Lunch Hour Lecture | The Witch in the Bible and Beyond

About the lecture:

The Witch in the Bible and Beyond: The (Mis)Use of the Scriptures during the Witch-Hunts

In this lecture Dr Alinda Damsma will introduce her research on the impact of the Bible on the early modern witch-hunts. In the early modern period the educated elite, be it clergymen, jurists or physicians, wrote anti-witchcraft treatises, known as demonologies, which included concepts such as the demonic pact, the night flight, and the Sabbat. The introduction of these demonological ideas and their application in the witchcraft trials had devastating consequences across Europe. Demonologists relied heavily on the Bible to prove the reality of witches and witchcraft. However, does the Bible actually speak of witches? What do we know about them? These questions will be answered in this bewitching, spellbinding talk!

UCL's popular public Lunch Hour Lecture series has been running at UCL since 1942, and showcases the exceptional research work being undertaken across UCL. Lectures are free and open to all and since 2020 have been held online.

About the speaker:

Dr Alinda Damsma lectures ancient Semitic languages and is Deputy Head of Department. She received her Bachelor and Master of Divinity from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (2003) and her PhD from the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, UCL (2008). After her PhD she conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge and UCL. Before she re-joined UCL in 2019, she taught at King’s College London, Leo Baeck College, and the University of Oxford. Her current research focuses on the use of Aramaic in kabbalistic writings. In addition, she is working on a monograph which examines the role and the impact of the Bible on the early modern witch-hunts. Her research interests are the Hebrew Bible, Bible translations, the ancient Near East and its languages, Jewish mysticism, and magic, divination, and witchcraft in biblical & post-biblical times.

About the chair:

Dr Ann Jeffers is a Senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at Heythrop College where she lectured from 1990. Her research interests, while focusing on the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism, cover a wide range of subjects, from magic in the ancient world, to gender and ancient religions, with a special interest in the religion practiced by women and in mystery religions. More recently, her research interests have focused on reception of the Bible in literature and the visual arts. Her recent work includes studies of ancient constructs of space, visual exegesis with a special focus on sixteenth century Bible illustrations, and the role of the imaginary in biblically inspired images.