Christian period; Psychological reasons for the persistence in religion
of a Mother Goddess; Development of the Christian concept; Preservation
of ancient women cults as demonology; Early Christian attitude toward
woman as unclean and in league with demons; Culmination of belief in
demonic power of woman in witchcraft persecutions; All women affected by
the belief in witches and in the uncleanness of woman; Gradual
development on the basis of the beliefs outlined of an ideally pure and
immaculate Model Woman.

From the data of the preceding chapter, it is clear that the early ages
of human life there was a dualistic attitude toward woman. On the one
hand she was regarded as the possessor of the mystic _mana_ force,
while on the other she was the source of "bad magic" and likely to
contaminate man with her weaknesses. Altogether, the study of primitive
taboos would indicate that the latter conception predominated in savage
life, and that until the dawn of history woman was more often regarded
as a thing unclean than as the seat of a divine power.

At the earliest beginnings of civilization man's emotions seem to have
swung to the opposite extreme, for emphasis fell on the mystic and
uncanny powers possessed by woman. Thus it was that in ancient nations
there was a deification of woman which found expression in the belief in
feminine deities and the establishment of priestess cults. Not until the
dawn of the Christian era was the emphasis once more focussed on woman
as a thing unclean. Then, her mystic power was ascribed to demon
communication, and stripped of her divinity, she became the witch to be
excommunicated and put to death.

All the ancient world saw something supernatural, something demoniacal,
in generation. Sometimes the act was deified, as in the phallic