Re: When Will A Respected and Influential Leader S
Terrible Tresses: the Maleficent Meaning of the Hair of Witches
The witch-hunt mania in mediaeval Europe and early America did much to crystallize cultural ideas about witches and their diabolical craft. The iconography of witches has adapted over time but has consistently drawn from established motifs in its depiction of practitioners of the Dark Arts. One of the most commonly repeated elements in artistic representation of witches is long, unbound hair. Popular imagination universally conjures the composite image of a crone with wild tresses, sometimes escaping from beneath a pointed hat. While this enduring symbol seems like the stuff of folklore and fairytales, the tradition of a long-haired witch is rooted in deep magical, and arguably satanic, traditions making witches the diametric antithesis of the Godly woman whose uncut hair symbolizes her acceptance of Biblical order and supernaturally empowers and protects her (I Cor. 11.10).
In 1486, Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch’s Hammer) was published in response to a bull set forth by Pope Innocent VIII lamenting the discovery of witches, especially in Northern Germany. The Malleus became a widely-used manual in the identification and persecution of alleged witches. Authored by appointees of the pope, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, the treatise fully develops the ancient ideas set forth by ante-Nicene writers like Irenaeus and Tertullian who identified the antediluvian “Sons of God” in Genesis 6 as fallen angels. Cited among the characteristics of a woman likely to attract demonic attention were those with “beautiful hair” (Kramer & Sprenger 166). Headcoverings, which were widely worn during the Middle Ages, were particularly important for this reason. According to the Malleus, uncovered hair could invite demonic interference, and an accused witch should be completely shaven in order to rid her of any hiding place of charms or talismans and to break her ability to remain silent before her inquisitors (Kramer & Sprenger 229-230). Sir James Frazer, a respected British folklorist, writes: “Here in Europe it used to be thought that the maleficent powers of witches and wizards resided in their hair, and that nothing could make any impression on these miscreants so long as they their hair on” (Frazer 485). Depilation was almost universally believed to elicit confessions. In Toulouse, Millaeus, an inquisitor, records the confessions of several persons after they were stripped and shaven. In Scotland, Satan was declared to have preached from the pulpit of North Berwick church telling his evil followers that they could not be harmed “sa lang as their hair wes on” (Dalyell 637-639).
In the 16th Century, artists began depicting witches in woodcuts and drawings. Albrecht Dürer and Hans Baldung Grien produced some of the most grotesque depictions of witches. Many of the artworks illustrate the Witches’ Sabbath, in which they consort with demons and produce exploding potions in cauldrons, surrounded by bones, broomsticks, and familiars. The viewer cannot help but notice the hair of the haggard witch. The witches’ hair is usually unbound, uncovered, and flying. In a print produced in 1500, Dürer shows an old witch perched backwards on a flying goat, symbol of the devil. Her reverse seat symbolizes her rejection of natural order, and her hair stands straight out from her head in the wrong direction, against the current of wind that would be produced by the flight. In a Baldung chiaroscuro woodcut from 1510, several witches are shown at a Sabbath, each ones hair extended in its own direction. The apparent independence of their hair from elements of weather or wind produces the effect of magical animation. The hair is visually part of the Black worship they perform and, in agreement with the Malleus, symbolizes wantonness and lust. In German custom, married women were required to veil their heads (Parr 47). The freed tresses of the witches’ heads show their rejection of familial, social, and ecclesiastical order. Samuel admonished Saul: “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (I Sam. 15.23), and she stands opposite the submitted woman whose hair signifies her subjection to Christ and her husband.
According to The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, if a witch shakes her hair a spell will become twice as powerful (Guiley 147). In 1633, Bessie Skebister was accused and convicted in Scotland of causing her neighbor, Margaret Mudie, to become sick by shaking her hair at her (Cooper 197). Even amongst heathen cultures in India and Mexico, witches were deprived of their powerful hair. The ancient Aztecs would crop the hair of a witch taking from them “all their power of sorcery and enchantment . . .” (Frazer 486).
It has been observed that for every sacred establishment of God, Satan has produced a profane counterfeit. This is certainly true of the hair of a witch, traditionally pervaded with satanic power. The careful student of superstition, iconography and history cannot deny the endurance of the connection between the witch and her hair. Even the cartoon witches of Halloween are depicted with long tresses. Her loathsome locks contrast with the God-given covering of beauty, glory, and power prescribed by Paul for the adornment and supernatural protection of Christian women. The fact that Satan recognizes the value of long hair and re-purposes it as a sign of evil, disorder, and demonic power should instill in Pentecostal women a renewed appreciation for their own veil of hair, a divinely ordained and anointed symbol of God’s order and a weapon of righteousness and godliness.
Sources:
Cooper, Wendy. Hair: Sex Society Symbolism. Stein and Day, New York: 1971.
Dalyell, J.G. The Darker Superstitions of Scotland. Edinburgh: 1834.
Frazer, Sir James George. Folk-Lore in the Old Testament: Studies in Comparative Religion, Legend, & Law, v. 2. Macmillian and Co., London: 1918.
Guiley, Rosemary. The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft 2nd ed. Checkmark Books, New York: 1999.
Kramer, Heinrich and James Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer & Sprenger. Montague Summer, ed. and trans. Dover Publications, Inc., New York: 1971.
Parr, Elizabeth. Wayward Women [Thesis]. University of Oregon, June 2004.
Re: When Will A Respected and Influential Leader S
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastor Poster
Terrible Tresses: the Maleficent Meaning of the Hair of Witches
The witch-hunt mania in mediaeval Europe and early America did much to crystallize cultural ideas about witches and their diabolical craft. The iconography of witches has adapted over time but has consistently drawn from established motifs in its depiction of practitioners of the Dark Arts. One of the most commonly repeated elements in artistic representation of witches is long, unbound hair. Popular imagination universally conjures the composite image of a crone with wild tresses, sometimes escaping from beneath a pointed hat. While this enduring symbol seems like the stuff of folklore and fairytales, the tradition of a long-haired witch is rooted in deep magical, and arguably satanic, traditions making witches the diametric antithesis of the Godly woman whose uncut hair symbolizes her acceptance of Biblical order and supernaturally empowers and protects her (I Cor. 11.10).
In 1486, Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch’s Hammer) was published in response to a bull set forth by Pope Innocent VIII lamenting the discovery of witches, especially in Northern Germany. The Malleus became a widely-used manual in the identification and persecution of alleged witches. Authored by appointees of the pope, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, the treatise fully develops the ancient ideas set forth by ante-Nicene writers like Irenaeus and Tertullian who identified the antediluvian “Sons of God” in Genesis 6 as fallen angels. Cited among the characteristics of a woman likely to attract demonic attention were those with “beautiful hair” (Kramer & Sprenger 166). Headcoverings, which were widely worn during the Middle Ages, were particularly important for this reason. According to the Malleus, uncovered hair could invite demonic interference, and an accused witch should be completely shaven in order to rid her of any hiding place of charms or talismans and to break her ability to remain silent before her inquisitors (Kramer & Sprenger 229-230). Sir James Frazer, a respected British folklorist, writes: “Here in Europe it used to be thought that the maleficent powers of witches and wizards resided in their hair, and that nothing could make any impression on these miscreants so long as they their hair on” (Frazer 485). Depilation was almost universally believed to elicit confessions. In Toulouse, Millaeus, an inquisitor, records the confessions of several persons after they were stripped and shaven. In Scotland, Satan was declared to have preached from the pulpit of North Berwick church telling his evil followers that they could not be harmed “sa lang as their hair wes on” (Dalyell 637-639).
In the 16th Century, artists began depicting witches in woodcuts and drawings. Albrecht Dürer and Hans Baldung Grien produced some of the most grotesque depictions of witches. Many of the artworks illustrate the Witches’ Sabbath, in which they consort with demons and produce exploding potions in cauldrons, surrounded by bones, broomsticks, and familiars. The viewer cannot help but notice the hair of the haggard witch. The witches’ hair is usually unbound, uncovered, and flying. In a print produced in 1500, Dürer shows an old witch perched backwards on a flying goat, symbol of the devil. Her reverse seat symbolizes her rejection of natural order, and her hair stands straight out from her head in the wrong direction, against the current of wind that would be produced by the flight. In a Baldung chiaroscuro woodcut from 1510, several witches are shown at a Sabbath, each ones hair extended in its own direction. The apparent independence of their hair from elements of weather or wind produces the effect of magical animation. The hair is visually part of the Black worship they perform and, in agreement with the Malleus, symbolizes wantonness and lust. In German custom, married women were required to veil their heads (Parr 47). The freed tresses of the witches’ heads show their rejection of familial, social, and ecclesiastical order. Samuel admonished Saul: “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (I Sam. 15.23), and she stands opposite the submitted woman whose hair signifies her subjection to Christ and her husband.
According to The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, if a witch shakes her hair a spell will become twice as powerful (Guiley 147). In 1633, Bessie Skebister was accused and convicted in Scotland of causing her neighbor, Margaret Mudie, to become sick by shaking her hair at her (Cooper 197). Even amongst heathen cultures in India and Mexico, witches were deprived of their powerful hair. The ancient Aztecs would crop the hair of a witch taking from them “all their power of sorcery and enchantment . . .” (Frazer 486).
It has been observed that for every sacred establishment of God, Satan has produced a profane counterfeit. This is certainly true of the hair of a witch, traditionally pervaded with satanic power. The careful student of superstition, iconography and history cannot deny the endurance of the connection between the witch and her hair. Even the cartoon witches of Halloween are depicted with long tresses. Her loathsome locks contrast with the God-given covering of beauty, glory, and power prescribed by Paul for the adornment and supernatural protection of Christian women. The fact that Satan recognizes the value of long hair and re-purposes it as a sign of evil, disorder, and demonic power should instill in Pentecostal women a renewed appreciation for their own veil of hair, a divinely ordained and anointed symbol of God’s order and a weapon of righteousness and godliness.
Sources:
Cooper, Wendy. Hair: Sex Society Symbolism. Stein and Day, New York: 1971.
Dalyell, J.G. The Darker Superstitions of Scotland. Edinburgh: 1834.
Frazer, Sir James George. Folk-Lore in the Old Testament: Studies in Comparative Religion, Legend, & Law, v. 2. Macmillian and Co., London: 1918.
Guiley, Rosemary. The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft 2nd ed. Checkmark Books, New York: 1999.
Kramer, Heinrich and James Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer & Sprenger. Montague Summer, ed. and trans. Dover Publications, Inc., New York: 1971.
Parr, Elizabeth. Wayward Women [Thesis]. University of Oregon, June 2004.
www.oldlandmark.wordpress.com
Pastor P, I will honestly have to digest this and let you know how I feel about it. Honestly, taking this at face value and disregarding what else has been said in these threads, this sounds very similar to what people say about the tongue.
__________________
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Houston.
Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois
Re: When Will A Respected and Influential Leader S
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstew
CC, I do understand the raising of the eybrows and the concern. I personally do not equate this to looking for gold dust because there is at the very least discussion of women and hair and angels and power in the Bible. I certainly don't agree with the "doctrine" as it was characterized here, but I seriously doubt that most of the supposed teachers of this "doctrine" would agree with it as it was characterized here.
Like I stated before, If a man of God felt led of God to do something unorthodox I would probably give him a little leeway, test the spirit of it, and see what it brought about. However, if someone started to teach it in a way that I felt was a different doctrine, I would have to respond much differently. I for one though do not feel that everytime someone uses a symbol, they are trying to replace the actual Power. I do it all the time with oil, Paul did it with cloths.
__________________ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Re: When Will A Respected and Influential Leader S
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweet Pea
The author of the Tresses piece speaks of symbols but also states
Quote:
the diametric antithesis of the Godly woman whose uncut hair symbolizes her acceptance of Biblical order and supernaturally empowers and protects her (I Cor. 11.10)
Granted he/she believes hair symbolizes God's order but to say uncut hair supernaturally empowers and protects ....
for all intents and purposes REPLACES THE HOLY GHOST ....
This is unacceptable ... this shatters the foundation of everything ... Pentecostal.
Re: When Will A Respected and Influential Leader S
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstew
Can you tell me which Herald? I would like to read it. Ferd, I honestly am not one to put my head in the sand, but I'm sure that if it is written in the way that the "doctrine" has been characterized here, I would have certainly caught wind of that.
It was in a Hearld about one year ago I think it was in the spring, the same month there was a different story of a Louisiana Pastor's wife that laid her hair on her husband after he collapsed in church in the La Challenger. I have heard my pastor espouse this teaching, been given a cd of M. Shockley teaching a lesson where she mentions this teaching, and heard RR teach this doctrine. I got very concerned about the prevalence of this teaching last year.
Re: When Will A Respected and Influential Leader S
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1399
So many "Apostolic" people think they are better than, holier than, and better than other Christians because of, in part, the "convictions" they live their lives by.
If there was any impurity in intentions by the poster of this thread, maybe it is a response to the years of ugliness that many of us have personally witnessed while associated with some of God's misguided children.
"Not a sermon, just a thought."
-McLean Bible Church
There are NO Christians outside the Apostolic church.
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