Word: witchcraft
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Boston, State Representative Daniel Rudsten asked the Massachusetts legislature to reverse the conviction of 20 men & women convicted of witchcraft and executed in Salem...
...Massachusetts magistrates sent to Salem Village for preliminary examinations faced a difficult problem: what constituted evidence of witchcraft? The Bible mentioned it in the same breath with sodomy and idolatry, but neglected to define it. After due deliberation the magistrates declared that a devil's "teat" or "devil's mark" on the body of the accused was proof of guilt, that mischief following anger between neighbors was ground for suspicion, and, most important of all, that "the devil could not assume the shape of an innocent person." This last meant that hallucinations would be accepted not as evidence...
Suckle a Bird. Stimulated by a thrashing from her master, Tituba quickly confessed to witchcraft and spun a richly embroidered tale that held Salem spellbound. Red cats and red rats had come to her one by one and said, "Serve me." Though as an earthly creature she could not read, she had in her spectral phase seen nine Salem names in the devil's book...
...Witchcraft et Cetera. Except for Professor George Woodberry, who nearly 50 years ago wrote the life of Hawthorne for the original "American Men of Letters" series, Hawthorne's biographers did not do much research on the facts of his life. Instead, they have speculated and commented, with varying degrees of critical acumen and psychological acuteness, on his published works. One result is that in the past 50 years a series of well-nigh indistinguishable opuses have been written about him. Their general story is that Hawthorne was descended from one of the witchcraft judges of Salem; that his father...
Many converted to Hinduism found themselves classified as untouchables. Robbed by unscrupulous moneylenders, some tribes now believe that the sun and moon go into eclipse to escape their creditors. The practices of headhunting, human sacrifice and witchcraft have almost disappeared, but adibasis are not sure civilization is all gain. Said one, pointing to an eleven year-old bride, "We didn't have child marriages before...