Fears Of The Supernatural During The Elizabethan Era

This enforced a panic within the New England colonies in order to discover the supposed magicians. Few years before the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, the credible Cotton Mather began to notice that there were supposed evil spirits in the Puritan households. In Mather’s document, Memorable Providences relating to Witchcraft and Possessions, written in 1989 explains that Christians encounter malicious entities within his or her home(Doc C). Explicitly, the document indicates that followers of the Christian the faith can be exposed to such demonic quintessences. Directly, Mather’s addresses the Christians of New England and the Puritan colonies about the existence of evil spirits. Due to many Christians at the time concluded that they were safe from hateful souls through faith, began to condemn others of a different practice of faith to torture or death. With the realization that religious zeal will not protect one from the dangers of demons, the Puritans frenzied for telltale signs of witches.

Superstition is considered a myth to most people, but for the ancient Romans, this was a historical belief. For the Romans, believing in superstition was a very ordinary thing. To them superstition explained the supernatural and strengthened their relationships with the gods (The Roman Empire). In the play Julius Caesar, the author William Shakespeare uses superstition repeatedly to affect the plot as well as the characters. Superstition in the play is used to foreshadow Caesar’s death, impact Brutus’ actions in the battlefield and to emphasize the Roman’s connection to superstition and fate.

The Elizabethans were a very superstitious bunch. In fact most of our silly seeming superstitions come from them. All of our superstitions from knocking on wood for good luck to black cats crossing your path being a bad omen. They also believed in everything from ghosts, to magic, to fairies, to the influence of the stars and planets alignment.

-What does William Bradford’s analysis suggest about the larger anxieties and fears preoccupying the Puritans?

Reginald Scot explores the common perceptions towards witches in the late sixteenth century, which he claims they were commonly old, lame, full of wrinkles, poor (Levack 2004: ?), although not necessarily solitary (Larner 1984: 72). Scot claims that their appearance often caused alarm among many in the community and caused the neighbours to find truth in witches utterings. One could argue women were often ascribed with such stereotypes, for they were both physically and politically weakened, and were unable to distance themselves from accusations (levack 1984: 127). It is apparent the oppression of these women could represent an attempt to maintain hegemony in a patriarchal society in the late sixteenth century. Coincidentally, most women accused of sorcery often lived out of the constraints of male authority, where they would live alone, perhaps for the rest of her life.

Gender, race, age, and ability have been used to shape the history and our understanding of human sexuality, as well as how certain groups, specifically marginalized groups, were seen as degenerate or delinquent people. When examining why and how specific groups of people were though of as being sexual delinquents, it is important to use an intersectional lens, and consider how these different categories and identities of gender, race, age, and ability work together to form experiences and opinions. By marginalizing, controlling, and regulating the sexualities and bodies of those who were women, people of colour, adolescents, or differentially abled, the social norm of a white, heterosexual, patriarchy has been enforced through history.

The Rise of the Witchcraft Craze in 17th Century Britain Accusations of witchcraft date back to 900 AD, but killing following accusation reached a fever pitch in the late 16th century Europe, and late 17th century Britain. Germany and Scotland were the areas that were most heavily purged, with an estimated 4000 witches dying in Scotland and 26 000 dying in Germany (Gibbons). The Inquisition in Britain happened against a backdrop of new ideas competing with established traditions which created a sense of confusion and religious hysteria amongst the general population. A number of theories have developed from historians as to what sparked the witchcraft craze; ideas of the Reformation and rise of

Since people think superstitions are imbued with magical powers, they usually rely on these ideas to give them good luck. This proves that many people have poor performances on their work, and then, will blame the superstitions for doing harm, making it bad luck. As these keep continuing, a person will be filled with “bad” thoughts that won’t do them good at all. On lines 265-270, in the short story Embrace the Supernatural, according to the text, the author states, “... increases anxiety and force you into situations where if it comes along, one will have to think whether or not you want to deal with it.” This text summarizes to us readers that if more harmful ideas are created, the more a person must deal with and avoid. Many of the superstitions that cause harm comes from the lack of

Life is full of superstition, whether you like it or not everybody has some sort of superstition in them. Some people don’t let some things go to their head like others do. Some people can get really stubborn if something suspicious happens. I am one of them people, it is really hard to get suspicion out of your head, it is one of them things that once you do it, it is hard to not have those thoughts in your head. And in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you will see the cause and effects of the use of suspicion. The main character, Huck Finn, used superstition as a means to keep him going in search of his true self and find interesting ways to live life the only way he knew.

One common superstition that some people believed was that the weather was an expression of God’s feelings (The Religious History of America, page 56). If God was furious there might be a hurricane or an earthquake and if God was happy there might sunshine. A similar superstition suggested that God would express his feeling through people. If people were nice toward someone God was happy with them. If people were rude to one another, God was mad at someone. This superstition is different because instead of God showing feelings at a group of people, God would show his feelings to an individual. (Colonial Religion, page 12). Another popular superstition was that people had to act a certain way in order to receive good luck. For example someone made sure that they would never run into a black cat or else they would have bad luck (The Religious History of America, page 54). Superstitions have diminished in popularity over time but are still present

Superstitions were not taken so seriously by educated people as plain people did, but both types of people were thoughtful moon watchers. Farmers did each of their tasks based on the the phases of the moon. They had superstitions that if they work on the right tasks during their corresponding moon phase, then they will have successful

Thunder and lightning is used once again to open Act I Scene 3. As the

Prior to 1400 CE, during the middle ages, there was a popular belief that “Satan-worshiping Witches” existed, who devoted their entire lives to harming others by using dark magic. At this time the Christian church stated that there were no Witches (Robinson, 2002).

Ghosts, witches, and witchcraft were a big concern during the seventeenth century. People in Shakespeare's time feared the unknown. They also associated witchcraft and ghosts to the devil. For centuries on in, some still show interest in ghosts and witchcraft because they are curious about what they don't know and what they can't see. In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the three apparitions, or ghosts, in Act IV are summoned by the witches to trick Macbeth into believing that he is invincible. They are used as a "warning prophecy". Therefore, the apparitions are a symbolic representation of what shall happen to Macbeth (Part I, 346). Macbeth fails to realize that the ghosts are warning him; instead, he thinks the ghosts are prophesying that he will reign the kingdom forever. In A.W. Crawford's article, he explains how the apparitions are prophetic threats at Macbeth's kingship rather than his life (Part I, 345). The apparitions in Macbeth are used to not only foreshadow the outcome of Macbeth's

What is superstition? According to The Little Oxford Dictionary, superstition is "belief in the existence or power of the supernatural; irrational fear of the unknown; a religion or practice based on such tendencies; widely held but wrong idea." Let us examine that definition in depth. First, there is "belief in the existence or power of the supernatural". This means that there is believed to be some force that can influence the events on the Earth. Second, there is "irrational fear of the unknown." This has been endemic to the human race since the early days when a cave man did not know if that cave was safe to enter or if he would be attacked by a bear. Third, "a religion or practice based on such tendencies." This is the belief