What's the difference between wizards in China and wizards in the West?

Here's what I found. Please read it patiently.

Tibetan wizard editor

Under the domination of primitive religious concepts, Tibetan ancestors thought: whether it is in heaven or not. There are gods in the ground or in the water, and everything in the world is subject to these gods. For example, natural phenomena and disasters such as earthquakes, skyfires, storms, thunder and lightning, floods, hail, etc., which are common on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, are all attributed to the magical power shown by these gods. At the same time, Tibetan ancestors discovered some objective things and natural phenomena in their life and production practice according to the laws of natural survival and competition. As long as people change their living habits and working methods slightly, they can adapt, and some can even be controlled and used for their own purposes. In other words, it is possible to influence some objective things and natural phenomena through artificial methods, or avoid their harm, or turn harm into benefit. For example, when it rains, people can cover their bodies with leaves; When the wind blows, people can hide in caves; People can use driftwood when crossing the river. Meanwhile. Hunting can get birds and beasts, gathering can get fruits, and so on. With the continuous development of human society, people gradually expand the leaves that can only shelter from the rain into animal skins that can shelter from the rain and keep out the cold, and even later fabrics; Picking wild fruits gradually developed into planting and regular harvesting; The cave shelter from the wind and rain has gradually evolved into a habitable house; Hunting gradually developed into domesticating birds and animals. ...

In the same way, the spiritual world of Tibetan ancestors also developed forward, just like living. They are not satisfied with covering themselves with leaves, hiding in caves, collecting wild fruits and hunting birds and animals for food. They are no longer satisfied with passively obeying the gifts and punishments of the gods. They want to influence and control these gods with certain methods or tools to change their "divine power". This is the background of primitive witchcraft of Tibetan ancestors. In fact, this is also the other side of human conquest of nature, but the former should belong to the practice of "creating people through labor" and the latter belongs to the spiritual side.

Although Tibetan ancestors have good wishes, they may not be able to realize them. Because of the low productivity at that time, people could not control and exert influence on objective things and some natural phenomena, and it was even more difficult to get what they wanted by simply using the "spiritual" method. Although this is well-known common sense today, it is impossible for Tibetan ancestors to understand it as we did in those ancient times. When their "spiritual" requirements are not realized and satisfied, they naturally pin this beautiful fantasy on "a person who can contact ghosts and gods". Then we can influence and control objective things and some natural phenomena through such people who can "touch public opinion and convey God's will". This is the objective background of the emergence of wizards on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Just as the fantasy of Tibetan ancestors can control and influence objective things and some natural phenomena, the appearance of wizards has gone through a long process. When people hold sacrifices and practice some kind of witchcraft, this subjective requirement is often impossible to achieve most of the time. However, some coincidences have come true and some expected results will be achieved. Therefore, this person who presides over sacrificial ceremonies and witchcraft activities is considered to have special witchcraft skills. In this way, the wizard, a special figure of primitive religion, came into being at the request of the times.

As the host of Tibetan primitive religious sacrifices, wizards were mostly held by clan elders and tribal leaders in primitive tribes and clan times. Mastering theocracy is the key condition for them to firmly grasp and control the power of clan and tribe. It is said that this ancient wizard can communicate with God, talk with ghosts and gods, reach public opinion and convey God's message. Predictable good and bad luck, eliminate disasters and eliminate diseases; You can also engage in miracles, divination, soul calling, exorcism and other witchcraft. They are the bridge and medium between man and God, and they are regarded as the spokesmen of God on some occasions. In short, wizards enjoy high prestige in the eyes of Tibetan ancestors.

Although we can't find any information about these primitive Tibetan wizards from Tibetan and Chinese classics today, we can also see the influence of our local wizards introduced into Tibetan areas by Xiang Xiong on the Tubo Dynasty.

The book "The Origin of this Religion" says: "The one who teaches the king is Racine, and the one who serves the king is Gusin". Then he said, "Your Majesty values Xin's words, but Xin hasn't said anything, so you can't make a will." The letter here is the wizard of our religion. Because Catholics said that their founder (founder) was Miwo, later Tibetan history books often used "Xin" as a synonym for this religion or "Xin" as a synonym for this wizard. As can be seen from this record, at that time, our wizard's power was quite great. Moreover, they have influenced the Tubo King Chaoda for twenty-six generations. It was not until around the 6th century AD that Indian Buddhism was introduced into Tubo and accepted by the Tubo royal family, and this religion gradually lost power and eventually withdrew from the political arena and was replaced by Buddhism.

There is no evidence in Tibetan-Chinese historical documents for these wizards in the primitive religious period in Tibet. So we know almost nothing about their names, inheritance, costumes, instruments, shrines, spells, witchcraft, divination and so on. In other words, the wizards who participated in the 26th regime of Tubo Dynasty can find very little information, not to mention those wizards in distant times. Even in the Biography of King Gesar, which is known as the encyclopedia of primitive tribal society on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, only the titles of some ancient wizards such as Ani, Yamu and Moma can be found. Fortunately, due to the vast territory and blocked traffic in Tibetan areas in China, the influence of Tibetan Buddhism in many remote areas is correspondingly weak, and some faces of wizards who are more or less close to primitive religions have been preserved for us. This is a blessing in disguise.

7 shaman wizard editor

The first magician in history was probably a shaman wizard, or a tribal warlock or a witch doctor. He is a medium of communication with the gods and can wander in the world of the gods.

We are all familiar with the characteristics of traditional witches, so we don't need to repeat them. Pharmacists or shamans usually hold a stick or stick in their hands and wear robes made of animal fur or bird hair. Shamanism originated in North Asia, Siberia and Eskimos. As a mysterious witchcraft, pharmacists in North America and witch doctors in Africa can be classified as shamanism. Those tribal wizards who are far away in the north and have obvious nomadic colors also gather animals by praying to God in order to help them when taking measures. Their nomadic lifestyle is very similar to the scenes described in French or Spanish cave murals.

The salvation of shamanism is full of animism. They believe that animals and plants, even all the "things" around us, have the same life and soul as men and women, so we can communicate with them completely. But not everyone can do this, only people with special abilities can do it. (This special ability has different names in different places. For example, the Melanesian tribe in the South Pacific called it "magic"-supernatural ability; The Sioux tribe among American Indians called it "Wakan spiritual power"-the spiritual power of doing nature in vain; The Iroquois tribe among North American aborigines is called "Aurand". )

People with this magical power can enter the world of the gods in a way similar to "meditation" in Buddhism (through the state of separation from the surrounding material environment through meditation). There, he can not only communicate with all the gods, but also communicate with God or God. He can get some information from the gods, and he can also use the power of the gods to heal the mental or physical wounds of patients. The power possessed by a wizard is usually closely related to his clothes. His clothes are often made of natural animal fur or feathers, indicating an alliance with nature. At some point in his magical journey, this alliance can help him. In the United States, wizards' cloaks are made of wild cowhide in North America; In Polynesia, the magician's cloak is made of a kind of bark cloth with exquisite patterns embroidered on it; Witchcraft cloaks in Tahiti and Hawaii are much more gorgeous than these. They are all carefully sewn with the feathers of a rare bird as raw materials. Shamanism wizards, witch doctors and magic pharmacists all have the ability to communicate with the souls of the dead, which is often called "channeling". The skills of Brazilian wizards are usually passed down from generation to generation-with occasional exceptions. If someone in the tribe does not inherit this extraordinary ability, then he is also qualified to learn the skill of "channeling". Let a god (the most prestigious of which belongs to jaguar) attach himself to him and make him a real wizard.

8 Eskimo Wizard Editor

The people in charge of religious affairs in Eskimo society are wizards, and there are wizards in every village. They are the most important people in the village, and both witches and wizards exist. A wizard in the eyes of Eskimos is a person with special ability to communicate with or influence God. Wizards are thought to be able to let their souls leave the body temporarily, communicate with the gods in the spiritual world and get in touch with some small gods, so these gods become the servants of wizards and give them advice and help. Wizards practice witchcraft through hypnosis, spells, ventriloquism and magic. The important role of wizards is to find out the causes of disasters, such as diseases and injuries, and find solutions. Eskimos believe that the cause of the disaster is that someone has offended the gods, so wizards usually find out which gods have been offended and why. Most of the findings are that someone broke the taboo. So people hold religious ceremonies to comfort the gods, or add rules to the original taboos to please the gods and take refuge from disasters. Wizards are believed to drive away ghosts attached to people, predict the weather, even change the weather, predict the future of divination and communicate with the souls of the dead. Wizards not only make amulets and sell them to others, but also make spells and sell them.

Because they can breathe and have their own names, theoretically every Eskimo has the ability to communicate directly with the spiritual world. But what kind of person can become a wizard? How can I become a wizard? How do wizards acquire these superhuman abilities? Eskimos vary from place to place. Some people think that this is a person's natural ability; In most areas, to become a wizard, you must practice for a period of time, or learn from other wizards, or fast at the top of the mountain or in caves for a period of time, and suddenly realize that you can finally get the ability to free your soul. Wizards should not only establish direct contact with the spiritual world, but also let some gods serve themselves.

Let's take a concrete example to see how Eskimo wizards cast spells. These are two stories that happened at the end of 19. At that time, the Varina family lived in a village in northwest Alaska. The whole family lives here most of the time, but they go whaling in the Cape of Good Hope every spring. This year, many people died of this disease because of the epidemic in the Cape of Good Hope. The whole family hesitated about whether to set out for whaling, so they hired a wizard to tell them what to do. The wizard gathered all the people in a dark room After people sat down, the wizard took out a small tent made of seal intestines, a puppet and a small lamp from his bag. He put the puppet and the lamp in a small tent. After closing the tent, the wizard began to drum and sing. After a while, the wizard lit the lamp in the tent, and the puppet inside stood up and walked around. Through the translucent tent, you can see the walking puppet. The wizard began to talk to the puppet, but of course others didn't understand. After talking for a few minutes, the puppet lay down, the lights went out, and the wizard beat the drums and sang again. After singing the song, the ceremony is over. When the wizard put his equipment in his bag, he announced that he could go to the Cape of Good Hope, so that no one would get sick and he could catch three whales. This is exciting news, so Valena's family went to the Cape of Good Hope. Fortunately, everything is safe.

Although wizards have magical powers, they are still ordinary people. They can't get rid of people's desires and resist external influences. Some wizards abuse their power and fall into power struggle, always trying to bring disaster or death to their opponents or their families, or even the whole village to defeat them. According to the survivors, the biggest disaster caused by the struggle between wizards is famine. Most wizards use their special skills to benefit from their communities, so Eskimos need a good wizard very much. They think that an incompetent and boastful wizard will become a mouse. When a qualified wizard can't determine the cause of famine, it indicates the disaster of Eskimos. But if there is no wizard's divination, Eskimos will feel that life will be more difficult, and they don't know what will happen in the world. In the history of Eskimos, wizards played a major role in various festivals. Eskimos in the eastern region can hold festivals as long as they are happy. In crowded places, wizards always lose no time to show their magic. Wizards ruled the religion of Eskimos until the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century. With the arrival of white people, various Christian sects entered Eskimo villages. Today almost all Eskimos have converted to Christianity.

Wizard disaster editor

This evil wave of witch persecution, from 1480 to 1780, swept through Europe for 300 years. Once a chaste woman is falsely accused of being a "witch", she is immediately beheaded and her body is burned. There are countless ghosts under the sword. This is a dark chapter in the history of medieval Europe and human civilization.

The annual carnival has passed again. Every year in late winter, early spring and Rose Monday, the climax of carnival, on which "idiots and witches" parade through the city and groups of "demons" dance around. And when people are shouting, jumping and enjoying themselves, who will think of the tragic story of "witch" hundreds of years ago?

Looking south from the intersection in the center of the ancient city of Freiburg, the antique Martin Gate stands a hundred meters away. On the stocky stone wall, a metal card explained in German was nailed, which read: "1599 On March 24th, Margarita M, Katarina S and Anna W were beheaded and burned, and they became victims of the evil wave of witch persecution. They are just representatives of many innocent people in Freiburg. I want to use this card to commemorate those ghosts. " However, a few words make people think a lot, causing a deep desire in my heart to uncover the long, dark and horrible history hidden behind, which is a bloody chapter in the history of medieval Europe and human civilization.

Ghost of the castle

This story happened more than 400 years ago.

At that time, there was a tailor named Jacques in Freiburg. He is smart, honest and diligent, and he is the president of the famous tailor's association. From 65438 to 0562, he also joined the municipal government and became one of the leaders of 30 cities. Jacques has two daughters under his knee. Jacques remarried soon after his wife died of illness. His second wife Margaret gave birth to a son and a daughter, a boy named Philip and a girl named Susanna.

18 is fleeting, and the children have grown up. Daughter Susanna still interacted with other men after marriage, which violated the relevant laws and regulations at that time. However, as long as Jacques is in the government, the reputation of this family can be maintained. Only after 1583, he felt that he was old and frail and asked to resign, the rumors about his wife Margaret and his daughter Susanna became the topic of street talk again.

1587 One day, Susanna's husband was imprisoned for several days for being in debt. Taking this opportunity, Susanna had frequent contacts with Marcus, a college student lover, and they had indecent behavior in broad daylight, which led to Marcus being detained many times. But once released, he did it again, so the police had to put them in prison together. But Marcus is still restless in prison, making noise every day. Finally, the city government had to order Marcus to be driven out of Freiburg and not allowed to enter the city gate again.

Poor Jacques was seriously ill at that time, and he couldn't find any old colleagues and friends to intercede for his daughter in prison. Margaret had to go out and spend money to redeem her daughter. But the story is not over. One day, an idle butcher called margarita "witch" when chatting. Although he immediately retracted this statement and admitted that it was just a "sloppy, irresponsible and irresponsible" nonsense, it spread all over the streets of the city like wings. You know, in those days, witches and "heretics" were the same name, and people who were classified as witches were sentenced to death.

Jacques tried his best to defend his wife at first, but he was helpless and died soon. Next, Jacques' ex-wife's two sons-in-law competed with Margarita for inheritance, while Susanna's husband, who had never loved, took the opportunity to take most of the money and ran away. From then on, poor Margaret began a long and difficult life: intrigue at home, being accused of being a widow everywhere, and people's jealousy of her property. She was finally accused as a "witch" by four Fribourg citizens on February 1599, and was arrested and imprisoned on the same day. Meanwhile, Katarina and Anna were imprisoned. Before them, six women were detained as "witch suspects".

At first, Margaret refused to admit that she was a "witch" and committed a crime against God. But under the escalating torture, Margaret had to confess all the charges imposed on her. Her confession is as follows:

1. One night ten years ago, a black-faced man appeared in her garden. The man flirted with her, and she fulfilled his wish. He is a cold-hearted man. He advised her not to believe in God, and she did, but she immediately felt guilty.

3. The man said his name was Hemeling and gave her a witch broom and some witch cream (for witchcraft-author's note).

She used to fly in her garden at night for a while.

She used this broom to fly to George's home, and also visited Katarina's home and Anna's home.

6. Many women she doesn't know have been to her house. They eat and drink together. For today's seemingly absurd confession, the court quickly made a judgment: sentenced to death, executed on1March 24, 599, beheaded by sword and burned by firewood. The end of the trial was: "God has mercy on this poor soul."

Traditionally, witches were burned alive like pagans. However, before her, in February 13, when the municipal government Committee voted on the execution methods of the other three witches, it passed the decision of "beheading first and then burning" with an absolute majority. Therefore, she and the other two "witches" will not be burned alive again, but after being beheaded, the bodies will still be thrown on the woodpile and burned to ensure the complete elimination of the "witch bodies".

Frejborg1599 On March 24th, that cold early spring day, on the riverbank not far from Martin Gate at that time, Margaret and other three people accused of being witches will be beheaded here. Under the riverbank, on the other side of the river, people came to watch. They saw the spattered blood under the knife light, and then followed the cart with the bodies to the crematorium 2 kilometers south of the city. It is an important commercial traffic artery. Around the woodpile prepared in advance, more people gathered to watch, and burning the bodies there was the best place to set an example for others.

Margaret, Katarina and Anna became victims of religious evil forces in the craziest period of the evil wave of persecuting witches in Europe in the late Middle Ages (1590 ~ 1630). This evil tide of persecution, which started around 1480 and continued to 1780, swept through Europe for almost 300 years. A good woman like Margaret suddenly fell from the sky, and countless innocent people died in the fire. The number of victims estimated by experts varies greatly, ranging from one hundred thousand to several million. The reason why the data is unknown is that the court records have long been lost, and on the other hand, in many cases, it is difficult to determine whether the victims were convicted on the basis of witchcraft or heresy. However, in Germany, there are still two credible figures that can explain the rampant wave of persecution at that time. First, in Bambeck, a small town in Bavaria, at that time, in this castle with a population of 6,000, 600 people were sentenced to witches and died in the fire within five years; At the same time, in Wü rzburg (population about 6,000), nearly 900 people died unjustly, which is equivalent to a "witch" being executed every two days.

The source of evil

To find out the origin of the word "witch", we have to go back to the early history of human civilization. In fact, human society has a long history of imagining witchcraft, witchcraft and the devil with supernatural power. In ancient times, productivity was very low, and life was mostly determined by natural factors. When people need to explain the survival dilemma such as famine, poverty, epidemic diseases, natural disasters and man-made disasters, it is easy to blame everything on an unnatural or supernatural force-demons, wizards and genies. Even in today's highly developed science and technology, there is still a belief in witchcraft in an uncivilized society.

In ancient Greek and Roman literature, which had a great influence on early European culture, people can find many descriptions of witchcraft and demons. Hekate in ancient Greece was a powerful banshee. She asked people to sacrifice her with dogs. Whenever night falls, she will come to earth accompanied by the dog of hell to scare witches like Medea. They should be considered as the oldest witches.

In ancient Rome in 450 BC, there was also a legend that witches could destroy the harvest. In the Latin writing at that time, there were various images of witches. Some of them can become owls at night, some can suck human blood, some can kidnap children, some can make drugs, and some can make waves.

The archetypes of witches written by ancient Roman writers can be read around AD 100. They are women abandoned by the emperor and God. They bowed to God and humbled themselves. The graves of the dead are their homes. They know all the secrets of hell, and make witch cream from corpses and feces. They are all monsters turned from human beings. They are cruel, fierce, arrogant and crazy, and they can predict the future.

In ancient Europe, where wars, plagues and famines often led to a sharp decline in population, the precarious life aggravated people's uneasy fears and they had to find some scapegoats to vent their anger and hatred. Jews, for example, bear the brunt. People accused them of poisoning wells and putting ointment on doorknobs and walls to speed up the spread of diseases.

In addition, the description of the kingdom of Satan in the Bible is also the root of people's "concoction" of the lich. Satan is the enemy of God, the king of the devil and hell, and the main competitor and slanderer of God. Satan is also said to be a vicious fighter, who was born by God because of his despicable character of jealousy and arrogance.

Nevertheless, until the middle Middle Ages, although some people suggested that witches should be executed, the debate about the existence of witchcraft still failed to form a climate. In the Carolingian dynasty of Germany (75 1 ~ 987), people who believed in ghosts and witchcraft were accused instead. At that time (AD 900), there were many descriptions of wizards and demons in a textbook dedicated to bishops, but they all came down to superstition, and the communicators should be punished.

However, by the end of 12 and the beginning of 13, the Catholic church in western Europe had a major turning point, and the power of the pope reached its peak during the reign of Innezan III (1198 ~1216). Innocent has established a strict hierarchy of churches, in which the Pope is the supreme leader of the Catholic Church, followed by archbishops and bishops. Bishops have their own jurisdiction to manage the church affairs in their parish. The Pope has all the power, and bishops in all countries should obey him completely. Innocent has a famous saying: "The Pope is the sun, and the emperor is the moon, just as the moon wants glory from the sun, and the emperor wants political power from the Pope." At that time, kings under feudal monarchies in Britain, Sweden, Denmark and other countries all bowed to the Pope, and the German emperor was no exception.

An important result of the absolute concentration of papal power is the monopoly of faith and cultural education. They established a theoretical outline against heresy and brutally persecuted and suppressed those who they thought were suspicious or opposed to Catholic teachings. Thousands of French people were robbed and killed when they brutally suppressed the opposition forces in Albi, southern France.

Starting from 1232, the Roman church authorized Dominican missionaries to preside over the crusade, trial and persecution of "despicable acts" of pagans. Anyone who is regarded as disrespecting the authority of the Catholic Pope and openly avoiding the teachings of the church will be convicted of heresy and persecuted by the notorious "heresy inquisition" (also known as the inquisition, established in 123 1). Dominic (1170 ~1221year) is Spanish, and Dominic was the founder of the missionary friars' society in 12 16. Most of the supreme magistrates of heretical courts are members of the Dominican Missionary Association. Their methods of dealing with "cults" are secret trials, torture and burning at the stake. 1252, the Pope also publicly acknowledged that torture is a legal interrogation method. This makes the confession methods that have been recognized before, such as self-statement, swearing innocence to God, become worthless; It also broke the previous convention that "there are prosecutors and judges" in church courts.

1233, Pope Gregory IX equated heresy with witchcraft for the first time in the Imperial edict on punishing heresy.

The first German to carry out the Pope's decree was Marburg, who was the president and judge of heretical courts all over Germany at that time. According to the regulations, the magistrate can get half of all the property of the heresy. Therefore, he specially arrested nobles and rich people, tried them and sentenced them to death for heresy. I'm afraid it was because of his evil deeds that people were very angry and were soon killed. Then, at the German church meeting in Mainz, the church unanimously passed a resolution to eliminate missionaries and rectify heretical courts. This decision saved Germany from being discredited by heretical courts for the next 250 years, before the Pope issued an edict to punish witches and published the book The Hammer Witch. However, in Spain, France and Italy, the hardest hit areas of heretical courts, countless innocent people were persecuted by this court. Bruno, a famous astronomer, is one of them. He put forward the theory that "the universe is infinite, and the sun is not the center of the universe or static", and was burned to death in the Flower Square in Rome, Italy in February 1600.

1479, Pope Ingerson VIII appointed two Dominican missionaries, Ingersoll dorris and Spenger, as heretical magistrates in Germany and the Rhine region in order to deal with the resistance of the German local government to the heretical inquisition. Dorris hunted pagans and wizards in many areas. Spenger is a great scholar and a professor at Cologne Theological Seminary.

These two are ruthless and extreme priests. It was the two of them who went south to Rome in 1484 to meet Pope Ingerson VIII, told the Pope about the inevitability and harmfulness of the existence of the Satan kingdom in Germany and the necessity of resolute suppression, and persuaded the Pope to punish the witch who brought disaster to the country and the people. Three years later, the infamous Hammer of Hexene by two theologians came into being, which is an important violent program and legal document in the evil wave of persecuting witches in the next few hundred years. As a result, Germany became an important town in western Europe in the evil wave of killing witches.

1452, 400 years after the invention of Chinese movable type printing, Gutenberg invented the printing technology of 26 Latin letters. The application and popularization of this new printing technology made this book spread rapidly in Europe. At first, people who were skeptical about the existence of witches gradually believed it. Then, the indictment flew like a snowflake. At that time, firewood was burning, smoke covered the sun, and there was killing everywhere. The people's life under the threat of repeated plagues, coupled with the spiritual noose, can be described as hot water and miserable. The appearance of this book eventually led to a lasting and extensive wave of punishing witches. During the nearly 200 years from 1487 to 1669, the book was reprinted nearly 30 times.

full of wild talk

The book Hammer Witch has three main parts. The first part expounds in detail the real existence of the devil kingdom in the kingdom of God. At the beginning of the book, it is clearly pointed out: "Those who deny the existence of witchcraft are pagans." The book also explains that the owners of witchcraft are mostly women, because women's endless demand for pleasure and their greedy physiological desires determine that they want to have an affair with the devil to achieve satisfaction. In addition, women are weak-willed and easily tempted by the devil. What's more, they quoted the Bible to explain that because women were created by God from Adam's chest ribs, women themselves could not be perfect and were doomed to be inferior to men. In addition, human evil appeared after Eve, so women must be the source of all evil. Under the guidance of this theory, nearly 90% of those accused of witchcraft are women. The second part of the book systematically describes the behavior characteristics of witches: they will fly in the air, commit adultery with monsters, and create famine and plague ... The third part of the book is the specific interrogation procedure for witches, which is an effective method to ensure the success of the trial. There are no prosecution procedures and no defenders here. In addition to extorting confessions by torture, there are witch tests. In particular, the author of this book emphasizes that because the devil enchants witches, witches will no longer be sensitive to pain, which should be used as the basis for judging cruel punishment.

Paradoxically, the religious court at that time actually tried the case with reference to these provisions in the book. In addition to corporal punishment, the witch screening method they use is even more jaw-dropping. For example:

Burning iron: burn the defendant's hand with a red-hot iron block. If you burn your hand, you are guilty.

Acupuncture: Let the defendant take off his clothes and use acupuncture all over his body. If he has no feeling in some part of his body, he will be judged as a witch.

Flooding: Bind the defendant's hands and feet and throw them into the lake. If she floats on the water, it means that she is blessed by the devil and must be sent to the stake.

As a result of these absurd trials, whether they are "guilty" or not, they will die: they will either drown in the water or burn to death.

For example, Margaret's confession introduced in the previous paragraph of this article, as well as the confessions of all "witches" who were tortured at that time, are similar, and all meet the criteria for witch conviction formulated in this wizard's guide "The Hammer Witch". They all have four major crimes: making an agreement with the devil (possessed by ghosts), having an affair with the devil (becoming a member of Satan's kingdom) and attending a witch party (they are in collusion).