Organisations of Witches in Great Britain (Folklore History Series)

By M. A. Murray

Witch cult and ritual have not yet, as far as I am aware, been subjected to a searching scientific investigation from the anthropological side. The author setting out here to understand the idea of witchcraft and the people it attracts. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Oct 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447490708

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Organisations of

Witches in Great

Britain

By

M. A. Murray

Copyright © 2011 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from

the British Library

Contents

ORGANISATIONS OF WITCHES IN GREAT BRITAIN

ORGANISATIONS OF WITCHES IN GREAT

BRITAIN.

BY M. A. MURRAY.

(Read before the Society, April 18, 1917.)

WITCH cult and ritual have not yet, as far as I am aware, been subjected to a searching scientific investigation from the anthropological side. The whole thing has generally been put down to hypnotism, hysteria, and hallucination on the part of the witches, to prejudice and cruelty on the part of the judges. I shall try to prove that the hysteria-cum-prejudice theory, including that blessed word autosuggestion, is untenable, and that among the witches we have the remains of a fully organised religious cult, which at one time was spread over Central and Western Europe, and of which traces are found at the present day.

I am not concerned with Operative Witchcraft or the effects, real or imaginary, of witch-charms, nor with the magical powers claimed by the witches, such as flying through the air and transformation into animals. It is the organisation and the cult, which I am about to describe.

Its organisation was recognised by the Roman Catholic Church which speaks of it as a sect;¹ and in its latest stages in America, Cotton Mather is able to say with truth, "the Witches do say, that they form themselves much after the manner of Congregational Churches, and that they have a Baptism, and a Supper, and Officers among them, abominably resembling those of our Lord."¹

It is obvious to anyone who considers the matter that the conversion of the heathen tribes of Great Britain must have been a long process. Kings and nobles might follow the new religion, but for the mass of the people Christianity must have been a mere veneer for several centuries. As Christianity took a firmer and firmer hold, the old paganism was either more and more relegated to country places and to the lower classes of the community; or else by dropping the gross forms, its ritual remained as rustic festivals patronised by the Church.

I give here, in chronological order, extracts from various sources showing the historical continuity of the ancient religion. The laws became stricter as Christianity increased in power.

Strabo says that, in an island close to Britain, Ceres and Proserpine were venerated with rites similar to the orgies of Samothrace.² Dionysius states that the rites of Bacchus were duly celebrated in the British Isles.³ This is evidence that fertility rites were celebrated in Britain which had a close resemblance to those of Greece and Asia Minor.

The conversion of Britain took place during the 7th century; and the Christian ecclesiastical writers, from whom our knowledge of the consecutive history of the period is derived, write with a