Page 19 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Introduction xix

distinguished between religio (reverence for In spite of persecution, the concept of
God) and superstitio, which in Latin means witchcraft persisted and even flourished in
“unreasonable religious belief.” Christianity early modern times. At least the fear of it did,
became the state religion of the Roman as the Salem witch trials richly illustrate. In
Empire in 395 C.E., and in 525 the Council of the early decades of the twentieth century,
Oxia prohibited Christians from consulting schools of pagan and magical teachings were
sorcerers, diviners, or any kind of seer. A reborn as Wicca. Wiccans, calling themselves
canon passed by the Council of Constantino- “practitioners of the craft of the wise,” would
ple in 625 prescribed excommunication for a resurrect many of the old ways and infuse them
period of six years for anyone found practicing with modern thoughts and practices. Whatev-
divination or who consulted with a diviner. er its origin, the occult seems to be an object of
Although the Church had issued many permanent fascination to the human race.
canons warning against the practice of witch-
craft or magic, little action was taken against
those learned men who experimented with
Are We Alone?
alchemy or those common folk who practiced
the old ways of witchcraft. In 906 C.E., Abbot Is the earth the only inhabited planet?
Regino of Prum recognized that earlier canon Imagine the excitement if contact is made
laws had done little to eradicate the practices with intelligent extraterrestrial life forms and
of magic and witchcraft, so he issued his De humankind discovers that it is part of a larger
ecclesiaticis disciplinis to condemn as heretical cosmic community. It would change the way
any belief in witchcraft or the power of sorcer- we think of ourselves and of our place in the
ers. In 1,000 C.E., Deacon Burchard, who universe. Or is the belief in extraterrestrials a
would later become archbishop of Worms, creation of our minds? The universe is so vast
published Corrrector which updated Regino’s we may never know, but the mysteries of outer
work and stressed that only God had the space have a grip on the modern psyche, since
power to transform matter. Alchemists could it seems to offer the possibility of a world that
not change base metals into gold, and witches may be more open to scientific verification
could not shapeshift into animals. than witchcraft.
In spite of such decrees, a lively belief in a
world of witches and ghosts persisted
throughout the Middle Ages and co-existed Purpose of Book
in the minds of many of the faithful with the
miracle stories of the saints. To the native Whatever the origin and veracity of the
beliefs were added those of non-Christian unusual, these beliefs and experiences have
peoples who either lived in Europe or whom played a significant role in human experiences
Europeans met when they journeyed far from and deserve to be studied dispassionately. These
home, as when they went on the Crusades. By volumes explore and describe the research of
the twelfth century, magical practices based those who take such phenomena seriously;
upon the arcane systems of the Spanish extraterrestrials, ghosts, spirits, and haunted
Moors and Jewish Kabbalah were established places are explored from many perspectives.
in Europe. The Church created the Inquisi- They are part of the adventure of humanity.
tion in the High Middle Ages in response to
unorthodox religious beliefs that it called
heresies. Since some of these involved magi- Acknowledgements
cal practices and witchcraft, the occult also
became an object of persecution. The harsh Compiling such an extensive work as a
treatment of the Manichaean Cathars in three-volume encyclopedia of the unusual and
southern France is an example of society’s unexplained proved many times to be a most
reaction to those who mixed arcane practice formidable task. During those moments when
with heterodox theology. I felt the labor pains of giving birth to such a

The Gale Enc y clopedia of the Unusu al and Unexplained