Tag: Witchcraft
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‘We Are The Daughters of the Witches You Couldn’t Burn’; Modern Paganism and The Paradox of the Contemporary Witch
Daisy Gillam explores the historical and cultural transformation of what a witch is.
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Trapping a Witch in Your Boot: Three Curious Counter-Witchcraft Methods in Early Modern England
Elida Lyons outlines some of the superstitious practices early modern society engaged in to prevent witchcraft, from dried cats to concealed shoes.
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Identifying the Last Witch to be Burned in Ireland: Was it Bridget Cleary?
The story of Bridget Cleary illustrates the violent consequences of folklore beliefs, merging themes of guilt, punishment, and societal perceptions surrounding women in Ireland. Kate Phillips explores Cleary’s legacy and whether she ought to be considered the last witch to be burned in Ireland.
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Dorcus Hoar: The Stereotypical New England Witch
John Demos’s portrait of a witch offers scholars a series of characteristics which witches were understood to have. Marnie Camping-Harris demonstrates how Dorcas Hoar, accused in the Salem Witch Trials, fits these stereotypes.
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A Review of Carol Karlsen’s The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
In this review, Marnie Camping-Harris discusses how men of Puritan New England targeted women by using witchcraft trials. Threats to gender expectations and societal norms would see accusations of witchcraft surface and lead to trial.
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Innocence Betrayed, Condemnation’s Blade
This man, once healed by Sarah’s hand, now accused her, taking a stand. “Her potions cured what prayers could not.” His voice shook, a fearful plot. In this fiction piece, Ambrose Brown explores themes of injustice and superstition in Salem’s history.
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Misogyny: The Driving Force of the Great European Witch-Hunts from the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries
Written by Sophia Aiello. The Witch Trials of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries have been well studied, but what role did misogyny have in this crisis, and how did the stereotype of the ‘witch’ develop?
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Witches by Weather: The Impact of Climate in Early Modern Witch Trials
Written by Melissa Kane. Dramatic changes in climate have for a long time demanded an explanation. Melissa Kane explores how the European Witch Trials became tied to the storms and cold of the ‘Little Ice Age’, as yet more proof of malicious deviancy.
Retrospect Journal 