This may sound like a stupid question.. but I have always wondered. During the Salem witch trials, did any of them actually practice devilish witchcraft? If not, is it known if anyone at all practiced actual witchcraft during this time? I've always wondered also, did anybody during this time embrace devil worship? Surely, there must have been some odd individual who had. Just curious.
2006-12-17 10:00:36 · 12 answers · asked by darkwinterdweller 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
My husband is studying witchcraft (and I'm studying theology. ironic? we are both Christians : ) None of them practiced what we would today call devil worship. But my husband does say that a woman named Tichuba (sp?) practiced what we would today call vodoo. She claimed to cast spells and use magic, etc.
2006-12-17 10:08:10 · answer #1 · answered by Tiffany 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. There were a very few voodoun (who, as the name would suggest, practised Voodoo and/or hoodoo), but these were mostly slaves.
Note, however, that these trials were not contained in Salem--there were other series of witch trials in other Puritan colonies, as well as throughout Europe. Thousands were persecuted and many more were executed.
Fear was the primary reason for any of the trials. In reality, it had nothing to do with magic or witchcraft. The victims of these trials were predominantly older women who were independently wealthy and/or independent, and who spoke their minds. Because of this, they did not fit into Puritan New England society and were the perfect candidates for being "witches." This is not to say that people did not believe (and fear) "witchcraft," but rather to explain how they defined a "witch." Other victims included family members and (when the "witch" was married) husbands.
It is interesting to note that the Salem witch trials were somewhat different than the other mass murders. This flare-up of witch hunts targeted a wider spectrum of people, both female and male (as well as a wide variety of ages).
There is a pretty good book on the subject called "The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England" (1987), which was written by Carol Karlsen. The book gives a very good look into the witch trials throughout New England, as well as the "reasoning" behind the witch hunts. There are only a few problems I had with the book, like the tables included in the text and the lack of mention of European events that could have triggered the witch hunt flare-ups. All-in-all, however, Karlsen's work is a great read.
2006-12-17 11:09:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some of the people burned in Europe were witches and many of the ones burned during the Salem witch trials were folk healers of one kind or another, midwives, herbalists,etc. These sciences all fell under the umbrella of witchcraft since noone knew how they worked, and the knowledge of these things was handed down through generations of witches. But it is true that a lot of the people who died during the witch trials in america were just unlucky enough to be born with a club foot or have passed the prime of their life(a lot of old women were suspect automatically), or were cat-lovers, or somebody who influential people in the community didn't like. The hysteria was just an excuse to kill.
2006-12-17 10:35:25 · answer #3 · answered by enslavementality 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
"devilish witchcraft"?!? No such thing. We don't believe in and therefore do not worship the devil. However, it is possible that Tituba (the slave) and Sara Good may have practiced witchcraft. More in the form of herbal knowledge & healing arts than in any type of worship. As far as "devil worship" I suppose it is possible, but PLEASE do not confuse wicca or "witches" in general with devil worship because the 2 have absoloutly nothing in common!
BB
)O(
2006-12-20 09:38:25 · answer #4 · answered by Enchanted Gypsy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one ever practiced witchcraft, from what I know.
The whole thing seems to have been started by girls who started it as a game (pretending they were possessed), and the game got out of hand. Anyone who did anything outside the ''norm'' was looked at as a possible witch.
2006-12-17 10:16:16 · answer #5 · answered by Shossi 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. The only one who could have honestly been called a Witch was the slave Tetuba(sp?), but she didn't worship the devil either. I'm sure there were Satan worshippers at the time, and, in fact, Satanic Witches, but in relation to this particular incident.
2006-12-21 03:09:46 · answer #6 · answered by kaplah 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The case involved false allegations of child sexual abuse that got out of hand.
A teenage girl fell for the husband of a woman and wanted to get the wife out of the way, so she made up the story. Children don't lie, so what she said must be true, but there were those who questioned the account, so the account got expanded. She coerced other children to also make the same accusations that women would come to them in spirit and sexual abuse them.
Today, it is claimed that children know about these things because they see them on TV, but they didn't have TV back then.
2006-12-17 10:04:50 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well there was a slave that was into pagan stuff. But that seems to be about it.
The best theory I heard when I visited there was the crop had an infection of a mold or a fungus (sorry don't remember the details) that was slightly hallucinogenic. It was just a guess since there wasn't a way to tell, but the symptoms all matched.
2006-12-17 10:06:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No one practiced "devilish witchcraft" as there is no such thing. Did you mean pretend to. Probably not as they were an extremely religious people.
2006-12-17 10:05:45 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If I'm not mistaken, NONE of the people who were tried (or executed) at Salem practiced witchcraft - they were victims of malicious accusations from a frenzied mob mentality.
2006-12-17 10:04:10 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋