Old World Witchcraft: Book Excerpt

The Devil, of course, is not a pre-Christian European entity. He is imported into Europe from the Middle East and therefore has no original place in the Old World witchcraft of Europe as I know it. However, because the Church used the imagery of pre-Christian deity forms to depict the Devil (and demons), it becomes difficult to completely divorce an association with witchcraft. Confused peasants may have viewed the Devil as one of the old gods seen in a distorted way by the Church and its operatives. If Old Word witches ever called upon this entity, it was not the Devil of Judeo-Christian culture. It was instead the pre-Christian represented imagery of horn and hoof in which they recognized power.57

When considering the history of the Devil's appearance in writings about witchcraft, we cannot avoid references to Lucifer. In chapter two we noted him, but we must now go deeper in our exploration. In contemporary witchcraft we find two main streams of ideas flowing into modern views. One idea is related to the figure known as Cain, and the other to Lucifer. Both appear to bring elements of Judeo-Christian lore along with them (reinterpreted though they may be). Both of these streams also carry bits of lore from the concept of Lilith as she appears in an unofficial myth attached to the Garden of Eden story. Here she is the first wife made for Adam, who rejects her because she behaves as his equal. As a result, God banishes her and then creates Eve from a rib lifted from Adam's side, which denotes partnership to a lesser degree. In other words, Eve is subordinate to Adam in the Eden mythos.

Theologians, such as St. Augustine, put forth the notion that the descendants of Cain are inherently evil.58 Historian Montague Summers, in his book Witchcraft and Black Magic, tries to trace witchcraft from a revival in the time of Noah. Summers states that Ham revived the ways of witchcraft (after the Great Flood) and initiated his son Mizraim into its mysteries. But there is no mention of how Cain's bloodline survived the Flood (for Ham was Noah's son, himself directly descended from Adam). For Cain's direct line to have survived the Flood, one of the son's wives on the Ark would have to be a descendant of Cain.

In a Jewish extra-biblical tradition related to the Flood story, Noah allows Og (a son of Ham's wife) to save himself by clinging to the outside of the Ark. In one version of the tale Og is a giant, perhaps one of the Nephilim. The Nephilim appear in the Book of Genesis (6:1-4) and seem to be associated with the "sons of god" (angels) who mate with human women and produce offspring. The children of these angels and mortals are referred to as "the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown." The biblical verse states the Nephilim appear on earth after the mating between the sons of god and women. In popular belief the Nephilim are the offspring of this union, but this does not seem to agree with the chronology of events in the biblical account. References to the Nephilim appear later in Numbers 13:33 where they are referred to as the Anakim, the descendants of Anak (who in old lore is sometimes referred to as the first witch).

Summers argues that Ham studied the teachings of the fallen angels mentioned in the Book of Enoch as the Watchers. Ham also bore the name Ham-Zoroaster, which is possibly an attempt to connect him with the stellar cults of the Chaldeans/Babylonians. As mentioned, Ham initiated Mizraim (who reportedly left a legacy of magic to the Egyptians and other regions).

Lucifer was originally associated with the planet Venus in Roman times, which in this era was perceived as the morning star. In mythology he prepared the horses that carried the chariot of the sun through the day sky. In Latin his name means "the light-bringer," which is reflected in his mythological role related to the sun. In addition, Lucifer was the "herald of the light" because the appearance of Venus on the horizon is followed by the rising of the sun.

The Church concocted a connection between Satan and Lucifer through its misuse of a verse from the Book of Isaiah. In chapter 14, verses 12-15, the fall of the mighty king of Babylon is depicted. To the Hebrews of the period this king symbolized evil. The Hebrew word appearing in the reference in Isaiah is Helel ben-shahar, which means "bright son of the morning." The translators of the King James Bible inserted the Latin word Lucifer to take its place. This may have been the result of a New Testament verse in the Gospel of Luke (10:18), which refers to the fall of Satan from the heaven. Translators saw this reference to the fall of the king of Babylon as a metaphor, and so Satan became equated with Helel ben-shahar. The conflation between this name and Lucifer left the latter embedded in the persona of the Devil.

By the period of the Middle Ages, heretical sects existed that worshipped the Judeo-Christian devil under the name of Lucifer. As noted in earlier chapters, the Church was later successful in inventing a connection between witches and Satan. In this way, Lucifer became a name that appeared in the witchcraft trials. If indeed witches ever worshipped Lucifer, which one was it-the Judeo-Christian Prince of Darkness or the god known as the Light-Bringer in ancient Rome?