Magic? Mysticism? What? Okay, so I have a really hard time
differentiating between the two. They seem awfully similar… So similar in fact,
that I would argue that they’re synonymous. Does the difference between names even matter?
Hildegard of Bingen and Catherine of Siena did the same
exact things that many witches were accused of. They incorporated religion in
their books on healing remedies, they described the manner in which one should
prepare salves and potions to cure various ailments, and they candidly spoke of
sex. These are all things that a common woman would have been burned at the
stake for! So what gives these two women the right to practice something so
similar to witchcraft?
This guy is obviously confused too.
<www.raveflyers.co.uk>
That Papacy, that’s who. Yep, the guy with the really cool
hat and the head of a religious empire is all it takes to obtain a glorified
“get out of jail free” pass. Because really, isn’t that what he gave them? With
the Pope’s blessing, Catherine of Siena and Hildegard were able to document
their findings in relation to healthcare, human life, and music. Let’s also
remember that Catherine of Siena claimed that she had a direct connection to
God and that he spoke to her in dreams. That’s totally normal. Meanwhile common
women mixing herbs in their kitchen to help soothe a stomachache had the
potential to be tried executed alongside unlucky midwives and women accused of
adultery.
<www.weknowmemes.com>
This brings up two interesting implications. First, if the
Pope gives his stamp of approval to someone doing something that would
otherwise be labeled as heretic, it’s okay. We all now that the Pope has more
power than pretty much anyone else in medieval Europe, including the monarchs,
but it’s entirely different seeing that play out in this manner. His say so has
effectively changed the label of witchcraft to holy. If he made a blanket
statement along the lines of “if you wanna mix herbs to help the health of the
community or help educate others, it’s cool” he could have saved countless
lives.
The second thing this makes me think of is that these women needed the Pope to okay their doings.
They were aware of what they were doing and they knew that if they didn’t have
Papal approval, their head was on the chopping block. They knew that if they
didn’t get the go ahead from the Pope that they could be tried as witches –
this implies that they were aware of exactly how their practices could be
perceived!
Basically the line between magic and mysticism is so blurry to me
that I can’t see where one ends and the other begins. I’ve honestly been coming
to the conclusion that there is in fact no difference because of the way in
which Catherine of Siena and Hildegard went about their professions. The only
difference in my eyes is that one is approved by the Church because it is
devoted to God, while the other is not.
