ISIL Executes For “Witchcraft and Sorcery”

ISIL Executes For “Witchcraft and Sorcery” June 30, 2015

When it comes to sheer brutality and ignorance no group in the world currently measures up to ISIL*, the so-called “Islamic” state currently waging war in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the Middle East. Over the last two days the terrorist group has executed four people for the crimes of “witchcraft, sorcery, and working with elves.” The UK’s Independent reports:

Two women have become the first to be beheaded by Isis after being accused of witchcraft, sorcery and working with elves by the Islamic extremist group, according to reports emerging from eastern Syria.

The executions, for a supposed breach of sharia law, were carried out on Sunday and Monday respectively, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, said.

In separate executions, both women were put to death alongside their husbands in Deir ez-Zour province – the first in Deir ez-Zour city on Sunday, the second in Mayadin on Monday – after being accused of using un-Islamic medicine by the extremist group.

This is not the first time ISIL has executed a magic worker, but it is the first time I’ve seen the words “witchcraft,” “sorcery,” and “elf” in news reports. In another article chronicling the events of the last few days The Daily Mail mentions some of the other murders related to magic:

Last month, ISIS’s Libyan franchise, released their first images of a sorcerer being beheaded in the province of Barqah. Forced into wearing a grisly orange boiler suit, the man was forced to confess his alleged ‘crimes’ and accept his death sentence.

One of the images released as evidence of his guilt included a manuscript, covered in hand written Arabic in blue ink. The document is alleged to be some sort of spell or proof of black magic. ISIS also released photos of a magician being decapitated in the Iraqi province of Salahuddin.

A close up image of the man’s broken body shows a broken bag full of prayer beads lain near his body. ISIS claim the beads are trinkets and charms, a form of black magic condemned by the jihadi group as an act of blasphemy.

I try very hard to see the good in folks and don’t like walking around with hate in my heart, but I can honestly say I hate ISIL. They represent the absolute worst of humankind. I can’t say I’m surprised that ISIL has now executed people for witchcraft and sorcery, but today’s news hit me pretty hard. I know that the people murdered over the last few days weren’t witches in the way I use the term, but I think of all magical folk as kin.

It’s not spoken about very much in Pagan circles but Islam has a long magical tradition. The Picatrix, a highly influential medieval grimoire, was written by an Arabic scholar, and even contained some pagan undertones. Owen Davies in Grimoires: A History of Magical Books offers a quick summary:

“It was a compilation of instructions on astral magic describing how to make astrological talismans by drawing into them the power of the presiding spirits of the planets and stars. The rituls of conjuration for doing this required the magicians to wear elaborate apparel including helmets and swords. Animal sacrifices were involved such as a white dove to propitiate Venus and a black billy goat to honor Saturn.”

In addition to the high-magic of grimoires, Islam has a strong folk-magic tradition as well. The Muslim world is no stranger to divination, astrology, talismans, and various forms of sympathetic magic. Since magical-practices are often ignored by many scholars, it’s not much of a surprise that magic’s place in the Islamic world is often overlooked. There are millions of Muslims who use magic on a daily basis, and millions of Christians do the same. Groups like ISIL are not representative of how much of the Muslim world views the magical arts.

As I was reminded recently: that which cannot hex cannot heal. I’m starting to think I’ve got a few candles with the name ISIL on them.

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*Did you really think I’d call this group ISIS? Isis is the name of an Egyptian goddess, not a terrorist group, and I won’t associate her name with those monsters.


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