The Female Identity in Witchcraft as Portrayed in Film - Essay Example

The Female Identity in Witchcraft as Portrayed in Film Introduction Women in witchcraft are portrayed almost exclusively infilm and television as being somewhat on the dark side. Some portrayals are expressed as totally evil, while others have a good side somewhere in the mix. On rare occasions, we see witch characters as being on the right side of the mix: saving the world, killing demons, casting spells to destroy evil and its effects, yet trying to live the same lives as all other mortals in their respective towns. When we say ‘witch,’ we are referring strictly to women for this report. Men, in witchcraft, are called warlocks and do not play a part in this report although both men and women were called witches in the early Middle Ages. In order to first understand the true female identity in witchcraft, we must review early history, starting from the days after the fall of Rome around 500 A.D. The Christian faith became more powerful and, in particular, Catholicism was the most prevalent system of worship and belief. It was also the most fundamental and dogmatic in that the word of the Bible was absolute, as taught by the church and its priests (Mehr 1983, p 25). Demonic possession, as described by the Bible and the church, was the work of the devil on an unwilling subject, controlling the mind, behavior, and emotions. In order to get rid of the possession and the devil, a priest of the Catholic Church had to perform an exorcism, using the Bible and reciting prayers over the person possessed. Abnormal behavior, subsequently, was also viewed as possession, along with unusual illnesses that could not be explained. Many times, these illnesses and strange behaviours were attributed to witchcraft and the use of herbs, particularly libcorn, was fairly prevalent in curing witchcraft spells (Mehr 1983, p 25). In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII declared that witches officially existed, attacking the faithful and causing them to behave strangely. This also meant that people were voluntarily being possessed, giving one’s soul to the devil, in order to obtain power, wealth, and other desires. Two monks, Johann Sprenger and Heinrich kraemer, wrote the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) in 1486, which went through 30 editions and became the authoritative reference on witchcraft, how to identify witches, questioning procedures for confessions, and how to properly dispose of the accused. The next several hundred years saw a frenzy of witchcraft accusations, convictions, and executions. Many of those accused were women who had exhibited strange behaviour of one sort or another, including the famous Joan of Arc who claimed to have visions which inspired her to lead the French king’s armies successfully in battle. Unfortunately, the king changed his mind later and had her executed as a witch, simply because she would not say that her visions were not real (Mehr 1983, p 28). The King James version of the Bible in later years, noted witches for the first time, although they had not been mentioned before in the previous versions of the Bible (Orr 1915). Around the 16th century, people began to slowly believe that perhaps these strange people were suffering from illnesses instead of being witches, and the burning at the stake events eased up somewhat. This was also the beginning of the time of scientific reasoning when Galileo and Newton made their discoveries and promoted a more scientific approach to the questions of the world and what made things tick. In medicine and health, progress was made in the prognoses of different illnesses and how to cure them (Mehr 1983, p 28). An observation made by Gerald Gardner about some of the early 20th century witches he has met is that some people are born with extended clairvoyant powers and thus, gravitate to the rites and processes offered by witchcraft. Less educated people view that all practitioners of witchcraft worship the devil. This is definitely not the case, as devil practitioners operate in a very different way from the regular processes and structures of witchcraft. Their ceremony tools and methods are different and the object of their worship, the devil or the horned one, is never used in the regular confines of witchcraft (Gardner 1914, p. 11 pdf). There have been witches in all age periods and those of the Stone Age were mostly women who stayed home, prepared various medicines and magical potions, took care of the sick, elderly and the very young. In this time period, the caves, moon, stars and trees were all regarded as female personas. Those who utilized nature as the basis of religion would have been very much like the Druids of old times who worshiped nature. Some comparisons could also be made between the gods and goddesses of the Roman and Greek legends of worship. The woman has her own place in the nature of witchcraft, most likely due to her inherent trait of gentleness and of mothering those who are sick, or the very young and old. It takes a certain sensitivity that men, by their own nature as the protector of the overall clan, do not have. Witchcraft was also a way for many early women who lived in repressed societies to have a place they could go to and feel more important and respected, as opposed to what they experienced with the social mores and official religions of the time, i.e. Catholicism (Gardner 1914, p. 28). So, what of broomsticks and flying through the air, as so many versions of stories regarding witchcraft seems to bring up? This aspect of the broom is actually an old fertility rite where people would ‘ride’ brooms through the fields to bring good luck to the harvests. This is much like watching our children ride their broomstick horses around the garden or the house, something most folks have no idea originated in witchcraft rites. Most of these ‘riders’ were women because this was a fertility rite, and what better person than to have a woman perform the rite? After all, she was the one who carried children in her womb and gave birth, took care of the children and the household, and generally created all the goods such as knitted clothes, home-made candles, butter and whatever else that was needed (Gardner 1914, p. 28). We can relate this aspect of riding brooms with the comedy movie, “Hocus Pocus” which stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the three witches, in this case, evil ones. The movie is rather cute and the comedic portrayal of the evil witches is pretty funny. For an impressionable young child, this movie would reinforce all the evil notions ever heard about women witches: riding of brooms in the air, casting spells that hurt others, the big book of spells, black cat as a familiar (on the good side), and all the nefarious things that evil witches do. Kidnapping children to gather and strip their life forces out so they can stay young and alive is another one of their trademarks. In “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,” a successful television show from the late 1990s, the concepts of witchcraft are very different. Buffy is not necessarily a witch in the traditional sense but she does have superhuman powers of strength and presents herself as a type of strong, intelligent woman for the ages, out to kill all vampires and save the world from evil. In season one, episode I, we meet the young Buffy as she settles into a new town with her mother, preparing to lead a normal life, or so she thinks. She already has a past history of disruptions at her old school and this is her chance to start all over again. As a typical teenage girl, she meets new people and makes friends, yet has a certain sense of an older person behind her teenage years. About half-way through this first episode, we find out she is actually a vampire killer who has a “watcher” by the name of Giles, the school librarian, who hands her a book on vampires when she comes in the library. While she has thought that she would no longer have to be a slayer but a normal teenage girl, she now realizes that her past and her path will never go away, no matter how far she goes. Cordelia, Xander and Willow are her new main friends although Cordelia is merely an irritating person at this point, who thinks of herself as too cool to be around people like Buffy whom she considers weird. We also meet Angel, a young mysterious man, who keeps showing up unexpectedly to watch Buffy take out the vampires but she never sees him as he is hiding. In episode II, Buffy fully establishes herself as the slayer because there is the obvious need for her services and the town appears to be a convergence of different powers, as yet unexplained. Giles and the others, along with Buffy, find out that the “Harvest” is to happen that night, and they must establish a plan of action to disrupt the event. We also meet “The Sleeper” and Luke, his minion of evil, who will gather the souls for the Sleeper to feed on and finally break loose of his underground prison. Moving to season II, episode 21, we see Buffy as a much more confident woman, strong in her powers, but facing the fact that she may have to kill her former lover, Angel, who has turned to the dark side because of some spell. There is also another slayer who has come in from town and is currently assisting the group. In this episode, Willow, who was studying spells and learning about witchcraft from one of her now-dead teachers, attempts to cast a spell herself in order to help protect everyone against the vampires. She also has a boyfriend now, and as a young woman, asserts herself more fully into the events happening, while she gathers and trains herself for the spell that must be conducted. Buffy is drawn away from the group to meet Angel whom she must fight to finish the battle they are in. It turns out though, that it was just a ruse, and the others are attacked, with Willow going to the hospital and Giles being abducted by the vampires and the Sleeper. In episode 22, Buffy goes to battle again with Angel while Willow conducts her spell casting from her hospital bed, while Xander and Cordelia stand by to help her with what she needs. In the process of spell casting, Willow becomes strong and full with the powers, and fulfills the spell. When it completes itself, Angel changes back to his former self, but during the reunion between him and Buffy, she slays him and he falls back into a force field which takes him away. Later, as Buffy comes home, her mother arrives and there is something of an argument about what she is doing out so late. Suddenly, Buffy is attacked by a vampire and her mother sees for the first time that she is a vampire slayer. There is another argument later between Buffy and her mother when Buffy says she has to go out to take care of business. Her mother tells her if she leaves, then not to come back. Buffy takes care of business then comes back home, packs her bags and leaves home while her mother is out. The character of Buffy is a mix of the normal teenage girl that all of us can relate to, but with that weird side to her that changes her whole image when she has to be the slayer, almost like one of the super heroes in the Marvel comics. She carries her tools of her trade: the wooden stake and a silver cross, which she wears around her neck. Willow, as the fledgling witch, is also a young innocent type of teenage girl, in love with her first boyfriend, something everyone can relate to. When she becomes the spell-caster, then she changes and becomes a different, stronger person, full of the powers of good against evil. She uses all the components for her spell-casting such as the silver bowl, candles, and mixtures of herbs and whatever else called for in the spell’s recipe. Chanting over the items as they are mixed together is also part of the spell-casting. There are also runes cast on the hospital bed tray, along with bones, feathers and other items which help to centralize the spell’s forces. In many cases, witchcraft and witches are commercialized for the film cameras as ultimately, capturing the interest of the public is the most important part of making these films and television shows. What we see is only a surface nod to the truth of the witchcraft practices and usages. In the movie, “Practical Magic,” there are four women central to the movie, two young ones, Sallie and Gillian, and two older matriarchal women, Aunt Frances and Aunt Bridget, relatives of the two young ones. The girls were brought up to know witchcraft and how to create different potions and mixtures for spell-casting. Both were more intent on growing up and having families, so in the beginning of the movie, witchcraft is not as important to them. When one endures a rather tragic dangerous encounter with a not-so-nice man, then things change for them and they return back to the house to recuperate. The movie is rather cute in its way and of course, the audience is entertained with all the commercialized witchery. In this movie, the witches are portrayed as good with no thought of malice. Instead, they must fight off evil that follows them around because of the misdeed that occurred with the man (Practical Magic). Another television show, “Charmed,” dealt with three sisters, Piper, Phoebe and Paige, who were witches, fighting the forces of evil. Much of their shows were fairly explicit about performing rituals, working up the right spells to implement, and using special physical powers which they combined together to annihilate bad demons and other evil ones. We see much more of witchcraft practices in this television show which makes it all pretty interesting. All three girls were pretty and they also had a regular life on the show with each working jobs and, occasionally, having a boyfriend, then losing one, until one or more of the girls finally got married. There was always a sense of normality regarding the women in doing the things that most women do in their daily lives. Then there was the other side of things where they had to be the witches to save the day (Charmed 1998-2006). One never gets the sense that these characters have any problems such as talking to people who are not there, or shaking uncontrollably, or doing things that medieval witches might have done that got them executed. Indeed, we can wonder what these characters did if they did get sick physically? Would they always resort to some kind of herbal concoction, say spells over the afflicted parts, or would they think to go to the doctor to see if there was something physically wrong. According to records from the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, descriptions of physical manifestations indicate a physiological condition known now as convulsive ergotism, a disorder coming from grain contaminated with ergot, a fungus found in rye and wheat which produces alkaloids or ergotamines. The contaminant, in excess, causes blood vessels to shrink, hallucinations, severe gastrointestinal upset, painful burning sensations and also a type of dry gangrene (Caporeal 1976). In a typical case of witchcraft accusation in December 1691, eight girls were afflicted with disorderly speech, odd postures and gestures, and convulsive fits. There was no physical explanation for their conditions and one doctor suggested it might be witchcraft. In that time, the Puritan movement was in control which promoted absolute obedience to the Bible and its teachings and of the town ministers. With this mindset, it is easy to see how accusations of witchcraft could have been leveled against several old female members of the town, especially when town leaders and doctors did not have medical knowledge to understand what illness they were looking at (Caporeal 1976). The hysteria spread when the girls did not get better, so more accusations of witchcraft were levied until the jails were full of about 150 people. Those who confessed to the crime did not receive conviction, but nearly 20 people who maintained their innocence, were convicted and were executed. The whole affair was terrible, and had lasting effects, in that the mass accusation of witchcraft never occurred again (Caporeal 1976). In today’s world, witchcraft, covens and other things connected are not held in contempt as they once were in the days of Salem, Massachusetts. Certainly there would have never been any movies made about witchcraft without the producer and director being tried and executed for promoting witchcraft. In an era where different religions are accepted for the most part, it is hard to envision how a whole town could have gone so crazy and executed as many people as they did. We also have much better methods of gathering information and testing the evidence to make sure wrong accusations are either verified or recanted before ever going to trial. Science and medicine have gone a long way in refuting the general issues around what a witch is, as opposed to the philosophical and emotional viewpoints of the past centuries that had no basis in fact. Emotion was the fact for them. Certainly there was no such thing as a good witch back then. Now, we do have them, albeit in the movies and on television. Bibliography Dumycz, Kate 2005 ‘Female Power: Witchcraft and Gender in Elizabethan England.’ Cert Hum(Open), Adv Dip Local History (Oxford). 2005. http://www.witchtrials.co.uk/dumycz.pdf Gardner, Gerald B 2004, Witchcraft Today. Citadel: New York. http://clubs.psu.edu/up/silverc/witchcrafttoday.pdf for online free version. Kocic, Ana 2010, ‘Salem Witchcraft Trials: The Perception of Women in History, Literature and Culture.’ Facta Universitatis. Series: Linguistics and Literature Vol. 8, No 1, pp.1-7 http://facta.junis.ni.ac.rs/lal/lal201001/lal201001-01.pdf Lessard, Yvette. ‘Witches and Wives: How Gender Made the Salem Witch Trials.’ Online research paper. http://knol.google.com/k/yvette-lessard/witches-and-wives-how-gender-made-the/1ycnxlw6aeny7/44#Witches_and_Wives(3A)_How_Gender_Made_the_Salem_Witch_Trials Mehr, Joseph 1983, Abnormal Psychology. Holt, Rinehart Winston, New York City. Orr, James, Editor 1915 “Definition for Witch; Witchcraft.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Bible-History.com ISBE. Bible History Online http://www.bible-history.com/isbe/W/WITCH%3B+WITCHCRAFT/ Caporael, Linnda R. April 1976 “Egotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem?” Science Vol. 192. http://web.utk.edu/~kstclair/221/ergotism.html Film References “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” 1997-2003, Television series, Twentieth Century Fox/Mutant Enemy “Charmed” 1998-2006, Television series, Spelling Television “Hocus Pocus” 1993, Disney Productions. “Practical Magic” 1998, Warner Brothers Read More