 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Momodou
Denmark
11829 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Jun 2007 : 14:25:42
|
This past weekend was Sankt Hans in Denmark and the rest of Europe. The event is marked by burning fires and the burning of puppets that are meant to symbolise witches. People suspected of being witches used to be burnt to death in Europe and the church had a big role in this from 1540-1693. It is said that the last witch in Denmark was burnt in 1693 but unofficially a witch was lynched as late as 1897.
Why is this burning of witches associated with midsummer?
Why is a witch always associated with an elderly woman who is probably poor?
|
|
|
serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2007 : 16:46:28
|
Momodou, young women have also been accused of witchcraft; e.g. if they were pretty and men were after them, the women were accused of practicing seductive witchcraft. The reason why witchcraft is mostly associated with elderly women is maybe because elder women are more experienced than young, and thus seem to be more dangerous.
Why women? In every patriarchate men show a strong tendency to accuse women of being responsible for their, the men's, faults. This psychological projection, one of Freud's famous defense mechanisms, gives them the feeling of a clean conscience (we must not forget that for the medieval and Reformation Christians, like for today's Muslim or Christian fundamentalists, almost everything was sinful!!). Peter Gay defines this mechanism as "the operation of expelling feelings or wishes the individual finds wholly unacceptable too shameful, too obscene, too dangerous by attributing them to another." A man has 'unchaste' thoughts and wishes? Of course it is the woman, the witch who played evil tricks on him! His cows die of some epidemic? It was not him who neglected them, it was the witch, etc. pp. |
 |
|
|
kiwi
Sweden
662 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2007 : 21:51:35
|
Momodou, your posting made me look like a  . Though we are neighbours I never heard about Sankt Hans.
Bonfires are burnt in Finland on Midsummer Eve, I donīt know about witches.
Not so in Sweden. Maypoles poles decorated with flowers and green springs are put up and people dance around the pole. You also should have flowers in your hair and seven flowers under you pillow.
We celebrate that the longest day and the shortest night fall, above the northern polar circle the sun never goes below the horizon, it shines all night.
Originally it was connected with remembrance of John the Baptist, now almost forgotten but it still is a church festival.
Bonfires in Sweden are burnt on Walpurg Eve, last of April. Witches appear on Easter . They fly away on brooms, together with a cat and a coffee kettle.
|
kiwi |
|
|
|
Momodou
Denmark
11829 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2007 : 22:16:06
|
Danish bonfire with with the traditional burning of a witch on 23rd June, Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve").
I made a search on the www and saw that it is celebrated different ways around Europe.
"In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth (probably made by the elder women of the family) on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witchburnings..." |
|
|
|
Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 01:27:57
|
| Secret societies are sub sector of the human establishment and modern civilisation could not undo this. Witch craft is as raw today as it has always been. Some years ago, two British tourists stayed in a hotel downtown Cape Point Bakau. The women confirmed their witch craft occupation. While in some African traditions witch craft is linked to extremes of blood ******s, in some traditions, witch craft is associated with special gift of intelligence. In all regards, witch craft is generally a reserved occupation. |
Karamba |
|
|
|
inez
279 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2007 : 16:21:14
|
I am just back from real midsummer celebration in northern Finland, not far from Polar circle and might have something to contribute with.I know in Norway they do celebrate with fires and they do it always from 12 at night on 23 th which is the Day and they also call it Sankt Hans aften. I never heard of the connection with witches, thought the fire was to scare away all evil spirits but it might be with witches it started. Since midsummer night is the shortest night, it has been seen as magical and powerful and then of course all witches did their operations that night . I can tell it really feels magical and weird that the sun is there all night long and it never gets dark those days. Then again 24 th is a christian celebration for John the Babtist and maybe church didnīt like to have a competition and decided to get rid of all scary and powerful womenThis is so typical mix with religion and traditional believe from old days that nobody even knows any longer how it started.
Before in Finland we use to make a boat or something that could float and make the fire on that and send it to a middle of the lake, now itīs mostly done 12 at night near a lake. Then around that fire we have created some new traditions...like grilling sausages on the fire and having a beer or two with thatSome people might even think that the fire is there only to make it a bit warmer (it was only +5 that night this year)or to scare away those millions of mosquitos that are the blood******s of today...and because of the cold and mosquitos, I didnīt do the other stuff witches are expected to do midsummer eve: running naked around the house. I did pick seven different flowers and stayed quiet until I put them under my pillow. They supposed to show me my future husband in my dream. Do you believe it worked? No, I just dreamed about my work, nothing funnier than that But I will continue and do it again next year.
We do have witches in Easter too and fires on first of may. Older women are wiser but even men has been accused to be witches. I heard that we had one living near our house before I was born and people told he used to go around and cut of the cows "nibbles" and put a evil eye on them...many of those women and men really knew how to cure with herbs, they also used to help with deliveries and that might be the reason to why men of the church has been so afraid of them. Witches has been more useful than priests since he only collected taxes and told people they will be burn in hell fire if they did this or that
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
© 2005-2024 Nijii |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
