re: #109 imp_62

So they were truly witches and performed acts of magic and witchcraft? Flew around on brooms?

Oh, dear. Oh, dearie, dearie, me.

Let’s break a few things out:

1) Witchcraft - the heresy defined in the Maleus Malificarum, involving a pact with the devil - is an imaginary crime. A few deluded people have probably believed themselves guilty of it.

2) This does not mean that no one ever went to the crossroads at midnight, placed a hand at the crown of his head and another to the sole of his foot and wished the Devil to take all between.

3) There has always been sorcery - the attempt to use magic to move the world in the direction you wish it to go. Most societies have regarded sorcery with grave suspicion.