Salem witchcraft trials, what do you think caused it all?

Question

Without sounding pompous and stupid,I know almost all there is to know about this incident but I want some other opinions. Ergot poisoning, spread psychological effects, real witchcraft?! Tell me, and by the way, don't post sources, I've had way too much time on my hands and have read a whole hell of a lot about it on the web.

Answer 1

Ergotism.

The 28 people who died during the Salem Witch trials are viewed by Wiccans to be like religious Martyrs. This is especially ironic since not one of them was a Wiccan! We have to keep in mind the people executed in salem Village were not Wiccans. Wicca was invented in 1950 in England by Gerald Gardner,a follower of Aleister Crowley. No Book of Shadows was found during the Salem Witch trials, and there is no mention of "Wicca" "Cernuous", or "Diana" in any of the historical documents from that era. There is also no description of any rituals taking place that resemble Wicca. None. In other words...no Wiccans were executed during the Salem Witch Trials, period! They couldn't have, since Wicca didn't exist until the 20th century, which we will read about a little later. But nevertheless, searching for books on the subject of Wicca on Amazon.com will turn up hundreds of titles, including at least a dozen or so about the Salem Witch Trials. What does the Salem Witch Trials have to do with Wicca? Nada,zilch, nix, nothing...except in the minds of Wiccans. Meanwhile, the Salem Witch Trials fuels the hate Wiccans have for Christians.

The Salem Witch Trials are used by Wiccans as an example of Christian hate for witches, and offered as proof that someday Christianity will start up a new round of persecution. The trials happened during the winter of 1691-92 A.D. The 9 girls involved in the accusations were Elizabeth Paris, Abigail Paris, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, Mary Wolcott, Elizabeth Booth and Susan Sheldon.

The now infamous incidents started when a small group of girls at the home of their friends, sisters Elizabeth and Abagail Paris became involved in occult activities of a slave named Tituba. Tituba told the girls stories of African black magic with descriptions of spells, and performed fortune telling for them. She did not initiate them into an ancient goddess or "horned god" worshiping religion. Read that statement again until you get it. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 resulted in nearly 200 people imprisoned, but only 20 were executed and a further 8 died in prison. No one was burned at the stake in Salem, the condemned were in fact, hanged, and one person was crushed to death. That one person who was crushed to death with stones, placed a curse on the Sheriff of Salem with his dying breath (hardly the act of a Christian, but rather the act of a sorcerer). Curiously, from that time forward, every Sheriff in Salem has died of a heart attack while in office. This and some other evidence shows that there was indeed some occult activity going on in Salem, but not to the extent of the number of people accused. It is unfortunate that anyone was put to death over Witchcraft, just as it is unfortunate Christians were thrown to lions for not believing Nero was a god, or making offerings to Pagan idol statues that also weren’t gods.

In Science magazine on April 2, 1976, scientist Linda Caporael put forth a explanation as to why the people of Salem acted the way they did. According to Caporael rye was a staple in New England at the time of the trials, and it may have been the rye bread consumed by the villagers played a part in the trials. Caporael felt that the girl's affliction could have been caused by "Convulsive Ergotism" a disorder resulting from the ingestion of contaminated rye grain. The weather conditions were ripe for the fungus that causes this disorder at the time of the trials, according to Caporael, and there is evidence from the writings of the time that suggest this was the case. The disorder, which mainly affects young females, has symptoms exactly like those suffered by the young girls. The symptoms include "hallucinations, violent fits, choking, pinching, itching, a crawling sensation in the skin and muscular contractions." Ergotism can also cause delusions and psychotic behavior, which sounds like what the older members of the community experienced. In a nearby village, a dog was even accused of witchcraft. When the dog failed to confess, it too was hanged! This hardly sounds like the action of rational people, it sounds more like the acts of people suffering from psychotic behavior, which would certainly fit with the ergotism explanation. So in other words, it was bad grain, not "persecution of a survivng stoneage Pagan religion", that lead to the Salem Witch Trials.

Around 200 hundred people were arrested in all, but were later released. A year later the girls who accused so many publicly asked to be forgiven by the community, not even understanding themselves what had happened, or why they did it. There was also no mention from surving records of mold on the wheat in 1693,which might also explain why the people of Salem Village regained their senses.

If the people of Salem Mass were under the influence of psychotropic molds, then they were hardly in their right minds. If they weren't in their right minds, they can't be held responsible for what they did. Is there really a good reason to hate them for what happened while they were not in their right minds? Is there a point in hating Christians alive today for something that happened over 300 years ago? Is there a point in Wiccans in hating Christians for the Salem Witch trials at all, since none of the people executed were even Wiccans anyway? Does anybody know where I left my car keys? Just thought I'd throw that last one in. I can never find my car keys! The idea of Wiccans trying to adopt these poor folks as fellow travelers is silly. They might as well get mad about Stalin's killing of Khulaks during his reign of terror. They have no more a connection to them as they do the "Witches" of Salem.

What do the Salem Witch trials have to with the religion invented in 1950 known as Wicca? Nothing. But a search of books on Wicca on Amazon.com will turn up at least half a dozen or so.

TOTAL NUMBER OF WICCANS KILLED BY CHRISTIANS TO DATE:

ZERO!

Answer 2

Ergotism Salem Witch Trials

Answer 3

I suppose that the ergot poisoning had something to do with just how bad the situation got, but I think that at the root of it all it was simply prejudice, jealousy and envy, and nothing to do with actual witchcraft. Religious fanaticism is a dangerous, volatile thing, and is extremely destructive, as you have read, I am sure.

For an interesting parallel to the Salem Witch Trials, you might want to read up on the end of the Medici reign in Florence, and what happened when the monk Savonarola took the pulpit in that city. It certainly wasn't ergot poisoning that got to the masses, and the destruction certainly wasn't as widespread, but what happened in Florence during that time could be seen as the "prototype" (with regards to what a narrow-minded and mean-spirited leader and populace can do) for what happened at Salem hundreds of years later.

Also, anything to do with the history of the Inquisition will provide you with excellent insight into what could have gone wrong at Salem.

Answer 4

PBS had a show that said it was 'ergot poisoning' (fungus-infested rye - specifically, Claviceps purpurea) that caused the original hallucinations, convulsions, skin reactions, etc. attributed to satanic joining. Then, of course, it all snowballs where hysteria and superstitions take it to a new level, with the result being that people's minds start seeing 'evidence' for witchcraft in others based on their existing negative perceptions. Important: without the mass hysteria and the culture's superstitious beliefs in the devil and hell, the original issue of ergot poisoning would not have resulted in the witch trials.

Answer 5

It was a comination of Ergot poisoning,political intrigue and religious extremism.A lot of the newer Doctors in Salem wanted excuses for eliminating the competition from traditionalist healers (ie herbalists.midwifes etc) so when the ergot poisonings started to occur they played upon the superstitions of the town's people to get rid of the local healers so the Doctors could step in. Sorry if I sounded like Robert Scott Bell there but thats my theory in a nutshell

Answer 6

I truely believe that they were just high. The girls suffered from delirium, violent convulsions, incomprehensible speech, trance-like states, and odd skin sensations. LSD is a derivative of ergot, a fungus that affects rye grain. Ergotism -- ergot poisoning -- had indeed been implicated in other outbreaks of bizarre behavior, such as the one that afflicted the small French town of Pont-Saint-Esprit in 1951.

Answer 7

I'm not certain of it's accuracy, but there's a play called "The Crucible" by the same guy who wrote "Death of a Salesman" (I think) It's an interesting story. I've heard the rye-germ theory (which is also linked to "werewolves" and "vampires" in Europe) but there was also a degree of sexism and the power of the church and lack of science. It's very complicated, but I doubt the fact that there was real witchcraft invovled.

And to satisfy your curiousity, why not go to Salem and find out yourself? Take a tour, soak in the history, visit a graveyard, etc. It'd be worth it.

Answer 8

ergot tainted grain (claviceps purpurea)... sounds like a classic case of St Anthony's fire! Or just some some adloescent girls wanting some attention...about the only real witch in the story is Tituba...and anyone she practiced with...the people hung & incarcerated were most definately all puritanical christians..

Answer 9

Wheat rust as a source, then some girls who liked the attention they got...

Adults looking for a good excuse (member, every witch executed means property and money confiscated)

Saw an interesting theory that linked the ergot on the barley with witch hunt hysteria...quite good idea.

Link uneducated populous, ergot poisoning, priming by the authorities, and a legal system turning confiscated property to the state, and a bounty to the accuser..

Boom, instant witch hunt....

Answer 10

Most belief is that it was just a bunch of girls looking to blame others for getting out of hand. But as soon as the church started paying people to turn in witches it became a money making scheme and a way to get rid of that neighbor no one likes.

Regardless I honor those who died at the hands of religious intolerance.

Also to spamahoy... the reason us Wiccans make such a big deal about the witchhunts is that was the beginning of using the word 'Witch' as a negative term that continues to this day.

Blessed Be

Answer 11

Some have suggested that along with the reasons listed earlier, that capital gains strongly influenced the duration of the Burning Times, which included the Salem witchcraft trials, and unbelievably high number of victims. I tend to agree with them.
Too much atrocity owes to greed throughout history and even to this day.