Paculla Annia - Witch-hunt

Witch-hunt

The charges of evil and subversive practices that were levelled against these devotees in the 2nd century BC reappear in remarkably similar form as major elements of European witchcraft as described by prosecutors in the Middle Ages:

• secret nocturnal meetings;
• women leaders;
• children commonly initiated into the cult;
• ecstatic festivities with music, dancing, and cries followed by orgies;
• same-gender sexual practices; and
• allegations of ritual murder and other crimes.

Elements of the witch stereotype not yet present were the Christian Devil (as this religion had not yet begun), shapeshifting, and levitation. The last two attributes were associated with the Roman mythological creature known as the strix; this creature would later be associated with witchcraft in Italy and Eastern Europe. The fusion of these elements into the concept of a large-scale social conspiracy developed only later. Nevertheless, the mysteries led by women were already being cast as a fast-spreading cult and a serious threat to society at large.