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Salem Witch Hunt
Background to The Crucible
By Arthur Miller
Monty PythonMonty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 film about King Arthur and his knights who embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.Bedevere: Why do you think that she is a witch? Peasant: Well, she turned me into a newt. [Bedevere gives him a disbelieving look] Bedevere: A newt? [Silence] Peasant: Well, I got better. Peasant Crowd: Burn her anyway!
Witch Scene
Definition of a Witch
• One who serves the devil by performing evil acts in the world
• Form contract with Satan by signing his book (with blood)
• Amazing powers to fly through the air, perform great feats of strength, change appearance, and cause misfortune or death to their victims
Robert Johnson, 1935
Definition of a Witch
• Work alone or with “familiar” animal companion
• Witches congregate by night in groups or covens to hold a witches’ Sabbath
• Witchcraft considered an evil form of religion practiced by heretics (anyone who did not practice the state-approved religion)
Three Macbeth Witcheswww.madametalbot.com
Superstitions• Saying “God Bless
You” following a sneeze
• An eclipse was seen as an omen of evil
• It was unlucky for a black cat to cross your path
Cast A Stonewww.castastone.com
Superstitions• The ‘seventh son of a seventh son’ was
believed to possess supernatural powers• It was unlucky to keep the feather of a
peacock
• Pin bay leaves to your pillow on the Eve of St Valentine, one at each corner and one in the middle and you will then dream of your future husband
Superstitions• Knock wood to guard
against bad luck.
• Do not walk under ladders
Cris Fuhrmanhttp://pages.infinit.net/filmore/trip/
Superstitions• Shoes on a table
• Spilling salt or pepper
Methods of Testing for
GuiltCrossbinding – tied right thumb to left big toe and left thumb to right big toe and placed face down in water. The innocent sank and the guilty floated. Walking the Berkshires
http://greensleeves.typepad.com
Methods of Testing for
GuiltSpiritual Attributes – “Witchmark” is any physical abnormality of the suspect was considered a sign of the devil’s influence
Methods of Testing for
Guilt• Superhuman Feats – Mind-reading or some physical phenomenon such as lifting an impossibly heavy object
• Empirical Evidence – Injury, illness, or property damage was considered proof that the mischief was caused by a person with satanic powers
Methods of Testing for
GuiltPublic Tests – Observing the hysterical reactions of the afflicted girls as the judges questioned the “witches”
Witchcraft at Salem Villagehttp://gardenofpraise.com/ibdmath.htm
Methods of Testing for
GuiltSpectral Evidence – Either an “apparition” of the accused person attempting to cause some injury to the victim or the “specter” of a dead person who appeared in a vision and attributed his or her death to the accused (highly controversial)
Salem Witch Trialswww.magicalcat.com/H_salem_witch_trials.htm
Spectral Evidence
Michael P. Clark www.humanities.uci.edu
Methods of Testing for
GuiltPeine Forte et Dure – Old outdated English common law that permitted placing stone weights upon the body of the accused until he died
Pressing to Deathhttp://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/
Witch Executions
• Switzerland – more than 500 condemned witches were burned to death in Geneva
• Italy – In Como, 975 were put to death in 1524
• France – In Toulouse, 40 witches were burned to death in 1557
Witch Executions
• Spain – No attempt made at gaining an official tally of deaths because of horrendous numbers
• Germany – During two centuries of terror, 100,000 persons accused of witchcraft were executed. (In 1589, 1333 were burned in one day.)
Iron Maiden of Nurenbergwww.the-night.net/torture
Witch Executions
• England – During England’s “Long Parliament” (1640-1660), 30,000 persons were executed as witches
• Scotland – Between 1640 and 1660, 4,000 people lost their lives as witches
• America – The total number of “witches” executed was only 36, but 20 of them were put to death in 1692
Witch Executions
Unofficial estimates of the European total number killed range from one to nine million. The latter figure probably including those who died while waiting to be tried as well as those who were killed as they were being tested to determine their guilt or innocence.
Witchcraft Hysteria
Salem Witch Hunt… experience it!
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