The Witch Panics And Hunts

The Protestant Reformation’s ideas of seeking salvation through God pressured members to be cautious of the rise of witchcraft. This expectations of society produced the demoralization of religion and how some had used the trials as a form of personal gain. The Puritans had believed that if one rids evil of sin, he or she can be sent to heaven, and have a set path where they would not be destined to hell. Therefore, by confessing to witchcraft, or the alternative of convicting someone else, it was believed that they would be rid of sin. This was only caused by the Puritans immobility of the pressures in

Hunting for witches has been going on for more than four centuries (from the 14th to the 17th century) and was a deeply rooted social phenomenon. It was born in feudalism and lasted until the "age of reason". It took different forms at different times and places, but never lost the essential character of the terrorist campaign of the ruling class against the female population. The witches were perceived as a political, religious and sexual threat to both Protestant and Catholic churches, and to the

Women in these situations were made even more vulnerable by the changes occurring during the reformation which removed the church’s support for women, who often spoke on behalf of accused women because women weren’t allowed to themselves. The susceptibility of people to be accused of witchcraft also depended on their location, such as unorganized, uneducated and weakly governed areas where religious instability (Protestant vs Catholic) was present. Another factor that worsened the witch hunts was the invention of the printing press which printed images of witches doing otherworldly things, adding to the paranoia and fear of witchs. If a person was accused of being a witch or evidence was found to create suspicion, the accused could be subject to a variety of gruesome tortures such as the torturing of sexual organs, and if found guilty of these charges (which they often were) they would often be burned or hanged. Nearing the end of the witch hunts when things began to get back under control, a new judicial system was introduced to Europe that commanded stricter rules for witchcraft prosecutions and

“Witch Hunt” is a term often thrown around whenever a group of people is being sought out and punished for their actions, regardless of whether they are actually guilty or not. Throughout history, there have been hundreds of different “witch hunts”, and not all of them have been hunting for witches. A few examples include the persecution of Muslims in post-9/11 USA, the sexual assault allegations of male celebrities and politicians being brought to light in 2017, and the search for communists through McCarthyism in the 1950’s. The most famous witch hunt that involved witches, though, occurred in a small village in Massachusetts called Salem, in 1692. But what caused these trials, and what made them so different from all of the others? There were no witches in Salem, but there was the impact of a sexist society on teenage girls, a desperate grab for land, and a malfunctioning legal system that allowed innocent people to be put to death. These are the three main causes of the famed Salem Witch Trials.

The persecution of witches started in the fourteen hundreds and carried on into the seventeen hundreds. This persecution happened only in the Catholic and Protestant Countries. They were not just endorsed by the churches, but the entire craze was caused by the churches; which gave its full support behind the cause. While the persecution of witches effected every type of person the most effected people where older women, poor, and usually considered outsiders by their society.

History shows the remarkable things that society has done over the years, it also shows where society failed and mistakes were made. This is the case of the Salem Witch Trials. The people of Salem experienced an event that would change them and the course of this country forever. The mass hysteria and rampant paranoia that swept New England in 1692, is what turned neighbor against neighbor. The Salem villagers would accuse one another of casting spells, consorting with the devil, and being witches, all of which was a punishable crime in the 17th century. ("Search")

Stacy Schiff’s national bestseller The Witches highlights the suspicions, betrayals and hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. In 1692, the commonwealth of Massachusetts executed five men, fourteen women, and two dogs for witchcraft. One might wonder how and why this Puritan colony became so caught up in this witch frenzy. In this book she is able to paint a clear picture of the panic that occurred among the people of Salem.

In Salem Massachusetts, 1692, twenty people were put to death as penalty of witchcraft. Why did this witch hysteria seize Salem? The Salem witch hysteria was promoted by the Puritan’s strict religious basis, inequality between social classes, and the boredom of young girls. The importance of religion in Puritan culture amplified the effects of the witch hysteria. In the Exodus 22:18, it says, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Doc. 1).

“Have you ever wondered if Magic or witches and wizards really exist in this modern world? Well yes, they do exist, and they are quite active in the modern world. There are more than 10 million witches in the United States, with new practitioners on the rise daily.”(Caine) Being a witch is much different than what you may have seen in the movies. There is real magic to the craft, but witches or wizards don 't walk around turning people into to frogs with a flick of their magic wands. They don 't disappear into thin air, nor do they fly around through the night on broomsticks. They also don 't live in a big castle or mansion. They walk around as normal people and you wouldn 't be able to tell them apart for anyone else. The art of real witchcraft is one of the oldest practices in the world. “The oldest instruments of the real craft that have been discovered date back to 40,000 years ago, while the practice of real witchcraft dates back to paleolithic times. It is very much a way of life, as you may have heard from the modern followers of Wicca. During the middle ages, and in the event known as The Inquisition, the practice of witchcraft became outlawed throughout most of the Christianized world, an offense punishable by death.”(Caine) A witchcraft frenzy broke out in the early colonial history of America in Salem, Massachusetts. Insane torture tactics were put in by the church to draw out confessions. This period of time is often cited as the start of "the burning times."

The witchcraze began due to a number of factors including: the belief in magic, the idea that the paranoia of the elites trickled down into the villages, and the idea of context. When the witchcraze occurred, Europe underwent a number of changes. These changes included disease (specifically the Black Death), problems of village life, religious tension (Reformation and Counter-Reformation), little ice age, and economical changes (Atlantic world shift). These contextual changes contributed to a world that believed in magic and the result is the witchcraze. In addition to the factors that contributed to the beginning of the witchcraze, it was also changes in Europe that ended the witchcraze.

Including the fact that religious change produced, conflict and even war especially in Germany and France which were also centres of witchcraft, suggesting the appearance of a link. Second, the period tends to coincide with the peak of witch-hunt when the bible was widely circulated in the vernacular. Protestant priests preached things such as “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live”. They were keen to root out magic in all its forms because they associated it with catholic practices and superstition. There was confessional conflict as Hugh Roper sees witchcraft as being motivated by catholic and protestant desire to show godliness in a time of religious schism. The witch-hunt cultivated feelings of moral superiority plus helped to remove or reduce feelings of guilt because of religious changes. This again can be a form of psychological projection, which is a type of defence mechanism. This involves individuals attributing their own unacceptable thoughts and motives to another person. Therefore, people scapegoated others if they had done something wrong to get rid of their own guilty conscience by making themselves believe the accused individual was in the

The witch trials in continental Europe, which lasted from the late 1300s until around 1650, resulted in an execution of "between 200,000 and 500,000 witches, 85% or more of whom were women."1 There is wide debate between historians arguing about whether or not this is a mass act of sexism—some stating that large groups of men gathered together to blame women for all of their village 's misfortunes, while others state that there were still a high number of males executed for witchcraft, and that anybody could be considered a witch. There is no getting around the fact that gender was a very important factor in the European witch trials, seeing as a majority of victims across the country were women. That being said, the idea of witch-hunts being sexist and specifically targeted towards women is false, rather, the label of "witch" was more frequently added onto powerful women who were viewed as sinful threats to society, resulting in the high number of executed females.

Witch hunting was the persecution and possible execution of individuals considered to be ‘witches’ loyal to the devil. It was an all too common occurrence from 1603-1712 all over Europe. However in order to understand why this happened the context must be taken into account. It was a time of change, the Renaissance - the rebirth of culture, ideas and attitudes to living. The Reformation had also only been implemented in England in the last 80 years back from 1603, when it had previously been catholic for centuries. The English civil war from 1642 to 1651 is argued to have played a part in the intensification of the witch hunts in England due to the peak in executions whilst it was on going. Some historians have taken the view that in time of crisis certain groups can be victimised like in wars, famine, disease outbreaks and changes in society structure.

Through a historical standpoint, humanity can be seen as a cyclic development in which old inclinations are further manifested to suit new social orders. As a result, issues that caused mass hysteria in an earlier era are often repeated again and we, just as the people of the old eras, are unable to recognize the flaws in our logic until it is too late. The witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries are perfect example, in that looking back today they seem like a stain on the history of mankind, but at the time being not many people stopped to think about the horrific acts they were committing As time progressed, and people no longer felt the need to ruin entire villages in order to fulfill their own philological desires, witch hunts, like many other trends, also came to an end. As of now, this end in mass witch-hunts can often be symbolized by the story of Anna Göldi, who not only signifies the change in how people thought, but also signifies the occurrence of excessive accusations in times of fear and ignorance.

There are very few famous male witches. Sure, there’s Harry Potter and Harry Dresden, but they’re wizards. After over 30 minutes of searching Google, I could not find a magical man who is explicitly labelled as a witch. Witches are almost always female, they have been throughout history – from the Bible and before, to the Greeks, to even modern literature. The real question, though, is why are witches always women? Why have magical women been revered and feared throughout history? Why are women witches? It’s because they’re scary.