Witchcraft and Aliens: Were Medieval Witches Actually Early Abductees?

There seems to exist, in the UFO/Alien time line, a grey area.

At the beginning of recorded human history (some would say, before the beginning ) there was apparently extraterrestrial contact, now known as the Ancient Alien theory. Proponents of this theory point to things like the Egyptian Pyramids, ancient petroglyphs, numerous 'out-of-place artifacts' and weird and wonderful extracts from ancient scriptures from all over the world.

So far, so good.

Next we come to the other end of the time line....today. Being a little less specific, the last hundred years, give or take, when the UFO/Alien hypothesis really came into it's own. These modern examples include such hits as Roswell, Rendlesham Forest, The Phoenix Lights and the Betty and Barney Hill abduction case.

However, it must be noted that without the modern examples, the ancient examples would never have come to light, for it is through a pair of Roswell tinted sunglasses that people began picking and prodding at the past for clues. Up until this modern era, the Egyptian Pyramids were just tombs for the Pharoahs, not mystical star maps or fantastical super weapons in disguise. And cave paintings were just crude human stick figures, not grey aliens from Zeta Reticuli.

But I digress...

What I want to know is, where on Earth (or more likely outer space) did these ET's go in the hundreds of years between these two periods?

Of course, it is at this point that people mention the now famous examples of "UFO's" in Renaissance artwork, paintings like The Annunciation, The Madonna with Saint Giovannino and numerous Crucifixion paintings of this era.

For me, these paintings (and paintings from earlier/later) have been explained succinctly. Once again, it seems we are viewing the past through Roswell tinted sunglasses.

Having said this, I did come across a particularly interesting article/blog that could put forward another possible UFO/Alien theory, one that DOES coincide with this forgotten/ignored period in ET folklore. It highlights how "medieval 'witches' had much in common with today's 'abductees', and the witch hunters also resemble some of today's abduction 'researchers' in surprisingly consistent ways."

Witchcraft and Aliens (Source)

Without taking it all too literally, here goes...

How to Identify a Witch or Abductee

Marks on the Body.

Abductees and witches are both thought to be physically marked in some way. In the case of witches the mark might be a mole or birthmark, or if no such mark was found, the examiner declared the discovery of 'an invisible mark.' In the case of abductees, researchers look for scoop marks, triangle-shaped scars, or evidence of alien implants.

Supernatural Sex.

Witches were believed to have sexual intercourse with inhuman agents of the Devil called incubi (male demons) and succubi (female demons). Abductees are often believed to have intercourse with inhuman or half human alien beings during the abduction experience.

Flying by Night.

Witches had the ability to fly through the night sky. Alien abductees often have vivid memories of flying or being transported through the sky or through space.

Messing with Animals.

Witches were said to possess the ability to kill farm animals without drawing blood. Alien abductions are often associated with bloodless cattle mutilations or the draining of blood from small farm animals (chupacabra incidents are often paired with UFO sightings).

Miscarriage and Disappearing Fetuses.

Witches were believed to have the ability to cause miscarriage or cause fetuses to disappear. Alien abductees often report disappearing pregnancies or mysterious anomalous events involving human reproduction.

Circular Meetings in the Deep Woods.

Witches were thought to meet with the Devil in the woods, holding highly sexualized rituals naked in a stone circle. (See drawing above.) Abductees are taken into a circular craft, often from remote or wooded locations, where they are then examined naked on stone or metal slab.

The Devil and the Greys.

The physical description of the 'Devil' of the medieval witchcraft trials (to whom witches were said to agree to a pact or contract) bears remarkable similarities to the tall Greys described by abductees. Tan or grey in color, the Devil and the tall Grey both have cloven feet, strange skin, and demand perverse sexual allegiance. The Devil's eyes are said to 'pierce' the eyes of women and control them in this way. The Greys control by means of their hypnotic huge eyes.

Associations with Bright Lights in the Sky.

Both Satan and aliens are associated with bright lights in the sky. Satan was said to be the "brightest angel in the sky" before he fell to earth for rebelling against God. Alien abductions are often (though not always) associated with brilliant lights in the sky (UFOs) that come down to earth to release frighting Greys with a baffling sexual agenda.

Like I said, it is not to be taken too literally. Rather, it explores the possibility that at least some universal myths and legends appeared to be an attempt to convey the content of a genuine experience in the language of the culture and time in which the experience occurred.

Which is why the writer also notes the phenomena of sleep paralysis, which is another subject that is heavily associated with alien visitation/abduction.

I think it is a sobering reminder that we must always take our current cultural context into consideration when assessing things of this nature.

What are the chances that our current cultural filter is any more correct than the medieval one that ascribed these phenomena to devils, or the ancient one that ascribed them to Isis, or the medical one that ascribes them to a mysterious brain disorder called sleep paralysis, or the northern Scandavian one that ascribes them to the appearance of the 'Old Hag' (a folkloric harbinger of death)?

But just as important, we must also note, as is mentioned in the article/blog, that behind the symbolism, behind the folklore and the myth, there does seem to exist an inherent truth, or as folklorist David Hufford puts it, "a real human experience."

Overall, I thought it was a very interesting and thought provoking article/blog, one that I felt should be shared with the good people on ATS.

Also, if anyone could provide me with some decent UFO/Alien examples/speculations from the "forgotten" time period I mentioned earlier, that would be super

reply to post by LiveForever8


Rather than looking at the past in terms of our space-age ET mythology, I recommend looking at our Johny-come-lately ET mythology in terms of the past. The true nature of "ET" is not biological and technological. Its mystical and psychical. A shamanic-mystical view of it is warranted, not a technological-materialistic modern view.

reply to post by LiveForever8


It's pretty much been proven that they were tripping on a natural form of '___'.

www.hbci.com...

reply to post by Student X


I agree.

Do you have any specific examples that I could have a look through?

Especially regarding the shamanic-mystical side of things.

reply to post by LiveForever8


Yeah, a few.

Shamans Through Time
Shamanism and the Psychology of C.G Jung
Alien Identities
Wonder in the Sky
The Trickster and the Paranormal
Authors of The Impossible
Flying Saucers : A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies

If they were Abducted by Alien Spacecraft I believe they would have said so instead of blaming it on Aliens. Your not giving enough credit to Humans Why do people believe that because it was a long time ago we werent smart enough to differenciate Ghosts, demons, from Aliens we were just as smart back then as we are now. In many ways we were even smarted back then. The only difference is now we have the Internet, cellphones, and American Idol

witches?
i always look at witches as pre historic emo/goth kids disturbed wayward however then they didnt get a slap on the wrist, they were burnt at the stake

Originally posted by TomServo
reply to post by LiveForever8

 

It's pretty much been proven that they were tripping on a natural form of '___'.

www.hbci.com...

edit on 8-2-2011 by TomServo because: typo

very interesting article, ive always agreed that there has to be a logical explanation to it such as mental disorder

I believe you may be on to something.....
Witches and Aliens...hmm....most people do not believe in either, so it would make sense that they might be the same thing.....

reply to post by TomServo


Yeah, I wouldn't take the title too literally, it's more of a metaphor than anything else.

But thanks for the info regarding the ergot poisoning, very interesting

Hi!

Interesting Thread, S+F for you!

The mediaval times indeed are interesting regarding the UFO-Phenomenon. And I always wondered, what's the true core behind the tales of fairies abducting people...

Originally posted by TomServo
reply to post by LiveForever8

 

It's pretty much been proven that they were tripping on a natural form of '___'.

www.hbci.com...

edit on 8-2-2011 by TomServo because: typo

Yes - tripping - and the European variety of Witch burnings that preceeded our little US incident in Salem was believed to also be drug induced hysteria. It is believed the natural herbal concoction those unfortunate victims tripped off - was a substance they applied to their genitals with the handle of a broom stick. The effect of the "trip" was more dramatic when applied to that oh-so delicate area where it was more easily absorbed into the blood stream . . . now that puts a whole new "too much information" image in your mind concerning that Halloween witch on the flying broomstick doesn't it???!!!

reply to post by mrjefffort


Once again, don't take it so literally.

It's more of an examination into how we perceive folk tales and myths rather than a serious look into women on broomsticks being beamed up by little green men.

Hm... I think the thousands of people that got tortured, burned or killed otherwise by the church or other people earn a bit more respect than is shown here. Not all of them were drugheads or mentally ill (and even that was IMHO no reason for killing them). I'm sorry that I get a bit emotional here, but I'm coming from Trier, the oldest city in Germany (founded by the romans more than 2000 years ago). Trier was one of the literally "hotspots" of witchtrials. It is told in the chronicles of my city, that once there was a churchman, who said in Trier there were more black stakes than trees with green leaves.

I think it was in the year 1587, when 118 women and 2 men got burned, because allegedly they prolonged winter. The stupid authorities in that time didn't know, that the reason for the unusual long winter wasn't witchcraft, but the eruption of a volcano, that caused the sinking of temperature and led to a year without summer....

Beside the ignorance of natural mechanisms that often led to the killings of supposed witches, there often were political reasons that resulted in the burning of a witch. Because sometimes they just were in the way of someones political or economical interests. (Hm, we can really be glad that those times are long gone. If today someone's in the way of anyone, he or she just has a little accident...)

And one day, the burning of witches itself became a buisness with great profits, because the relatives of the supposed witch had to pay the wandering courts for their "discomfort" for coming to the town.

This perversion nearly led to the total extinction of the rural population, because more and more witches were "found", and it ended not until, when a Jesuit named Friedrich Spee wrote a book entitled "Cautio Criminalis" in which he described the perversion of the witchtrials and their absolute illegitimacy.

en.wikipedia.org...

People like Friedrich Spee show, that the flame of reason burned all the times. And thanks god, some day it burned brighter than the stakes, so that the dark days of the mediaeval times came to an end.

May they never return...



Edit: Something to think about when facing the habits of modern, "civilized" intelligence services to obtain "truth" by waterboarding people:

"Spee was the first person in his time who spoke strongly and with arguments against torture in general. He may be considered the first who ever gave good arguments why torture is not a way of obtaining truth from someone undergoing painful questioning."

Nearly 400 years ago, he already knew how useless such actions were to obtain truth....

He said "Often I have thought that the only reason we are all not wizards is due to the fact we have not all been tortured."

...

Very well put, I would like for those who said Witches were just tripping on drugs to present proof

Originally posted by margret68
witches?
i always look at witches as pre historic emo/goth kids disturbed wayward however then they didnt get a slap on the wrist, they were burnt at the stake

Whoaa... I'm just speechless... so much ignorance...

Pray to god that you'll never have to experience what those people had to go through...

And beware your neighbors, because -

"Many people who incite the Inquisition so vehemently against sorcerers in their towns and villages are not at all aware and do not notice or foresee that once they have begun to clamor for torture, every person tortured must denounce several more. The trials will continue, so eventually the denunciations will inevitably reach them and their families, since, as I warned above, no end will be found until everyone has been burned." (Friedrich Spee)

One day, your neighbors could come to the conclusion, that you're a terrorist (modern days witches, aren't they?), just for being different from them...



(Sorry mods, usually I'm a calm poster, tolerating different opinions. But such inhuman thinking makes my blood boil...)

Originally posted by LiveForever8
There seems to exist, in the UFO/Alien time line, a grey area.

What I want to know is, where on Earth (or more likely outer space) did these ET's go in the hundreds of years between these two periods?

Re-examine the whole phenomena but think 'inter-dimensional beings' not 'extraterrestial'.

reply to post by Peloquin


Yeah, the Middle Ages certainly are very mysterious.

Medieval folklore is littered with all sorts of strange entities - fairies, dwarfs, hobgoblins, dragons - all of which could have some sort of grounding in truth.

The very fact that the Dark Age itself is supposed to be one giant conspiracy says it all

reply to post by LiveForever8



Aren't the middle ages considered the Dark Ages?
In any regard, NOT a time I have any romantic ideals about going back and living in. Seeing a real Iron Maiden was enough for me.

You may be interested in the book The Spirit Molecule. It concerns '___' experimentation, out of body experience, NDE and "abduction experience" as being a possible effect of a rush of '___' out of the Pineal Gland. The experiments were conducted by a Psychiatrist in New Mexico in the early 90s. Interesting read.

Originally posted by mrjefffort
Very well put, I would like for those who said Witches were just tripping on drugs to present proof

www.scienceinschool.org...
witchofforestgrove.com...
wiki.dmt-nexus.com...

Enjoy reading your PROOF - google is your friend.