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Deal With The Devil
A deal with the Devil is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to traditional Christian belief about witchcraft, the pact is between a person and the Devil or another demon, trading a soul for diabolical favours, which vary by the tale, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, fame and power. It was also believed that some people made this type of pact just as a sign of recognising the minion as their master, in exchange for nothing. The bargain is a dangerous one, as the price of the fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. For most religions, the tale may have a bad end, with eternal damnation for the foolhardy venturer. Conversely, it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the devil, characteristically on a technical point. The person making the pact sometimes tries to outwit the devil, but loses in the end (e.g., man sells his soul f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossroads (mythology)
In folklore, crossroads may represent a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place. Symbolically, it can mean a locality where two realms touch and therefore represents liminality, a place literally "neither here nor there", "betwixt and between". Ancient religions In Greek mythology, crossroads were associated with both Hecate and Hermes, with shrines and ceremonies for both taking place there. The herm pillar associated with Hermes frequently marked these places due to the god's association with travelers and role as a guide. Though less central to Greek mythology than Hermes, Hecate's connection to crossroads was more cemented in ritual. 'Suppers of Hecate' were left for her at crossroads at each new moon, and one of her most common titles was 'goddess of the crossroads.' In her later three-fold depictions, each of the three heads or bodies is often associated with one of three crossing ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invocation
Invocation is the act of calling upon a deity, spirit, or supernatural force, typically through prayer, ritual, or spoken formula, to seek guidance, assistance, or presence. It is a practice found in numerous religious, spiritual, and esoteric traditions, where it serves to establish a connection between the human and the divine or metaphysical realms. Invocation can be directed toward a singular deity, multiple deities, spirits, or abstract forces, and may involve formal liturgies, spontaneous prayers, chants, or symbolic actions. Unlike evocation, which is generally understood as calling a spirit to appear outside the practitioner, invocation often implies inviting the entity to be present within or to closely align with the practitioner. The purpose of invocation varies across cultural and religious contexts. In many traditions, it is used to request divine intervention, protection, wisdom, or blessings in personal or communal matters. Invocation may also serve to con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incubus
An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many cultures. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in the birth of witches, demons, and deformed human offspring. Legendary magician Merlin was said to have been fathered by an incubus. Walter Stephens writes in his book ''Demon Lovers'' that some traditions hold that repeated sexual activity with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, an impaired mental state, or even death. Etymological, ancient, and religious descriptions The Late Latin word ''incubus'' ("a nightmare induced by a demon") is derived from Latin ''incubō'' ("nightmare, what lies down on one whilst one sleeps") and further from ''incubāre'' ("to lie upon, to hatch"). One of the earliest evident mentions of a demon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Succubus
A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, and ultimately sexual intercourse, as she requires semen to survive. The establishment and perpetuation of such a relationship enables the production of a hybrid offspring known as a cambion, but at the expense of the man, whose mental and physical health will deteriorate rapidly, eventually resulting in his death if the succubus continues courting him for a protracted period. In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a beautiful seductress or enchantress, rather than as demonic or frightening, to attract people instead of repulsing them. The male counterpart to the succubus is the incubus. Historically, folkloric belief in succubi was motivated by distressing nighttime phenomena, chiefly wet dreams and sleep paralysi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Intercourse
Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure, sexual reproduction, reproduction, or both.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal penetration for sexual pleasure or sexual reproduction; dictionary sources state that it especially means this, and scholarly sources over the years agree. See, for example; * * * * * * * * This is also known as vaginal intercourse or vaginal sex. Sexual penetration is an instinctive form of sexual behaviour and psychology among humans. Other forms of sexual penetration, penetrative sexual intercourse include anal sex (penetration of the Human anus, anus by the penis), oral sex (penetration of the mouth by the penis or oral penetration of the female genitalia), Fingering (sexual act), fingering (sexual penetration by the fingers) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabbath (witchcraft)
A Witches' Sabbath is a purported gathering of those believed to practice witchcraft and other rituals. The phrase became especially popular in the 20th century. Origin of the phrase The most infamous and influential work of witch-hunting lore, ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1486) does not contain the word sabbath (). The first recorded English use of ''sabbath'' referring to sorcery was in 1660, in Francis Brooke's translation of Vincent Le Blanc's book ''The World Surveyed'': "Divers Sorcerers ��have confessed that in their Sabbaths ��they feed on such fare." The phrase "Witches' Sabbath" appeared in a 1613 translation by "W.B." of Sébastien Michaëlis's ''Admirable History of Possession and Conversion of a Penitent Woman'': "He also said to Magdalene, Art not thou an accursed woman, that the Witches Sabbath ( French: ''le Sabath''] is kept here?" The phrase is used by Henry Charles Lea in his ''History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages'' (1888). Writing in 1900, Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and surpass the ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. Associated with great social change in most fields and disciplines, including Renaissance art, art, Renaissance architecture, architecture, politics, Renaissance literature, literature, Renaissance exploration, exploration and Science in the Renaissance, science, the Renaissance was first centered in the Republic of Florence, then spread to the Italian Renaissance, rest of Italy and later throughout Europe. The term ''rinascita'' ("rebirth") first appeared in ''Lives of the Artists'' () by Giorgio Vasari, while the corresponding French word was adopted into English as the term for this period during the 1830s. The Renaissance's intellectual basis was founded in its version of Renaiss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midwife
A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; concentrating on being experts in what is normal and identifying conditions that need further evaluation. In most countries, midwives are recognised as skilled healthcare providers. Midwives are trained to recognise variations from the normal progress of Childbirth, labour and understand how to deal with deviations from normal. They may intervene in high risk situations such as breech births, twin births, using non-invasive techniques. For complications related to pregnancy and birth that are beyond the midwife's scope of practice, including surgical and instrumental deliveries, they refer their patients to physicians or surgeons. In many parts of the world, these professions work in tandem to provide care to childbearing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motif (folkloristics)
The ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' is a six volume catalogue of Motif (narrative), motifs, granular elements of folklore, composed by American folklorist Stith Thompson (1932–1936, revised and expanded 1955–1958). Often referred to as Thompson's motif-index, the catalogue has been extensively used in folklore studies, where folklorists commonly use it in tandem with the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index (ATU), an index used for folktale type analysis. As standard tools The motif-index and the ATU indices are regarded as standard tools in the study of folklore. For example, folklorist Mary Beth Stein said that, "Together with Thompson's six-volume ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'', with which it is cross-indexed, ''The Types of Folktale'' constitutes the most important reference work and research tool for comparative folk-tale analysis.” Alan Dundes, who was an outspoken critic, also said substantially the same thing, without confining the application to comparative stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
