Magickal Practitioners

One thing you probably don’t know about me is that I am super into genealogy. The stories and the history are not only fascinating to me but downright strange.

Suddenly people seemed very paranoid and soon residents were placing blame on one another and accusing each other of witchcraft. In a fifteen month period between 1691 and 1692 nearly twelve dozen people were accused of witchcraft in or near Salem (Norton, p8).

The Salem witch trials were trials for people who were being accused of worshiping the devil. They believed the witches were out to harm others in supernatural ways. They were believed to be able to turn into animals, cause others to become possessed by looking at them, and were accused of being the cause of illness or miscarriages. However, there are many false theories about the Salem witch trials causing many controversies. One of the bigger controversies was if people were really being possessed by the three women. Often times, if doctors could not find a cause to an illness they will blame it on witchcraft. “Laurie Winn Carlson argues that in the spring of 1691 and winter of 1692, some of the accusers exhibited these symptoms, and that a doctor had been called in to treat the girls. He could not find an underlying physical cause, and therefore concluded that they suffered from possession by witchcraft, a common diagnosis of unseen conditions at the time”. They believed there had to be a cause to everything and if something

When considering possible explanations for the Salem witch trials, it is important to consider and reference other historical accounts of witchcraft. Although Salem presents its own unique case, and therefore is a result of things specific singularly to Salem, there may yet be a link to other cases of witchcraft. Cases may differ in religion, denomination, or other spiritual beliefs, and social setting. Additionally, a study of horticulture in the Salem area shows that hallucinogenic mushrooms may have contributed to the visions of witches. However, I have discovered in my studies that in most cases, there seems to be growing discontentment in each community before and during accusations of witchcraft. This is the clearest link between all cases. In my opinion, witchcraft is a result of suppressed feelings caused by human suffering. This is displayed as accusers in a community using witchcraft as an excuse to release tension, or rid themselves of enemies.

Witches have been feared by man since the 14th century in Europe when they believed women were given evil powers for loyalty to the devil. Although some others believed it was the result of consuming the fungus “Ergot” which was found in rye, wheat and other cereals. According to Jess Blumberg multiple people were caught using witchcraft as he mentions in her post “More than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed”. Later in colonial times there was a widespread of witchcraft throughout the new pioneer villages. People believe that it became worse from all the anxiety from the fear of death from disease, savages, smallpox and the after war effects of the British war with France. All this anxiety was driving the Puritans

the accused behalves were frequently in turn accused of being a witch. The Salem Witch Trials

Historical experts of the period state that it may just have been typical teenage hysteria that went a little too far, which was misperceived as the work of Satan because of the omnipresent, religious overtones in the New England colonies (Goss 51). Others have cited encephalitis as the reason behind the strange behaviors of the young Salem girls. No one can say for certain. That is an important notion in this context. Twenty innocent colonists were executed because they were believed to have been witches or involved in some form of witchcraft. From a retrospective standpoint, a person now knows this is wrong because it is unjustified. There is no scientific evidence to support the claims of the prosecutor. Witches who cast spells and fly on broomsticks are fantasies best reserved for the Halloween

It is also theorized by many historians, that the witches were first to be called out by the Doctors in the region, as the use of their healing remedies, were considered competition, and what better way to eliminate the competition, than to exploit the religious fanatics that want to trial anyone accused?

The Salem Witches trials started with eight girls’ strange behavior they became ill with strange “distempers” in December 1691. A few months later, in February 1692, a local doctor suggested the girls were bewitched (Caporael 21). This ignited the sudden growth of witchcraft accusations in the Salem area. Today, there are various theories explaining these unusual afflictions including convulsive ergotism and an encephalitis epidemic (Caporael, Matossian 355, Carlson xvi). The Salem Witches were relatively short lived and all who had been imprisoned, and not executed for witchcraft were released in the spring of 1693 (Carlson 8, Matossian 355).

I’m sure many of you have heard about the Salem Witch Trials, when many people were accused of witchcraft. When did it all start, you may ask? How? Well, two girls named Betty and Abigail Parris began displaying some odd behavior. They were having seizures and convulsions, shrieked loudly, entered trances, and suffered from high fevers. When their father finally called a physician, he said that the sisters may be enduring the effects of witchcraft. When asked who they thought were witches, they named three people: Tituba, a slave whom had been telling them stories about witchcraft from her native country, the Barbados; Sarah Good, a peasant mother; and Sarah Osborne, who regularly didn’t attend church. The two Sarahs

The Salem Witch Trials transpired from 1692 to 1693 resulting with many imprisonments; yet, only twenty deaths. The witch frenzy materialized from the allegations of a group of young girls claiming to be possessed by supernatural forces. Yet, the people accused of being witches in Salem, Massachusetts did not practice witchcraft. The Puritans were falsely accused of sorcery which can be proven through many theories and the false credibility of legal evidence.

During the late 1600’s many women and few men were accused of practicing witchcraft in a small farming town known as Salem Village. Salem Village belonged to a very strict religion also known as Puritanism,the Puritan religion had no restraint that the slightest mistake during the Salem hysteria period could result in the farmers who met in the town hall gossiping about maybe your absence at church, and you were suspected to be a witch.

Salem, a tiny town in Massachusetts, has a dark history. Back in 1692, in New England where the thirteen colonies were founded, the Salem Witch Trials had begun, claiming the lives of innocent people and accusing hundreds of more innocents. The reason why the innocent were accused and convicted was because they were a witch or a warlock. A witch was a woman who practiced black magic and worshipped the Devil or Satan, a mythological creature that was evil. That was because in the sixteenth century, many people believed that magic was actually real and existed and in fact, practicing magic or more specific black magic, was considered a sin and a threat to the the Puritans. In fact, there were many factors and contributions that that led to the Salem Witch Trials that led many people to fear this possible non-existent magic and witches. This is one of America’s darkest and infamous tragedies that had happened in the

The residents of Salem Village were desperate for an explanation. If the source of the affliction was not attributable to a physical malady, the community reasoned that it must be the work of Satan and so the finger pointing toward witchcraft started. Of all the executed, none confessed to the use of witchcraft, as they believed it would condemn their soul. “Everyone was so frightened that the unlucky prisoners could not hope for a fair trial.” Even though it was not solid evidence, “the hysterical ravings of the ‘bewitched’ girls were accepted as testimony.” During the later trials where none of the suspects were punished, dispute broke out over whether or not there had ever been any witchcraft in the community in the first place. It is highly possible that Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam could have been falsely creating their accusations and imitating the strange illnesses recorded, and if this were indeed the case it would explain some of their mistakes; such as their failure to identify Mrs. Cary after accusing her by name. “Twenty people had been executed for witchcraft, while over 100 more lay in prison, their property confiscated, and the name of Salem had become a synonym for mindless and cruel persecution.”

'The Salem witchcraft was started by a small group of girls in Salem MA because they said that they were haunted by the devils and they accused or blamed the community women of doing witchcraft. A witch is for female and a wizard is for a male. A witch is usually accused by people by doing witchcraft and magic. Witches are usually doing strange behavior like dancing in the woods and screaming and barking like a dog. Thats how people suspect that he/she is a witch. Puritans believed that to become bewitched is a witch casts someone under a spell.People usually confessed that he/she is a witch to avoid the punishment. The way the witch-hunter knew that the suspect is a witch or not is listed below.Pressing: One way to prove that you are a witch