the same way we read of many woman who have killed themselves either for
love or sorrow because they were unable to work their vengeance.
S. Jerome, writing of Daniel, tells
a story of Laodice, wife of Antiochus king of Syria; how, being jealous lest
he should love his other wife, Berenice, more than her, she first caused
Berenice and her daughter by Antiochus to be slain, and then poisoned herself.
And why? Because she would not be governed, and would follow her own impulse.
Therefore, S. John Chrysostom says not without reason: O evil worse than all
evil, a wicked woman, whether she be poor or rich. For if she be the wife of a
rich man, she does not cease night and day to excite her husband with hot
words, to use evil blandishments and violent importunations. And if she have a
poor husband she does not cease to stir him also to anger and strife. And if
she be a widow, she takes it upon herself everywhere to look down on everybody,
and is inflamed to all boldness by the spirit of pride.
If we inquire, we find that nearly
all the kingdoms of the world have been overthrown by women. Troy, which was a
prosperous kingdom, was, for the rape of one woman, Helen, destroyed, and many
thousands of Greeks slain. The kingdom of the Jews suffered much misfortune
and destruction through the accursed Jezebel, and her daughter Athaliah, queen
of Judah, who caused her son's sons to be killed, that on their death she
might reign herself; yet each of them was slain. The kingdom of the Romans
endured much evil through Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, that worst of women. And
so with others. Therefore it is no wonder if the world now suffers through the
malice of women.
And now let us examine the carnal
desires of the body itself, whence has arise unconscionable harm to human
life. Justly we may say with Cato of Utica: If the world could be rid of women,
we should not be without God in our intercourse. For truly, without the
wickedness of women, to say nothing of witchcraft, the world would still
remain proof against innumerable dangers. Hear what Valerius said to Rufinus:
You do not know that woman is the Chimaera, but it is good that you should
know it; for that monster was of three forms; its face was that of a radiant
and noble lion, it had the filthy belly of a goat, and it was armed with the
virulent tail of a viper. And he means that a woman is beautiful to look upon,
contaminating to the touch, and deadly to keep.
Let us consider another property of
hers, the voice. For as she is a liar by nature, so in her speech she stings
while she delights us. Wherefore her voice is like the song of the Sirens, who
with their sweet melody entice the passers-by and kill them. For they kill
them by emptying their purses, consuming their strength, and causing them to
forsake God. Again Valerius says to Rufinus: When she speaks it is a delight
which flavours the sin; the flower of love is a rose, because under its
blossom there are hidden many thorns. See Proverbs v, 3-4: Her mouth is
smoother than oil; that is, her speech is afterwards as bitter as absinthium.
[Her throat is smoother than oil. But her end is as bitter as wormwood.]
Let us consider also her gait,
posture, and habit, in which is vanity of vanities. There is no man in the
world who studies so hard to please the good God as even an ordinary woman
studies by her vanities to please men. An example of this is to be found in
the life of Pelagia, a worldly woman who was wont to go about Antioch tired
and adorned most extravagantly. A holy father, named Nonnus, saw her and began
to weep, saying to his companions, that never in all his life had he used such
diligence to please God; and much more he added to this effect, which is
preserved in his orations.
It is this which is lamented in Ecclesiastes
vii, and which the Church even now laments on account of the great multitude
of witches. And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the
hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that
pleaseth God shall escape from her; but he that is a sinner shall be caught by
her. More bitter than death, that is, than the devil: Apocalypse vi, 8,
His name was Death. For though the devil tempted Eve to sin, yet Eve seduced
Adam. And as the sin of Eve would not have brought death to our soul and body
unless the sin had afterwards passed on to Adam, to which he was tempted by
Eve, not by the devil, therefore she is more bitter than death.
More bitter than death, again,
because that is natural and destroys only the body; but the sin which arose
from woman destroys the soul by depriving it of grace, and delivers the body
up to the punishment of sin.
More bitter than death, again,
because bodily death is an open and terrible enemy, but woman is a wheedling
and secret enemy.
And that she is more perilous than
a snare does not speak of the snare of hunters, but of devils. For men are
caught not only trough their carnal desires, when they see and hear women: for
S. Bernard says: Their face is a burning wind, and their voice the hissing of
serpents: but they also cast wicked spells on countless men and animals. And
when it is said that her heart is a net, it speaks of the inscrutable malice
which reigns in their hearts. And her hands are as bands for binding; for when
they place their hands on a creature to bewitch it, then with the help of the
devil, they perform their design.
To conclude. All witchcraft comes
from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable. See Proverbs xxx: There
are three things that are never satisfied, yea, a fourth thing which says not,
It is enough; that is, the mouth of the womb. Wherefore for the sake of
fulfilling their lusts they consort even with devils. More such reasons could
be brought forward, but to the understanding it is sufficiently clear that it
is no matter for wonder that there are more women than men found infected with
the heresy of witchcraft. And in consequence of this, it is better called the
heresy of witches than of wizards, since the name is taken from the more
powerful party. And blessed be the Highest Who has so far preserved the male
sex from so great a crime: for since He was willing to be born and to suffer
for us, therefore He has granted to men the privilege.
What sort of Women are found to be above all Others
Superstitious and Witches.
As to our second inquiry, what
sort of women more than others are found to be superstitious and infected with
witchcraft; it must be said, as was shown in the preceding inquiry, that three
general vices appear to have special dominion over wicked women, namely,
infidelity, ambition, and lust. Therefore they are more than others inclined
towards witchcraft, who more than others are given to these vices. Again,
since of these vices the last chiefly predominates, women being insatiable,
etc., it follows that those among ambitious women are more deeply infected who
are more hot to satisfy their filthy lusts; and such are adulteresses,
fornicatresses, and the concubines of the Great.
Now there are, as it is said in the
Papal Bull, seven methods by which they infect with witchcraft the venereal
act and the conception of the womb: First, by inclining the minds of men to
inordinate passion; second, by obstructing their generative force; third, by
removing the members accomodated to that act; fourth, by changing men into
beasts by their magic art; fifth, by destroying the generative force in women;
sixth, by procuring abortion; seventh, by offering children to devils, besides
other animals and fruits of the earth with which they work much harm. And all
these will be considered later; but for present let us give our minds to the
injuries towards men.
And first concerning those who are
bewitched into an inordinate love or hatred, this is a matter of a sort that
it is difficult to discuss before the general intelligence. Yet it must be
granted that it is a fact. For S. Thomas (IV, 34), treating of obstructions
caused by witches, shows that God allows the devil greater power against men's
venereal acts than against their other actions; and gives this reason, that
this is likely to be so, since those women are chiefly apt to be witches who
are most disposed to such acts.
For he says that, since the first
corruption of sin by which man became the slave of the devil came to us
through the act of generation, therefore greater power is allowed by God to
the devil in this act than in all others. Also the power of witches is more
apparent in serpents, as it is said, than in other animals, because through
the means of a serpent the devil tempted woman. For this reason also, as is
shown afterwards, although matrimony is a work of God, as being instituted by
Him, yet it is sometimes wrecked by the work of the devil: not indeed through
main force, since then he might be though stronger than God, but with the
permission of God, by causing some temporary or permanent impediment in the
conjugal act.
And touching this we may say what
is known by experience; that these women satisfy their filthy lists not only
in themselves, but even in the mighty ones of the age, of whatever state and
condition; causing by all sorts of witchcraft the death of their souls through
the excessive infatuation of carnal love, in such a way that for no shame or
persuasion can they desist from such acts. And through such men, since witches
will not permit any harm to come to them either from themselves or from others
once they have them in their power, there arises the great danger of the time,
namely, the extermination of the Faith. And in this way do witches every day
increase.
And would that this were not true
according to experience. But indeed such hatred is aroused by witchcraft
between those joined in the sacrament of matrimony, and such freezing up of
the generative forces, that men are unable to perform the necessary action for
begetting offspring. But since love and hate exist in the soul, which even the
devil cannot enter, lest these things should seem incredibly to anyone, they
must be inquired into; and by meeting argument with argument the matter will
be made clear.
INDEX
