QUESTIONS FOR WITCHCRAFT TEXTS
I. Questions Regarding the Text Itself
- Is this a Greek or a Latin text?
- Who is the author of this text? What do we know about his/her background? (ethnicity, class, gender)
- What is the title of the work from which this text comes?
- What is the genre of the work from which this text comes?
- When was this work written?
- To what time period does this text refer?
- To what region does this text refer?
- To what social class does this text refer?
- Where is this text found in the work as a whole and what role does it play in that work? (context)
II. Questions Regarding the Representation of Witches in the Text
A. Terminology
- What terms are used to describe the witch? (witch, sorceress, etc.)
- What terms are used to describe what the witch does? (magic, sorcery, incantation, etc.)
B. Description
- Is the witch male or female?
- Is the witch divine, semi-divine, or mortal?
- What physical characteristics are ascribed to the witch? (looks, dress)
- What psychological characteristics are ascribed to the witch? (personality, temperament)
- What is social characteristics are ascribed to the witch? (social interactions, social status, offspring, connections with opposite gender)
- What background is ascribed to the witch? (familial, education/training)
- What is the witch compared to?
- Is the witch described as "marginal" in some way? How?
C. Magical Actions
- What kinds of magical powers are ascribed to the witch?
- What magical powers does the witch actually exhibit?
- Which supernatural beings does the witch call upon in her magic?
- Does she control or supplicate these supernatural beings?
- What tools, such as physical objects or words, does the witch use in magic?
- Does the witch have an assistant in carrying out magical actions? How is this assistant described? What does the assistant do? How important is the assistant to the witch?
- Can her magical actions be evaded? How?
- What connection do her actions have to established religion?
D. Evaluation
- What motives are ascribed to the witch?
- Is the witch good or evil or somewhere in between?
III. Questions Regarding the Interpretation of the Text
- What does this text suggest about the nature of witches?
- Does this text represent an accurate portrayal of witches in the time period to which it refers? Why or why not? How do you know?
- What do we know about society in the period in which this text was written, particularly in respect to the position of women?
- Does this text reflect attitudes toward women at this time in this society? How?
- Does the text point to any of the following explanations for the linkage between women and (evil) witchcraft?
- Philosophical: Women are irrational, because they are linked to nature, while men are linked to culture.
- Biological: Women are dangerous, because they are polluted by their excretion of bodily fluids, such as milk and blood (They are liminal, for these fluids break the boundary of the body).
- Psychological: Women are fearful, because they alone raise and punish children.
- Sociological: Women are weak, because they are suppressed by the patriarchal nature of society.
- Does the text support any of the following theories regarding witchcraft:
- Witches represent people's deepest fears about themselves and their society. (Brain: "universal belief regarding witchcraft")
- Witches represent a reversal of all that is considered normal behavior in a particular society. (Brain: "universal belief regarding witchcraft")
- Beliefs in witchcraft (and in the power of witches) increase when people cannot move away from sources of tension and when societal structure is heavily hierarchical, causing a rise in envy in the population. (Brain: lack of mobility theory)
- Beliefs in witchcraft (and in the power of witches) increase when people feel that the social center has been disrupted by excessive change and hence either create a periphery against which the center may be redefined or form an alternative social center (Ben-Yehuda: boundary maintenance theory)
- Beliefs in witchcraft (and in the power of witches) increase when people feel insecure about their environment (Lindenbaum: ecological theory)
- Witchcraft can serve as a mechanism for social control of deviance through allowing the expression and mediation of conflict (McPherson: conflict mediation theory)