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Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath
Weaving early accounts of witchcraft—trial records, ecclesiastical tracts, folklore, and popular iconography—into new and startling patterns, Carlo Ginzburg presents in Ecstasies compelling evidence of a hidden shamanistic culture that flourished across Europe and in England for thousands of years.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Carlo Ginzburg
74 books268 followersBorn in 1939, Ginzburg was the son of Italian-Ukranian translator Leone Ginzburg and Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg. As a historian his fields of interest ranged from the Italian Renaissance to early modern European History, with contributions in art history, literary studies, popular cultural beliefs, and the theory of historiography.
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September 19, 2025
Și cît am lucrat la traducerea asta, pe care am și post-fațat-o! Firește, traducătorul știa italiană, era om subțire, dar habar n-avea de așa-zisa istorie a mentalităților. I-am întors traducerea pe dos. El a avut prostul gust să se supere pe mine, deși l-am ameliorat din răsputeri și l-am ridicat la înălțimi* la care nici nu visa :)
La întrebarea dacă Sabatul a fost ceva real sau un fenomen halucinatoriu, răspunsul e simplu și nu are rost să-l comentez aici. O minoritate de femei a fost reprimată doar în temeiul unor relatări pestrițe și perfect contradictorii. Înainte de orice, sabatul a fost un fenomen psihologic. În fine, nu mai știu cine a spus că istoria e povestea smintită a neroziilor omenești.
Într-un cuvînt, o carte foarte bună, la care s-a întîmplat să fiu cîndva redactor.
* Înălțimi „traductologice”, cum se zice mai nou în eteratele sfere academice...
La întrebarea dacă Sabatul a fost ceva real sau un fenomen halucinatoriu, răspunsul e simplu și nu are rost să-l comentez aici. O minoritate de femei a fost reprimată doar în temeiul unor relatări pestrițe și perfect contradictorii. Înainte de orice, sabatul a fost un fenomen psihologic. În fine, nu mai știu cine a spus că istoria e povestea smintită a neroziilor omenești.
Într-un cuvînt, o carte foarte bună, la care s-a întîmplat să fiu cîndva redactor.
* Înălțimi „traductologice”, cum se zice mai nou în eteratele sfere academice...
March 16, 2017
A good friend with impeccable taste recommended me CG's Ecstasies in the context of a conversation about a pair of books that will be familiar to some: Caliban and the Witch and Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture. (If I recall correctly, Against His-Story, Against Leviathan! was also mentioned.) Ginzburg's book will never get the kind of circulation that the others have had, which is to our great disadvantage. While far less transparently political than Federici or Evans, Ginzburg is the only true historian among them. I mean "true historian" not in the sense of upholding truth as the ideal and object of historical studies, but in these three senses: vocation (history is his life's work), faithfulness (his cautiousness and skepticism are exemplary), and most importantly Benjamin's sense (he goes about his work as if it is the dead themselves who are at stake).
This last point deserves elaboration beyond what I'll attempt here, as this book is deeply and finally about the dead. The introduction concludes: "The attempt to attain knowledge of the past is also a journey into the world of the dead." If this is reminiscent of Benjamin's theses on history, I wouldn't consider it accidental. Buried among the book's thousand-odd footnotes one finds: "It should be remembered that Benjamin, in a letter to Scholem on August 5, 1937, said that he considered Jung's psychology 'the devil's work through and through, which should be attacked with white magic'." Here CG's opposition to Jung seems to be twofold: on the one hand, Jung's psychology would sever archetypes from being rooted in the body, on the other, it expresses supposed cultural universals from a Eurocentric perspective. In any case, the reference to Benjamin may be a clue to Ginzburg's interest in "the dark side of history", involving the people whose stories have been wiped out or distorted by their enemies, whose subterranean, mutated legacies demand that the historian become a detective of the past, a journeyer into the world of the dead.
One oversight leaves me wondering. CG has expertly traced threads from the beliefs and ritual practices of the witches to the shamans of the northern steppes, the werewolves, and the cults of Dionysus, among others. These threads consist of elements (animal transformations, birth with a caul, lameness, times of the year or day, etc) united by their mythic link to the passage between life and death. I wonder if we could include among these elements the shamans' trans-sexual and transvestite practices (which CG mentions in passing), also a marker of liminality, and also practiced in at least some of the other groups he deals with so closely. CG does not comment on this.
This last point deserves elaboration beyond what I'll attempt here, as this book is deeply and finally about the dead. The introduction concludes: "The attempt to attain knowledge of the past is also a journey into the world of the dead." If this is reminiscent of Benjamin's theses on history, I wouldn't consider it accidental. Buried among the book's thousand-odd footnotes one finds: "It should be remembered that Benjamin, in a letter to Scholem on August 5, 1937, said that he considered Jung's psychology 'the devil's work through and through, which should be attacked with white magic'." Here CG's opposition to Jung seems to be twofold: on the one hand, Jung's psychology would sever archetypes from being rooted in the body, on the other, it expresses supposed cultural universals from a Eurocentric perspective. In any case, the reference to Benjamin may be a clue to Ginzburg's interest in "the dark side of history", involving the people whose stories have been wiped out or distorted by their enemies, whose subterranean, mutated legacies demand that the historian become a detective of the past, a journeyer into the world of the dead.
One oversight leaves me wondering. CG has expertly traced threads from the beliefs and ritual practices of the witches to the shamans of the northern steppes, the werewolves, and the cults of Dionysus, among others. These threads consist of elements (animal transformations, birth with a caul, lameness, times of the year or day, etc) united by their mythic link to the passage between life and death. I wonder if we could include among these elements the shamans' trans-sexual and transvestite practices (which CG mentions in passing), also a marker of liminality, and also practiced in at least some of the other groups he deals with so closely. CG does not comment on this.
Read
December 30, 2014What we have tried to analyze here is not one narrative among many, but the matrix of all possible narratives.
So concludes this Triumph of the Weird. What a Borgesian proclamation! My head spins with the density and erudition displayed in this ethnohistory of an idea, the Sabbath. This was a perfect book to roll around with for two days, discouraged from leaving the house by winter break and true winter weather. So Dr. Ginzburg ponders why Witch Trials all sounded similar across three centuries and throughout Europe. He pokes and ponders, parses and sifts until he finds that mushrooms are the answer. Sorry for the spoiler. Such was disseminated thousands of years ago by the Scythians and their travels both east and west. Throughout which such totems found themselves everywhere in folklore: all ceremony and symbolism trace back to that Eurasian jaunt. I suspect The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth is a similar wormhole. One could grow fat and die on the footnotes alone. The elegance of the etymology is worth the price of admission.
So concludes this Triumph of the Weird. What a Borgesian proclamation! My head spins with the density and erudition displayed in this ethnohistory of an idea, the Sabbath. This was a perfect book to roll around with for two days, discouraged from leaving the house by winter break and true winter weather. So Dr. Ginzburg ponders why Witch Trials all sounded similar across three centuries and throughout Europe. He pokes and ponders, parses and sifts until he finds that mushrooms are the answer. Sorry for the spoiler. Such was disseminated thousands of years ago by the Scythians and their travels both east and west. Throughout which such totems found themselves everywhere in folklore: all ceremony and symbolism trace back to that Eurasian jaunt. I suspect The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth is a similar wormhole. One could grow fat and die on the footnotes alone. The elegance of the etymology is worth the price of admission.
August 23, 2021
Interesting analysis of what might have fed into the belief which arose in Europe from the late 16th century of a Satanic cult, as opposed to the existing beliefs about witches as solitary magical practioners who sometimes did harm to their neighbours. Doubt has, however, been cast on some of this author's conclusions by Professor Hutton in his own book, 'The Witch', that I read recently, in particular the likelihood of shamanic practices being as widespread as this author contends.
Despite this, the various customs which he documents are of interest and I was particularly interested in the opening chapter about the attitude to lepers in the late middle ages, and how they were treated as conspirators against Christendom. I was aware of the persecution of Jews and people viewed as having heretical beliefs, but had not known that lepers also were persecuted, tortured and executed in the same way as those groups and later, those accused of witchcraft.
The author does in places have a tendency to resort to academic language which went over my head rather, but the parts written straightforwardly were fine, and on the whole I rate this at 3 stars.
Despite this, the various customs which he documents are of interest and I was particularly interested in the opening chapter about the attitude to lepers in the late middle ages, and how they were treated as conspirators against Christendom. I was aware of the persecution of Jews and people viewed as having heretical beliefs, but had not known that lepers also were persecuted, tortured and executed in the same way as those groups and later, those accused of witchcraft.
The author does in places have a tendency to resort to academic language which went over my head rather, but the parts written straightforwardly were fine, and on the whole I rate this at 3 stars.
June 11, 2013
Erudite, dense, wide-ranging and provocative, Ginzburg's Ecstasies is begins as an investigation of the beliefs of witches in early modern Europe and ends, after many digressive speculations spanning human history across the globe, with the tentative conclusion that common prehistoric shamanistic practices have had a pervasive and enduring influence on folk beliefs and religion throughout most of Eurasia.
Having read Ginzburg before, I bought this with some (disappointed) expectation of delving more deeply into European witchcraft. Indeed, the author does begin with an examination of the phenomenon, but most of the books travels far afield from its starting point. Still, the starting point--getting at the beliefs of those accused of witchcraft themselves--is interesting.
Most studies of witchcraft have focused on the record, records kept by inquisitors and persecutors, treating the accused either as poor, deluded individuals or as practitioners of pre-Christian religions (a thesis commonly identified with Margaret Murray). Ginzburg, however, believes that by separating out of the record assertions not fitting the expectations of the persecuting authorities one can approach some sense of what the "witches" themselves believed. To some extent, in the first couple of chapters, he does just this, but this just provides a point from which he can cast his net--widely.
Again and again the text comes back to questions of transmission. Do the common beliefs he treats result from diffusion, from derivation from a common source or "from structural characteristics of the human mind" (p.213)? Insofar as he comes down to any side, he tends toward the second alternative, supplemented by diffusion and common sociological factors such as gender roles. The Jungian hypothesis of a collective unconscious is dismissed not so much for being false as for being inherently vague and undemonstrable. One sideline of his argument, the notion that the use of naturally occurring psychedelic agents was common (an hypothesis which might lend some weight to the Jungian), is only treated briefly and inconclusively at the very end of the text.
Although I was mightily impressed by the scholarship embodied in this book and in its copious notes, I was ultimately left unsatisfied. The shamanistic argument is an old and familiar one, itself open to accusations of nebulous vagueness. In the end this book is most valuable as a somewhat rambling case study of how such research into origins might proceed and what considerations ought accompany such.
Having read Ginzburg before, I bought this with some (disappointed) expectation of delving more deeply into European witchcraft. Indeed, the author does begin with an examination of the phenomenon, but most of the books travels far afield from its starting point. Still, the starting point--getting at the beliefs of those accused of witchcraft themselves--is interesting.
Most studies of witchcraft have focused on the record, records kept by inquisitors and persecutors, treating the accused either as poor, deluded individuals or as practitioners of pre-Christian religions (a thesis commonly identified with Margaret Murray). Ginzburg, however, believes that by separating out of the record assertions not fitting the expectations of the persecuting authorities one can approach some sense of what the "witches" themselves believed. To some extent, in the first couple of chapters, he does just this, but this just provides a point from which he can cast his net--widely.
Again and again the text comes back to questions of transmission. Do the common beliefs he treats result from diffusion, from derivation from a common source or "from structural characteristics of the human mind" (p.213)? Insofar as he comes down to any side, he tends toward the second alternative, supplemented by diffusion and common sociological factors such as gender roles. The Jungian hypothesis of a collective unconscious is dismissed not so much for being false as for being inherently vague and undemonstrable. One sideline of his argument, the notion that the use of naturally occurring psychedelic agents was common (an hypothesis which might lend some weight to the Jungian), is only treated briefly and inconclusively at the very end of the text.
Although I was mightily impressed by the scholarship embodied in this book and in its copious notes, I was ultimately left unsatisfied. The shamanistic argument is an old and familiar one, itself open to accusations of nebulous vagueness. In the end this book is most valuable as a somewhat rambling case study of how such research into origins might proceed and what considerations ought accompany such.
December 3, 2017
Does much of European apprehensions and lore about the supernatural derive from a remote Eurasian substratum of possibly shamanic beliefs and rites, dating back to Paleolithic times?
Ginzburg sure makes a goddamn good argument for it. To his credit, though, even when he spirals down rabbit-holes of morphology and metaphor and symbol, which largely prove his thesis right, at least incidentally, he still has the verve to pull back from catechizing his own thesis.
This book should fascinate pretty much everybody. The skinny:
stuff like witches, sabbaths, shapeshifting, hell, even freaking Cinderella, all manifest commonly across much of Eurasia and in early modern times, during witch interrogations and the inquisition some tantalizing little nuances in testimony give a window into a long world, vanished but extant if only literally in dreams. How do benandanti of the Friuli and Livonian werewolves have the same experience battling evil sorcerers and sorceresses for the fertility of their crops come together? What is the connection of "the good folk", followers of a nocturnal goddess who, if unblindfolded will basically destroy the world with all sorts of other good folk, faeries, sprites, Thor, Oedipus, and shit as far afield as China!?!
If you want to know the answers to those things, this is probably the book for you.
Insane and endlessly fascinating.
Ginzburg sure makes a goddamn good argument for it. To his credit, though, even when he spirals down rabbit-holes of morphology and metaphor and symbol, which largely prove his thesis right, at least incidentally, he still has the verve to pull back from catechizing his own thesis.
This book should fascinate pretty much everybody. The skinny:
stuff like witches, sabbaths, shapeshifting, hell, even freaking Cinderella, all manifest commonly across much of Eurasia and in early modern times, during witch interrogations and the inquisition some tantalizing little nuances in testimony give a window into a long world, vanished but extant if only literally in dreams. How do benandanti of the Friuli and Livonian werewolves have the same experience battling evil sorcerers and sorceresses for the fertility of their crops come together? What is the connection of "the good folk", followers of a nocturnal goddess who, if unblindfolded will basically destroy the world with all sorts of other good folk, faeries, sprites, Thor, Oedipus, and shit as far afield as China!?!
If you want to know the answers to those things, this is probably the book for you.
Insane and endlessly fascinating.
Read
May 24, 2016THIS is how I like my historical speculation. Couched in caveats & supported by as much back data as possible. Carlo Ginzburg's "microhistorical" paradigm is a fascinating game of telephone. The armchair anthropologist in me thrilled at it, & that's before the weird "Injury to Foot" motif bits. --MK
June 24, 2022
Ci ho messo un po' a portare a termine questo densissimo lavoro di Carlo Ginzburg, che allarga a dismisura il discorso cominciato con I benandanti. Stregoneria e culti agrari tra Cinquecento e Seicento, dal nome del culto pagano i cui membri furono considerati eretici dalla fine del '500 e fino alla seconda metà del '600, nonostante questi dichiarassero di andare a combattere le streghe durante i sabba. In Storia Notturna lo storico torinese si focalizza infatti proprio su quest'ultimo elemento, e con un titanico e meticoloso lavoro di ricerca riesce a seguire quelle esili piste - persino la zoppaggine, per dire! - che si perdono nella notte dei tempi nel tentativo di ricostruire l'origine di una pratica che noi conosciamo prevalentemente grazie all'opera mistificatrice di Chiesa e Inquisizione. E quello che emerge da questo appassionante studio è una storia di sciamanesimo che ha cominciato a svilupparsi tra Asia e Europa (con gli Sciti - non sciiti eh - come punto di contatto tra le due culture) le cui tracce sono ancora oggi riscontrabili nel folklore delle popolazioni più disparate. L'approccio di Ginzburg è ovviamente quello dello storico ma il suo lavoro è anche molto vicino alla ricerca antropologica, la materia è decisamente affascinante e il consiglio che vi do, se volete cimentarvi con Storia Notturna e non accusare la fatica, visto che il testo è già bello denso di suo, è quello di saltare le numerose note a meno che non dobbiate studiare il testo in maniera approfondita.
October 7, 2024
Conspiracy theories.
November 2, 2018
At times brilliant, at times far reaching and too dense to follow easily - this is Ginzburg's masterpiece. A dizzying exploration of the origins of the Sabbath. Ginzburg traces the intricacies back to Paleolithic shamanism and the ecstasies of the title. The connecting threads he explores include animal transformations, birth with a caul, and lameness which are all seen as being a mythic link to the passage between life and death.
I was fascinated by the theory that the witch persecutions originated in the persecution of lepers and other heretics, which no other book on witchcraft I have read to this date has mentioned.
Ginzburg explores the Goddess/Fertility cult/s as well as a gigantic sprawling section 'Skin and Bones' on related myths/fables/fairytales which was so sprawling, it lost me completely at times.
Compelling and an incredible range of research - but ultimately a lot of the content is grasping at straws. We can never know exactly why there are so many linking myths and similarities. Whilst some important and unique points were made, I felt the range of sources was too far ranging, it ended with some very vague conclusions, which ultimately felt rather unsatisfactory...
I was fascinated by the theory that the witch persecutions originated in the persecution of lepers and other heretics, which no other book on witchcraft I have read to this date has mentioned.
Ginzburg explores the Goddess/Fertility cult/s as well as a gigantic sprawling section 'Skin and Bones' on related myths/fables/fairytales which was so sprawling, it lost me completely at times.
Compelling and an incredible range of research - but ultimately a lot of the content is grasping at straws. We can never know exactly why there are so many linking myths and similarities. Whilst some important and unique points were made, I felt the range of sources was too far ranging, it ended with some very vague conclusions, which ultimately felt rather unsatisfactory...
April 5, 2026
Este ensayo indaga en el origen de los mitos sobre la brujería, explorando sus raíces culturales en Europa. Es una obra de lectura exigente y por momentos reiterativa, lo que puede dificultar su disfrute. Destaca por su rigurosa documentación. Más recomendable para lectores con interés previo que como introducción al tema.
April 9, 2023
Esse livro me levounuma viagem incrível e diversa pelos ritos e mitos de uma imensidade de povos. Eu me peguei em muitos momentos tomando sustos com as conexões que eram feitas pelo autor, porque parecia um pouco um livro de detetive. Adorei ter lido esse livro e aprendido tudo que eu aprendi com ele.
December 9, 2023
Un bon essaie sur le sabbat des sorcieres, cependant je l'ai trouvé beaucoup trop fixer sur la partie "naissance" et sur l'origine. Cela manque de quelques choses de plus concret sur ce qu'est réellement le sabbat. Mais il reste très intéressant pour la thématique
December 5, 2013
Records of the witches Sabbat reaches us in modern times through the stores and testimonies recorded by the biased inquisitors who tortured the suspected witches to get a confession from them. Historiean looking for the origin of these sabbats and trying to prove their veracity have come up against man y challenges. Some have thought the Sabbat to be nothing but invention of the inquisitors while others have believed that there was a factual basis to the reported Sabbat.
According to legend the witches Sabbat was when the witchews would anoint themselves with flying ointment and would ride a broomstick or an animal and fly to the Sabbat for frolicking with the devil. Now through out European history groups like the lepers, Jews and witches have been accused of poisoning wells, spreading plagues and eating live babies for rituals. The same accusations are repeated time and time again the only things that changes is the name of the group being accused.
Going back though historical memory there have been recorded night wandering with a Goddess called Diana or Herodia, Richella, or Oriente. She would lead a procession through the night stopping at houses to eat or drink if it was clean and offering were left for the riding company. She would have in her procession all sorts of followers, faeries and later on Demons. Now the Goddess occurred only in an area with a Celtic substratum. Places that were Norse or strictly Roman did not have this Goddess flying around.
Another source for this Sabbat or ecstasy would come groups like the Benadanti, Kressinski and Calusary. Based in Italy, Central Europe, and parts of Eurabia these dream warriors had the ability to shape shift into other animals, mostly wolves. The wolves or werewolves would fight against malevolent forces of the universe like witches and vampire in order to preserve the fertility of the land. Some like the Calusari followed Diana while others claimed to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ like the Benadnati.
Some times there were groups of warriors who would fight for their town on the Astral plane to benefit their village against a rival village. These tnendencies tended to show up all over the place going from Europe, Eurasia all the way to china. The converging point comes from the Scythians who passed amny of these things on to Celtic Europeans and greeks. The Greeks had their ecstatic cult of Dionysus and the Eleusinian mysteries. The Scythians also had a goddess that was mistress of the beasts. Could this have passed on to the celts somehow and then to the rest of Europe.
The author then goes into the differing mythologies and makes note of how shamans had to have a near death experience and were often lamed in the foot somehow that marked them off. It was Shaman who did the healing and the fighting and the shapreshifting.
This book was fascinating. Carlo Ginzburg is not a neo-pagan or some wishy washy Wiccan he is a scholar and his work is based on solid research. Neo-Pagans should read material of this caliber.
According to legend the witches Sabbat was when the witchews would anoint themselves with flying ointment and would ride a broomstick or an animal and fly to the Sabbat for frolicking with the devil. Now through out European history groups like the lepers, Jews and witches have been accused of poisoning wells, spreading plagues and eating live babies for rituals. The same accusations are repeated time and time again the only things that changes is the name of the group being accused.
Going back though historical memory there have been recorded night wandering with a Goddess called Diana or Herodia, Richella, or Oriente. She would lead a procession through the night stopping at houses to eat or drink if it was clean and offering were left for the riding company. She would have in her procession all sorts of followers, faeries and later on Demons. Now the Goddess occurred only in an area with a Celtic substratum. Places that were Norse or strictly Roman did not have this Goddess flying around.
Another source for this Sabbat or ecstasy would come groups like the Benadanti, Kressinski and Calusary. Based in Italy, Central Europe, and parts of Eurabia these dream warriors had the ability to shape shift into other animals, mostly wolves. The wolves or werewolves would fight against malevolent forces of the universe like witches and vampire in order to preserve the fertility of the land. Some like the Calusari followed Diana while others claimed to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ like the Benadnati.
Some times there were groups of warriors who would fight for their town on the Astral plane to benefit their village against a rival village. These tnendencies tended to show up all over the place going from Europe, Eurasia all the way to china. The converging point comes from the Scythians who passed amny of these things on to Celtic Europeans and greeks. The Greeks had their ecstatic cult of Dionysus and the Eleusinian mysteries. The Scythians also had a goddess that was mistress of the beasts. Could this have passed on to the celts somehow and then to the rest of Europe.
The author then goes into the differing mythologies and makes note of how shamans had to have a near death experience and were often lamed in the foot somehow that marked them off. It was Shaman who did the healing and the fighting and the shapreshifting.
This book was fascinating. Carlo Ginzburg is not a neo-pagan or some wishy washy Wiccan he is a scholar and his work is based on solid research. Neo-Pagans should read material of this caliber.
April 21, 2021
Hasta llegar a la imagen actual que tenemos de las brujas y sus reuniones han pasado muchas cosas y muchos años. Pero ¿existió realmente el aquelarre o era producto del imaginario colectivo de una época plagada de supersticiones y creencias que debían esconderse? ⠀
⠀
Este es un tema que me atrae muchísimo y desde que indago en él mi concepción de las brujas ha ido cambiando. Descubrí «Historia nocturna», de Carlo Ginzburg, gracias a Alanna, que conoceréis de sobra si os interesa el paganismo y el folclore. ⠀
⠀
Es un libro muy denso. El autor comienza en un núcleo concreto, donde empieza a cristalizar la imagen del aquelarre, y se va dispersando con sus teorías por casi toda Eurasia, hacia el pasado. Usa la antropología y, en ocasiones, la lingüística para intentar encontrar el patrón común a todas las creencias que rodean el sabbat. Sin embargo, se queda en eso: teorías. Por desgracia existen poquísimas pruebas, salvo algunos resquicios antiguos, confesiones o tratados inquisitoriales, que no son suficientes para explicar de manera rotunda qué era aquello y en qué consistía.⠀
⠀
Aunque me he perdido varias veces intentando seguir al autor, mi parte favorita ha sido la primera. En ella Ginzburg hace ver cómo el ser humano recicla estigmas: los argumentos usados en contra de un determinado grupo marginal en una época se volvían a usar décadas después en contra de otro. La base de las acusaciones hacia los cristianos primitivos, por ejemplo, fue reutilizada (con algunos cambios) contra los leprosos, los judíos, los musulmanes y por la Inquisición. Curioso. ⠀
⠀
Por supuesto, esto es un resumen que no le hace justicia a toda la documentación y trabajo que lleva detrás y no abarca, ni de lejos, todo el contenido del libro.
⠀
Este es un tema que me atrae muchísimo y desde que indago en él mi concepción de las brujas ha ido cambiando. Descubrí «Historia nocturna», de Carlo Ginzburg, gracias a Alanna, que conoceréis de sobra si os interesa el paganismo y el folclore. ⠀
⠀
Es un libro muy denso. El autor comienza en un núcleo concreto, donde empieza a cristalizar la imagen del aquelarre, y se va dispersando con sus teorías por casi toda Eurasia, hacia el pasado. Usa la antropología y, en ocasiones, la lingüística para intentar encontrar el patrón común a todas las creencias que rodean el sabbat. Sin embargo, se queda en eso: teorías. Por desgracia existen poquísimas pruebas, salvo algunos resquicios antiguos, confesiones o tratados inquisitoriales, que no son suficientes para explicar de manera rotunda qué era aquello y en qué consistía.⠀
⠀
Aunque me he perdido varias veces intentando seguir al autor, mi parte favorita ha sido la primera. En ella Ginzburg hace ver cómo el ser humano recicla estigmas: los argumentos usados en contra de un determinado grupo marginal en una época se volvían a usar décadas después en contra de otro. La base de las acusaciones hacia los cristianos primitivos, por ejemplo, fue reutilizada (con algunos cambios) contra los leprosos, los judíos, los musulmanes y por la Inquisición. Curioso. ⠀
⠀
Por supuesto, esto es un resumen que no le hace justicia a toda la documentación y trabajo que lleva detrás y no abarca, ni de lejos, todo el contenido del libro.
June 21, 2013
Not your typical bedtime reader, I'm tempted to lift the effusive accolades from the book's back cover. Instead I'll note it is a densely documented, dissertation on the extreme likelihood of a universal link to ancient cultural ancestory, carrying forward similar mythology, folklore and shamanic themes. Who knew history could be so fascinating? Apparently Carlo Ginzburg.I have never seen the like of his footnotes! He skillfully, gently and with an obvious delight extracts from a veritable academic haystack a needle of truth and erudite conjecture that has me hooked forever on historic research as a hobby. Too late to make it a career. What were they thinking at the Ministry of Education when they created such an abysmal History curriculum? Perhaps my age is showing...
August 29, 2016
Ginzburg za tři hvězdy nemůže, to ten překlad :/
Knížka se moc špatně a stavba věty češtinu připomíná jen díky ohýbání slov; jinak je to v podstatě google translate. Což je škoda, téma sabatu je samo o sobě velmi zajímavé, byť náročné na bakcground a odborné povědomí. I laik by si nicméně mohl počíst, kdyby se zde pracovalo s překladatelskou poznámkou a autor (překladu) by si dal tu práci a pro čtenáře dohledal vysvětlení odborných termínů, souvisejících vědeckých teorií a některých méně známých fakt. Což se bohužel neděje.
Škoda promarněné příležitosti, Ginzburg patří rozhodně k tomu lepšímu, co současná historiografie nabízí. Každopádně o důvod víc konečně se dokopat k té učebnici italštiny, co se mi válí už pár let v knihovně :)
Knížka se moc špatně a stavba věty češtinu připomíná jen díky ohýbání slov; jinak je to v podstatě google translate. Což je škoda, téma sabatu je samo o sobě velmi zajímavé, byť náročné na bakcground a odborné povědomí. I laik by si nicméně mohl počíst, kdyby se zde pracovalo s překladatelskou poznámkou a autor (překladu) by si dal tu práci a pro čtenáře dohledal vysvětlení odborných termínů, souvisejících vědeckých teorií a některých méně známých fakt. Což se bohužel neděje.
Škoda promarněné příležitosti, Ginzburg patří rozhodně k tomu lepšímu, co současná historiografie nabízí. Každopádně o důvod víc konečně se dokopat k té učebnici italštiny, co se mi válí už pár let v knihovně :)
May 19, 2020
Che delusione. Non solo la visione di insieme è estremamente frammentaria, ma è seppellita sotto un enorme e pesantissimo ammasso di dettagli. Tutto questo, sembra, solo perché l’autore ha troppa paura del giudizio dei colleghi storici, e si sente costretto costantemente a giustificare le sue teorie. Teorie che, se sviluppate con più coraggio e con una chiara visione unitaria, sarebbero estremamente coinvolgenti e interessanti. Alla fine questo è un libro in cui Ginzburg cerca di spiegare perché pensa ciò che pensa, più che illustrare chiaramente ciò che pensa. E non spiega neppure al lettore cosa sia il sabba. Alla fine una noia mortale
May 15, 2013
Once you get through the jargon, you'll find a brilliant book. I recommend this as part of a class. It's a book that begs to be studied and discussed.
March 30, 2015
A good tour through history of how the Witches Sabbath was incorporated into the witch trials of Europe.
January 6, 2024
Che sapienza
February 18, 2021
Déjà auteur quelque temps plus tôt des "Batailles nocturnes", qui évoquait déjà les rites magiques populaires du Frioul à la Renaissance, Carlo Ginzburg prend comme point de départ de cette extraordinaire enquête les récits du sabbat des sorcières. Généralement tirés d'aveux obtenus sous la torture, ceux-ci sont stéréotypés et reflètent avant tout les convictions que les enquêteurs, ou dirai-je tortionnaires, s'étaient faites préalablement à la lecture des "Démonologie" et autres "Malleus maleficarum" de l'époque. Ce qui intéresse Ginzburg, ce sont les détails qui divergent de ces descriptions stéréotypées, les récits qu'aucun inquisiteur ne pouvait prévoir, les singularités inattendues et qui ne paraissent pas sollicitées par l'autorité répressive. À partir de ces détails qu'on peut croire authentiques, qu'est-il possible de reconstituer des croyances de ceux qui furent, au long des siècles, accusés de sorcellerie ? Cette accusation a-t-elle un fond, et lequel ?
La première partie du "Sabbat des sorcières" relève de la méthode historique traditionnelle, et montre que les théories du complot étaient tout aussi florissantes dans le Moyen Âge tardif qu'à notre époque : après avoir accusé successivement les lépreux et les juifs d'empoisonner les puits et/ou de propager la Peste noire, les populations de certaines régions bien précises étaient prêtes à s'en prendre à une soi-disant secte diabolique. La deuxième partie s'avance de manière inattendue sur le terrain de la mythologie comparée. Partant des récits des personnes accusées de sorcellerie, Ginzburg remonte jusqu'au paganisme antique dans sa version classique (celle des mythologies grecque et romaine que l'on apprend à l'école) puis plus loin encore, plus loin, plus loin dans le temps et dans l'espace, jusqu'à montrer une concordance frappante entre des traditions magiques encore observables au début du vingtième siècle, et les principes fondamentaux du chamanisme d'Asie centrale et septentrionale, à partir de contacts avec l'aire indo-européenne qu'il faudrait rechercher il y a trois ou quatre millénaires. Enfin, la troisième partie, s'interrogeant sur la persistance dans l'imagination collective de ces mythes et de ces rites, part à la recherche de structures générales de l'expérience humaine qui pourraient expliquer cette persistance et cette universalité.
"Le Sabbat des sorcières" est un livre d'une érudition vertigineuse. On ne peut pas à strictement parler dire que Ginzburg a tout lu sur le sujet, parce qu'il avoue parfois modestement en donnant la référence d'un article dans les notes que, celui-là, il ne l'a pas lu. Outre son dossier documentaire d'historien, il maîtrise à un point ahurissant les controverses les plus byzantines et les détails les plus discrets de la mythologie comparée. Ici Artémis rencontre les fées écossaises, les vampires, Dionysos et Odin, et l'armée furieuse du seigneur Hellequin. Ni les légendes arthuriennes ni les contes de Perrault ni le grand pied de Berthe ne manquent à l'appel. Vous trouverez même dans ce livre le témoignage d'un loup-garou ! Et comme le caractère pluridisciplinaire de sa recherche pose non seulement un défi au savoir mais de sérieuses questions de méthode, Ginzburg les traite posément, en s'appuyant sur Wittgenstein. Pour ne donner qu'un exemple, certes central : les convergences mythiques que Ginzburg observe doivent-elles trouver une explication en termes d'anthropologie structurale, à la façon de Lévi-Strauss (envers qui l'auteur ne cache pas ses dettes), ou est-il possible de leur trouver des causes strictement historiques ? Une fois la convergence repérée, que peut-on prouver ?
La lecture du "Sabbat des sorcières" m'a retourné le cerveau comme une crêpe. L'ampleur de vue de cette étude n'a d'égale que sa précision, et c'est une gageure que de tenir ensemble ces deux paris. Ce n'est pas écrit pour les petits appétits mais c'est magistral.
La première partie du "Sabbat des sorcières" relève de la méthode historique traditionnelle, et montre que les théories du complot étaient tout aussi florissantes dans le Moyen Âge tardif qu'à notre époque : après avoir accusé successivement les lépreux et les juifs d'empoisonner les puits et/ou de propager la Peste noire, les populations de certaines régions bien précises étaient prêtes à s'en prendre à une soi-disant secte diabolique. La deuxième partie s'avance de manière inattendue sur le terrain de la mythologie comparée. Partant des récits des personnes accusées de sorcellerie, Ginzburg remonte jusqu'au paganisme antique dans sa version classique (celle des mythologies grecque et romaine que l'on apprend à l'école) puis plus loin encore, plus loin, plus loin dans le temps et dans l'espace, jusqu'à montrer une concordance frappante entre des traditions magiques encore observables au début du vingtième siècle, et les principes fondamentaux du chamanisme d'Asie centrale et septentrionale, à partir de contacts avec l'aire indo-européenne qu'il faudrait rechercher il y a trois ou quatre millénaires. Enfin, la troisième partie, s'interrogeant sur la persistance dans l'imagination collective de ces mythes et de ces rites, part à la recherche de structures générales de l'expérience humaine qui pourraient expliquer cette persistance et cette universalité.
"Le Sabbat des sorcières" est un livre d'une érudition vertigineuse. On ne peut pas à strictement parler dire que Ginzburg a tout lu sur le sujet, parce qu'il avoue parfois modestement en donnant la référence d'un article dans les notes que, celui-là, il ne l'a pas lu. Outre son dossier documentaire d'historien, il maîtrise à un point ahurissant les controverses les plus byzantines et les détails les plus discrets de la mythologie comparée. Ici Artémis rencontre les fées écossaises, les vampires, Dionysos et Odin, et l'armée furieuse du seigneur Hellequin. Ni les légendes arthuriennes ni les contes de Perrault ni le grand pied de Berthe ne manquent à l'appel. Vous trouverez même dans ce livre le témoignage d'un loup-garou ! Et comme le caractère pluridisciplinaire de sa recherche pose non seulement un défi au savoir mais de sérieuses questions de méthode, Ginzburg les traite posément, en s'appuyant sur Wittgenstein. Pour ne donner qu'un exemple, certes central : les convergences mythiques que Ginzburg observe doivent-elles trouver une explication en termes d'anthropologie structurale, à la façon de Lévi-Strauss (envers qui l'auteur ne cache pas ses dettes), ou est-il possible de leur trouver des causes strictement historiques ? Une fois la convergence repérée, que peut-on prouver ?
La lecture du "Sabbat des sorcières" m'a retourné le cerveau comme une crêpe. L'ampleur de vue de cette étude n'a d'égale que sa précision, et c'est une gageure que de tenir ensemble ces deux paris. Ce n'est pas écrit pour les petits appétits mais c'est magistral.
July 6, 2026
Fra Goethe til Black Sabbath, "heksesabbaten" er i dag et kjent kulturelt fenomen, men hvor oppstod egentlig denne fortellingen? Ginzburg ser på en rekke historiske eksempler, fra senmiddelalderens tilståelser til inkivisisjonen til gamle greske myter til sagn fra kaukasus-fjellene. Har fortellingene om hekse-sabbaten et felles opphav? Er det en sammenheng mellom sjamanisme i sibir, kinesiske eventyr, gresk mytologi, gode og onde hekser som fører spirituell kamp mot hverandre på 1600-tallet? En tankevekkende og grundig dokumentert bok.
Fra middelalderens Europa drives vi på ny mot den endeløse eurasiske steppen hvor nomadene ferdes på sine hester. Vi øyner konturen av en uendelig rekke av sammenflettede kulturelle utvekslinger; men når begynte det, og hvor? Diskusjonene rundt opprinnelsen til den animalistiske kunsten er ennå i dag svært livlig; men skyternes rolle som brobyggere mellom Asia og Europa også i dette tilfellet, er hevet over tvil. Deres kontakt med kunst fra Midtøsten, og særlig Iran, er åpenbar. Hypotesen om at skyterne også skal ha benyttet seg av figurative mønstere og temaer fra de sentralasiatiske stepper, og kanskje til og med fra skogene i det nordlige Sibir, er mer kontroversiell, men likevel sannsynlig. Gjennom skyternes direkte eller indirekte formidling vandret elementer fra steppenes kunst antagelig over til sarmatisk, skandinavisk og keltisk kunst. Én av disse kulturelle forbindelsene, nemlig kontakten mellom trakisk kultur (eller den kulturen som hadde løpt sammen på de trakiske sletter) og keltisk kultur, virker særdeles tett. Det er karakteristisk at man har søkt etter opprinnelses-stedet for den berømte Gundestrup-kjelen (2.-1. århundre f.Kr.) både i Trakia og i det nordlige Gallia.
July 16, 2025
For those of you coming from Ginzburg's other works, this one is less accessible and generally more scholarly. The style and format are not entirely reader friendly, and the content's scope, rather than focusing in on a specific area, explodes to cover the entire globe. The translator also doesn't dumb down the language at all, there are some rarely used terms found here. If you're up for a bit of a challenge, this book has rewards for you to reap.
In this work we see masks, cauls, skins, bones, animal transitions, etc. all becoming united by being metaphors for death, and elaborations on how to deal and communicate with the unknowable.
The book creates a wonderful world of historical evidence within which to situate our impressions of the sabbath. Ginzburg creates a space for ideas to lift off regarding the use of second hand and third hand evidence to learn something about the origins of early human culture.
Even if we perhaps cannot know exactly what happened that doesn't mean we shouldn't work with what we have to piece things together and gain some relative impression of prechristian beliefs and what they meant to the average person.
Something we can say without a doubt is that cultural, economic, and social interchanges undoubtedly happened between disparate areas over time through intermediaries like the Scythians, Celts, Alans, Romans, Greeks, etc. This led to the spread of ecstatic beliefs regarding communion with spirits, battles against enemies in dreams in different forms for fertility, and more. What a fun ride down a highly entriguing vein of history.
In this work we see masks, cauls, skins, bones, animal transitions, etc. all becoming united by being metaphors for death, and elaborations on how to deal and communicate with the unknowable.
The book creates a wonderful world of historical evidence within which to situate our impressions of the sabbath. Ginzburg creates a space for ideas to lift off regarding the use of second hand and third hand evidence to learn something about the origins of early human culture.
Even if we perhaps cannot know exactly what happened that doesn't mean we shouldn't work with what we have to piece things together and gain some relative impression of prechristian beliefs and what they meant to the average person.
Something we can say without a doubt is that cultural, economic, and social interchanges undoubtedly happened between disparate areas over time through intermediaries like the Scythians, Celts, Alans, Romans, Greeks, etc. This led to the spread of ecstatic beliefs regarding communion with spirits, battles against enemies in dreams in different forms for fertility, and more. What a fun ride down a highly entriguing vein of history.
August 22, 2023
i’m so glad i was able to find this book, i’ve been looking for it forever
it was very interesting; even if it wasn’t exactly what i expected. i really like that it starts explaining the prosecution of witches, mentioning that most witch hysteria is really rooted in anti-semitism; fact that i feel isn’t impressed enough in history books.
the book can feel a little sprawling and disconnected as Ginzburg goes through various folkloric and shamanistic traditions across europe and asia that somehow connect back to the cultural idea of the witches sabbath. it wasn’t very laser focused but that doesn’t mean his idea weren’t incredibly interesting.
a fairly quick read and very fascinating; i’d recommend if you’re interested in folklore, greek and roman mythology, or female centered cults of the past.
it was very interesting; even if it wasn’t exactly what i expected. i really like that it starts explaining the prosecution of witches, mentioning that most witch hysteria is really rooted in anti-semitism; fact that i feel isn’t impressed enough in history books.
the book can feel a little sprawling and disconnected as Ginzburg goes through various folkloric and shamanistic traditions across europe and asia that somehow connect back to the cultural idea of the witches sabbath. it wasn’t very laser focused but that doesn’t mean his idea weren’t incredibly interesting.
a fairly quick read and very fascinating; i’d recommend if you’re interested in folklore, greek and roman mythology, or female centered cults of the past.
September 9, 2022
Muy diferente a lo que me esperaba, una joya de libro, pensando que sería solo un libro sobre brujería o la caza de brujas, realmente es un estudio sobre el origen de todas las practicas y tradiciones hechiceriles, siempre teniendo el punto de vista histórico como fuente principal. Muy sorprendente como la muerte no deja de ser el enlace entre este mundo y el otro, como los pueblos de toda Europa y parte de Asia y África comparten los mismos mitos y símbolos.
Muchos de los temas han sido ya muy reescritos, pero sin lugar a dudas el que se lleva el premio es el tema de los pies, descalzos o heridos, el deambular o ir a una pata, toda la mitología y la repercusión hasta tiempos más recientes una locura.
Muchos de los temas han sido ya muy reescritos, pero sin lugar a dudas el que se lleva el premio es el tema de los pies, descalzos o heridos, el deambular o ir a una pata, toda la mitología y la repercusión hasta tiempos más recientes una locura.
July 31, 2017
Carlo Ginzburg me pegou pela mão e me levou pra conhecer bosques e florestas intocados pelo cristianismo. O coração selvagem dos rituais xamânicos e das lendas esquecidas que habitam até hoje o subconsciente humano. Ele avança por essas paragens esquecidas com energia e bom humor, e recolhe peça a peça o caminho que a imaginação humana fez para desenhar algumas de suas figuras mais antigas. Intrigante e glorioso. Recomendo
December 19, 2023
Je mets lu même si je ne l'ai pas terminé, ce qui est très rare pour moi! Livre très intéressant et très exhaustif, démarche intéressante de retracer le fil historique selon les informations et documents disponibles par époque et par région et en tissant la toile d'araignée entre tout ça. Cependant, ouvrage assez aride à lire, on s'y perd si on ne connaît pas déjà un bon fond d'histoire ! Malgré tout j'en ai déjà appris énormément même avec ma lecture partielle.
March 12, 2024
This is a scholarly whirlwind of a book, a fascinating teasing together of fragments of information to show a tantalizing picture going back through the centuries. His explanation for the roots of the witch's sabbath was as sound as it could be given the lengths of time and space, not to mention the poverty of sources, he was dealing with. He tied everything together magnificently, and explained his methods clearly and well.
April 30, 2018
Hate to give this only one star, because it's such a magisterial piece of historiography and such a fascinating subject, but, my god, it was dry as bone, later to be resurrected or otherwise, and it really sucked the life out of me over the course of the weeks it took me to read this. I truly hated every minute of reading it, right from the godawful introduction.
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