[stylist] Harry Potter/Wicca

[Eve Sanchez]

Very good answer Bridget. It should also be known that men have been
accused and persecuted along with the women. Not nearly as much and
they are not often talked about, but it does happen. The last victim
of the Salem trials was a man that was stone. Another fun fact (for
lact of a better term) is that one of the girls who was central in the
accusing side at the trials (I think Abigail Williams, but I would
have to check to be sure) was accused and jailed herself about 26
years later. She spent quite a long time in jail, but was freed in the
end. Karma almost bit her in the butt. Eve

On Fri, May 17, 2013 at 8:34 PM, Bridgit Pollpeter
<bpollpeter at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Ashley,
>
> Most people labeled witches in the past were given this title because
> they didn't confirm to societal standards at the time, and it was often
> used to get rid of a person not afraid to express ideas and opinions
> contrary to the status quo. It was an erroneous label used for others to
> gain something.
>
> In the case of the Salem witch trials, it initially started after a
> group of young girls claimed that certain women were witches. It's not
> certain why they did this, but they brought a convincing case, at the
> time, to those in authority. Later, they would admit to fabricating the
> whole thing but not until the trials were long underway.
>
> Because the practice of witchcraft was considered heretical and evil,
> and at the time, Christianity was a ruling force, arresting so-called
> witches, placing them on trial and hanging or burning them was a legal
> practice. There are various reasons as to why this was allowed and why
> people went along with it, whether they truly believed the claims or
> not.
>
> As mentioned above, women who didn't conform to certain ideals or who
> preferred to live more independently, which included expressing a sexual
> side, were often labeled witches but also labeled prostitutes. This was
> a common label given to women who nowadays would make up a large number
> of people. Obviously our concepts of what constitutes right and wrong
> living for women has changed, or at least is more accepted, but in the
> past, the world was a different place.
>
> So most people accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death were not
> actually practicing witches but were persecuted because of a different
> way of life or for believing something different than the majority of
> the population or simply because someone wanted them out of the way.
>
> This goes back a little further than the Salem witch trials, but one
> example that comes to mind is Anne Boleyn, Henry the eighth's second
> wife. When he wanted to get rid of her to marry another, he claimed she
> had seduced him through witchcraft, which had become a popular belief
> about Anne at the time because she was not well liked among the
> populist. Later, it would be recorded that she had marks of a witch such
> as a sixth finger or a mole, which were long-held beliefs at the time
> proving someone was a witch. It's pretty widely accepted nowadays that
> these were fabricated stories made up posthumously as there is no proof
> of these so-called witches marks on the body of Anne Boleyn from her
> time, which had she had them, would have been noted and commented upon
> during her lifetime.
>
> Bridgit
> Message: 6
> Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 16:37:09 -0400
> From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Harry Potter/Wicca?
> Message-ID: <662065F3BBFE4668915DE4932751AE65 at OwnerPC>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>         reply-type=original
>
> Lori,
> good question. What is wicca and how is that different than witchcraft?
> I know wicca is still practiced a little as a religion. But is
> witchcraft? I thought that died out  in the 1800s.
>
> Speaking of witches, why were some women called witches and what brought
>
> about the Salem witch trials?
> I thought I read somewhere that they acted odd because of some disease
> that
> was not diagnosed at the time.
> But at the time, people thought they were evil.
>
> If anyone can recommend a book about witch history, the Salem trials or
> wicca that would be good. Its an area in which I haven't learned much
> about. I like nonfiction or historic fiction. Both would give me a sense
> of the
> practices although historical fiction is of course false details but has
> its
> roots in truth.
>
> Ashley
>
>
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