Humanity is a curious species by its nature. Throughout time immemorial, humans of all time periods and cultures have sought to know more about the world around them. During time periods in which scientific knowledge and technology was too primitive and unrefined to discover more about the world, societies often turned to superstitions and legends. Many ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Rome, and Greece developed complex pantheons to quench the desire to comprehend life. Even thousands of years later, people in Elizabethan England developed bizarre and morbid superstitions of their own, often influenced by religious beliefs and fears. Superstitions, as well as tales of ghosts and witchcraft, played a critical role in the development of Elizabethan
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Despite this, ignorance and misinformation was rampant amongst the largely illiterate general populace, as well as the rich and elite. This ignorance led to the development of one of the most intriguing supernatural concepts in history: the Elizabethan witch. Contrary to popular belief, belief in witches was not restricted to the poor and uneducated. In fact, many people of royalty and clergymen believed in witchcraft (Fox 58). However, suspected witches were usually old, poor, female, widowed, and reclusive (Elizabethan Witchcraft). Whenever something bad happened, such as the Plague, fires, bad harvests, or mysterious deaths, people that fit these descriptions were immediately blamed (Elizabethan Witchcraft). They were often put on arrested and put on trial. Most were found guilty (based on incredibly outré and partial tests) and sentenced to death by hanging (Elizabethan …show more content…
That is not entirely the case with superstitions. Superstitions are defined as widely believed but unsubstantiated supernatural phenomena. Elizabethan superstitions often related to previous eras and times in history (Elizabethan Superstitions). Some of them are no longer visible parts of our society, such as the Elizabethan belief that if an unwed woman pinned bay leaves to her pillow, she would dream of her future spouse (Elizabethan Superstitions). Others, such as saying, “God Bless You” following a sneeze or cough to prevent demonic possession, avoiding walking under ladders, spilling salt, black cats, and knocking on wood to avoid bad luck (originally a Celtic practice) still resonate in the 21st century (Elizabethan
Despite this, ignorance and misinformation was rampant amongst the largely illiterate general populace, as well as the rich and elite. This ignorance led to the development of one of the most intriguing supernatural concepts in history: the Elizabethan witch. Contrary to popular belief, belief in witches was not restricted to the poor and uneducated. In fact, many people of royalty and clergymen believed in witchcraft (Fox 58). However, suspected witches were usually old, poor, female, widowed, and reclusive (Elizabethan Witchcraft). Whenever something bad happened, such as the Plague, fires, bad harvests, or mysterious deaths, people that fit these descriptions were immediately blamed (Elizabethan Witchcraft). They were often put on arrested and put on trial. Most were found guilty (based on incredibly outré and partial tests) and sentenced to death by hanging (Elizabethan …show more content…
That is not entirely the case with superstitions. Superstitions are defined as widely believed but unsubstantiated supernatural phenomena. Elizabethan superstitions often related to previous eras and times in history (Elizabethan Superstitions). Some of them are no longer visible parts of our society, such as the Elizabethan belief that if an unwed woman pinned bay leaves to her pillow, she would dream of her future spouse (Elizabethan Superstitions). Others, such as saying, “God Bless You” following a sneeze or cough to prevent demonic possession, avoiding walking under ladders, spilling salt, black cats, and knocking on wood to avoid bad luck (originally a Celtic practice) still resonate in the 21st century (Elizabethan