Salem Witch Trials: Modern medicine vs. herbalists?

Question

My hubby says that the witch trials were actually the "modern" (of their day) medical doctors just getting rid of the the natural medicine healers, such as herbalists and midwives. He says there is alot of evidence to support this. Is this true? Where can I find concrete evidence of this?

Answer 1

Check out the site below. There are a lot of good sites out there. In the case of Salem, I think it started with the hysterical girls, went on to target women of independent means (didn't need a man!), and got more and more hysterical. When you were convicted of witchcraft not only was your life forfeit but so was your property. The sheriff in Salem got quite wealthy selling off the property of the convicted witches.

If you admitted you were a witch you got off with your life, it was the ones who denied it to the end who were executed. Some of the executed were exceedingly brave individuals. Only one of the girls ever apologized for her actions.

What your husband said has some truth to it. Midwives and healing woman had independent incomes, and often had better training them the 'doctors' of the time. They were very often the targets of European witch hunts.

Answer 2

I have never heard of any evidence to support that theory. The people accused of witchcraft in Salem weren't all herbalists and midwives. They were made up of people who were ostracized from society (homeless, tavern keepers, etc.), as well as people who had land that was coveted by their neighbors.

The Salem Trials were the result of what is called Metaphysical Anxiety. The Puritans could never be certain whether they were among the Elect who would go to Heaven. If they believed themselves to be saved, they were condemned, so they were spiritually obligated to be in constant doubt.

Couple this with the fact that the girls had no good marriage prospects, an uncertain future, and scary images while playing with divination, and you get a witch scare.

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It is inaccurate to say that they lasted 2 weeks. They lasted 7 to 8 months. http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/faq.shtml

Answer 3

Nope. The Salem trials were pure hysteria.

The accusations came from children. Not doctors. These children pointed fingers at random. See the "chonology" listed below.

One of the theories is ergot poisoning. Ergot is a fungus that grows on rye after a particularly wet season. It causes hallucinations such as the ones described by certain people involved.

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/history/ergot.htm

The Puritans had a heightened sense of evil. I'm sure a 4 year old knows nothing about herbs.

Friend "Real?" You shouldn't respond to questions you know nothing about. The Salem Witch Trials lasted a little over a year. 24 people died. 19 of them were hung. One was pressed to death. 4 died in prison.

Friend Kallan? I have to disagree with you as well. Many anchoresses (female Catholic hermits) were well versed in herbology and healing. Spending so much time in prayer they were also deeply in touch with God.

They were burned as witches by the Protestants. If you compare a map with dates of the burning times to a map with dates of Protestant Reformation, you'll find they match. While priests were hung for saying mass, they had no reason to execute nuns, especially the anchoresses and others like them. So they accused them of witch craft and burned them.

Answer 4

The Salem Witch Trials had absolutely nothing to do with real witches.. the only one of those people who could've been considered a witch was Tituba, a woman from the Arawak village in South America who was taken captive and sent to barbados as a slave. She became the slave of Rev. Samuel Parris and lived in Salem with the family.
Other than her tribal beliefs, there was no evidence whatsoever that any of those who were accused of being witches actually were.

What your husband may be referring to is the catholic domination of the celtic tribal societies in which the local healers (usually women) were demonized in order to make way for the priests of the catholic church to become the "one-stop" shop for all things spiritual, medical et al.

Answer 5

Salem Witch trials were a very depressing time,
If a woman was smarter than the average person, they were in danger of being called a witch.
He's right,
if someone had knowledge f herbs, and theri healing properties, that was considered witchcraft. There's not a ot of evidance though, it was all burned.

Answer 6

I don't think so ... from the things I've read about it, the Salem Witch trials were a form of revenge by some seriously messed up girls, who made stuff up just to get folk in trouble, then couldn't get out of it without telling the truth.

Answer 7

well enough so, the proof is in itself of those who have been abused along with their knowledge throughout all of mans time, though it quite possible that those scriptures and finds are archived in medical and religious buildings around the planet, and much of what was lost is now available through such natureopaths and homeopaths, being so said, that such so-called witch wicca women would be the creators and inventors of these items, and not those of the modern medical research systems,...

Answer 8

Do a web search for Wicca and Pagans, You will get many unanswered questions answered. There are so many onpinions of this, but the truth to the matter will be found in Pagan religon. Good luck in your quest for the answer. I believe and do try herbal remedies. So may not work, but under the right conditions and proper use it does work. P.S. Yes I am wiccan.

Answer 9

You can't find evidence of this, at least not credible evidence, since this is NOT what happened. The Salem witch trials were the result of some vengeful, spiteful little girls who would pretend to go into trances, then accuse people of hexing them.

Tom

Answer 10

The Salem witch trails lasted a whole 2 weeks and then it was over. It was a kin to the Don Imus thing. Mass hysteria.