Thomas Aquinas objects to natural magic in his Summa contra gentiles. He argues that natural magic derives its power from evil intelligent beings like demons, not from natural sources. While natural magic appears to work, Aquinas believes humans do not have the power to perform magic through will or words alone. He asserts natural magic is actually unnatural since it requires harnessing power from demons.

1. Amanda Iliadis
EMSP 2320
Kathryn Morris
February 12th
2016
Word count: 728
Natural Magic and Thomas Aquinas' Objections
Opposed to ceremonial magic, natural magic is a type of learned magic based on the assumption
that certain things had hidden or 'occult' powers. For example: a magnet attracting iron is hidden, but a
sword cutting through material can clearly be seen. Those who practiced natural magic, did so for
beneficial purposes, involving the making of images, healing, and the use of herbs, stones, metals, or
perfumes. These people would have had a profound knowledge of how natural things worked. For
example: walnuts can help one's brain because walnuts look like brains. Natural magic also held its
roots in astronomy. The stars, planets and other 'heavenly bodies' as they were so referred, were thought
to possess heavenly powers that could affect earth. Manipulating this was natural for those who
performed natural magic. Every object in the material world, according to this maxim, is a
manifestation of astrological and spiritual powers. Therefore, by making use of these material
manifestations, a natural magician centralizes power into an object deriving from a higher level of
energy. For example: a herb associated with the sun is infused with the magical energies of the sun.
Wearing that stone or hanging that herb on the wall brings those energies into play when required. The
popular case of Alice Kyteler in Kilkenny, Ireland can be used to demonstrate the use of natural magic
and its interpretations. Dame Alice Kyteler had been married and widowed four times before
allegations were decreed against her in the name of sorcery. The accuser, Petronella de Meath, one of
Alice’s Inn servants, stated before the ecclesiastical court that “Alice would sweep the dirt on the

2. streets towards her son’s house, while chanting a spell to bring all the wealth of the town to his door”
(Mahon). Patronella was also charged under the same accusations: “sacrificing animals...magically
excommunicating their husbands, and mixing magical ointments” (Mahon). The case of Alice Kyteler
from the 14th
century helps to understand the use of herbs and spells in regards to natural magic.
Thomas Aquinas objects to natural magic in his Summa contra gentiles: Sorcery and the World
of Nature. He resolves that when we witness magicians performing 'magic', it is not imaginary, but
rather they are communicating with some higher, intelligent power or being. He states that “the magic
arts derive their efficacy from another intelligent being, to whom the magicians words are addressed”
(Kors and Peters, 94). Therefore, their magic is not entirely natural because they could not perform
such magic on their own. Furthermore, he asserts that the use of signs and the decree of prayers only
have meaning to other intelligent beings. Thus, these higher beings must be evil because the magic at
hand has a corrupt source and is used to attain a malicious purpose. If someone is provoking a demon,
that person is then under the control of that creature, and is therefore no longer in charge. Aquinas also
refutes the idea of the movement of inanimate objects by one's own mind. He says that it is “impossible
for an inanimate being to be moved by itself, through the power of a heavenly body...therefore it is not
possible for the effects of the magic art to be caused by a celestial power” (Kors and Peters, 91). This
defends his idea that only an evil intelligent being can control such acts of magic. Furthermore,
Aquinas firmly resolves that “if there [are] any men that are able of their own power to transform
things by words expressive of their thoughts, they will belong to another species, and it would be an
equivocation to call them men” (Kors and Peters, 93). He believes that no human being is capable of
making something happen based on their thoughts, or by uttering a 'spell' or 'incantation' based on those
thoughts. This idea is linked to the notion of the creation of herbal medicines by those who practice
natural magic. Aquinas does not believe that the uttering of words can make herbs magically harness
energy and power from an outside source and be able to cure or harm someone (as seen in the case of

3. Alice Kyteler). According to Thomas Aquinas, natural magic should be objected as nothing more than a
magician's harnessing of learned magic given from a higher and more intelligent evil being. Ironically,
he concludes that this 'natural magic' is in fact, unnatural.

4. Word count: 782
The Idea of the Witch and the Pact with the Devil
The idea of the “witch” had for many centuries, been an elderly widowed woman that practiced
maleficium; magic used to achieve harmful ends. The popular magic of maleficium included the
induction of bodily harm and sickness, love magic, and weather magic. The witch would use 'image
magic' (like wax figures and pins) to harm an individual or group, being the cause for most witch trials
at the time. Love magic would be used to entice a man, inflict impotence, and would involve the use of
potions or image magic. Lastly, bad weather would be blamed on maleficium, dubbed as weather
magic. (Morris, 13 January 2016). At this time, there was yet no reference to demonic activity.
The primary notion of the pact with the devil, began when early Christians were accused of
nocturnal activities against God and the Catholic church. These activities would occur in subterranean
caves and included, infanticide, the eating of babies, and nocturnal orgies; all viewed as inhumane
practices. These people were seen as heretics as their beliefs and doctrines opposed that of the Catholic
church, against that which was Orthodox. The Cathars were one such heretic sect in Italy that would
perform such nocturnal rituals. The Waldensians were seen as another 'heretic' sect, however they
decided to follow the New Testament of Catholic doctrine in its entirety, living an impoverished and
nomadic life. Although pius, the Waldensians were regarded (in the eyes of the Papacy) as the worse of
the two sects because they directly threatened the Roman Catholic Church (Morris, 20 January 2016).
When people were tried for the offense of heresy, they would confess to the above activities, thus
conceding to the idea of an anti-christian doctrine. An example of heresy in the 16th
century was that of
the trials of the Chelmsford witches in England. A woman by the name of Agnus Brown confessed that
“there came to her a thing like a black dog with a face like an ape, a short tail, a chain and a silver
whistle (to her thinking) around his neck, and a pair or horns on his head” who claimed that she “spake
evil words when speaking of that name [Jesus]” (Kors and Peters, 306-307).

5. The new idea of the witch became someone who not only practiced maleficium, but had made a
pact with the devil and attended a witches' sabbath. The pact with the devil describes that the devil
would appear unbidden, but to someone who seemed to be in a vulnerable psychological state. This
target would often be someone lonely, stressed, berieved, or poor. There would be an agreement
between the devil and the witch, each agreeing to serve the other. The witch would “sacrifice to them,
adore them, offer up horrible prayers to them, vow [herself] to the service of the [devil], [and] promise
them [her] obedience” (Kors and Peters, 123). The witch would then renounce Christianity, making a
parody of Christian rituals. The devil would make an illusory promise to grant the witch money and
other material goods for her possession. He would also assert to the harming or healing of others at her
command. The devil then would leave the witch with a mark on her body that would be insensible to
pain, and they would participate in the act of sexual intercourse. This act combined diabolism and
sexuality, thus depicting witches as female instead of male magicians for time to come.
In the late 13th
and 14th
centuries, people believed that the magic being practiced may actually
be real, and the devil had to be involved. From the 14th
to 16th
centuries, scholastic theologians insisted
that the Ten Commandments should replace the seven deadly sins as a new basis of Christian ethics.
This new moral system insisted that crimes against God, be capitol offenses. Therefore, crimes that
witches committed (maleficium, demonisation ext.) were seen as a crime of diabolism directly against
God (Morris, 20 January 2016). This period was known as the 'diabolisation of Europe' in which there
was a growing concern that the Devil was to blame for plagues, death, bad weather, witchcraft and
other criminal offenses. By the end of the middle ages, people were convinced that there were armies of
demons trying to turn people away from God and paranoia struck the continent.
Through the centuries, the witch becomes a heretic that makes a pact with the devil in order to
achieve evil ends, an enemy of society that 'infects Christ's flock' (Morris, 20 Jnuary 2016). The
relationship between witch and devil becomes an ambiguous one of contract and trade, in which the
witch is left powerless. It is a relationship that haunts the minds of European society for centuries.

6. Bibliography
Aquinas, Thomas. “From the Summa contra gentiles: Sorcery and the World of Nature” In
Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700, edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters, 90-95.* Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Eymeric, Nicolau: “The Directorium inquisitorium (1376)” In Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700,
edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters, 123.* Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Kors, Alan and Edward Peters. “The Confessions of the Chelmsford Witches: England (1566)”
In Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700, edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters, 306-307.* Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Mahon, Elizabeth K. “Dame Alice Kyteler (1280-1324?)” Scandalous Women (2011): n.pag.
Web. 27 Jan. 2016.
Morris, Kathryn. “Early Views of Magic and Witchcraft” Lecture for EMSP/GWST 2320.
University of King’s College, Halifax. 13 January 2016.
Morris, Kathryn. “Witchcraft, Heresy, and the Pact with the Devil” Lecture for EMSP/GWST
2320. University of King’s College, Halifax. 20 January 2016.

7. Bibliography
Aquinas, Thomas. “From the Summa contra gentiles: Sorcery and the World of Nature” In
Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700, edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters, 90-95.* Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Eymeric, Nicolau: “The Directorium inquisitorium (1376)” In Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700,
edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters, 123.* Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Kors, Alan and Edward Peters. “The Confessions of the Chelmsford Witches: England (1566)”
In Witchcraft in Europe: 400-1700, edited by Alan Kors and Edward Peters, 306-307.* Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Mahon, Elizabeth K. “Dame Alice Kyteler (1280-1324?)” Scandalous Women (2011): n.pag.
Web. 27 Jan. 2016.
Morris, Kathryn. “Early Views of Magic and Witchcraft” Lecture for EMSP/GWST 2320.
University of King’s College, Halifax. 13 January 2016.
Morris, Kathryn. “Witchcraft, Heresy, and the Pact with the Devil” Lecture for EMSP/GWST
2320. University of King’s College, Halifax. 20 January 2016.