Ember Days (EMB)
Alchemy is the process of process of transforming base things into lofty ones, especially base metals into gold. Often called the "chemistry of the Middle Ages," alchemy was in no sense valued as a chemical or scientific process. Rather, it was important in two senses: first, it offered the promise of quick riches, since it claimed to be able to transform coal or cheap metal into gold; second, alchemy was important as a spiritual metaphor, since through a certain "alchemy" of the liturgy bread and wine could be transformed into the body and blood of Christ and sinners could be transformed into saints. Alchemy is today regarded as a sham sciences, and we see in Chaucer's Canon's Yeoman's Tale that it was also ridiculed in the Middle Ages; nonetheless, alchemy touched on the importance of spiritual transformation and so retained an important spiritual meaning in the medieval period.
An amulet is an object, sometimes a gem, believed to have protective powers. Most commonly made of parts of animals' bodies or plants, animals worked through proximity to assure the person who wore it of well-being. An amulet not often recognized as one is a rabbit's foot, a common sign of good luck. Unlike herbs, which served medicinal purposes, plants that served as amulets had spiritual powers, protecting the wearer against slander or curing the wearer of possession by evil spirits. Amulets are related to relics, parts of saints' bodies that were believed to have miraculous powers; a striking instance is seen in Chaucer's Pardoner, who carries what he tells others are relics of saints but which are in fact only amulets--parts of sheep's bodies. See also "talisman," below.
Animism is the belief that the elements of the natural world are alive have have souls, that they are inhabited by personalities or spirits. This personality was believed to emerge when a person came into contact with this object. Kieckhefer gives the example of the mandrake plant, famous for its human-like shape (that is, it is a forked plant and so resembles the human figure: see John Donne's poem, "Go and Catch a Falling Star," which includes the line, "Get with child a mandrake root," an impossibility suggested because of this shape).
Astrology studies the impact of heavenly bodies--the Sun, the planets, and the stars, among others--on the sublunar world. The celestial bodies are thought to determine the course of earthly events in various ways: some believe that these bodies directly control life on earth, while others think that heavenly signs merely indicate divine will or only a direction or likely outcome of events that can be altered by intervention of some kind. Astrology uses celestial causes to explain terrestial events; within this broad definition there are very precise differences in degree of precision, however. One kind of astrology, "genethlialogy," attempts to derive all the key episodes of one's life from the positions of heavenly bodies at one's birth; celestial omens are less precise and are used to indicate the will of the gods and not to influence human events directly. (This information has been taken from the Dictionary of the History of Ideas Vol.1 . New York, 1968). Astrology, Peters notes, is the only occult science that retained its respectability in the Middle Ages, even though astrologers were often accused of dealing in forbidden knowledge (66).
Traditionally, Black Masses are Roman Catholic Requiem masses during which the celebrant wears black vestments. However, the term is more notorious for representing a blasphemous and usually obscene burlesque of the true Mass as performed by Satanic cults. The naked back of a women often serves as an altar, and a validly consecrated host is generally used to intensify the mockery. The rite commonly incorporates other elements of Satanic magic (such as philtres or abortifacients). Charges of heresy through the celebration of this form of the black mass were not uncommon in medieval Church history. Such allegations were made against the Knights of the Templar in the 14th century.
A charm is a verbal formula with both magical and religious implications. Kieckhefer (Magic in the Middle Ages) says that charms can be prayers, blessings, or adjurations. Charms used in Germanic cultures were recorded and conflated with prayers by Christian missionaries, making the line between magical (pagan) and religious (Christian) functions very difficult to draw. Stanley Greenfield (A Critical History of Old English 193), states that charms drew their power from three elements: a source in power or knowledge (secret learning), a non-physical operational power (it can't be seen), and a ritual designed to secure power, transmit it to a certain person or thing, and put it to use. The recitation of the charm--usually repeated a certain number of times--casts a spell and creates a magical transformation.
The curse, in contrast to the blessing, calls down misfortune on persons or objects and is usually a consciously irreverent act toward the world of the Holy. Often, magical attitudes and practices are included in the performance of a curse. Hence, a curse which seemed to be successful was usually believed to have resulted from witchcraft. Curses in the Middle ages served a variety of purposes. A curse drawing its strength from the notion that words have the power to injure could be used to enforce the status quo and uphold social mores. For example, appropriation of land which belonged to the Church was thought to be sacrilegious; thus ecclesiastical estates which passed into secular hands were widely believed to lie under a curse which fell upon the new owners. Cursing was also employed by the underprivileged, who often had no other means of assisting themselves: the legend of the beggar's curse, invoked on the ungenerous, and already current in the seventh century, was still circulating in the nineteenth. Blood was considered an excellent conductor of curses, and to utter a curse while in the position of prayer was thought to have been especially effective.
Divination is the art of obtaining knowledge of the future through terrestial signs, either natural or with the aid of demons. Through divination one obtains knowledge of future and hidden events by the use of divine or supernatural means. Divination frequently centers on observation of man and nature: the heavenly bodies, the direction of winds and rivers, different parts of the human body, the behavior of birds and animals, and also, quite commonly, of their entrails. Methods of divination include the casting of lots, gazing into a transparent or reflecting object (such as a bowl of water or a mirror), or the examination of simple household objects. A particular place, like the church porch, and a particular time of day or year--midnight, Midsummer Eve--could play an important part in the ritual. Such practices were frequently denounced by the Church. In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's Parson exclaims: "What seye we of hem that bileven in divynailes, as by flight or by noyse of briddles, or of bestes, or by sort, by geoomancie, by dremes, by chirkinge of dores, or crakking of houses, by gawynge of rattles, and swich manere wrecchednesse?... For which they been accursed, til they come to amendment, that on swich filthe setten hir bileve."
Ember Days (EMB)
Ember days are four times set apart by the Church for special prayer and fasting and for the ordination of the clergy. The exact origin of the Ember days is uncertain. In the early Church, they were limited to three and may have been the Christian transformation of pagan festivals. Originally, the Days were festive in character; God's assistance was invoked to bring the crops to a successful harvest, or He was gratefully thanked for an abundant season. Pope Leo the Great (d.461) wrote in a series of sermons that his following's material prosperity, for which prayers are offered during this time, should be linked to the supernatural order (God's power). Leo also stressed that the penitential themes of fasting, prayer and almsgiving should be emphasized during the Ember season. Each Ember day (currently one per season cycle) serves as a beginning for an Ember week, during which the activities noted above are performed.
Exorcism is the casting out of evil spirits. In terms of the Church in the Middle Ages, the spirits in question are Satan and his minions. A particular ecclesiastical order of exorcists does not appear to have existed in the Christian Church until the close of the third century, although at this time exorcism was not directed against any specific demonical possession. Instead was designed to beseech God to to break the dominion of Satan in new converts, and to deliver them from his slavery by expelling the spirit of wickedness and error. Though the majority of tracts on exorcism was not written until the earl 17th century, an order of exorcists did exist in the Catholic Church throughout the middle ages. The exorcists formed one of the minor orders of the Church, and at their ordination the bishop addressed them as to their duties, and concluded with these words: "Take now the power of laying hands upon the energumens, and by the imposition of your hands, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the words of exorcism, the unclean bodies are driven from obsessed bodies."
A homology is a relationship of close correspondence. Homologous objects or beings are matching in structure, position, and character. The Greek roots are "homo," meaning the same, and "legein," to speak. Cultural paradigms are often homologous from one academic discipline to another: that is, just as the aristocracy is seen as dominating literary production in an English class, in a history class national events can be seen entirely through the eyes of the ruling class.
The Three Wise Men who journeyed to see the infant Jesus at Nazareth are called the "Magi," but this term does not refer to them in the first instance. "Magi" were priests of Zoroaster in Persia who cured the sick, used astrology, and observed other occult practices. (See Kieckhefer10 and 24). "Magi" were not respected: rather they were thought of by many as charlatans who misread signs within nature and were, by implication, frauds.
Providence, or, "Providence of God," is the order and care of all things, both natural and supernatural, which God has created in order to further His glory. Through this plan, God causes, cares for, and directs all creatures to their particular ends. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, devotes a great deal of study to this concept, and his writings on the subject of Providence served to influence many medieval thinkers. Through the existence of Providence, or "God's will" as it is commonly called, two important questions arise: a) are people are truly free to choose and act? and b) is the world is according to God's plan, why is there evil? Augustine believes that people are free to act and choose, but that no one is released from sinful actions except by the grace of God. Evil exists so that pious individuals may react against it, and thereby prove one's love for the creator in making satisfaction for faults and striving more fully for heaven. Boethius, another important early Christian thinker, defines providence as "the divine intelligence that is above all things and directs them, and that God is responsible for the production, change and motion of everything." Theological and philosophical problems related to the concept of providence, such as fate, chance, divine knowledge, predestination, and freedom of choice, were debated widely through the Middle Ages.
Romance is a form of narrative fiction, whether poetry or prose, that commonly includes the following elements:
The epic differs from romance in style. Epic is always in the "high" style, romance can be in the high style, but romance is a much more "familiar" genre in giving prominence to behavior, or interior reality, as a subject. Romance involves the interplay of public and private behavior; epic assumed that interplay (a good man--a generous king--was presumably also a good friend, but the issue wasn't taken up), while romance examines it. Romance is, as a literary form, seen by some to express communal concerns (just as an epic does), especially those that do not find "controlled expression" in sanctioned communal behavior. In this light, romance becomes the neighbor of fantasy. These communal desires do not find controlled expression because they are dangerous. Examples in _Sir Gawain_ might be the desire to humble the mighty or morally exemplary and the desire to behead your enemy. What other elements of the hidden--as opposed to the known--world appear prominently in the poem? (Citation from Gillian Beer. Romance . London, 1970. 13.)
Runes are a form of writing that serves both magical and religious purposes. The word "rune" means "secret" or "mystery," and runes are a form of code. The runic alphabet, formed of letters that were made from straight lines (i.e., not "cursive," as is handwriting) and hence easily cared into wood, stone, or bone. Runic letters existed alongside the Latin alphabet in Anglo-Saxon culture. Runes were carved into objects to identify their maker, and also used to identify Cynewulf, the author of several famous Old English poems which are signed with runes spelling his name. A good introduction to runes in Anglo-Saxon has been written by R. I. Page.
Satanism is the worship of Satan, or the Devil, the god of evil in Christianity. As early as the seventh century, the Church was condemning priests who subverted the magical powers of the Holy Mass for evil purposes. Frequently, Satanism developed from the doctrine that there are two supreme beings, the one all good, the other all evil. Devil worshipers argue that since the God of all the good things receives his homage from many, it is only fitting that the god of wickedness should also have cult and worship paid to him. In the medieval and renaissance periods, a fear of Satanism was one of the leading causes of the notorious witch-hunts and witch trials. In the past churchmen have readily attributed satanism to witches, and to such heretics as Gnostics, Cathars, and Bogomils. Even today, the controversy of Satanic cult and ritual remains strong, as the recent publication of and uproar over Salmon Rushdie's Satanic Verses attests. See also "Black Masses"
Semiotics is the science of signs and codes, "the systems that enable human beings to perceive certain events or entities as signs, bearing meaning." (Robert Scholes, Semiotics and Interpretation . New Haven, 1982. ix). Signs--the way we dress or speak or mark our highways--are specific to cultures, medieval or modern; signs are composed by systems of belief or ideologies and communicate most clearly and quickly to those who share in the community of belief that produces and upholds a given sign system. The difficulty in studying alien cultures is precisely the difficulty of decoding their sign systems.
A talisman is similar to an amulet, but Kieckhefer notes that historians differentiate them: talismans incorporate letters or words, while amulets do not. Like amulets, talismans served to protect the wearer, but talismans are more complex instruments, since they refer explicitly to the power of the word to achieve their effect.
Sortilege is simply divination by lots, one of the most ancient and common superstitions. Methods for the practice of sortilege may include: the casting of dice, drawing symbolic pebbles from an urn, and drawing upon verses inscribed on slips of paper. Another form of sortilege involves opening a certain text to a random passage and heeding the words found as advice. In classical and medieval times, books commonly consulted were the works of Homer, the writings of Ovid, and of course, the Bible. Early Christians preferred the Bible over the "profane poets," and Nicephorous Gregoras recommended the Psalter as the fittest book for the purpose, while Cedrenus stated that the New Testament was more commonly used. St Augustine of Hippo denounced the practice in temporal affairs, but declared in one of his letters that he had recourse to it in all cases of spiritual difficulty.
Thaumaturgy means, literally, the "working of miracles." The word is derived from the Greek term "thaumaturgis" which stands for "wonder-worker." This title is conferred upon some saints due to the number and magnitude of the miracles attributed to them. The famous of the thaumaturgists was St. Gregory Thaumaturgist, A.D. 213-268. He is said to have moved objects around at command, to have dried up a lake and done other wonderful works. Later, the concept of thaumaturgy came to simply carry the connotation of "the working with or practice of magic and/or supernatural exercises.
1/98