The year was 1692. The Puritan colonies faced a variety of threats in the New World, especially from the Native Americans (“Salem Witch Trials”, 2015). Puritan way of life was taking a more liberal turn (“Salem Witch Trials”, 2015). Considering the Puritan culture’s emphasis on religion, logically, they would look to a religious mechanism to deal with this problem. Ideas of superstition, ever present in Puritan culture and recorded in books such as A Discourse on the Damned Art of Witchcraft, provided ammunition necessary to cope with the changes in such an appalling manner as the Salem Witch Hunt (Hill, 2000; “Salem Witch Trials, 2015”). The Witch Hunt of 1692-93 ultimately brought about the deaths of 25 people: 19 were hanged, 1 was pressed,
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Included among these writings is Deodat Lawson’s “A Brief and True Narrative of Witchcraft at Salem Village”. This particular article chronicles the trial of Goodwife Corey and Nurse Corey. The calamities attributed to these two individuals resemble the pains caused by the other alleged witches, including biting, pinching, and seizure like “fits” (Lawson (1692) as cited in Hill, 2000, p. 62). These two also tormented their victims through hallucinations during their “fits”. Interestingly, during their trials, there was an association between the movements of these two and the symptoms felt by their victims attending the trial. For example, when Martha Corey would bite her lip, the victims would feel bites and show bite marks on their skin. While this account may seem extravagant, to say the least, it provides an important glance at the superstitious atmosphere of Massachusetts during this time. The majority of people had no issue with attributing the aforementioned afflictions to witchcraft. Deodat Lawson was so sure of the information in his account that at the end of it he wrote “This is the sum of what I either saw myself, or did receive information from persons of undoubted reputation and credit” (as cited in Hill,
Included among these writings is Deodat Lawson’s “A Brief and True Narrative of Witchcraft at Salem Village”. This particular article chronicles the trial of Goodwife Corey and Nurse Corey. The calamities attributed to these two individuals resemble the pains caused by the other alleged witches, including biting, pinching, and seizure like “fits” (Lawson (1692) as cited in Hill, 2000, p. 62). These two also tormented their victims through hallucinations during their “fits”. Interestingly, during their trials, there was an association between the movements of these two and the symptoms felt by their victims attending the trial. For example, when Martha Corey would bite her lip, the victims would feel bites and show bite marks on their skin. While this account may seem extravagant, to say the least, it provides an important glance at the superstitious atmosphere of Massachusetts during this time. The majority of people had no issue with attributing the aforementioned afflictions to witchcraft. Deodat Lawson was so sure of the information in his account that at the end of it he wrote “This is the sum of what I either saw myself, or did receive information from persons of undoubted reputation and credit” (as cited in Hill,