Essays on Witchcraft

Witchcraft’s Existence: The Spiritual, Physical, and Psychological Realms When people feel a lack of understanding of some part of their lives, it is common that they turn to a certain practice that may allow for better control of their existence. To those who believe in…

During the early modern period in England, sorcery and witchcraft were crimes punishable by banishment and later on, death. Although men could also be accused of witchcraft, women, especially older women, were unfairly targeted by townspeople and witch hunters. They were seen as followers of…

Throughout history, suspicions of witchcraft have torn communities apart as they cast doubt into the minds of friends and neighbors among the community in question. In 1692-1693, Salem, Massachusetts was struck by the signs that witches were walking among the good Christian people of the…

Adam Ashforth’s ethnography, Madumo, A man Bewitched, follows the struggle of Madumo, a close friend of Ashforth’s, through his quest to rid himself of the witchcraft he believes has cursed him ever since the death of his mother. Throughout the ethnography, Ashforth discusses with Madumo,…

Social, religious and other factors can be suggested to have caused the mass hysteria that occurred at the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692. Many people within the Salem village and town were accused of witchcraft, with a supposed 20 facing execution in a series of…