The Salem Witch trials and Modern Witchcraft Today
Introduction
Witchcraft is now more a practice than a religion and it works if a spell works. In the past, you may have used the formal magic found in a book on arcana spell. But now you can just search for ideas from Witch Instagram. On the other hand, the real past of Salem may be virtually meaningless. Salem has become a pilgrimage place for those who identify with the defendant of 1693, whether you are witches yourself, feminists attracted to the tale of wrongfully accused women or even average people attracted to their tale for being a bit peculiar. Today, visitors visit places and museums linked to the Salem Witch Trial where, during a mass hysteria epidemic of 1692 to1693, twenty people, mainly women, have been executed accused of witchcraft (Miller 70). Kids are also educated about the Salem witch trials in the United States and other western countries. Such experiments were not helpful to humanity, but in many areas of the world, this is not the case. Hunting and expelling witches and dark magic practitioners continue in most of sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The problem is not only pervasive, but the severity of these activities has only worsened as thousands of individuals have been prosecuted. This paper, therefore, revisits the witch trials in Salem by reconnoitering the thoughts exploring the credibility of the allegations. Further exploration of the modern-day witchcraft is presented with reference to the lessons learned from the Salem witch trials.
Statement of the Problem
While the cases of accusations in Salem town in the 1960s were driven towards young girls and women, the research intends to question why they were taken seriously. Moreover, the research intends to answer the question: What was the role of the Salem witch trials in American History? Eventually, the research aims to attend the query: What is evident in the modern-day witches in connection to Salem witch trials?
Background of the Problem
Following an accusation of witchcraft in January 1692, the widespread hysteria of witches was brought across the city of Salem. In the house of Parris, a pastor of the Puritans in Salem, a group of young adolescents met. The cleric’s daughter was 9 years old, Betty. The voodoo tales and tricks the slave family showed them to Betty and her cousin Abigail (Billings et al 32). The slave father, Tituba, was the one the little girls had looked for. The girls started to act oddly, having hallucinations often, crying at others, and slipping into trances, not long after they lived with Titubas.
The Puritans believed that witchcraft was such conduct as the devil’s job. Residents in Salem believed the girls and charged them with witchcraft, Tituba, and two other local women. The women were called upon by two men, John Hathorne and Corwin of Massachusetts. The Puritans violated the tradition of the Ancient Testament. That is how the tests were assessed. The Bible had a decree that witches should not exist. The two men knew what to do exactly.
Such Salem women were investigated in search of a certain mark on the body, a wart, or a nipple. The location where the devil and his demons take blood out of their witch was said to be this unique mark. Most of the women convicted in the group were less well-off. The governor provided a package of compensations for families who had been falsely convicted of witchcraft since the 1692 witchcraft trials (Williams-Ware 37). After the trials, this was common. As an apology from the police, many formerly convicted witches or their remaining family members received compensation.
Literature Review
The study shows that most of the witches accused were women of medium age, widows, with a few children or no children. Both were also questioned if the woman was involved in domestic struggles. The women were suspected by their neighbors of crimes and seemed threatening. Women from Salem even accused of witchcraft that has inherited or possessed property (Norton 43). Such women’s claims were unprecedented and obviously incorrect. You first have to think about female’s views in this era. They were marginalized and represented that they had little control or knowledge; they served the people in the community. Not only were women of the low class suspected of witchcraft, but affluent females were also convicted as time went by.
For certain parts of India, fear of mysticism remains deeply rooted. In the northeastern Assam, between 2001 and 2006, some 300 men were tortured and executed. The plurality was female, contributing to a rise in the number of abandoned children in the city. The remainders of the children are always a big problem after western magic, but the problem in India seems to be aggravated.
A conviction in witchcraft is popular in Nepal, and it is therefore not rare to hunt people accused of witchcraft. Many targets, in this case, are lower class females who are abducted, battered, raped, embarrassed, and sometimes killed in a public site. When such hunts take place, the victims’ families are always punished and treated fairly. Once in 2010 a woman was kidnapped, battered, and fed on human excreta for two days before she had “confessed that she was a witch.”
The Saudi Kingdom may be one of the wealthiest nations on earth, but their culture is still terrified of witchcraft. The moderate Muslims believe in sorcery and magic, which is perhaps why their practice is described by the nation as a legal crime. Not only can anyone in Saudi Arabia suspect someone of witchcraft, but they can then also be prosecuted for the commission of such a crime by the government. If the person is found guilty, death is the penalty.
Intriguingly, Papua New Guinea empowers a legitimate practice called “white” wizard that is used for spiritual healing and other innocuous processes. In the 1970s, the country enacted a law dubbed the Sorcery Act, which placed a two-year prison term upon someone found engaged in “black” sorcery. When the country prohibited the detrimental dimension of magic, it saw abuse and extrajudicial abuse against suspected “black” magicians rise. Four women were charged with sorcery only recently in 2013 because their residences were constructed of timber. Both 4 people had been raped, and one had been decapitated. This event happened not because the women were divine; it was that they were better financially than their accusers.
A different perspective poses the possibility of truth in the witches’ allegations in Salem. Gardener in his writings of witchcraft today reveals his primary touch with the witches. He goes ahead to state that the witches directed him on what to expose to the people and what to hold back. It is also indicated that the main intention of writing on witches was to convince people that the culprits are not bad members of society (Gardner 5). His confession showed that he was able to reveal something about their values, habits, and explanations for what they do, which was never made public before. He should also emphasize that their present beliefs, behaviors, and activities are not negative. The confessions pose a question of credibility of the actions of the witches as well as meant for the members of the society. It might thus be assumed that witches are responsible for ill occurrences in the society as was the case in Salem where strange happenings ensued. It is currently for instance said that Morgana continues to popularize both paganism and Wicca practices. Much of similar advocacies are also witnessed over the online social platforms.
Conclusion
Throughout American history, the Witch trials of Salem played an important role. In history, the trials have been a horrific and unforgettable moment. Generational, ethnic, and sexual animosity, lawlessness, social tension, and food toxicity all triggered the frustrations people encountered in the witch-hunting fiasco. The witch hunts were quests for bogeymen, and the members of the group tried to ease the anxieties of the people.
Despite the injustices affiliated particularly to women in Salem as similarly evident in modern societies, there is justification for the witch hunt. The Gardners’ confession seems to align with the great secrets held by modern witches. It is hard to reveal their intentions without necessarily joining their practices but they can be questioned. As a result, the witches are associated with the ill happenings in the day to day activities. It is however notable that, witch practices alongside witch hunts, is both prone and open to more research.