Witches' Sabbath
The Witches' Sabbath is a mythical, secret gathering of witches. There they worshiped the Devil, cast spells, killed people in secret rituals, poisoned wells, and/or engaged in blasphemy, according to legend.
The Sabbath is the day of rest in Judaism and other Abrahamic religions.
History
[change | change source]"Sabbath" was a common term in the Middle Ages. At that time, the Jews were treated as evil in many European countries. Based on this belief, the Holy Inquisition organized pogroms against people it called heretics. This started around the 14th century.
The Catholic Church developed its own set of ideas about witches. According to their beliefs, the Witches' Sabbath is one of the five elements that characterize a witch. (The other elements are witches' flight, a pact with the devil, using black magic to harm people, and entering into a sexual relationship with the devil).
The idea of a conspiracy theory was thematised more and more in the fifteenth century. People feared a secret society or sect of witches and warlocks (male witches) that would do harm.
