The Devil and his Witches

Witches are thought of in two ways: good or evil. The evil witches are the ones practicing black magic and are associated with the devil, otherwise known as Satan, Lucifer, Pan, or Beelzebub. The word, "devil," is derived from the ancient Greek word, "diabolos," meaning slanderer. The belief in the devil originated at 1500 B.C. from the ancient Jewish religion. The name Satan means "adversary to God" in Hebrew. The belief in the devil is not as old as the belief in witches. In general, the belief in evil supernatural beings goes back very far through human history.

The devil has been depicted in many ways, either as a human, monster, or angel.

The Christian religion believes that the Devil was the angel called Lucifer who was thrown out of heaven and into hell along with his followers because of his revolt against God.

In the earliest Christian and Hebrew scriptures, the Devil is known as Beelzebub. Beelzebub was the Babylonian "lord of flies," "the king of the dead," and "master of diseases." Beelzebub was pictured with horns. His follower and priests were wizards and other magic makers who said they could communicate with the dead and predict the future.

In the ancient Greek mythology, the Devil is called Pan, a god who was a goat-man with horns, cloven hooves, and a pointed tail. The word "demon" is a Greek word used for Pan and his followers. A demon is a spirit who could take over a person's mind and body making them act ferociously, foam at the mouth, fall madly in love, and blurt out hidden truths and prophecies. When someone acted like this, people would call an exorcist to cast the demon out and away from the person's body by reciting prayers.

Witches are usually associated with the devil. It is believed that they get their powers from him and are charged with doing the devil's evil work. In Salem, it was believed that a woman or a man had to sign Satan's black book to become a witch. It was believed in Salem that it was most likely woman who signed their names in the devil's black book. In the Puritan belief (Salem was a Puritan Village), women were more easily tempted, as seen with Eve in the Bible. Eve was tempted by a snake, who was the Devil, to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge which God told her and Adam not to eat. She ate the fruit and also tempted Adam to eat it. When God found out about this, he banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Puritan men believed that woman would easily be tempted by the Devil into doing evil and turning against God, as Eve was.

Many Greek goddesses were considered witches. Goddesses, like the famous Artemis, and Circe, and the sorceress Medea, held a grudge against men and would change men into beasts or even kill them. Medea was a young and beautiful goddess who had married the hero, Jason, the man she helped to capture the Golden Fleece. She also had two boys with him and lived happily for ten years. Medea found out that Jason fell in love with another woman, Glauke, and that he intended to marry her when had left Medea. Medea used her magical powers to burn Jason's lover and murder her sons so that Jason would have no heirs.

Artemis, the goddess of war, was given the gift of chastity by her father, Zeus. Artemis realized that this gift was hard to keep, after seeing that Zeus was cheating on her mother with Callisto. Artemis Callisto for the affair and thereafter hated men. In some myths, Artemis kills some men for having desires for her and also turns other men into beasts. Another enchantress, Circe, also had the power to turn men into beasts. These goddesses had become symbols of the devil, having murdered people and turning them into beasts with their magic. Since they were also women, men held this as evidence that women were more likely to do the devil's work than men were.