THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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CHAPTER TWO
DIABOLICAL WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC IN THE WEST
Introduction
In Chapter One, the ancient mythological origin of evil and the personification thereof in
the evolving figure of Satan was reviewed. Satanic worship is historically associated
with the emergence of European witchcraft in the Middle Ages, and medieval witch cults
became the prototype for subsequent Satanic cults. This chapter will briefly describe
diabolical witchcraft, the activities attributed to witches, and the social context of
witchcraft's emergence and decline in the West. This decline has not been pennanent,
however, and various fonns of occult activity associated with witchcraft have enjoyed a
renaissance. The reasons for the occult revival will be discussed, and the various occult
organisations and activities which fonn Satanism's prehistory will be outlined.
2.1 The origins of Demonic witchcraft in medieval Christendom
According to Hoyt (1989), the Ancient world "presents a concept of witchcraft complete
in every detail, essentially undifferentiated from that of the great witchcraft delusion and
attendant persecutions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe" (PAD).
Hecate, Circe, and Medea are mythological female witch figures from Greek antiquity,
who use magical powers to cruel and destructive ends. However, the European
conception of witchcraft which was to emerge in the Middle Ages targeted mortals rather
than mythical gods, and attributed to them the reversal of Christian values. This was
obviously impossible before Christianity asserted itself as the dominant religion over
Graeco-Roman polytheism. European witchcraft consequently had two main
components: belief in malevolent magic, and the idea of a diabolical conspiracy against
Christendom (Ankarloo and Henningsen, 1990).
Demonology, although based on isolated Biblical references, was a medieval creation and
had its origins in the Church's intolerance of religious dissent (Cohn, 1975; Kingston,
1976; Scarre, 1987). Heresy and demonology were related by virtue of the Church's