Erictho’s spell —Mon­taner

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“…there was no such thing as “ancient witch­craft” (pace Stratton inter plu­rimos), because—as opposed to sorcery and necromancy—there were not real prac­ti­tioners of witch­craft, but just people accused of it, and such accu­sa­tions are not doc­u­mented before the 14th century (Robbins 547–548, Kieck­hefer 10–20). At that time the witch was no longer con­sidered a kind of bad spirit or mythical figure, but was iden­tified with real people. This incar­nated witch was, in the beginning, the embod­iment of tra­di­tional beliefs, but in the 15th century she was adopted and adapted by the eccle­si­as­tical writers in the form of the the­o­logical witch. As for Erictho (no to speak of Circe or Medea), she lacks the main traits of the tra­di­tional version of the witch as an arche­typal char­acter: she cannot fly nor transform herself into a noc­turnal bird, nor is she a blood­sucker, nor casts the evil eye, nor pro­duces night­mares, nor has innate powers exer­cised without resorting to enchant­ments. In ancient beliefs, the first two fea­tures were typical of the lamia, as well as the strix or striga…”