Since I recently did a discussion about the modern day witch burning in India that was in the news...it got me to thinking about mankinds' fears about witchcraft in general...Now from what I understand "witch hunts" are still alive and well in India, Africa and many Asian countries despite this being the 21st century. But peoples fears about witchcraft isn't limited of course to these areas of the world ... even in highly developed countries and nations there still are fears. Can it be that these fears are still stemmed from the most infamous book written of all time?
The Malleus Maleficarum or "The Witches Hammer" was written in 1496 and was in effect a "guideline" in how to distinguish a witch and listed a variety of barbaric tortures to test a witch...if the person "passed" they weren't a witch..but of course some of these tests were so brutal that the person died as a result.
There's a few excellent links about this "notorious" book...
http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum
I do want to place a few quotes from the first link ....
"While the Malleus itself cannot be blamed for the Inquisition or the horrors inflicted upon...
