an important document in the history of Witchcraft, because of its

            early origins. It was first published by Regino of Prum, a

            Benedictine Abbot of Treves, in his "De Ecclesiastica Disciplinis"

            in 906 AD. The document itself is presumed to be even older than

            that. It was published as part of the Canon Law of the church. For

            many centuries, this was the official teaching of the Church about

            Witchcraft.

            Regino would have ascribed it to the church Council of Ancyra as

            early as 314 AD, however, this has been disputed by modern

            authorities.

            It was probably written somewhere between 350 and 550 AD. The

            document is important for the history of Witchcraft, due to its

            different vision on Witchcraft than that of the later writings and

            attitudes, such as the Malleus Maleficarum. The demonology teaching

            hasn't been firmly established yet, and the war against heretics

            only just started.

            The Important Facts

            Witches were seen as deluded, who worship 

            "Diana, Goddess of the

            pagans" and not, as the Church would later claim, the Devil or

            Satan. "However, it is the Devil who seduces them into doing this"

            clearly shows that the Devil exists only in the Christian mind, and

            had no place in the pagan beliefs. Witches' meetings and their

            supposed flying by night to such meetings are all mere

            hallucinations, in contrary to the later beliefs, taught by the

            Church.

            Additional Note

            In later editions of the Canon Episcopi the name of Herodias is

            given as well as that of Diana. Herodias is evidently linked to the

            Moon Goddess and is possibly the same as the Goddess Aradia or the

            Goddess Lillith. This information links the document with the

            discoveries of Charles Godfrey Leland in modern Italy about "La

            Vecchia Religione", the Old Religion. Diana is also linked with

            Hecate and later sources identify Diana as being a goddess

            comparable to the Germanic goddess Holda.

            Excerpt from De Ecclesiastica Disciplinis

            "Bishops and their officials must labor with all their strength to

            uproot thoroughly from their parishes the pernicious art of sorcery

            and malefic invented by the Devil, and if they find a man or woman

            follower of this wickedness to eject them foully disgraced from the

            parishes. For the Apostle says, "A man that is a heretic after the

            first and second admonition avoid." Those are held captive by the

            Devil who, leaving their creator, seek the aid of the Devil. And so

            Holy Church must be cleansed of this pest. It is also not to be

            omitted that some wicked women, perverted by the Devil, seduced by

            illusions and phantasms of demons, believe and profess themselves,

            in the hours of the night, to ride upon certain beasts with Diana,

            the goddess of pagans, and an innumerable multitude of women, and in

            the silence of the dead of the night to traverse great spaces of

            earth, and to obey her commands as of their mistress, and to be

            summoned to her service on certain nights. But I wish it were they

            alone who perished in their faithlessness and did not draw many with

            them into the destruction of infidelity.

            For an innumerable multitude, deceived by this false opinion,

            believe this to be true, and so believing, wander from the right

            faith and are involved in the error of the pagans when they think

            that there is anything of divinity or power except the one God.

            Wherefore the priests throughout their churches should preach with

            all insistence to the people that they may know this to be in every

            way false and that such phantasms are imposed on the minds of

            infidels and not by the divine but by the malignant spirit."