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Witches’ Here in the United States, November brings an official day of thanks. The first Thanksgiving celebrated in 1621 was a day of sharing a meal by the Pilgrims, who had survived the harshness of the prior winter with the help of Native Americans living in the area, as a way of saying thank you to their new friends. Today the holiday is about family and food. But given the convoluted paths my mind takes at times, I ended up wondering how a group of devout Puritans, that left their country to escape religious persecution, ended up labeling others who thought differently as witches. Witchcraft has probably been around as long as civilization itself and has a strong existence in the fear of the unknown. Possibly dating back 40,000 years to the Paleolithic period, it is a belief system that predates the majority of known religions. The practice has evolved throughout time, and in its present form there are varied covens that perform their witchcraft in different ways. In the century after the Pilgrims landed, New England became a hot bed of witchcraft accusations. Anyone thought to have committed a bad deed or done bad things could end up with a finger pointed at them and accusations of ‘witch’ shouted in their direction. In 1500 there had been outbreaks of witchcraft in Scotland. Then witchcraft became a crime in England in 1542 and hysterical cries of ‘witch’ generated grief for a lot of people. So why not continue these outbreaks in a new country settled by a group of English. If your neighbors thought you were in a pact with a devil, you were labeled a witch. This technique to cause trouble for someone on your dislike list had been going on in Europe and England a few centuries, so it’s no surprise in addition to their bibles, the new arrivals brought their superstitions with them. For example on how these outbreaks worked, in the town of Hartford in 1662, an 8-year-old named Elizabeth Kelly started having visions. In addition, she became tormented by things she
couldn’t control. Little Elizabeth pointed a finger at a neighbor, the Goodwife Ayers and accused the lady of bewitching her. One thing led to another with the blaming of others until it ended with Mr. Greensmith who admitted to being a witch. Not only that, he confessed to having carnal relations with the devil. That was the end of Mr. Greensmith and with his execution, Little Elizabeth recovered, returning to her sweet self. Things died down for a while, but then would flare up again. In 1692 Salem became a hotbed of another outbreak. Three young girls started acting strangely (here we go again) and reporting on specter people coming to bewitch them. These visitations caused them torments, had them speaking in strange voices and doing bizarre things. From the specters they moved into charging real people, the first being the housekeeper for one of the girl’s family. They continued to point fingers and the allegations against one person led to others being brought in to face the same charges. By the time it reached the Governor Phips door, he put a stop to it… after all, his wife was then being accused. When it was all said and done, about 200 people had been accused, and 19 had met death by execution. One poor soul had stones piled on his chest until he was crushed. This baffling period of time in American history isn’t our finest hour, but it does show how fear and prejudice can convince people that the wrong they are doing is for the good. Do we experience some of this in today’s world? Take a look at the news and you may think so. But my hat is off to Salem. The town took a negative and has turned it into a positive…a positive that brings in lots of tourist each year. The ‘blip’ on their town’s history has created a business that employee a bunch of people. And in today’s economy, employment is a good thing. Plus, there is a history lesson to go with it. ---------Award winning author, Lizzie T. Leaf enjoys writing Paranormal/ Fantasy with a twist of humor. Emerging Magic, the second book in the Magical Love series is set to release late August or early September by Passion in Print Press. www.lizzietleaf.com
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