Ceremonial magic

Dance -- a series of movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music -- is a physical medium to express feelings that can’t be put in words: you discover your artistic gift, ignite your creative passion, and create new possibilities. Despite the fact that the fine arts has a known track record for frequent rejection of young talent and pressure to give up their career in the arts, there are numerous reasons as to why dancers decide to continue to follow this path. The majority of…

In Bellah’s article “American Civil Religion,” Bellah describes the way that the United States government not only interacts with religion, but actually has religion ingrained in it. From the America’s founding documents, to holidays, to the Pledge of Allegiance, to the phrase “In God We Trust,” religion everywhere in our government even when it isn't supposed to be anywhere within our government. However, Bellah makes the argument that even though there is religion in our government it serves…

connotation. In fact, it was divided into two – white magic and black magic. White magic was used by healers, wise men and women, as well as others who fit this category. Black magic, on the other hand, were practiced by those who sought to harm others, thus used their abilities for evil. It was this kind of magic that got a person labelled as a witch rather than the titles used for the practitioners of white magic. A witch was someone who used magic to cause harm unto others, including animals.…

Do you believe in Satan, the devil, or even witches? In the years 1692-1693, in a town called Salem, two-hundred people were accused of being witches, and twenty of those people were executed. Many other places such as England were very religious at the time. The Witch Trials were caused by the fear of the devil and anyone associated with him. Not only were women incriminated as witches, men were accused too. Modern day witch hunts continue to be a superlative example of man’s inhumanity to man,…

How do poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon present their ideas of war in their poems, Exposure and Does It Matter? Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are two famous war time poets, who conveyed their first-hand experiences of war through the form of poems to enlighten people towards the reality of war, as shown in “Exposure” and “Does It Matter?”. Exposure is an emotionally powerful poem that expresses the reality of the brutal weather conditions that were endured by the soldiers in the…

People are born to instinctively judge others, but there is always more to the story. The book The Heretic's Daughter is written by Kathleen Kent. Kathleen was inspired to write The Heretic's Daughter from the stories that her family told her of the Salem Witch Trials. Kathleen's family is a direct descendant of a family who lived during the Salem Witch Trials. Kent is a tenth generation descendant of Martha Carrier who was one of the first women to be accused, tried, and hanged as a witch in…

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. It gives insight about what people had to deal with in this situation and how they handled it. The trials were basically a big test which helped figuring out whether or not people were guilty of witchcraft. This is an example of what a crucible is. In our world today we still have crucibles and even though they are different than back then, they all relate to each other because of what influence they have…

To what extent does hypocrisy affect society? Hypocrisy is normally seen as a personal issue and it’s societal impacts are often overlooked. During the Salem witch trials, hypocrisy played a huge role in the hangings of 19 people. It created mass hysteria, which deeply affected how Salem’s societal values were interpreted. Hypocrisy is ultimately responsible for the events in Salem and The Crucible, as characters try to cover up their own flaws with lies, leading to innocent people being hanged…

The Underlying Satirical Message of The Canterbury Tales Written between 1387 and 1400, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales have attracted the attention of historians and English scholars from all over. This satirical piece poses many questions and gives an interesting insight in the lives of 30 characters, many of which being employed by the church. Chaucer gives an ironic twist to many, if not all the characters of The Canterbury Tales. The narrator addresses each character by their occupation,…

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is revered for accurately telling the story about the events which unfolded in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692. Demirkaya says that The Crucible “… opened at a time when the term witch-hunt was nearly synonymous in the public mind…” (125). The play was published in 1953 during the Red Scare, and as Susan C.W. Abbotson says in her book, Student Companion to Arthur Miller, “It tells the story behind the Salem witch trials of 1692, centering our attention on the effect…