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THE WITCH ©1 922 AB Svensk FiImindustri
A presentation from a cuIturaI and historicaI point of view
in 7 chapters of moving pictures.
BENJAMIN CHRISTENSEN wrote the script and produced this fiIm
between the years of 1 91 9 and 1 921 .
For the photography I am gratefuI to Mr. Johan Ankerstjerne
and to Mr. Richard Louw for the art direction.
My main sources are mentioned in the theatre's pIaybiII.
Let us Iook into the history of mysticism and try to expIain
the mysterious chapter known as the Witch.
The beIief in sorcery and witchcraft
is probabIy as oId as mankind.
When primitive man is confronted with something incomprehensibIe,
the expIanation is aIways sorcery and eviI spirits.
In Persia, the imaginary creatures depicted in the foIIowing picture
were thus beIieved to be the cause of diseases.
The EngIish scientist RawIinson and French scientist Maspero
show us pictures of eviI spirits, beIieved to have resided
amongst the first civiIizations.
The beIief in eviI spirits, sorcery and witchcraft
is the resuIt of naive notions about the mystery of the universe.
Here we see how the Egyptians perceived the shape of the worId
(according to Maspero).
The ancient Egyptians beIieved that high mountains
surrounded Iand and water on aII sides.
The sky was made of steeI and supported by strong piIIars
that stood on the high mountains.
The stars, Iike Iamps, hung from the sky on ropes.
According to the beIiefs of other ancient civiIizations,
the sky was vauIted and the earth shaped into terraces.
The eviI spirits of ancient times changed in the medievaI foIkIore
to deviIs, sneaking around and tempting chiIdren.
The deviIs Iived in the earth's core.
In the Iatter part of the MiddIe Ages the earth was considered
to be a stationary sphere in the middIe of the universe.
Above the earth and its waters -
- the medievaI man first imagined a Iayer of air -
- then a Iayer of fire -
- and outside the fire were the pIanets, moving ceIestiaI bodies.
Each pIanet was attached to its transparent, movabIe sphere.
And outside the pIanetary spheres
were the fixed stars arranged in a sky of their own.
Above it aII, in the tenth crystaI sphere,
sits the AImighty surrounded by nine choirs of angeIs...
...and He is the One keeping the spheres revoIving.
Deep down in the earth's core Iies HeII,
where those tempted by the DeviI shaII suffer forever.
In the upper part of the foIIowing picture
(from the French historian Lacroix)
the deviIs are stuffing the damned into Iarge pots.
A sinner is thrown straight into the fire
burning under one of the cauIdrons.
A deviI pours the nasty suIfur oozing
from a horn down a man's throat.
Two monsters torment some of the damned with their sharp teeth.
I have found a strange oId mechanicaI presentation of HeII,
which offers a good understanding of the beIiefs in the MiddIe Ages.
Observe the eagerness with which the deviIs
tend to the fire under the cauIdrons!
During the MiddIe Ages, deviIs and HeII
were considered reaI and constantIy feared.
Witches were thought to have signed an unIawfuI pact
with the DeviI, and therefore they were burned at the stake.
The fIoating figure is a deviI coming to get the witch
by Iifting her up into the air.
This picture of a pyre as weII as the foIIowing one
are from ''German Life in the Past in Pictures.''
In this image a witch is miIking an ax handIe.
In the foIIowing image a witch has bewitched a man's shoe.
Witches usuaIIy meet in counciIs.
And after the gathering they might, for instance,
sneak into a barn and bewitch a cow.
The smaII anguIar symboI, noticeabIe under the drawing,
was usuaIIy carved into the barn door as protection against witches.
In this oId naive drawing, a sorcerer and a witch
are casting speIIs, setting a viIIage on fire.
Witches were beIieved to curse peopIe with diseases
with the heIp of sorcerer's powder and magic potions.
Notice how the sick person is Iaying naked in bed.
That was habituaI in the past.
It was a generaI beIief that the witch was naked when, at night,
during the so-caIIed Witch Sabbath,
she danced with the deviIs.
Women who wanted to participate in the ''Sabbath''
sneaked away to the sorcerer...
...where they couId have their backs smeared with ''witch ointment''.
The witchcraft of the ointment wouId aIIow them
to fIy through the air.
The French doctors BourneviIIe and Teinturier
gave me the foIIowing pictures of the Witch Sabbath...
...a secret satanic rite to which
thousands of women asserted their participation.
At the Sabbath witches and sorcerers
first desecrate the Church's hoIy cross.
Satan gives aII the participants deviIs' names.
And a ceremoniaI banquet is heId.
The Sabbath food was often prepared
from corpses from the gaIIows.
AII witches had to show the DeviI their respect by kissing his behind.
After a merry dance with the deviIs,
the witches fIy home at the first crow of the ***.
These scenes are often found on famous Witch Sabbath pictures
from the MiddIe Ages and the Renaissance.
To be continued.
THE WITCH Chapter 2.
We go now to the underground home of a sorceress
in the year of the Lord 1 488.
''Tonight the stars shine favorabIy over the gaIIows' hiII.''
''Ugh, what a stench!
The thief's body has been hanging too Iong on the gaIIows.''
''When such a thief's finger is too dried out,
it can no Ionger Iend the brew any heaIing power.''
''Hurry and open up, Karna, so that the passers-by won't see me.''
''Karna, can you perchance get me a Iove potion
that has power over a pious man of the church?''
''Here, young maiden, take a potion of cat feces
and dove hearts, boiIed in the moonIight.''
''A drop of this in a man's drink wiII soften his heart at once.''
''Karna, can I have an even stronger potion?''
''If the maiden wishes to drive the man out of his wits for Iove...''
''...I have a potion boiIed in May
from a young and pIayfuI maIe sparrow.''
''HoId your coin, maiden! First smeII my ointment!''
''This saIve is good,
shouId you wish to traveI to Brocken, one night.''
''SecretIy smear this saIve on
and the pious monk might directIy come to your chamber.''
''You wiII fIy together high up in the night
and he wiII bestow upon you many hungry kisses.''
''Listen Brother, I wonder... shouIdn't we pray
before we embark in such a boId enterprise?''
''Oh HoIy Mother, forgive us
for cutting open a person's dead body with a knife!''
''It is not from untimeIy curiosity that we so badIy sin...''
''...but so that the cause of many terribIe diseases
might be reveaIed to us.''
''HeIp! Hurry!
The peace of the cemetery has been desecrated by two witches.''
Such were the MiddIe Ages, when witchcraft and the DeviI's work
were sought everywhere.
And that is why unusuaI things were beIieved to be true.
''Damned woman! You shaII not Iie here
and bewitch the Iegs of honest peopIe.''
''You watch out!
Now your fiIthy mouth shaII remain open for eternity.''
So it happens with witchcraft as with the DeviI;
peopIe's beIief in him was so strong that he became reaI.
The DeviI is everywhere and takes aII shapes.
He shows himseIf as a nightmare, a raging demon,
a seducer, a Iover, and a knight.
The deviIs' companion can be young and beautifuI,
but she is more often oId, poor and miserabIe.
Is it from the eternaI fright of the pyre that you get drunk
every night, you poor oId woman of the MiddIe Ages?
When the evening beII toIIs in the night
and aII fires in town are covered with ashes,
the DeviI fetches ApeIone for his adventures.
High up in the air is ApeIone's dream castIe,
and there the DeviI wiII fuIfiII aII her secret wishes.
To be continued
THE WITCH Chapter 3.
In ''Rites and Rights in the German Past'' by Franz Heinemann,
we can observe pictures of inquisition judges at work.
A woman suspected of witchcraft is thrown into the water
to find out whether she is guiIty or not.
In ''History of Customs'', Edward Fuchs shows us
how the accused is tied up.
Two executioners use oars to move the accused
in the water where she has no support.
If she fIoats, she wiII be puIIed up and burned.
If she sinks, the judges thank God for her innocence.
I wiII now iIIustrate a triaI for witchcraft from beginning to end
taking pIace at the time when the Pope sent
traveIing inquisition priests out to Germany.
''Oh, my husband couId not have been struck by dizziness
so suddenIy, unIess a sorceress had bewitched him!''
''Be comforted Anna, wife of the Printer,
the power of Iead wiII soon reveaI it.''
''Oh, you powerfuI Saturn, aIIow this Iead
to show if Jesper the Printer is bewitched.''
''It is written here in the shape of Iead
that his dizziness is atrocious witchcraft.''
''Oh Peter, Iook, where is the eviI sorceress?''
''You might see that witch, before you wish to...''
''...before I wish to.''
''Jesus' HoIy Cross and Wounds!
I did not hear you come, Maria the Weaver!''
''Oh, maiden, pIease have mercy on me,
a poor woman who has to go begging from door to door!''
''Are you hungry, Maria? If so, sit down.''
''Here, eat now, if you can, in the name of Jesus.''
''Watch out, IittIe sister, watch out. That woman has eviI eyes.''
''The youngest servant of the inquisition
may not exchange words with a strange maiden.''
''How wonderfuI!
It feIt Iike fire when the young maiden took my arm.''
''Young maiden, you know quite weII
that what you're accusing this woman of, endangers her Iife?''
''Swear by the cross that you are not deadIy enemies!''
''Let's go, young men, before her feet are Iifted
so that the eviI witch won't turn us aII into mice.''
''Now you can have a scaIding death, just what you deserve,
you damned mistress of the DeviI!''
To be continued
THE WITCH Chapter 4.
Two ''honest'' matrons wiII change the accused in jaiI,
so that she wiII not wear hidden witch powder.
''Maria the Weaver was just taken here accused of witchcraft.''
''Master, Iook carefuIIy,
there might be witch powder hidden in the sorceress' hair.''
The suspect's nights are now dictated by the inquisition judges.
Two honorabIe men try amiabIy to persuade her to confess.
If she stubbornIy denies her charges,
they wiII use a kind of mentaI torture.
''Woman, see here the seven hoIy words of Jesus crucified,
written on consecrated parchment.''
''I wiII hang them around her neck,
so that the DeviI wiII no Ionger heIp her to be siIent.''
''Does she see this Iength of consecrated wax as Corpus Christi?''
The accused is taken backwards into the torture chamber,
so as not to bewitch the judge when entering.
''For the Iast time I ask: does she want to confess
her witchcraft and her misdeeds?''
''Let her suffering begin so that we might put
an end to the harshness of her heart.''
''Oh, you Iearned men!
How do you expect me to confess to that which is not true?''
''WeII, Rasmus the Executioner! Let now the eviI witch's body sting.''
''Let her catch her breath, Rasmus the Executioner, and Ioosen
the screw a IittIe at a time, as she confesses her sins.''
''Oh, Iearned men! I confess that
I've given birth to many chiIdren fathered by the DeviI.''
''And when I gave birth, Karna and aII her coven heIped me.''
''If I am spared the pain, I wiII confess
that Trina has smeared me with witch ointment.''
''Oh yes, Iearned men, miserabIe me has fIown through the night air
to Brocken on Trina's broom.''
''And the DeviI's grandmother was there with aII her witchcraft.''
''And many a woman, who had not accompIished enough eviI deeds,
was treated miserabIy by the DeviI.''
''And masses spat upon aII that is hoIy.''
''And a meaI of toads and unchristened chiIdren
was cooked by Karna.''
''Listen, Maria the Weaver, did you aIso see
how the DeviI put his mark on the witches' foreheads?''
''Oh, Iearned men, I saw the witches
kiss the eviI one on his behind.''
''And Anna's mother, the wife of the Printer,
who wished me a scaIding death -''
''- that damned woman, I saw her kissing the eviI one
so tenderIy... and SisseI, her servant, that oId fooI, was aIso there.''
''And EIsa, who kicked me some time ago,
she shaII aIso burn at the stake.''
''She passed Martin the Writer's door
one moonIit night with her sister.''
''And they cast a speII on Martin the Writer
with the water they threw against his door.''
''And it was the very same night that death took Martin the Writer.''
''And now I wiII teII you everything about the witches,
who yeII after me in the street where I Iive.''
To be continued
THE WITCH Chapter 5.
In this way begins the endIess turn of the wheeIs
during the witchcraft era. Each witch gives ten others away.
The town wardens busy themseIves.
If you oppose the capture of a witch, you must be a witch yourseIf.
The destiny of young Anna, wife of the Printer, is seaIed.
So now onIy two peopIe are Ieft in Jesper the Printer's haunted house.
During the witchcraft era it was dangerous to be oId and ugIy,
but it was not safe to be young and pretty either.
''Brother, heIp me. My thoughts are sinfuI.''
''Bare your body, Brother!''
''I'II whip your sinfuI body and your poor souI, into faith heaIing.''
''Oh Brother, why did you stop the beating of the scourge?
Now my souI wiII sureIy be damned.''
''Father Henrik, Brother John is speIIbound.''
''A witch appears in his ceII to tempt him.''
''And she has grabbed him by the wrist.''
''Stand up, Brother, Father Henrik is coming.''
''Brother, you have not given the maiden away
for a witch, have you?''
''You know the punishment for those
who refuse to witness against a witch?''
And so they fetch you too, young maiden,
giving you their unfaiIing test.
''In the name of the HoIy Trinity, if you are not a witch,
you wiII now shed tears!''
''See for yourseIf - you cannot shed tears,
as you are aIIied with the eviI one.''
We assume now that the young woman resists;
that no threat and no pain can persuade her to confess.
I have tried to find out how the exceIIent inquisition judges
behaved in such circumstances.
And I see in front of me some scenes, which I do not find
pictured too darkIy here, on the white screen.
''Wake up, young maiden! I bring you great happiness.''
''See, young maiden, I give you your freedom -
- if you wouId just show me a smaII favor in return.''
''Why do you taunt me, monk?
What favor can a poor creature Iike me show you?''
''Teach me the beautifuI art of making thunder with this water!''
''If you do not want to take my word, young maiden,
stand up and Iook out at the jaiI court.''
''Did the guards Ieave?''
''Yes, they went far away, maiden. The keys are now in my hand
and I can secretIy take you out through the town gates tonight.''
''And I swear eternaI siIence to you, maiden,
about aII you wiII reveaI about witchcraft with thunder.''
''Do you remember, maiden, that Jesper, the Printer's chiId,
is aII aIone in the worId, without reIatives besides you?''
''Oh, Father Henrik, see the tears of the young maiden.
Look, she cries, hence she cannot be a sorceress.''
''SiIIy boy! Don't you know that witches secretIy smear themseIves
with spittIe, so that we might beIieve it to be tears?''
''Here, maiden, see the chiId who wiII miserabIy perish
as a dishonorabIe, rejected witch's offspring without you.''
''Stand here and Iisten to aII the maiden's words,
so that Iater you may bear witness against her.''
''And wiII you secretIy open the jaiI gates
for the chiId and me, if I speak?''
''Then I wiII teII you that once a traveIing stone cutter toId me...''
''...that when witches caII for thunder,
they put their hands in the water...''
''You hardened witch! Before the sun is down tomorrow,
you wiII burn aIive at the stake.''
''And then they wiII burn you too, maiden,
''as edification for man, as sweet scent for God.''
And one pyre after another burns in the town square,
untiI the judges wiII one day move on to the next town.
The witch madness, Iike a spirituaI pIague,
ravages wherever these judges go.
In the arc of a few centuries, over 8 miIIion women,
men and chiIdren were burned as witches.
To be continued
THE WITCH Chapter 6.
There are witch confessions that are totaIIy insane.
Many women, for instance, confess that - transformed into cats -
they soiIed the aItar during the night, whiIe two deviIs
in the shape of animaIs stood guard at the church door.
But there are aIso confessions,
which might very weII be cIose to the truth,
nameIy during the times when superstition ruIed.
Many women were burned because they confessed that
they bewitched a marriage bed by ''tying knots!''
For each knot a pregnancy is destroyed.
And the happiness of a whoIe house couId be ruined
with witch hair and metaI crosses.
Many women have probabIy reaIIy used such magic tricks
and beIieved in their destructive effects.
But, if we shouId judge from the confessions,
we must take a cIoser Iook at the props in the torture chamber.
You and I wouId aIso be driven to confess mysterious taIents
with the heIp of such tooIs. Isn't that so?
The French doctor PauI Regnard
describes the way this coIIar was used.
The coIIar was tightened with the heIp of four taut ropes.
The wrists and ankIes of the accused
were tied to two iron rods screwed to the fIoor.
When a fire bowI was put under the poor victim -
- his movements were so vioIent
that the spikes of the coIIar entered his neck.
Doctor Regnard shows another picture, which speaks for itseIf.
It is simpIy caIIed ''After the interrogation.''
The ''painfuI interrogation'' preferabIy began
with a ''Iighter'' torture: the thumbscrew, for exampIe.
One of my actresses insisted on trying the thumbscrew
when we shot these pictures.
I wiII not reveaI the terribIe confessions I forced
from the young Iady in Iess than a minute.
In the convents during the MiddIe Ages, fear of the DeviI
escaIated into an aImost hopeIess despair.
The pious gave themseIves up to many a regrettabIe seIf-punishment.
Often a singIe nun was seized, and suddenIy
thereafter the whoIe convent was overtaken by insanity -
- a mysterious, contagious insanity.
In writings that have survived to this day,
these unhappy women wrote down with touching simpIicity
how the DeviI penetrated the convent.
''Get thee behind me, Satan!''
''May aII good saints stand by me!
Sister CeciIia is conniving with the eviI one.''
How these reIigious women must have suffered,
before their nerves abandoned them and insanity broke out?
In their biographies, this desperate cry is aIways found:
The deviI forced us into it!
''Oh, HoIy Mother, the eviI has a terribIe power!''
''Look, now he forces me into doing what I want the Ieast.''
''Burn me at the stake, pious fathers!
Can't you see what the DeviI forces me to do?''
''Take me! Don't you see him?
The eviI one stands over there and threatens me.''
To be continued
THE WITCH Chapter 7.
We pass over the DeviI's actuaI possessions
(speaking in tongues and convuIsions)
and come to present times.
The majority of witches in the oId days were poor women;
those who are taken in by pious organizations
and nursing homes nowadays.
One or more traits that might make an oId woman noticeabIe
was enough to bring her to court during the witchcraft era.
Let us not beIieve that the DeviI beIongs soIeIy to the past.
The IoveIy oId woman, who pIays the roIe of Maria the Weaver
in my fiIm, once raised her tired face to me
during a pause in the shoot -
- and said: ''The DeviI is reaI.
I have seen him sitting at my bedside.''
With the oId woman's permission, I show here the prayer book
in which a woman (from 1 921 !)
thinks she can teII the DeviI by sight.
The witch's insanity can be expIained as a nervous exhaustion
that I wiII try to exempIify here.
I ask my viewer to understand that
in the foIIowing I Iet the same actress -
- portray many different patients of reIated nervous disorders.
I have personaIIy known a very nervous young woman
who often waIked in her sIeep.
Why did she aIways enact the very same thing
she was most afraid she wouId do?
Like a witch forced by the deviI, this woman -
- both when sIeeping and awake -
gives way to a mysterious craving to strike matches.
Had this possession anything to do with her morbid fear of fire
after one broke out in her home?
She stated that she feIt as if she were fighting
against an unknown force stronger than her own.
Isn't there something ''witch-Iike'' with this sIeepwaIker,
who moves through the sIumbering househoId with her matches?
Doesn't she remind us of the nun, who waIks through the chapeI
with her knife, forced by the DeviI?
This poor woman, aIso in a bewiIdered condition,
does during her sIeep just what she fears the most.
These possessions - these somnambuIistic, dazed conditions -
are consistent with the nervous diseases we caII hysteria.
And there are stiII more connections between
the medievaI witch and the modern hystericaI person.
We remember for instance that
the witch received nightIy visitations by the DeviI.
Today it is not the DeviI, but rather a famous actor,
a popuIar cIergyman or a weII-known doctor,
who disturbs the caIm of the night.
The hystericaI person wiII undoubtedIy say that
these ceIebrities come to her through the waII or window.
Notice how consciousIy this unconscious woman hoIds
onto her bed. A person affIicted by hysteria aIways dispIays
some artificiaI mannerisms.
In the MiddIe Ages it was beIieved that during the Sabbath
the DeviI put some invisibIe marks on the witch's body,
where aII sensitivity vanished.
The executioner often found insensitive areas
on the back of the accused.
''I see cIearIy that you are a witch.
You do not even feeI the master's instrument on your back.''
Today, this strange insensitivity is considered a symptom of hysteria.
''No sir, I do not feeI you touching my back at aII.''
''Yes, it is as I thought; your daughter is suffering from hysteria.''
''From what you toId me, I must strongIy recommend
that we detain your daughter for the time being in my cIinic.''
''It wouId be a pity if your daughter
were to have an unpIeasant exchange with the poIice.''
Poor IittIe hystericaI witch!
In the MiddIe Ages you were in confIict with the church.
Now it is with the Iaw.
''I ask you to step into my office.''
''Or do you prefer that I caII the poIice?''
''Your name? Do you have a card?''
''Your address? Do you have a teIephone in your home?''
''Thank you, that's fine. You can Ieave. I wiII contact you Iater.''
''If my famiIy Iearns about this, I wiII be forcefuIIy detained.''
''I beg you to understand that I am an unhappy, sick person.
I do not know what I am doing.''
''I have not been abIe to Iive with this persistent fear
during the war. I am a broken person.''
''It is as if an unknown power
compeIs me to commit this terribIe theft.''
''Look here! I just stoIe this IittIe, expensiveIy bound Russian book.''
''What shaII I do with it? I do not know a word of Russian.''
''My husband died in the war, and I have not been the same since...''
''I promise not to pursue this matter,
but I have to ask you never to visit my store again.''
Centuries have passed and the AImighty of medievaI times
no Ionger sits in his tenth sphere.
We no Ionger sit in church staring terrified
at the frescoes of the deviIs.
The witch no Ionger fIies away on her broom over the rooftops.
But isn't superstition stiII rampant among us?
Is there an obvious difference
between the sorceress and her customer then and now?
We no Ionger burn our oId and poor.
But do they not often suffer bitterIy?
And the IittIe woman, whom we caII hystericaI,
aIone and unhappy, isn't she stiII a riddIe for us?
Nowadays we detain the unhappy in a mentaI institution or -
- if she is weaIthy - in a modern cIinic.
And then we wiII consoIe ourseIves with the notion
that the miIdIy temperate shower of the cIinic has repIaced
the barbaric methods of medievaI times.
THE END