ABSTRACT
Our fellow Germans use one and the same word Zauberer for the magician who is a professional deceiver and illusionist and often well educated, for the “wise woman” or witch who is deluded by the Devil because of her feeblemindedness and corrupted imagination, and for the poisoner who makes studied use of his drugs or poisons. And so, when someone who mentions witches or poisoners, German speakers are deceived by the ambiguous German term, and soon bring up the subject of Pharoah’s magicians, who are far removed from the activities of witches and poisoners. Accordingly I am not ashamed to proclaim publicly that all the German writers whom I have so far chanced to read in the vernacular have stumbled badly in this sort of argument, even if they have affixed pretentious titles to the covers of the books and even if they appear to have adduced the evidence of Sacred Scripture. I am especially ready to express my view because I see that they assign too much power to witches – power to disturb the atmosphere or cause disease; and thus unwittingly these writers provide drawn sword and kindling for the savage executioners, who lack judgment, discretion, and any trace of pity. . . .
