Stefania Schettino

This thesis is aimed at analyzing the transformation of different female figures revered in ancient times and they seem to be related to the age-old peasant culture.

For this work I have considered some female deities , such as Isis and also Diana and Hecate, who over time have become demonic characters , then assimilating witch , also characterized by the use of magic and from belonging to the peasant beliefs , and then on to the figure of the Virgin Mary .

In this regard I have taken in analyzing the text of Margaret Murray , who had supported the existence of witches behind the testimony of a primitive cult of fertility, survived in medieval and modern , based on the worship of two deities embodying the spirit of male and women , however, rejected by professional historians.

The main thesis of Murray , that witchcraft , or worship of Diana, which includes religious ideas and rituals of the subjects in the late Middle Ages known as "witches" , and participation in the so-called game of Diana, almost certainly a pagan rite of initiation women have traits in common, in particular: the rite celebrated in honor of a female deity , the assignment of specific knowledge during the celebration by the Domina ludi , the ritual killing of animals or men and their resurrection , and finally the night flight on the backs of animals to behave on the site of the ritual .