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Witchcraft in the late 16th early 17th century
Witchcraft in contemporary society
Witchcraft in contemporary society
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Karmic retribution is a new narrative within the scope of magic and witchcraft since the 1950's with the invention of Wicca by Gerald Gardner. Ideas surrounding Karma being 'three-fold' is quite inappropriate and misguided because the origins of Karam (as within Hinduism) does not work on a three-fold basis. Karma is built up in one's life and expressed in the next. This very western idea of Karma was molded by the hands of post-Classical Witchcraft practitioners as a means to keep outsiders thinking that witches did not curse. Anyone who practices a historically accurate Witchcraft knows this is hub-flub and not even accurate in the least. Confounded and concocted 'rules' and 'moralities' of Witchcraft and it's practitioners is very modern
and has little to nothing to do with actual Witchcraft. Just as with modern concepts of Voodoo, there is much to be undone by those who saw it necessary to either water down said practices and beliefs or was merely doing it for PR (damage control) relations.
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft is a concise, 231 page informational text by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. Published in 1974, it explores the economic and social conditions present in the Salem village during the 1600s that led to the hysteria surrounding witchcraft. Multiple graphs and illustrations are present, as well as an average sized font, an abundance of footnotes typically on the left page, and a prominent voice from the authors. The book was written to serve as a more comprehensive informational piece on the Salem witch trials due to the authors finding other pieces written about the same topic to be inaccurate. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum wanted to create something that utilized
In order to understand the outbreak of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, authors of Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, explore the social and economic divisions and tensions within Salem and the surrounding communities. Both Boyer and Nissenbaum have a strong background in history. Paul Boyer (1935-2012) was the Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as a cultural and intellectual historian who authored several other books. Stephen Nissenbaum was a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst who authored several other books as well. In Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of
In Exodus 22:18, it says “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” It was chaos In Salem, Massachusetts, during 1692, 19 people were accused and hanged and one brutally pressed. this is because the puritans believed almost everything the bible said. One subject that the bible covers, is that the Devil is real and really clever, and is able to enter a normal person's body and turn them into a witch. There are three interconnected causes that might have caused the drama, and panic that was the Salem witch trial hysteria, which are: age, gender, and marital status, lying girls and they’re folk tales they made up, and a divided town.
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft explores and breaks down the events that took place in the small village of Salem in 1692. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, authors of Salem Possessed, use primary sources, both published and unpublished, to tell the crazy and eventful history of Salem. They go into great detail in why some folks were accused of being Witches, the arrests and the so popular Salem Witch Trials. The main reason for this book was to try and find out what caused the terrible outbreak of events that happened in Salem and they do so by looking into the History and Social life in the famed Salem Village. The history of Witchcraft in Salem is a well-known story from High School on and this book goes in depth about why things happened the way they did and how the social aspect played a big role is the story.
The author of A Storm of Witchcraft, Emerson W. Baker is a well known historian, archaeologist, and professor at Salem State University. In addition to receiving a Ph.D. in History from the College of William and Mary, an M.A. in History from University of Maine, and a B.A. in History from Bates College, Baker has also received many commendations and awards for his work. Among those awards, he has earned a membership in the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and was honored with the Maine Historical Society’s Neil Allen Award. Baker has also been the Chairman of Salem State University’s Archaeological Advisory Committee since 1990, and he has been the Chair for Maine Cultural Affairs Council since 2000. Baker has also written four other books, Devil of Great Island, New England Knight, American Beginnings, and Clarke & Lake Co.
Witchcraft had always fascinated many people and been a very controversial topic in North America during (seventeenth) 17th century. Many People believe that witchcraft implies the ability to injure or using supernatural power to harm others. People believed that a witch represents dark side of female present and were more likely to embrace witchcraft than men. There are still real witches among us in the Utah whom believe that witchcraft is the oldest religion dealing with the occult. However the popular conception of a witch has not changed at least since the seventeenth century; they still caused panic, fear and variety of other emotions in people…………………….
Religious influence, the manipulation of fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft all are very influential to the popular belief of witchcraft during this time period. The popularity of witchcraft in this time period is important because it has shown how in the past when there is no logical explanation they would automatically blame Satan and say it was Satan’s doing. It also shows that history repeats itself because during the Cold War many individuals were accused of being communist even though there was no hard evidence proving this accusation; however, out of fear people will still be convicted, just like during the witch trials. Moreover, witch trials were not only influenced by many things but they have been influential; therefore, showing that they influenced things in our time
“Jumping to conclusions is like playing with wet gun powder: both likely to go off in wrong direction.”-Charlie Chang. The puritans were a group of English Protestants who adhere to strict religious principles and oppose sensual enjoyment. The puritans had a strong belief that the Devil could be walking among them at anytime. Due to this belief, the puritans believed that people could sign there souls away to the devil. By signing their souls away to the devil, a person could become a witch or wizard. In Arthur Millers’ novel The Crucible, the puritans go on a hunt to rid their town of witches. The puritans also had a big emphasis on how one would act in society. For example, if one didn’t go to church often, the people would be very suspicious about that one. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the puritans become suspicious of others because of a strange event. The strange events lead the puritans to mistrust and reject each other. In both of Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister Black Veil” and in Miller’s The Crucible, a strange event makes the puritans jump to conclusions of witchcraft.
As we may already know, the town of Salem was subject to an epidemic of the accusations of witchcraft that lasted over ten months. Witchcraft of this time period was not taken lightly. In England alone over 40,000-60,000 people were killed after being found guilty of witchcraft. Needless to say the people found witchcraft as a virus that infected the town. The first cases started off with the daughters of Samuel Parris, the town minister, accusing his slave, Tituba, of being a witch. She claimed that she and others in the town were witches and there was even a wizard. The town broke out in hysteria in further months. Over 100 people were put in jail because of accusations. The council that were to find these people’s innocence or guilt were corrupted as well because to claim innocence meant you were guilty and if you were to claim guilt you could be redeemed. Many of the items found incriminating were pins and voodoo dolls. Many of these people faced the psychological terror of being pressured into claiming guilt to a crime, you didn’t commit in front of a committee and scared the community to death that they were going to be subjected to. Many of the witnesses to these trials were said to have undergone physical distress or act inhumanly. Many historians say to these records that since their body was put under so much strain and fear of the witchcraft that surrounded them all the time, their bodies going through strange changes such as paralysis or temporary blindness with no real cause rather than stress. But many historians also believe the witnesses were voluntarily acting and committing fraud against the others. But why was this such an enigma to understand why this small town in New England was all of a sudden becoming a cen...
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.
What do you think when someone calls someone a witch? What comes to mind? Do you think of the movie, ‘Hocus Pocus’ or do you think of the black pointed hats and the long black, slit ended dresses? What about witchcraft? Does the term “Devil worshiper” ever cross your mind? Do you think of potions and spells? For many, many generations, we have underestimated what the true meaning of a witch and what witchcraft really is. What is the history that hides behind it? Witches and witchcraft have been in our history since the ancient times. There is a little bit more than the ghost stories told on Halloween, the movies shown on TV and dressing up on Halloween.
Karma is the ancient belief that every action has a negative or positive reaction, balancing the universe. Through Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare teaches the audience that all actions have consequences. She wanted the best for herself, but hurt others to achieve that. So, what could have been an astounding life turned into a living hell?
“livestock die because of witchcraft, family members turn against each other because of witchcradt, servants defy masters because of witchcraft. For every ill in Salem, witchcraft is the scapegoat.’ (56)
By contrast, self-proclaimed witches still have a function in some societies today, mainly in the developing world. Magic, however, is often a word used to describe certain people’s modes of divination, mainly those in the developing world.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.