Dogmatic Violence and Halloween Iconography

The witch hysteria that occurred in parts of America and especially in Europe continues to affect millions of people even hundreds of years later. In books and films, we tirelessly incorporate these women, to whom we still attribute incredible powers, into our lives—sometimes as symbols of evil, sometimes as powerful young women dispensing justice, and other times as cute cartoon characters.

The transformation of a memory involving the massacre of many people into a form of entertainment mixed with fear must be a specific and complex subject that can be examined under the headings of capitalism and social psychology. On Halloween, which has turned into an almost semi-official holiday celebrated by the whole world, famous Salem in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and Zugarramurdi, known as the "Salem" of Spain, attract millions of tourists every year as major centers of attraction.

The most notable activity in Salem is the annual parade. In this march, which is attended especially by women, pointed black hats, hooked noses, and old woman masks are among the must-haves. A similar action takes place in Zugarramurdi, where 7,000 people were brought to court in the 16th century on charges of witchcraft in the Basque witch trials in Northern Spain. In Zugarramurdi, the cave where the devil, disguised as a goat, is assumed to have met with witches to sign agreements, is flooded with visitors every year. One should not forget the shopping for thousands of tourist trinkets and costumes.

Although witch tourism is a fun activity for a very large segment, some academics, such as Silvia Federici, author of the book "Caliban and the Witch," say that dolls created with a specific figure will make life difficult for women who actually resemble these figures, and that we should not forget that there are people in the world who assume women with this appearance are witches and try to harm them.

Witchcraft is essentially an area of accusation that is very difficult to categorize. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines this situation as "the attempt by women acting within a framework of religious motivation to perform spells or magic to influence events in that region or people's lives by claiming to use supernatural powers."

However, it is a coincidence that the women accused of witchcraft are sometimes influential women of that region, and their assets are seized under the accusation of witchcraft. Sometimes these women, who are held responsible for disasters such as natural disasters and epidemics, are declared scapegoats, brought to court in front of the public, and sentenced to death by evil-spirited and low-morality clergymen and administrators.

Although it has been almost 500 years since women in Europe were no longer called to court on charges of witchcraft, it should be remembered that the events that took place were not limited to that time interval and that there were ideological and religious motivations behind everything that happened. The political movement called the 'green belt' in many parts of the world in the 1980s, by raising religiosity and far-right ideologies and suppressing socialist movements, both caused an increase in religious and traditional pressures on women and did not allow women to improve their social position. In addition, economic impoverishment and the constant attempt by religious authorities and the state to keep women's sexuality under control have significantly increased witch-hunting.

In Tanzania alone, more than 5,000 women are stabbed to death, buried alive, or burned as witches every year. In the Central African Republic, prisons are full of women accused of witchcraft. The number of women executed by burning by radical Islamist militias, who earn money for every woman they kill, was more than 100 in 2016 alone. In India, in the Adivasi region where tribes mostly live, there has been a serious increase in the number of women killed on charges of witchcraft while large-scale land privatization continues. Witch executions by radical religious organizations in Nepal, Papua New Guinea, and Saudi Arabia are even shared on television and YouTube channels.

Although activist women's groups work on these issues and travel from village to village, the increase in the number of women killed on charges of witchcraft continues. This points to a global human rights problem. Especially where social, religious, and economic factors combine, the international community needs to take more responsibility to prevent such atrocities. While Halloween is celebrated on the night of October 31 in many parts of the world, it is worth thinking about this aspect of the event as well.

Because the accusation of women on charges of witchcraft is not a thing of the past. Where the dogmatic mindset rises, women are once again becoming victims of men and patriarchal authorities. Perhaps the point to keep in mind is this: civilizations are not always programmed to progress. They can regress, become ignorant, move away from modernity and contemporaneity, and become primitive. History is full of examples of this. The Age of Enlightenment is not a process that happens once and continues on its own forever. The principles of rationality and equality of the Age of Enlightenment must be constantly updated according to changes in the dynamics of society. Especially in matters concerning women and children, a permanent revision is required. Otherwise, even states can suddenly turn into murderers who legalize their own actions.