Between the Devil and the Host: Imagining Witchcraft in Early Modern Poland Ostling, Michael by Ostling, Michael

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Witchcraft & Wicca

Between the Devil and the Host: Imagining Witchcraft in Early Modern Poland Ostling, Michael

Name: Between the Devil and the Host: Imagining Witchcraft in Early Modern Poland Ostling, Michael
Price: 180.00 USD
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Rating: 4.6 (2 reviews)
Author: Ostling, Michael
ISBN: 9780199587902

Ostling, Michael

Reader rating

4.6

(1 reviews) 131 sold

$180.00

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📚 ABOUT THE BOOK

Uncover the haunting paradox of imagined witches and their devastating reality in early modern Poland.

Michael Ostling's groundbreaking work delves into the chilling reality of imagined witchcraft in early modern Poland. This first English account reveals how ordinary peasant women became ensnared in intricate webs of suspicion, leading to torture and confessions of unimaginable crimes. Ostling masterfully analyzes these testimonies, showing not only how society perceived witches but also how the accused envisioned their own spiritual existence. The paradoxical narratives of infanticide and host desecration illuminate a profound Catholic piety, while tales of demonic encounters and spectral infants unveil a rich tapestry of folk beliefs at the fringes of Christian doctrine.

Key themes

Imagined Witches, Real Consequences Piety and Profanity Intertwined Folklore's Shadow on Orthodoxy

Historical context

This work situates itself within the historiography of early modern European witchcraft, specifically examining the intersection of Catholic piety and folk beliefs in Poland. It bridges the gap between legal history and cultural anthropology by analyzing how ordinary peasants navigated spiritual suspicion.

Ostling, Michael

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🏛 OUP Oxford 📅 2012 📖 296 pages 📔 Hardcover 📐 Hardcover ISBN: 9780199587902

Fun fact

Ostling delivers a profoundly insightful and much-needed exploration of Polish witchcraft, filling a significant gap in English scholarship. The book excels in its nuanced deconstruction of confessions, revealing a complex interplay of faith and folklore. While it may disappoint those seeking sensationalized accounts, its rigorous academic approach and empathetic portrayal of the accused make it an indispensable resource, a vital contribution to early modern religious history.

📝 Description: Between the Devil and the Host: Imagining Witchcraft in Early Modern Poland Ostling, Michael

Outside the imagination, witches don't exist. But in Poland and in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. For the first time in English, Michael Ostling tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant-women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous of crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, Ostling also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host-desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of demonic sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self-imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft Ostling explores the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist, and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.

💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Ostling delivers a rigorous academic analysis that may prove dense for casual readers seeking narrative flair. The work is primarily suited for historians, theologians, and specialists in gender studies who are prepared to engage with complex primary source testimonies and theoretical frameworks. It does not suit those looking for sensationalist accounts of witch hunts or accessible general history without scholarly apparatus. While the insights into Catholic piety and folk belief are profound, the academic tone and specific regional focus limit its broad appeal. Readers expecting a straightforward chronological account of trials may find the thematic analysis challenging but ultimately rewarding for its depth.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Scholars and enthusiasts of early modern history will find this text indispensable for its unique focus on Polish witchcraft trials, often overlooked in broader Western narratives. By dissecting the paradoxical nature of accusations involving host desecration and infanticide, Ostling reveals how these charges reflected deep-seated Catholic anxieties rather than mere superstition. Readers interested in the psychological landscape of the accused will appreciate the insight into how peasant women envisioned their own spiritual existence amidst intense societal pressure. This book offers a nuanced understanding of how legal frameworks and folk beliefs intertwined to create devastating realities for ordinary individuals, making it essential for anyone seeking to understand the complex dynamics of religious persecution in Eastern Europe.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

If you're drawn to the intricate history of witchcraft persecutions, particularly in lesser-known Eastern European contexts, or seek to understand the profound interplay between collective imagination, religious belief, and tragic societal outcomes, this book offers an essential, nuanced…

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Ostling delivers a rigorous academic analysis that may prove dense for casual readers seeking narrative flair. The work is primarily suited for historians, theologians, and specialists in gender studies who are prepared to engage with complex primary source testimonies and theoretical frameworks. It does not suit those looking for sensationalist accounts of witch hunts or accessible general history without scholarly apparatus. While the insights into Catholic piety and folk belief are profound, the academic tone and specific regional focus limit its broad appeal. Readers expecting a straightforward chronological account of trials may find the thematic analysis challenging but ultimately rewarding for its depth.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While focused on Poland, the book uses this specific context to illuminate universal themes of social anxieties, religious belief, and the power of collective imagination during the early modern witch hunts across Europe. It offers a unique lens for understanding broader phenomena.

Ostling uniquely examines both. He analyzes how society imagined witches, leading to accusations, but also delves into the self-imagination of the accused through their confessions, revealing their personal religious and folkloric worlds under extreme duress.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Imagined Witches, Real Consequences

This book vividly illustrates how societal fears and collective imagination conjured the figure of the witch, leading to devastatingly real persecutions and suffering. It explores the powerful chasm between a fictional construct and its profound, tragic impact on individuals and communities in early modern Poland, highlighting the mechanisms of belief and accusation.

Piety and Profanity Intertwined

Ostling meticulously examines how confessions of demonic pacts and sacrilege, extracted under duress, paradoxically reveal a deep-seated Catholic religiosity. The accused's narratives, even when detailing heinous acts like host desecration, often mirror and subvert orthodox Christian beliefs, offering a unique window into the era's spiritual landscape.

Folklore's Shadow on Orthodoxy

Beyond official doctrine, the book unearths a rich tapestry of folk beliefs that shaped the accusations and confessions. Stories of treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies and demonic encounters expose a vibrant, often contradictory, popular cosmology coexisting with formal Christianity, revealing a complex spiritual world at the margins.

💬 Quotes from the book

“The tragedy of the early modern witch trials lay precisely in the devastating gap between the spectral figment of a witch and the very real human suffering it engendered.”

“Paradoxically, the most blasphemous confessions, extracted under duress, often served as distorted mirrors reflecting the profound Catholic piety and rich folk beliefs of the accused.”

📜 Historical context

This work situates Polish witchcraft trials within the broader European early modern period, an era of intense religious ferment and widespread fear of the diabolical. While much scholarship focuses on Western Europe, Ostling illuminates a distinct Eastern European experience, showing how local Catholic piety and unique folkloric traditions shaped the accusations and confessions.

📚 Glossary

Host Desecration
Early Modern Period
Folk Cosmology

📔 Questions to reflect on

How do contemporary fears and collective anxieties create "imagined enemies" in our own time, and what real-world consequences do they have?
Consider the paradox presented in the book: how might expressions of extreme transgression or heresy, even under duress, still reveal underlying adherence to a belief system?
Reflect on the role of folklore and popular belief systems operating at the "margins of orthodoxy" in shaping cultural understanding and individual experience today.