THE GEOGRAPHY OF WITCHCRAFT

CHAPTER I

From the very earliest times, various aboriginal beliefs and curious practices of ancient superstition were inextricably woven into the complex Greek systems of universal mythology and symbolic religious ceremony. These formed a primitive order of magic, which in later days would be elaborated, augmented from Phoenicia and Egypt, studied in schools, and interpreted and codified. Nature taught man the drama of the Sacrifice—a vague shadow, as it were, of the Good Things that were to come, some pre-taste of that Banquet which alone can satisfy the hunger of his soul. The Greek sacrifice, even in its crudest stages, was inevitably accompanied by auxiliary rites, which, however trivial, had as their end either the discovery of the god’s will or the placating of the divinity. It soon followed that there must be those who could acquire, through intensive meditation, the means of interpreting that will and of recognizing when the worshipper's efforts had been crowned with success, or when his deity was regarding him with favor and approval.

Accordingly, there came to be a caste of persons who made these matters their principal concern: wise men (wizards) and priests who, from their daily and intimate communion with the god and from living in his presence, were regarded as partakers of his sanctity, protected by him, inspired by him, and acting as his friends and servants. These priests were not wandering, irresponsible GyrovagiLatin: wandering monks who have no fixed residence. or SarabaitæLatin: a type of self-directed, undisciplined monk often criticized by early monastic rules. but stable men who dwelt in one place. Thus, the locality where they resided also, in its degree, reflected their