Witchcraft
(A discussion of three messages from Witchcraft) In room 303 we have been studying many poems from Doris Lessing. Doris was born in in Persia and now lives in Iran. She came from a large family of five. She shares her own experiences when she writes and that is what makes her unique. Her talent for writing came from a variety of her experiences. One poem she wrote called “No Witchcraft for sale” was very interesting. It had three important messages and those messages are the poisonous snake is dangerous, stay loyal, and amazing things can happen. First of all, in “No Witchcraft for sale” by Doris Lessing one amazing message is poisonous snakes are extremely dangerous. In africa, there is a snake that hangs out in the trees. It
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Gideon creates a new way to heal a person when a poisonous snake spits in a kids eyes. The whole village was ecstatic about this new invention. Scientists from all over came to Gideon to try and get his magic potion. “But they went on persuading and arguing, with all the force of their exasperation.” (Page 1334) is a good quote explaining that Gideon did not give them any information.
Last but not least, In “No Witchcraft for sale” by Doris the last good message was great things can happen. Gideon figured out a magical potion and that potion cured Teddy's eyes. It was an amazing thing and Gideon could have been very rich but he kept the information to himself. Teddy definitely deserved that potion because he was such a great kid. “The story eventually reached town; and perhaps it was at a sundowner to be there.” ( page 1333) is a good quote explaining how fast word travels.
Clearly, in “No Witchcraft for sale” there is many great messages that you can learn from. First of watch out for poisonous snakes. They can ruin your life in a hurry. Always stay faithful and loyal to your friends and family. The last message was good things can happen to good
The snake is harmless, minding its own business and is no threat to Margaret but she goes on to attack it because she had been told by Miss Laing that they are dangerous. This is therefore like the anti-German propaganda fed to the British public during the war. There are also biblical links in the relation to the snake as Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil in the form of a snake in Genes. Now Margaret has been tempted to disobeying Miss Laing.
(Many of the people who were persecuted as witches from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries were those of a seemingly inferior mindset, those who are blamed for problems in the community and those who were social outcasts.) This time period occurred throughout the Protestant, Catholic and Scientific revolutions. The victims of the witch trials were usually persecuted in Europe as a whole however focused on areas like South Western Europe.
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
Witchcraft is a religion. Wicca is one type of Witchcraft, but the term "Wicca" is occasionally applied to Witchcraft in overall. In the United States, most people who practice this religion call themselves Witches or Wiccans. It is an earth-based religion and in some ways is similar to Native American spirituality. Wicca (sometimes called Wicce, The Craft, or The Old Religion) is based on an ancient religion of love for life and nature. The religion of Witchcraft or Wicca is recognized by most state governments, the federal government, and the United States Armed Forces. The courts have recognized the right of even prisoners to practice this religion on an equal basis with other religions. In ancient times, people appreciated the great forces of Nature and celebrated the seasons’ cycles and the moon. They saw spirituality in the sun and moon and in the Earth Herself. Basically, in all life.
The author uses imagery to characterize the snake and emphasize the importance of its life. When the narrator first approaches the snake, he observes how the snake “held his ground in calm watchfulness; he was not even rattling yet, much less was he coiled; he was waiting for me to show my intentions.” This description uses specific details of the snake’s actions to illustrate how the snake reacts nonviolently. In fact, the snake waits to see what the narrator does instead of attacking outright,
more competence as an explanation due to evidence now being needed to prove someone guilty, there was still a aspect of psychological pressure towards obeying God and putting themselves forward for punishment in order to live a better afterlife.
A prophecy once stated that a blond warrior was going to arrive in Wonderland, to fight the Red Queen’s infamous Jabberwocky. The conflict between the Red Queen and White queen would immediately end after the death of the Jabberwocky. As each day passed by, I always observed the Red queen carefully while she punished my friends among other animals for no adequate reason. Due to how my features allowed me to become invisible at any command, I was was able to perceive everything that was going on in Wonderland, which is why I was the first one to know of her arrival. As I got ahold of the information of how a certain blond girl who had dropped years ago in Wonderland had fallen down the rabbit hole, I immediately rushed over there.
Before the 1500s, prosecution of witches was rare. Trials were conducted against those who were seen as suspects of “practicing harmful magic and occasional mass trials" (Bever, 2009, p. 263). These accusations were often made by children and that of their imagination. The decline; however, occurred not through the prosecutions but through its “suppressing roles” and the overall “decline in witch beliefs” (Bever, 2009, p. 285). The title of the article is “Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic” and it is written by Edward Bever. Bever is the Associate Professor of History, SUNY College at Old Westbury.
There are countless reports throughout history of occurrences where society feared one another, but rarely were there occurrences where society felt feared and confident of one another. There was once a society that feared accusation, but trusted their struggles would disappear with the help of another. Witchcraft was the incredible yet terrifying thing that was responsible for this great uproar in some societies. According to the text Identity, Race and Power, witchcraft is a belief system that serves as a method of social control by directing anger towards others (Miller et al. 2013:214).. Throughout history the individuals with political power would use witchcraft as an excuse to maintain order throughout a given society. Looking at particular societies in Malta and South Africa this paper seeks to provide evidence as to how witchcraft operates to maintain a sense of “order”.
Throughout No Witchcraft for Sale, Doris Lessing develops a theme surrounding the topics of family, trust, and religion. Lessing does this by developing a cast of characters including Teddy, the Farquars, and Gideon. She mentions how the Farquars and their servant Gideon had grown close to each other after the birth of the Farquars’ son Teddy. She also explains how the Farquars were a deeply religious family and that Gideon was a mission boy himself. However, when a scientist arrives from the city to explore the native knowledge of medicine, Gideon’s trust and relationship with the Farquars is tried. Although Gideon is not a direct relative of the Farquars, the theme of this story is a trial of family and family’s strength to overcome.
When first colonizing Africa and places near it, English people were extremely disrespected when they moved to that country. However, in No Witchcraft for Sale, the Englishmen were greatly respected by their friend and chef, Gideon. After the family had a son, Gideon treated him no differently than his own son. Even after he disrespects Gideon’s son’s skin color, Gideon still does his best to love the child. One day when the boy was out playing, a snake spit venom into the child’s eyes, which would lead to blindness. Gideon went out to find a root, and after administering the root medicine to the child’s eyes, they were fully healed. When the parents realized the capabilities of the root, they told Gideon to give the root to a scientist so
Racism is the main culprit for fighting among not only American citizens, but those in foreign countries. The issue has progressed but still has a great deal of improving to do. In recent years and months many have begun take stands against racism and the unfair ways they have been treated. Doris Lessing wrote novels and short stories that challenged the mainstream beliefs of those in Southern Africa and England. Mariam Berkley, a biographer explained, “Lessing's life has been a challenge to her belief that people cannot resist the currents of their time, as she fought against the biological and cultural imperatives.” Her literature was very controversial because the topics she discussed brought in many different perspectives to problems in society. Her thoughts mainly tie in with racism and sexism. In Lessing’s No Witchcraft for Sale she explains the messages of white people having control over blacks, the selflessness of the slave, and ways to deal with peer pressure.
Understanding one another in society can be difficult and has been seen as such through out events in history however, Is it impossible to really understand why people react as they do to difficult situations? We can explore this concept of understanding in the novels "the bet"written by Anton Chekhov, "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver and ""No witchcraft for sale" by Doris Lessing. Each of these novels feature conflicts that involve character/s having little to no understanding of the situations they have encountered. For example "The bet" involves A conflict between two men one who sees imprisonment as a minor form of punishment and the other who sees it as a torturing of ones soul. "Cathedral" follows a protagonist who is forced to spend time with a blind man which he has trouble getting along with and "No witchcraft for sale follows a native who is in a
Gideon’s father was a famous medicine man with his own people and in turn passed these skills to Gideon. Not all natives knew the tricks of medicine men so they were a revered part of the population. They took their duties seriously and considered them sacred. By revealing the plant root that healed Teddy’s snake bite to the white doctor the sanctity of traditional healing methods would be crushed. The news would be spread across the world to be used and abused.
Aylward Shorter adds “It is the image of “unrepentant human wickedness.” John S. Mbiti also concur with Shorter and Magesa, he states “Witchcraft are the greatest enemies of society.” Magesa thought the English term is misleading in a sense that “In Africa, it is not a ‘craft’ but the mysterious power of evil potentially in every human being that manifests itself in all areas of life society, politics, economy, religion, etc.”