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Women's roles witchcraft in the 17th century
Women's roles witchcraft in the 17th century
Women's roles witchcraft in the 17th century
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Revenge. Revenge caused them to be feared of people being witches. This is because some people might have had a conflict, and they maybe still do not like each other. Witches then were an excuse for people to blame their problems on. They think that the witches were causing these problems so in order to “get back” at them, they would blame everything on them.
How was the idea of a witch created or thought of? It started when two girls asked an Indian woman their fortune. Their reverend father noticed odd behavior, and as the result of a testimony, the first three woman were sent to jail. After that there were more accusations of people being witches. But what made people believe or know that another was a witch?
In the article “Religions: The Basics” by Malory Nye talks about female writers, inequality and the distinction between males and females. In the article it mentioned how the term Androcentricism assumes that the male’s perspective and experiences are the most vital and key point of reference. I agree with Mary Daly that the concept of belief in a male deity leads to profound sexual inequalities. The reason I agree with Mary Daly is due to the fact there is a lot of gender differences and that women are viewed as inferior, while men are more superior. It is surprising that in western culture, they can’t go a day without woman-male distinction.
“The fact that overall about 20 per cent of the accused were male is less an indication that men were associated with witchcraft than it appears. Most of these men were related to women already convicted of sorcery […] Of the few that were not related, most had criminal records for other felonies, such as theft, highway robbery, murder […] For them, witchcraft was not the original charge, but was added on to make the initial accusation more heinous. Witchcraft was thus perceived primarily as a female offence.”
1692 was a bad time for women in Salem. Most lower class women were accused of witchcraft and killed. A lot of bad things were done to these innocent women, a lot of the time they were tortured to get a confession or to prove she was a witch. Some of these torture methods were inhumane and didn’t really prove anything. They were burned, stretched,crushed, swam; many methods were used and a lot of the time the odds weren’t in the accused’s favor.
In 1692, people were accused of casting spells, which meant they were siding with the devil in Salem, New England. Many people who lived in the countryside of Salem believed that the Holy Bible were God’s direct words and should be followed precisely. Women were more likely to be accused of casting spells because they were expected to be at home, listen to their husband, and weren’t aloud to be ministers so there were more likely to preach the devil. People believe that women aren’t good enough and men are superior to women, even now in this century. There is still a pay in inequality between the average men and women.
Women were believed more likely to side with the devil then men due to their lustful nature and obedience to men. The first 3 people to be accused of witchcraft was: Sarah Good(a beggar), Tituba(a native) and Sarah
For instance, many of the accused were important members of the community with moderate wealth. If they were convicted, the law stated the accuser would receive their property so identifying them as a witch would be beneficial to them. Another considered though unrealistic theory was the result of centuries of pent up sexual repression and tension caused them to snap and go after witches who were considered to be promiscuous. Some think the girls may have had epilepsy, were abused, had mental defects, made up the whole thing as a game, or were forced to do it by their parents to get revenge on individuals they didn’t like. Some Historians believe wealth, difference in religious preferences, family feuds, and property disagreements were the basis.
It is the purpose of this essay to explore what Western Esotericism is, through its seemingly debated definitions, in specific reference to its place within the study of Religion. It will be argued that Western Esotericism should be studied within Religious Studies due to the fact that it provides a re-conception of religious study from a sociological, psychological and philosophical lens. Through the exploration of repressed and censored esoteric features marginalised throughout history, we see a promotion of personal faith and religious experience explored through a new-found abandonment of scripture and ritual. This essay will feature works by Faivre, Stuckrad, Bergunder and Hanegraff as the main forms of literature which will support
As I said, what they possibly though were witchcraft back then could be something treatable by now. Unlike in 1690’s, they didn’t have proof to back their hypothesis that it was bewitching. But now that the reason behind the said incidents were already established and proved wrong by people who studied what might have happened back then. People might still believe witchcraft does exist in present time solely because they have no idea that it might just be an illness that they had no idea about. That the reaction of people around toward something can affect greatly on how things can be
"The story of witchcraft is primarily the story of women . . . ." Karlsen argues for the relevance and importance of women’s roles in the panic of witchcraft fear in 17th Century American society. She subtly contests that specific interests were at work in the shaping of witchcraft accusations; book elaborates that a specific type of woman risked accusation based on her demographic representation in society. Karlsen further elaborates on her theme with,
Hoodoo and Witchcraft are two of the many branches of practices of magic. Both coincide in various ways, especially since both are common folk magic practices. Hoodoo and Witchcraft are practiced today still(The Truth About Witchcraft Today) to assist on love, money, luck and success. They have comparable rituals, spells, and ideas, but a common clear-cut disagreement between the two is that Hoodoo does not believe in Karma while Witchcraft profoundly believes in the idea. Folk magic or in this example, witchcraft, is “...generally of a practical nature, meant to address the common ills of the community: healing the sick, bringing love or luck, driving away evil forces, finding lost items, bringing good harvests, granting fertility, reading
Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with 2.1 Billion and 1.3 Billion followers respectively. Each had their own rise, golden age, and eventual large-scale split. However, each religion spread in different regions of the world in different ways and developed their own traditions and structures. Christianity and Islam have similarities such as a large-scale split and a history of spreading through popular trade routes, while simultaneously having many differences such as where the two religions spread, the methods in which they spread, and the structure of their religious leaderships. One of the primary differences between the spread of Islam and Christianity is the directions in which they spread.
Religion in Western civilization has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in shaping and developing Western society. Regardless of the form of religion, such as polytheism or monotheism, people in ancient societies believed in a God or Gods. This belief in a higher power was an important part of human progression and expansion. Religion was the backbone of Western civilization and has always been a very important foundation of culture, schooling, philosophy, art, and social interaction. Before Judaism and Christianity, philosophers such as Aristotle ponder the thought of a higher power and in his book Metaphysics wrote about eternal motion was an unmoved mover.
Women’s life was divided between family, marriage and religion. The women’s main concern and responsibility was the procreation. In those times, family was very big so the typical role of the woman was that to be a good wife and a good mother. Some of them tried emancipation but they were blamed by society for this. These were the witches,
