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THE WITCH
�1 922 AB Svensk FiImindustri

A presentation from a cuIturaI
and historicaI point of view

in 7 chapters of moving pictures.

BENJAMIN CHRISTENSEN wrote the
script and produced this fiIm

between the years
of 1 91 9 and 1 921 .

For the photography I am gratefuI
to Mr. Johan Ankerstjerne

and to Mr. Richard Louw
for the art direction.

My main sources are mentioned
in the theatre's pIaybiII.

Let us Iook into the history
of mysticism and try to expIain

the mysterious chapter
known as the Witch.

The beIief in sorcery
and witchcraft

is probabIy as oId as mankind.

When primitive man is confronted
with something incomprehensibIe,

the expIanation is aIways
sorcery and eviI spirits.

In Persia, the imaginary creatures
depicted in the foIIowing picture

were thus beIieved
to be the cause of diseases.

The EngIish scientist RawIinson
and French scientist Maspero

show us pictures of eviI spirits,
beIieved to have resided

amongst the first civiIizations.

The beIief in eviI spirits,
sorcery and witchcraft

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

Here we see how the Egyptians
perceived the shape of the worId

(according to Maspero).

The ancient Egyptians beIieved
that high mountains

surrounded Iand
and water on aII sides.

The sky was made of steeI
and supported by strong piIIars

that stood on the high mountains.

The stars, Iike Iamps,
hung from the sky on ropes.

According to the beIiefs
of other ancient civiIizations,

the sky was vauIted and the earth
shaped into terraces.

The eviI spirits of ancient times
changed in the medievaI foIkIore

to deviIs, sneaking around
and tempting chiIdren.

The deviIs Iived in the earth's core.

In the Iatter part of the MiddIe
Ages the earth was considered

to be a stationary sphere
in the middIe of the universe.

Above the earth and its waters -

- the medievaI man first imagined
a Iayer of air -

- then a Iayer of fire -

- and outside the fire were the
pIanets, moving ceIestiaI bodies.

Each pIanet was attached to its
transparent, movabIe sphere.

And outside the pIanetary spheres

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

Above it aII, in the tenth
crystaI sphere,

sits the AImighty surrounded
by nine choirs of angeIs...

...and He is the One keeping
the spheres revoIving.

Deep down in the earth's
core Iies HeII,

where those tempted by the
DeviI shaII suffer forever.

In the upper part
of the foIIowing picture

(from the French historian Lacroix)

the deviIs are stuffing
the damned into Iarge pots.

A sinner is thrown straight
into the fire

burning under one of the cauIdrons.

A deviI pours the nasty
suIfur oozing

from a horn down a man's throat.

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

I have found a strange oId
mechanicaI presentation of HeII,

which offers a good understanding
of the beIiefs in the MiddIe Ages.

Observe the eagerness
with which the deviIs

tend to the fire under
the cauIdrons!

During the MiddIe Ages,
deviIs and HeII

were considered reaI
and constantIy feared.

Witches were thought to have
signed an unIawfuI pact

with the DeviI, and therefore
they were burned at the stake.

The fIoating figure is a deviI
coming to get the witch

by Iifting her up into the air.

This picture of a pyre
as weII as the foIIowing one

are from ''German Life
in the Past in Pictures.''

In this image a witch
is miIking an ax handIe.

In the foIIowing image a witch
has bewitched a man's shoe.

Witches usuaIIy meet in counciIs.

And after the gathering
they might, for instance,

sneak into a barn
and bewitch a cow.

The smaII anguIar symboI,
noticeabIe under the drawing,

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

In this oId naive drawing,
a sorcerer and a witch

are casting speIIs,
setting a viIIage on fire.

Witches were beIieved to curse
peopIe with diseases

with the heIp of sorcerer's powder
and magic potions.

Notice how the sick person
is Iaying naked in bed.

That was habituaI in the past.

It was a generaI beIief that the
witch was naked when, at night,

during the so-caIIed Witch Sabbath,

she danced with the deviIs.

Women who wanted to participate
in the ''Sabbath''

sneaked away to the sorcerer...

...where they couId have their backs
smeared with ''witch ointment''.

The witchcraft of the ointment
wouId aIIow them

to fIy through the air.

The French doctors BourneviIIe
and Teinturier

gave me the foIIowing pictures
of the Witch Sabbath...

...a secret satanic rite to which

thousands of women asserted
their participation.

At the Sabbath witches
and sorcerers

first desecrate
the Church's hoIy cross.

Satan gives aII the participants
deviIs' names.

And a ceremoniaI banquet is heId.

The Sabbath food was
often prepared

from corpses from the gaIIows.

AII witches had to show the DeviI
their respect by kissing his behind.

After a merry dance
with the deviIs,

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

These scenes are often found on
famous Witch Sabbath pictures

from the MiddIe Ages
and the Renaissance.

To be continued.

THE WITCH
Chapter 2.

We go now to the underground
home of a sorceress

in the year of the Lord 1 488.

''Tonight the stars shine
favorabIy over the gaIIows' hiII.''

''Ugh, what a stench!

The thief's body has been hanging
too Iong on the gaIIows.''

''When such a thief's finger
is too dried out,

it can no Ionger Iend
the brew any heaIing power.''

''Hurry and open up, Karna, so that
the passers-by won't see me.''

''Karna, can you perchance
get me a Iove potion

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

''Here, young maiden,
take a potion of cat feces

and dove hearts,
boiIed in the moonIight.''

''A drop of this in a man's drink
wiII 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 Iove...''

''...I have a potion boiIed in May

from a young and pIayfuI
maIe sparrow.''

''HoId your coin, maiden!
First smeII my ointment!''

''This saIve is good,

shouId you wish to traveI
to Brocken, one night.''

''SecretIy smear this saIve on

and the pious monk might
directIy come to your chamber.''

''You wiII fIy together
high up in the night

and he wiII bestow upon you
many hungry kisses.''

''Listen Brother, I wonder...
shouIdn't we pray

before we embark in such
a boId enterprise?''

''Oh HoIy Mother, forgive us

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

''It is not from untimeIy
curiosity that we so badIy sin...''

''...but so that the cause
of many terribIe diseases

might be reveaIed to us.''

''HeIp! Hurry!

The peace of the cemetery has
been desecrated by two witches.''

Such were the MiddIe Ages, when
witchcraft and the DeviI's work

were sought everywhere.

And that is why unusuaI things
were beIieved to be true.

''Damned woman!
You shaII not Iie here

and bewitch the Iegs
of honest peopIe.''

''You watch out!

Now your fiIthy mouth
shaII remain open for eternity.''

So it happens with witchcraft
as with the DeviI;

peopIe's beIief in him was so
strong that he became reaI.

The DeviI is everywhere
and takes aII shapes.

He shows himseIf as a
nightmare, a raging demon,

a seducer, a Iover, and a knight.

The deviIs' companion
can be young and beautifuI,

but she is more often
oId, poor and miserabIe.

Is it from the eternaI fright of
the pyre that you get drunk

every night, you poor oId woman
of the MiddIe Ages?

When the evening beII toIIs
in the night

and aII fires in town are
covered with ashes,

the DeviI fetches ApeIone
for his adventures.

High up in the air
is ApeIone's dream castIe,

and there the DeviI wiII
fuIfiII aII her secret wishes.

To be continued

THE WITCH
Chapter 3.

In ''Rites and Rights in the
German Past'' by Franz Heinemann,

we can observe pictures
of inquisition judges at work.

A woman suspected of witchcraft
is thrown into the water

to find out whether
she is guiIty or not.

In ''History of Customs'',
Edward Fuchs shows us

how the accused is tied up.

Two executioners use oars
to move the accused

in the water where
she has no support.

If she fIoats, she wiII be
puIIed up and burned.

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

I wiII now iIIustrate a triaI for
witchcraft from beginning to end

taking pIace at the time
when the Pope sent

traveIing inquisition priests
out to Germany.

''Oh, my husband couId not have
been struck by dizziness

so suddenIy, unIess a sorceress
had bewitched him!''

''Be comforted Anna,
wife of the Printer,

the power of Iead
wiII soon reveaI it.''

''Oh, you powerfuI Saturn,
aIIow this Iead

to show if Jesper
the Printer is bewitched.''

''It is written here
in the shape of Iead

that his dizziness is
atrocious witchcraft.''

''Oh Peter, Iook, where
is the eviI sorceress?''

''You might see that witch,
before you wish to...''

''...before I wish to.''

''Jesus' HoIy Cross and Wounds!

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

''Oh, maiden, pIease
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, IittIe sister, watch
out. That woman has eviI eyes.''

''The youngest servant
of the inquisition

may not exchange words
with a strange maiden.''

''How wonderfuI!

It feIt Iike fire when the
young maiden took my arm.''

''Young maiden,
you know quite weII

that what you're accusing this
woman of, endangers her Iife?''

''Swear by the cross that
you are not deadIy enemies!''

''Let's go, young men,
before her feet are Iifted

so that the eviI witch
won't turn us aII into mice.''

''Now you can have a scaIding
death, just what you deserve,

you damned mistress
of the DeviI!''

To be continued

THE WITCH
Chapter 4.

Two ''honest'' matrons
wiII change the accused in jaiI,

so that she wiII not wear
hidden witch powder.

''Maria the Weaver was just taken
here accused of witchcraft.''

''Master, Iook carefuIIy,

there might be witch powder
hidden in the sorceress' hair.''

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

Two honorabIe men try amiabIy
to persuade her to confess.

If she stubbornIy denies
her charges,

they wiII use a kind
of mentaI torture.

''Woman, see here the seven
hoIy words of Jesus crucified,

written on consecrated parchment.''

''I wiII hang them around her neck,

so that the DeviI wiII no
Ionger heIp her to be siIent.''

''Does she see this Iength of
consecrated wax as Corpus Christi?''

The accused is taken backwards
into the torture chamber,

so as not to bewitch the judge
when entering.

''For the Iast 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 Iearned men!

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

''WeII, Rasmus the Executioner!
Let now the eviI witch's body sting.''

''Let her catch her breath, Rasmus
the Executioner, and Ioosen

the screw a IittIe at a time,
as she confesses her sins.''

''Oh, Iearned men! I confess that

I've given birth to many
chiIdren fathered by the DeviI.''

''And when I gave birth, Karna
and aII her coven heIped me.''

''If I am spared the pain,
I wiII confess

that Trina has smeared me
with witch ointment.''

''Oh yes, Iearned men, miserabIe
me has fIown through the night air

to Brocken on Trina's broom.''

''And the DeviI's grandmother was
there with aII her witchcraft.''

''And many a woman, who had not
accompIished enough eviI deeds,

was treated miserabIy by the DeviI.''

''And masses spat
upon aII that is hoIy.''

''And a meaI of toads
and unchristened chiIdren

was cooked by Karna.''

''Listen, Maria the Weaver,
did you aIso see

how the DeviI put his mark
on the witches' foreheads?''

''Oh, Iearned men,
I saw the witches

kiss the eviI one on his behind.''

''And Anna's mother,
the wife of the Printer,

who wished me a scaIding death -''

''- that damned woman, I saw her
kissing the eviI one

so tenderIy... and SisseI, her servant,
that oId fooI, was aIso there.''

''And EIsa, who kicked me
some time ago,

she shaII aIso burn at the stake.''

''She passed Martin
the Writer's door

one moonIit night with her sister.''

''And they cast a speII 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 wiII teII you
everything about the witches,

who yeII after me
in the street where I Iive.''

To be continued

THE WITCH
Chapter 5.

In this way begins the endIess
turn of the wheeIs

during the witchcraft era.
Each witch gives ten others away.

The town wardens busy themseIves.

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

The destiny of young Anna,
wife of the Printer, is seaIed.

So now onIy two peopIe are Ieft in
Jesper the Printer's haunted house.

During the witchcraft era it was
dangerous to be oId and ugIy,

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

''Brother, heIp me.
My thoughts are sinfuI.''

''Bare your body, Brother!''

''I'II whip your sinfuI body and your
poor souI, into faith heaIing.''

''Oh Brother, why did you stop
the beating of the scourge?

Now my souI wiII sureIy
be damned.''

''Father Henrik,
Brother John is speIIbound.''

''A witch appears in his ceII
to tempt him.''

''And she has grabbed him
by the wrist.''

''Stand up, Brother,
Father Henrik is coming.''

''Brother, you have not given
the maiden away

for a witch, have you?''

''You know the punishment
for those

who refuse to witness
against a witch?''

And so they fetch you too,
young maiden,

giving you their unfaiIing test.

''In the name of the HoIy Trinity,
if you are not a witch,

you wiII now shed tears!''

''See for yourseIf
- you cannot shed tears,

as you are aIIied
with the eviI 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
the exceIIent inquisition judges

behaved in such circumstances.

And I see in front of me some
scenes, which I do not find

pictured too darkIy here,
on the white screen.

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

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

- if you wouId just show me
a smaII favor in return.''

''Why do you taunt me, monk?

What favor can a poor creature
Iike me show you?''

''Teach me the beautifuI art of
making thunder with this water!''

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

stand up and Iook out
at the jaiI court.''

''Did the guards Ieave?''

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

and I can secretIy take you out
through the town gates tonight.''

''And I swear eternaI siIence
to you, maiden,

about aII you wiII reveaI
about witchcraft with thunder.''

''Do you remember, maiden,
that Jesper, the Printer's chiId,

is aII aIone in the worId,
without reIatives besides you?''

''Oh, Father Henrik, see the tears
of the young maiden.

Look, she cries, hence
she cannot be a sorceress.''

''SiIIy boy! Don't you know that
witches secretIy smear themseIves

with spittIe, so that we might
beIieve it to be tears?''

''Here, maiden, see the chiId
who wiII miserabIy perish

as a dishonorabIe, rejected
witch's offspring without you.''

''Stand here and Iisten to aII
the maiden's words,

so that Iater you may
bear witness against her.''

''And wiII you secretIy open
the jaiI gates

for the chiId and me, if I speak?''

''Then I wiII teII you that once a
traveIing stone cutter toId me...''

''...that when witches caII
for thunder,

they put their hands in the water...''

''You hardened witch!
Before the sun is down tomorrow,

you wiII burn aIive at the stake.''

''And then they wiII burn you too,
maiden,

''as edification for man,
as sweet scent for God.''

And one pyre after another
burns in the town square,

untiI the judges wiII one day
move on to the next town.

The witch madness,
Iike a spirituaI pIague,

ravages wherever these judges go.

In the arc of a few centuries,
over 8 miIIion women,

men and chiIdren
were burned as witches.

To be continued

THE WITCH
Chapter 6.

There are witch confessions
that are totaIIy insane.

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

they soiIed the aItar during
the night, whiIe two deviIs

in the shape of animaIs
stood guard at the church door.

But there are aIso confessions,

which might very weII be
cIose to the truth,

nameIy during the times
when superstition ruIed.

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 whoIe
house couId be ruined

with witch hair and metaI crosses.

Many women have probabIy reaIIy
used such magic tricks

and beIieved in their
destructive effects.

But, if we shouId judge
from the confessions,

we must take a cIoser Iook at
the props in the torture chamber.

You and I wouId aIso be driven
to confess mysterious taIents

with the heIp of such tooIs.
Isn't that so?

The French doctor PauI Regnard

describes the way
this coIIar was used.

The coIIar was tightened with
the heIp of four taut ropes.

The wrists and ankIes
of the accused

were tied to two iron rods
screwed to the fIoor.

When a fire bowI was put under
the poor victim -

- his movements were so vioIent

that the spikes of the coIIar
entered his neck.

Doctor Regnard shows another
picture, which speaks for itseIf.

It is simpIy caIIed
''After the interrogation.''

The ''painfuI interrogation''
preferabIy began

with a ''Iighter'' torture:
the thumbscrew, for exampIe.

One of my actresses insisted
on trying the thumbscrew

when we shot these pictures.

I wiII not reveaI the terribIe
confessions I forced

from the young Iady
in Iess than a minute.

In the convents during the MiddIe
Ages, fear of the DeviI

escaIated into an aImost
hopeIess despair.

The pious gave themseIves up to
many a regrettabIe seIf-punishment.

Often a singIe nun was seized,
and suddenIy

thereafter the whoIe convent
was overtaken by insanity -

- a mysterious, contagious insanity.

In writings that have survived
to this day,

these unhappy women wrote
down with touching simpIicity

how the DeviI penetrated
the convent.

''Get thee behind me, Satan!''

''May aII good saints stand by me!

Sister CeciIia is conniving
with the eviI one.''

How these reIigious women
must have suffered,

before their nerves abandoned
them and insanity broke out?

In their biographies, this
desperate cry is aIways found:

The deviI forced us into it!

''Oh, HoIy Mother, the eviI
has a terribIe power!''

''Look, now he forces me into
doing what I want the Ieast.''

''Burn me at the stake,
pious fathers!

Can't you see what the DeviI
forces me to do?''

''Take me! Don't you see him?

The eviI one stands over there
and threatens me.''

To be continued

THE WITCH
Chapter 7.

We pass over the DeviI's
actuaI possessions

(speaking in tongues
and convuIsions)

and come to present times.

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

those who are taken in
by pious organizations

and nursing homes nowadays.

One or more traits that might
make an oId woman noticeabIe

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

Let us not beIieve that the DeviI
beIongs soIeIy to the past.

The IoveIy oId woman, who pIays
the roIe of Maria the Weaver

in my fiIm, once raised
her tired face to me

during a pause in the shoot -

- and said: ''The DeviI is reaI.

I have seen him sitting
at my bedside.''

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

in which a woman (from 1 921 !)

thinks she can teII the DeviI
by sight.

The witch's insanity can be
expIained as a nervous exhaustion

that I wiII try to exempIify here.

I ask my viewer to understand that

in the foIIowing I Iet
the same actress -

- portray many different patients
of reIated nervous disorders.

I have personaIIy known
a very nervous young woman

who often waIked in her sIeep.

Why did she aIways enact
the very same thing

she was most afraid she wouId do?

Like a witch forced by the deviI,
this woman -

- both when sIeeping and awake -

gives way to a mysterious
craving to strike matches.

Had this possession anything to
do with her morbid fear of fire

after one broke out in her home?

She stated that she feIt
as if she were fighting

against an unknown force
stronger than her own.

Isn't there something ''witch-Iike''
with this sIeepwaIker,

who moves through the sIumbering
househoId with her matches?

Doesn't she remind us of the nun,
who waIks through the chapeI

with her knife, forced by the DeviI?

This poor woman, aIso
in a bewiIdered condition,

does during her sIeep
just what she fears the most.

These possessions - these
somnambuIistic, dazed conditions -

are consistent with the nervous
diseases we caII hysteria.

And there are stiII more
connections between

the medievaI witch and
the modern hystericaI person.

We remember for instance that

the witch received nightIy
visitations by the DeviI.

Today it is not the DeviI,
but rather a famous actor,

a popuIar cIergyman
or a weII-known doctor,

who disturbs the caIm of the night.

The hystericaI person wiII
undoubtedIy say that

these ceIebrities come to her
through the waII or window.

Notice how consciousIy this
unconscious woman hoIds

onto her bed. A person affIicted
by hysteria aIways dispIays

some artificiaI mannerisms.

In the MiddIe Ages it was
beIieved that during the Sabbath

the DeviI put some invisibIe
marks on the witch's body,

where aII sensitivity vanished.

The executioner often
found insensitive areas

on the back of the accused.

''I see cIearIy that you are a witch.

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

Today, this strange insensitivity is
considered a symptom of hysteria.

''No sir, I do not feeI you touching
my back at aII.''

''Yes, it is as I thought; your
daughter is suffering from hysteria.''

''From what you toId me,
I must strongIy recommend

that we detain your daughter
for the time being in my cIinic.''

''It wouId be a pity if
your daughter

were to have an unpIeasant
exchange with the poIice.''

Poor IittIe hystericaI witch!

In the MiddIe Ages you were
in confIict with the church.

Now it is with the Iaw.

''I ask you to step into my office.''

''Or do you prefer that
I caII the poIice?''

''Your name? Do you have a card?''

''Your address? Do you have
a teIephone in your home?''

''Thank you, that's fine. You can
Ieave. I wiII contact you Iater.''

''If my famiIy Iearns about this,
I wiII be forcefuIIy detained.''

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

I do not know what I am doing.''

''I have not been abIe to Iive
with this persistent fear

during the war.
I am a broken person.''

''It is as if an unknown power

compeIs me to commit
this terribIe theft.''

''Look here! I just stoIe this IittIe,
expensiveIy bound Russian book.''

''What shaII 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 AImighty of medievaI times

no Ionger sits in his tenth sphere.

We no Ionger sit in church
staring terrified

at the frescoes of the deviIs.

The witch no Ionger fIies away
on her broom over the rooftops.

But isn't superstition
stiII rampant among us?

Is there an obvious difference

between the sorceress
and her customer then and now?

We no Ionger burn
our oId and poor.

But do they not often suffer bitterIy?

And the IittIe woman,
whom we caII hystericaI,

aIone and unhappy,
isn't she stiII a riddIe for us?

Nowadays we detain the unhappy
in a mentaI institution or -

- if she is weaIthy -
in a modern cIinic.

And then we wiII consoIe
ourseIves with the notion

that the miIdIy temperate shower
of the cIinic has repIaced

the barbaric methods
of medievaI times.

THE END

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