Today's entry called Hags (Demon Witches) was written for the Paranormal Corner by Jose Prado.
Although witches originally were healers and great teacher who helped shape our civilizations with the teachings of nature and in some cases with advanced knowledge, there is a darker side. The Warlock. Warlock is an old Scottish word meaning but not limited to: traitor, deceiver, oath breaker (because they broke the oath to use magick only for good, devil, etc). Each religion or culture has their own term for these evil witches. In Vodoun they are called Chochon Gris (grey pig, sometimes translated as hairless pig). In the Bible in Exodus 22:18 it says "thou shall not suffer a witch to live" in the original translation, it's actually "thou shall not suffer a Deceiver to live" Deceiver as in warlock.
Over the years the Catholic Church under Emperor Constantine censored the original Bible, taking out entire chapters or even entire books; therefore a deceiver or warlock in the Bible was changed to the eponymous term witch. Most people think that the Bible condemns all witches, but this is a false premise invented by the Council of Nicea. In some books of the Bible, characters like Solomon practiced powerful forms of sorcery, usually associated with Angels, and Yahweh was not the only God. Several Pagan Gods and Goddesses were subservient to Yahweh such as Anat, Inanna, Hadad, (also known as Baal Hadad*), and other deities from the Canaanite religion. That is not even mentioning Asherah also known as Azna the feminine face of God. Remember that the Hebrews came from Canaan. The word Hebrew comes from Habiru (river crosser) because Hebrews were immigrants from Canaan.
So being a witch was not necessarily a bad thing in the Bible; however, being an evil witch is. Precisely within the culture of the Hebrews and the Canaanites resides one of the earliest recorded instances of creatures known today as the Hag or Demon Witches. Hags are a sub-species of Demon that come from a much larger species the Lilim. In legend, Lilith was the ex-wife of Adam and was cast out for turning to the dark side after Adam continued to try and force his will on her. She returned after her exile as a Demon once Adam took on Eve as his new wife.
We commonly recognize this demon today as a Vampire feeding on Adam and Eve's children. She was also the first witch to turn into a warlock. All Vampires, warlocks, and even some Earth demons (demons who were either human in origin, half human, or fallen nature spirits) can trace their spiritual ancestry back to her. Lilith bred many of these Earth demons after coming to Adam in an erotic nightmare, sleeping with him, and then giving birth to creatures known as the Lilim. Other Lilim were bred from Lilith's children with Satan or members of her male (demon) harem when she was still a human though albeit at this point as a warlock. From the Lilim many species of Earth demon came forth and among them were the Hags. The term simply refers to demon-witch hybrids in cultures around the world. Lilith was the first warlock and the first human to become a demon in history. She's the Empress of Hell and wife of Samael (Satan's original Hebrew name). In different regions of the world we find Hags of different species under different names and of different purposes.
In Romania we have creatures known as the Strigoi. Strigoi (along with other variations of the name Strega from Latin Strix: witch) is a name given to evil witches who are either undead vampire witches or living human vampire witches that bring all manner of evil upon people in their communities including the classic stalking of human victims to feed on them. Strega is not given to evil witches or flesh eaters; it means witch like Strigoi but where as it carries a darker connotation in Eastern Europe, in Italy is used for any witch good or bad.
In other countries there are stories of warlocks who become flesh eating hags such as Baba Yaga in eastern Europe which is the origin of such stories as of Hansel and Gretel coming across an evil sorceress with the hunger for human flesh, which is part of the reason so many people have an innate fear of witches today. The bad part of this fear is that most witches are normal human beings who use good magick or at least don't use it to harm people (unless it's an extreme situation).
Contrary to popular belief male hags also exist. The Cambion is the child of an Incubus with a human woman who becomes a demon sorcerer with destructive powers and is usually called upon as an Antichrist for demons to destroy the world. The female version of this with a Succubus and a human man is an Alu-Demon.
In the Navajo religion, warlocks are people who subscribe to a perversion of the Navajo religion known as the Witchery path. Among the many types of warlocks in the Navajo faith are creatures known as the Skinwalker, warlocks who shape shift into demonic creatures that can become animals like wolves, crows, bears and other animals.
These warlocks are people who s lowly transition into demons and as such have all sorts of unnatural abilities (even for a warlock) and can be warded off with sacred objects or blessed waters and salt. These creatures or people are either half demon or becoming demons due to their practice of the black arts; therefore whatever effects a demon can now effect them. This explains why so many legends state that witches can be warded off by salt, fennel, silver or can't cross rivers; things which in tradition are related to demons not witches. Most scholars say that it was Christian ignorance and prejudice in conflating witches with demons but in fact that these are warlocks that have gone so far into the darkness that they are shedding what is left of their humanity with these practices.
If one carefully examines the things prescribed against these demonic witches, the sacred objects used to banish them are used and prescribed in witchcraft. Fennel among all the uses for charms holds the power to banish negativity. It counters psychic attacks and curses. It can also prevent evil spirits and energies from entering the home when you keep it outside your doors or hang it on door knobs. Salt is used for breaking spells cast on you from an enemy, warding off evil spirits, empowering holy water and the more powerful exorcised water, and demons almost uniformly cannot abide it. Silver has many medicinal properties and since disease was ushered into the human world by demons, things that are used to counteract disease typically can be used in the warding of demons, hence why demonic creatures are usually said to be killed by silver knives blessed with a priest's prayers.
There are even spells for preventing warlocks and the more evolved hag from coming to your house. In German communities, it was believed if you said "Kiss my Ass" three times under your breath with your anger and/or concentration they could not harm you. A more powerful version of this spell requires you to get a besom broom or at least a regular broom and casting it as a protective rod before your door after you say "Kiss my Ass" three times. In Vodoun, laying an old shoe at the door would prevent a warlock who is close to becoming a hag from entering the home. In other spells throwing out pieces of sugar, salt, or even buttons would cause a hag and other supernatural beings to stop and count each one, eventually losing count and having to start over till sunrise when they must leave. The reason is because for whatever reason different supernatural beings develop a type of obsessive compulsive disorder over time and as such must do compulsive rituals every single time. However some have evolved beyond that weakness so it is best to rely on more than one thing to fight them.
Others place mirrors outside the home so that evil beings (usually very vain) are distracted by their own reflections which incidentally demons love mirrors and use them as doorways into our world and many others. Therefore a demon with a physical form or a demon-human hybrid could very well be effected by this technique. There are many, many more techniques that can be found in cultures all over the world. There are obviously too many to list in this one article and I do not pretend to be a specialist on the matter. But just remember this: whatever it is you believe in, keep an open mind. There are things that lurk in the dark, Hungry things and many may not necessarily have been covered in your own religious studies if you stick to only just one path. No matter how learned you are, or how much knowledge you acquire there are always things that wait and watch and are wiser than humans. Arrogance is their downfall, they need not be ours too. Until then stay safe and learn all that you can to protect yourself from them. And if anyone is reading this now and saying "I've never encountered this and never will" thank whatever God you serve and pray that it stays that way.
* Baal is not a name, it is a title either for a Deity or a Lord in Canaan. So the evil Baal who demanded the murder of children was either a Demon God or a high ranking Lord who demanded it, or in my opinion, religious fanatics demanded human sacrifices of children.
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Such an interesting article! I'm in awe at the many warlocks, witches and hags...Never knowing my Hansel and Gretel story that I grew up with was taken from a real flesh eating Hag. This was very educational for me.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting version but most of that is not true like Lilith being the first demon which isn't true for a starters... Oh dear I've said too much...
ReplyDeleteStrigoi aren't evil God gave them the right to exist and to survive just like all things in nature. Humans are very naive to believe that they are at the top of the food chain.
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