WITCHCRAFT AND THE IMAGE OF A WITCH IN CULTURE MEDIEVAL EUROPE AND RUSSIA

The article provides a comparative analysis of the concepts of “witchcraft” and “witch” in the context of the medieval history of Western and Eastern Europe. Special attention in the text is paid to the analysis of the terminological apparatus of the Neoplatonists, as well as the texts of Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim and Gerolamo Cardano, who considered pagan mysticism more naive and sinless than Western. The authors of the article cite material indicating that images of healers have become more widespread in Russia than witches and sorcerers. This largely determines the national code of Russian medieval culture. The predisposition in mysticism in Russia had a predominantly masculine character. Hence — a more tolerant attitude to the image of a healer. The image of a sorceress, on the contrary, was associated with dark forces and caused alertness. At the same time, both of these images were connected with everyday life, included elements of Christianity, paganism and occultism. The article emphasizes that in medieval Russia there was no experience of deep acquaintance with alchemy and astrology. According to the authors’ conclusions, Eastern Europe escaped the witch hunt largely due to the fact that the texts of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas were not known there. The authors pay special attention to the discussion of terminology and semantics of magic and witchcraft. According to historical data, there was no equivalent of scholastic theological-legal discussion of demonology or typification of magic and divination in Russia. Therefore, a unique combination of beliefs, ritual practices and objects of worship formed an original national and religious tradition in Russian culture.