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Medieval story essays
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Whether drowned, dismembered, burned, beheaded or poisoned, it is prudent to say that sorcerers and sorceresses in the Tales from the Thousand and one Nights almost overwhelmingly meet their demise in some unfortunate way. Their fates reveal the mentality of the times; practitioners of sorcery were viewed as malevolent schemers. These outcasts violated the natural order of things and deserved punishment. The tales are set in an age when “implicit belief in magic is entertained by almost all Muslims”. This leads to the examination of the forbidden nature of magic, and why sorcerers are viewed in such a negative light. Furthermore, the wider question of the implications status may have on the portrayal and punishment of magicians will be explored. …show more content…
Natural magic involved prestidigitation and sleight of hand ; those who practiced it were regarded as frauds and tricksters. Spiritual magic however was an entirely different notion, itself being split into the categories of high and low. High magic was considered divine, practiced only by the good for good. All users of high magic were said to have been drowned in the floods hence only wicked sorcerers practicing low magic influenced by the devil remained. Sorcery is referred to as Sihr. Although it has no explicit definition it has been described as, “man attempting to bend nature to his wishes by sheer force of spells and enchantments”. Some of the acts within sorcery’s realm include: divination, discovery of hidden treasures, enchantment, and harming/killing others. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Sihr is the equivalent of apostasy, a hadith of the renowned scholar Ibn Hanbal even goes as far as saying, “kill every sahir [sorcerer]… and sahira [sorceress]”. The carrying out of this statement can be seen in almost every magician’s demise in the discussed …show more content…
Many of them meet unfortunate ends nevertheless. The Tale of the Second Dervish exemplifies this sentiment. The princess agrees to her father’s wish to restore the dervish to human form “in Allah’s name” (274), but is killed for her efforts, regardless of good intention. While the dervish is thankful for her help he agrees that her death was divinely just, stating, “I wish that I could have died in her place… but, alas, none can revoke the degrees of Allah”. (277) Before dying the princess recites the Shahadah; regrettably, legal opinion argues that her soul would not be saved as, “when a Muslim did personally practice sorcery… he ought to be killed and no repentance was possible”. Despite the ability to create havoc with her magic, the princess chose to keep them hidden, until asked by her father about his wondrous ape. As an elite member of society she would be fully aware of the stigma attached to magic users, and reluctant to use
Ibn Munqidh, Usama. "From Memoirs." McNeill, William and Marilyn Robinson Waldman. The Islamic World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973. 184-206.
Throughout the late 17th century and into the early 18th century witchcraft prosecutions had been declining. This trend was the result of a multitude of social developments which altered the mentality of society. One of the predominant factors in this decline was the Scientific Revolution, the most important effect of these advances was making society question concepts of witchcraft. Along with this new mental outlook, we see that the Reformation had a similar effect on social opinion concerning witchcraft and magic. These two developments changed societies view on the occult and this led to a wider scepticism concerning witchcraft, this favoured those who had been accused and therefore caused a decline in prosecutions. Beyond the two trends mentioned however, it is important to consider judicial reforms and an improved socio-economic situation which reduced tensions within society. These two changes were certainly not as influential as the Scientific Revolution and the Reformation but heavily altered the circumstances in which accusations were normally made. With the altered social attitudes and mental outlook these changes in living situations all contributed to bring about the decline in witchcraft prosecutions.
While the Trobrianders and the Azande that Bronislaw Malinowski and E.E. Evans-Pritchard describe in their respective ethnographies are miles apart in terms of physical distance, both groups place a great emphasis on magic in their society. In describing such a concept that in Western terms is associated with fiction and skepticism, Malinowski and Evans-Pritchard differ in the way they explain the role magic has in each community.
Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2000.
The epoch of Medieval European history concerning the vast and complicated witch hunts spanning from 1450 to 1750 is demonstrative of the socioeconomic, religious, and cultural changes that were occurring within a population that was unprepared for the reconstruction of society. Though numerous conclusions concerning the witch trials, why they occurred, and who was prosecuted have been found within agreement, there remain interpretations that expand on the central beliefs. Through examining multiple arguments, a greater understanding of this period can be observed as there remains a staggering amount of catalysts and consequences that emerged. In the pursuit of a greater understanding, three different interpretations will be presented. These interpretations, which involve Brian Levack’s “The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe,” Eric Boss’s “Syphilis, Misogyny, and Witchcraft in 16th-Century Europe,” and Nachman Ben-Yehuda’s “The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th centuries:
Ansary, Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009.
Hilāl, ʻAlī Al-Dīn. Islamic Resurgence in the Arab World. New York, NY: Praeger, 1982. Print.
Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. New York: Scribner,
The Arabian Nights share folktales about the violence and consequences which arise from adultery and deviate sexual behavior. The tales gives the readers an idea of how multicultural traditions existed and survived. The corruption which exists through religions and beliefs is the reason such behaviors are still practice today.
Scarre, Geoffrey and John Callow. Witchcraft and Magic in Sixthteenth- and Seventeenth- Century Europe. 2nd Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.
Peterson, J. (2008, December). Arabian Peninsula Background Notes. Retrieved from Arabian Peninsula Background Notes: http://www.jepeterson.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/APBN-007_Tribes_and_Politics_in_Yemen.pdf
Magic originated with paganism, which was a pantheism view; they believed in more than one god. When the Christian church took over paganism they deemed all there practices and rituals to be satanic and that they used demons. The church had a monotheism view; they believed in only one god. The threat to the church was the notion of gnosis; that an initiate could unveil the
Haarmann, Ulrich W. “Ideology and history, identity, and alterity: the Arab image of the Turk from ‘Abbasids to modern Egypt.” International Journal of Middle East Studies May 1988. 5 April 2001. p.175-96.
... in witchcraft, this revisits the medieval and unfounded views on witches perpetuated by the Spanish Inquisition that we see in his earlier works.
Ahmed, Leila. “Early Islam and the Position of Women: The Problem of Interpretation.” In Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender, ed. Nikki R. Keddie and Beth Baron. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1991.