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The witch

a cultural and historical presentation
in moving pictures in seven parts.

Benjamin christensen
wrote the script and produced this film

between the years 1919 and 1921.

For the photography
I am grateful to Mr. Johan ankerstjerne

and to Mr. Richard louw
for the art direction.

My main sources are mentioned
in the theater's program.

Let us look into the history of mysticism
and try to explain

the mysterious chapter known as the witch.

The belief in sorcery and witchcraft

is probably as old as mankind itself.

When primitive man is confronted
with something incomprehensible,

the explanation is always
sorcery and evil spirits.

In persia, the imaginary creatures
depicted in the following picture

were thus believed
to be the cause of diseases.

The english scientist rawlinson
and French scientist maspero

show us pictures of evil spirits

believed to have resided
amongst the first civilizations.

The belief in evil spirits,
sorcery and witchcraft

is the result of naive notions
about the mystery of the universe.

Here we see how the ancient Egyptians
perceived the shape of the world

The ancient Egyptians believed
that high mountains

surrounded land and water on all sides.

The sky was believed to be made of steel
and supported by strong pillars

that rested on the high mountains.

The stars, like lamps,
hung from the sky on ropes.

According to the beliefs
of other ancient civilizations,

the sky was vaulted
and the earth shaped into terraces.

The evil spirits of ancient times
became devils in medieval folklore,

sneaking around and tempting children.

The devils lived
in the depths of the earth,

which in the late middle ages
was thought to be a stationary sphere

at the center of the universe.

Surrounding the earth and its waters -

- The medieval man
first imagined a layer of air -

- Then a layer of fire -

- And outside the fire were the planets,
moving celestial bodies.

Each planet was attached
to a transparent, movable sphere.

And outside the planetary spheres

were the fixed stars
arranged in a sky of their own.

Above it all, in the tenth crystal sphere,

sits the almighty
surrounded by nine angel choirs...

And he is the one
that keeps the spheres revolving.

Deep down in the earth's core lies hell,

where those tempted by the devil
shall suffer forever.

In the upper part of the following picture

we see devils stuffing the damned
into large cauldrons.

A sinner is thrown straight into the fire
under one of the cauldrons.

A devil pours nasty oozing brimstone
from a horn down a man's throat.

Two monsters torment some of the damned
with their sharp teeth.

I have found a strange
old mechanical representation of hell,

which offers a good understanding
of the beliefs in the middle ages.

Observe the eagerness
with which the two devils

tend to the fire under the cauldrons!

During the middle ages, devils and hell

were considered real
and constantly feared.

Witches were thought to have signed
an unlawful pact with the devil,

and therefore
they were burned at the stake.

The floating figure
at the top of the picture

is a devil coming to get the witch
by lifting her up into the air.

These next two pictures of pyres

are from
German life in the past in pictures.

In this image
a witch is milking an ax handle.

In the following image
a witch has cast a spell on a man's shoe.

Witches usually meet in councils.

And after the gathering
they might, for instance,

sneak into a barn and bewitch a cow.

The small angular symbol under the drawing

was usually carved into the barn door
as protection against witches.

In this primitive drawing,
a sorcerer and a witch cast spells,

setting a village on fire.

Witches were believed
to curse people with diseases

with the help of witches' powder
and magic potions.

Notice how the sick person
is laying naked in bed.

That was customary in the past.

It was a general belief that the witch
was naked at night when,

during the so-called witches' sabbath,
she danced with the devils.

Women who wanted to participate
in the "sabbath"

sneaked away to a witch...

Where they could have their backs
smeared with "witch ointment."

The magic of the ointment
would allow them to fly through the air.

From a work by the French doctors
bourneville and teinturier

I have taken the following pictures
of the witches' sabbath...

A secret satanic rite which thousands
of women claimed to have participated in.

At the sabbath, witches and sorcerers
first desecrate the church's holy cross.

The devil christens each participant
of the sabbath with devils' names.

And a ceremonial banquet is held.

The sabbath food was often prepared
from corpses from the gallows.

All witches had to show the devil
their respect by kissing his behind.

After a merry dance with the devils,

the witches fly home
at the first crow of the cock.

These scenes are often depicted
in famous pictures of the witches' sabbath

from the middle ages and the renaissance.

To be continued.

The witch part 2

through imagination we now journey
to the underground home of a witch

in the year of our lord 1488.

"Tonight the stars shine favorably
over the gallows hill."

"Ugh, what a stench!

This thief's body has hung
too long on the gallows."

"When a thief's finger is too dried out

it can no longer lend the brew
any healing power."

"Hurry and open up, karna,
so that the passersby won't see me."

"Karna, can you perchance
get me a love potion

that has power over
a pious man of the church?"

And dove hearts,
boiled during the full moon."

"A drop of this in a man's drink
will soften his heart at once."

"Karna, can I have
an even stronger potion?"

"If the maiden wishes to drive
the man out of his wits for love..."

"I have a potion boiled in may
from a young and playful male sparrow."

"Hold your coins, maiden!
First smell my ointment!”

"This ointment is good,

should you wish to travel
to brocken one night."

"Secretly smear this ointment on

and the pious monk might
come directly to your chamber."

"You will then fly high
up in the night air together

and he will bestow upon you
many hungry kisses."

"Listen, brother, shouldn't we pray

before we embark
on such a bold enterprise?"

"O holy mother,

forgive us for cutting open
a person's dead body with a knife!"

"It is not from untimely curiosity
that we sin so badly..."

"But so that the causes
of many terrible diseases

might be revealed to us.”

"Help! Hurry! The peace of the cemetery
has been desecrated by two witches."

Such were the middle ages,
when witchcraft and the devil's work

were found everywhere.

Thus did many strange events come to pass.

"You shall not lie here and bewitch
the legs of honest people, devil woman!”

"You watch out! Now your filthy mouth
shall remain open for all eternity."

As with witchcraft,
so it is with the devil:

People's belief in him was so strong
during the middle ages

that he became real.

The devil is everywhere
and takes all shapes.

He shows himself as a nightmare,
a raging demon, a seducer,

a lover and a knight.

The devil's companion
can be young and beautiful,

but she is more often old,
poor and miserable.

Is it due to your eternal fear of the pyre
that you get drunk night after night,

you poor old woman of the middle ages?

When the evening bell tolls in the night

and all the fires in town
are covered with ashes,

the devil fetches apelone
for his adventures.

High up in the air
lies apelone's dream castle,

and there the devil
fulfills all her secret wishes.

To be continued.

The witch part 3

in rites and rights in the German past
by Franz heinemann,

we can observe pictures
of inquisition judges at work.

A woman accused of witchcraft
is thrown into the water

to find out whether she is guilty or not.

In history of customs, Edward fuchs
shows us how the accused is tied up.

Two executioners use oars
to move the accused into deeper water

where she can't touch bottom.

If she floats,
she will be pulled up and burned.

If she sinks, the judges thank god
for her innocence.

I will now illustrate a witch trial
from beginning to end

that takes place at the time

when the pope sent traveling
inquisition judges to Germany.

"Oh, my husband could not have been
struck by dizziness so suddenly

unless a witch cast a spell on him!”

"Be comforted, Anna, wife of the printer,

the power of the lead
will soon reveal it."

"O powerful saturn,
allow this lead to show

if Jesper the printer is bewitched."

"It is written here
in the shape of the lead

that his dizziness
is due to atrocious witchcraft."

"Oh, Peter, look.
Where is the evil witch?"

"You might see that witch
before you wish to..."

"Before I wish to."

"Jesus' holy cross and wounds!

I did not hear you come,
Maria the Weaver!"

"Oh, maiden, please have mercy on me,

a poor woman who has to go
begging from door to door!"

"Are you hungry, Maria? If so, sit down."

"Here. Eat now, if you can,
in the name of Jesus."

"Watch out, little sister, watch out.
That woman has evil eyes."

"The youngest servant of the inquisition

may not exchange words
with a strange maiden.”

"How wonderful! It burned like fire
when the young maiden took my arm."

"Young maiden, you know quite well

that what you're accusing this woman of
endangers her life!"

"Swear by the cross
that you are not deadly enemies!”

"Let's go, young men,
before her feet are lifted

so that the evil witch
won't turn us all into mice."

"Now you can have a scalding death,
just what you deserve,

you damned mistress of the devil!"

To be continued.

The witch part 4

so that she is not wearing
hidden witch powder,

two "honest" matrons will change
the clothes of the accused in jail.

"Maria the Weaver was just brought here,
accused of witchcraft."

"Master, look carefully,

there might be witch powder hidden
in the hair on the witch's body."

The suspect's nights are now dictated
by the inquisition judges.

Two honorable men try amiably
to persuade her to confess.

If she stubbornly denies her charges,
they will use a kind of mental torture.

"Woman, see here the seven
holy words of Jesus on the cross,

written on consecrated parchment.”

"I will hang them around her neck

so that the devil
will no longer help her to be silent."

"Does she see this length
of consecrated wax as the body of Christ?"

The accused is taken backwards
into the torture chamber,

so as not to bewitch the judge
when entering.

"For the last time I ask:

Does she want to confess
her witchcraft and her misdeeds?"

"Let her suffering begin so that we might
put an end to the harshness of her heart."

"Oh, you learned men!

How do you expect me to confess
to that which is not true?"

"Well, Rasmus the executioner!
Let now the evil witch's body sting."

"Let her catch her breath,
Rasmus the executioner,

and loosen the screw a little at a time
as she confesses her sins!"

"Oh, learned men!

I confess that I've given birth
to many children fathered by the devil."

"And when I gave birth,
karna and her coven helped me."

"If I am spared the pain,

I will confess that trina has smeared me
with witch ointment."

"Oh, yes, learned men,
miserable me has flown

through the night air to brocken
on trina's broom."

"And there sat the devil's grandmother
with all her witchcraft."

"And there, many a witch who had not
accomplished enough evil deeds

was treated miserably by the devil.”

"And there they spat on mass
and upon all that is holy."

"And a meal of toads
and unchristened children

was cooked by karna."

"Listen, Maria the Weaver,

did you also see the devil put his Mark
on the witches' foreheads?"

"Oh, learned men, I saw the witches
kiss the evil one on his behind."

"And the mother of Anna,
the printer's wife,

wished me a scalding death -"

"- That damned woman, I saw her kissing
the evil one so tenderly...

And sissel, her servant - that old fool -
was also there."

"And Elsa, who kicked me some time ago,
she shall also burn at the stake."

"She passed Martin the writer's door
one moonlit night with her sister.”

"And they cast a difficult spell
on Martin the writer

with the water
they threw against his door."

"And it was the very same night
that death took Martin the writer."

"And now I will tell you
everything about the witches,

who yell after me
in the street where I live."

To be continued.

The witch part 5

so begins the endless cycle
of the witchcraft era.

Each witch gives 10 others away.
The town wardens have much to do.

If you oppose the capture of a witch,
you must be a witch yourself.

The destiny of young Anna,
wife of the printer, is sealed.

So now only two people are left
in Jesper the printer's haunted house.

During the witchcraft era
it was dangerous to be old and ugly,

but it was not safe
to be young and pretty either.

"Brother, help me.
My thoughts are sinful."

"Bare your body, brother!"

"I'll whip your sinful body

and your poor soul
until you are purified."

"O brother, why did you stop beating me
with the scourge?

Now my soul will surely be damned."

"Father Henrik,
brother John is spellbound."

"A witch appears in his cell
and tempts him."

"And she has grabbed him by the wrist."

"Stand up, brother.
Father Henrik is coming."

"Brother, you have not accused
the maiden of witchcraft, have you?"

"You know the punishment for those
who refuse to witness against a witch."

And so they fetch you too, young maiden,
to give you their infallible test.

"In the name of the holy Trinity,
if you are not a witch,

you will now shed tears!”

"See for yourself - you cannot shed tears,
as you are allied with the evil one."

We assume now
that the young woman resists;

that no threat and no pain
can persuade her to confess.

I have tried to find out
how these pious inquisition judges

behaved in such circumstances.

And I see before me some scenes,

which I believe I have not depicted
too darkly here on the white screen.

"Wake up, young maiden!
I bring you great happiness."

"See, young maiden,
I give you your freedom -

if you would just show me
a small favor in return.”

"Why do you taunt me, monk?

What favor can a poor creature like me
show you?"

"Teach me the beautiful art
of making thunder with this water!"

"If you do not want to take my word,
young maiden,

stand up and look out
at the jail courtyard."

"Did the guards leave?"

"Yes, they went far away, maiden.
The keys are now in my hand

and I can secretly take you out
through the town gates tonight.”

"And I swear
eternal silence to you, maiden,

about all you will reveal
about witchcraft with thunder."

"Remember, maiden,
that Jesper, the printer's child,

is all alone in the world,
without any relatives besides you."

"Oh, father Henrik,
see the tears of the young maiden.

Look, she cries,
hence she cannot be a witch."

"Silly boy! Don't you know that witches
secretly smear themselves with spittle

so that we might believe it to be tears?"

"Here, maiden,
see the child who will miserably perish

as a dishonorable,
rejected witch's offspring without you."

"Stand here and listen to all
the maiden's words,

so that later you may
bear witness against her."

"And will you secretly open the jail door
for the child and me if I speak?"

"Then I will tell you that I once heard
a traveling stonecutter mention..."

"That when witches call for thunder,
they put their hands in the water..."

"You hardened witch!

Before the sun is down tomorrow,
you will burn alive at the stake."

"And then they will burn you too, maiden,

as edification for man,
as sweet scent for god."

And one pyre after another
burns in the town square

until the judges will one day
move on to the next town.

The witch madness,
like a spiritual plague,

ravages wherever these judges go.

In the span of a few centuries,
over eight million women, men and children

were burned as witches.

To be continued.

The witch part 6

there are witch confessions
that are completely insane.

Many women, for instance,
confess that - transformed into cats -

they soiled the altar during the night,
while two devils in the shape of animals

stood guard at the church door.

But confessions also exist
which may well be close to the truth

from the time when superstition ruled.

Many women were burned
because they confessed

that they bewitched a marriage bed
by "tying knots."

For each knot, a pregnancy is destroyed.

And the happiness of a whole house
could be ruined

with witch hair and metal crosses.

Many women have probably used
such magic tricks

and believed in their destructive effects.

But to fully understand
the witches' confessions,

we must take a closer look
at the devices in the torture chamber.

You and I would probably also be driven
to confess mysterious talents

with the help of such tools.
Isn't that so?

The French doctor Paul regnard
describes how this collar was used.

The collar was tightened
with the help of four taut ropes.

The wrists and ankles of the accused

were tied to two iron rods
screwed to the floor.

When a fire bowl
was put under the poor victim -

- his movements became so violent

that the spikes of the collar
entered his neck.

Doctor regnard shows another picture,
which speaks for itself.

It is simply called
"after the interrogation.”

The "painful interrogation”
preferably began with a "lighter" torture.

The thumbscrew, for example.

One of my actresses insisted
on trying the thumbscrew

when we shot these pictures.

I will not reveal the terrible confessions

I forced from the young lady
in less than a minute.

In the convents during the middle ages,
fear of the devil

escalated into an almost hopeless despair.

The pious submitted themselves
to many a regrettable self-punishment.

Often a single nun was seized by insanity,

and suddenly thereafter
the whole convent was overtaken -

- A mysterious, contagious insanity.

In writings that have
survived to this day,

these unhappy women
wrote down with touching simplicity

how the devil penetrated the convent.

"Get thee behind me, Satan!"

"May all good saints stand by me!

Sister Cecilia is conniving
with the evil one."

How these religious women
must have suffered

before their nerves abandoned them
and insanity broke out!

In their biographies,
this desperate cry is always found:

The devil forced us into it!

"O holy mother,
the evil one has a terrible power!"

"Look, now he forces me
into doing what I want the least!"

"Burn me at the stake, pious fathers!

Can't you see
what the evil one forces me to do?"

"Take me! Don't you see him?

The evil one stands over there
and threatens me."

To be continued.

The witch part 7

we leave aside actual devil possession

and come to present times.

The majority of witches in the old days
were poor women;

those who nowadays are taken in
by pious organizations and nursing homes.

One or more traits that might
make an old woman noticeable

was enough to bring her to court
during the witchcraft era.

Let us not believe that the devil
belongs solely to the past.

The lovely old woman who plays
the role of Maria the Weaver in my film

once raised her tired face to me
during a pause in the shoot -

- and said: "The devil is real.
I have seen him sitting at my bedside."

With the old woman's permission,
I show here a prayer book

in which a woman
claims to know the devil's true form.

The witch's insanity can be explained
as nervous exhaustion,

which I will attempt to illustrate here.

I ask my viewers to understand

that in the following scenes
I let the same actress -

- portray many different patients
suffering from related nervous disorders.

I have personally known
a very nervous young woman

who often walked in her sleep.

Why did she always perform in her sleep

the deed she feared most of all
to perform?

Like a witch forced by the devil,
this woman -

both when sleeping and awake -

succumbs to a mysterious
craving to strike matches.

Had this obsession anything to do
with the morbid fear of fire

she developed after one broke out
in her home?

She stated that she felt
as if she were fighting

against an unknown force
stronger than her own will.

Isn't there something "witchlike"
about this sleepwalker

who moves through the slumbering
household with her matches?

Doesn't she remind us of the nun

who walks through the chapel
with her knife, forced by the devil?

This poor woman,
also in a dreamlike state,

does just what she fears the most.

These compulsive acts,
these somnambulistic, dazed conditions

are consistent with the nervous diseases
we call hysteria.

And there are still more connections

between the medieval witch
and the modern hysterical person.

We remember, for instance,

that the witch received nightly
visitations from the devil.

For the present-day witch
it is not the devil,

but rather a famous actor,
a popular clergyman

or a well-known doctor
who disturbs the calm of the night.

The hysterical person will undoubtedly say

that these celebrities come to her
through the wall or window.

Notice how deliberately
this unconscious woman holds onto her bed.

Artificial mannerisms like this are always
exhibited by people afflicted by hysteria.

In the middle ages it was believed
that during the sabbath

the devil put some invisible marks
on the witch's body

where all sensitivity vanished.

The executioner often found
insensitive areas

on the back of the accused.

"I see clearly that you are a witch.

You do not even feel
the master's instrument on your back."

Today this strange insensitivity
is considered a symptom of hysteria.

"No, doctor, I do not feel
you touching my back at all."

"Yes, it is as I thought.
Your daughter is suffering from hysteria."

"From what you told me,
I must strongly recommend

that we detain your daughter
for the time being in my clinic.”

"It would be a pity if your daughter

were to have an unpleasant exchange
with the police.”

Poor little hysterical witch!

In the middle ages
you were in conflict with the church.

Now it is with the law.

"Will you please step into my office."

"Or would you prefer
that I call the police?"

"Your name? Do you have a card?"

"Your address?
Do you have a telephone in your home?"

"Thank you, that's fine. You can leave.
I will contact you later.”

"If my family learns about this,
I will be committed.”

"I beg you to understand
that I am an unhappy, sick person.

I do not know what I am doing."

"I have been tormented
by a persistent fear during the war.

I am a broken person.”

"It is as if an unknown power compels me
to commit these terrible thefts."

"Look. I just stole this little,
expensively bound Russian book."

"What shall I do with it?
I do not know a word of Russian."

"My husband died in the war,
and I have not been the same since..."

"I promise not to pursue this matter,

but I have to ask you
never to visit my store again."

Centuries have passed,
and the almighty of medieval times

no longer sits in his tenth sphere.

We no longer sit terrified in church,
staring at the frescoes of devils.

The witch no longer flies away
on her broom over the rooftops.

But isn't superstition
still rampant among us?

Is there an obvious difference

between the witch and her customer
then and now?

We no longer burn our old and poor.
But do they not often suffer bitterly?

And the little woman,
whom we call hysterical -

alone and unhappy,
isn't she still a riddle for us?

Nowadays we lock away the unhappy soul
in a mental institution -

or if she is wealthy, in a modern clinic.

And so we will console ourselves
with the notion

that the mildly temperate shower
of the clinic

has replaced the barbaric methods
of medieval times.

The end.