Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Many of the witches were also midwives or “wise women”, and traditionally the practices of midwifery and obstetrics were exclusive to women until the 16th and 17th century. In the 16th century there was a new precondition to being a midwife — the woman had to demonstrate beforehand that she was a “good Catholic”. [ 21 ]
The Witches of Bo'ness were a group of women accused of witchcraft in Bo'ness, Scotland in the late 17th century and ultimately executed for this crime. Among the more famous cases noted by historians, in 1679, Margaret Pringle, Bessie Vickar, Annaple Thomsone, and two women both called Margaret Hamilton were all accused of being witches, alongside "warlock" William Craw.
A feminist interpretation of the witch trials is that misogyny led to the association of women and malevolent witchcraft. [1] Russia also had witchcraft trials during the 17th century. Witches were often accused of sorcery and engaging in supernatural activities, leading to their excommunication and execution.
There were thought to be many types of witchcraft that one could practice, such as alchemy; the purification, perfection, maturation and changing of various substances, [4] and astrology; the reading of the heavens to predict one’s future, however in the early modern period the most concern was over that which involved dealing with the devil ...
Unlike today, the spiritual practices Blake is referring to were once the basis of persecution, resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent men and women in witch trials that spanned centuries.
The history of magic extends from the earliest literate cultures, who relied on charms, divination and spells to interpret and influence the forces of nature. Even societies without written language left crafted artifacts, cave art and monuments that have been interpreted as having magical purpose.
Video produced by Stacy Jackman for Yahoo Life. The world’s fascination with witchcraft is a tale as old as time. From legends and folklore to newer incarnations in film and television like ...
About eighty people throughout England's Massachusetts Bay Colony were accused of practicing witchcraft; thirteen women and two men were executed in a witch-hunt that occurred throughout New England and lasted from 1645 to 1663. [67] The Salem witch trials followed in 1692–1693. Once a case was brought to trial, the prosecutors hunted for ...