The chapter three on The Twilight of Paganism: Magic in Norse and Irish Culture describes the mythology of Irish culture. One of the Irish literature involves a man named Conle that is tempted by a seductive female fairy. As the fairy invites Conle to partake in paradise with her at Fairy Hill where there are never ending feasts and no death. However, Conle uses a charm that was given to him by a Druid to fend off the fairy’s allurement. Although, this only lasts temporally and the fairy returns to Conle to warn him that the Druids are malicious beings that use demonic magic. Consequently, Conle is convinced by the Fairy’s accusation of the Druids and is told about St. Patrick coming to Ireland to convert them into Christians. In the
…show more content…
As the fairy story that involves Conle conveys that Fairy Hill (i.e. heaven) is what Christianity offers to the Irish. That they can have everlasting life if they convert to Christianity, which is illustrated by Conle being foretold that St. Patrick is coming soon to convert them. In addition, the Druids are implied to be malicious people in order to tarnish paganism. For the story itself is an altered pagan one that labels polytheism as evil and Christianity as righteous. The reason that Christians utilized the story was to take a part of the culture that the Irish were familiar with, which were fairies was to make the transition into converting the populous to Christianity easier. As for my opinion on the lecture Medieval European Conceptualizations of Magic and Witchcraft, I think that when Christianity was relatively new in Europe it tried adapting some pagan culture into itself to make the conversion process easier for nonbelievers. However, as time progressed and Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe it gradually abandoned this practice. As a result, the Christians were probably less tolerable of making concessions for pagans in the conversion process as Christianity became the largest …show more content…
For when a person is conducting medical magic it becomes subject if whether or not the person is conducting white or black witchcraft. As attempting to heal someone with herbs and magic could potentially backfire on the person trying to aid the ill patient. If the patient dies it could be argued that the individual that performed the treatment had the intent to kill the victim all along, which would label them as a sorcerer. Consequently, this could lead to that person’s death as they would probably be persecuted for committing sorcery. As for the lecture on Popular and Courtly Magic – Part II it discusses the usage of Gemstones during the Medieval period. That gemstones were utilized as protective amulets’ for the nobility in Europe. For example, St. Hildegarde of Bingen described gemstones useful for protecting against the devil, since they reminded Lucifer of heaven, which he was banished
As the fairy story that involves Conle conveys that Fairy Hill (i.e. heaven) is what Christianity offers to the Irish. That they can have everlasting life if they convert to Christianity, which is illustrated by Conle being foretold that St. Patrick is coming soon to convert them. In addition, the Druids are implied to be malicious people in order to tarnish paganism. For the story itself is an altered pagan one that labels polytheism as evil and Christianity as righteous. The reason that Christians utilized the story was to take a part of the culture that the Irish were familiar with, which were fairies was to make the transition into converting the populous to Christianity easier. As for my opinion on the lecture Medieval European Conceptualizations of Magic and Witchcraft, I think that when Christianity was relatively new in Europe it tried adapting some pagan culture into itself to make the conversion process easier for nonbelievers. However, as time progressed and Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe it gradually abandoned this practice. As a result, the Christians were probably less tolerable of making concessions for pagans in the conversion process as Christianity became the largest …show more content…
For when a person is conducting medical magic it becomes subject if whether or not the person is conducting white or black witchcraft. As attempting to heal someone with herbs and magic could potentially backfire on the person trying to aid the ill patient. If the patient dies it could be argued that the individual that performed the treatment had the intent to kill the victim all along, which would label them as a sorcerer. Consequently, this could lead to that person’s death as they would probably be persecuted for committing sorcery. As for the lecture on Popular and Courtly Magic – Part II it discusses the usage of Gemstones during the Medieval period. That gemstones were utilized as protective amulets’ for the nobility in Europe. For example, St. Hildegarde of Bingen described gemstones useful for protecting against the devil, since they reminded Lucifer of heaven, which he was banished