In keeping with the spirit of approaching Samhain (and because I'm feeling a lot of sympathy with my inner hag these days), I'm going to do some posts to honor ornery old women. Today's hag is the Witch of Endor, whose Biblical cameo baffled me when I was a little churchgoing child. She was supposedly engaged in demonic business, but she did it very reluctantly, and the spirit she summoned told Saul the absolute truth. Far from seeming scary or repulsive, she struck me as a very sympathetic character. She was understandably afraid of risking death by accommodating Saul, and then she treated him with kindness when she saw his fear. Nevertheless, her image in art is usually fierce and ugly, as in the painting above, or here. Seems unfair, doesn't it?
I don't think I'm the only one who's been baffled by the Witch of Endor. A quick Web search turned up contradictory interpretations of her role here and here. Gotta love those people with The Answer.
Saul and the Witch of Endor, Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, 1526
5 comments:
I love that the two Christians you chose can't even agree between themselves about what happened. Both of them talk about what the Scripture is obviously trying to say, but come up with completely different interpretations (except for the "witches are bad" point .... they agree there).
But, y'know, the Bible is inerrant and infallible and meant to be taken literally with no need for interpretation.
Except for the occasional outburst of frank bigotry, I find the content on all the Christian websites pretty hilarious. They never lack confidence, that's for sure.
...and then for the graphic representation...
That gal's got guns. What's with the male torso superimposed with sort of breasts? I'm glad to see she has an owl for wisdom and all, but I think there's perhaps some convention/shorthand going on here that I could learn about?
Ha! There's a LOT going on in that painting, and very little of it is Biblical. Check out the Valkyries in the upper right--what is their leader riding? It looks like a cross between a pig and a ram. And you'll notice that the woman greeting Saul (on the left) has one breast exposed. It's quite a party.
Boo-ya!! So right. Thanks for the fun!
BTW, I'm feeling pretty "sage crone / harridan" myself lately. I've decided that one reason I currently exist is to redefine the image of both. I shall continue to amuse myself with this belief, no matter what (or who) tries to burst my little bubble... ;)
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