They could be led to one…or they could have heard rumours…or they could have spoken to a condemned witch…or they could know someone who knows someone who knows someone…
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Is Salems trial one of them?
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Yes but considering the majority living in rural areas, it would be difficult except if there where myths of witches living the woods, you know the classic ones. And maybe you really could find one.
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You know, there’s a lot of fiction around those events, so I’m not sure how much is fact or fiction with that.
I was think more civil war era tbh lol and not even magically related, just as an example.
I think it’s possible and I guess story wise you do hear about the in the woods rural witch, but I think you probably are missing that sometimes what is right in front of you, is not at all what it seems to be.
When I want to hide something from my kids, I hide it in plain sight.
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But the letter given to her family. Was that a fiction?
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I don’t honestly know. It’s been a long time since I did any reading on the subject and my views of many things have changed since, so I’d need to recover the material and think critically about a lot of it.
I cannot read the handwriting properly. See if you can. pls tell me.
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Don’t get offended if you are wiccan, but I never really liked it. To me, even tho I know it’s not all about nature and stuff, still it looks silly, like I understand you can work with other gods, but most wiccans just look silly going to meetings and dancing around a fire and talking about nature and whatever.
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I was trying but when I zoom in it gets harder to read.
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To John Cotton DI/AAS August 5, 1692
August 5, 1692
Reverend Sir,
Our good God is working of miracles. Five witches were lately executed, impudently demanding of God a miraculous vindication of their innocency. Immediately upon this, our God miraculously sent in five Andover witches, who made a most ample, surprising, amazing confession of all their villainies, and declared the five newly executed to have been of their company, discovering many more, but all agreeing in Burroughs being their ringleader, who, I suppose, this day receives his trial at Salem, whither a vast concourse of people is gone, my father this morning among the rest. Since those, there have come in other confessors; yea, they come in daily. About this prodigious matter my soul has been refreshed with some little short of miraculous answers of prayer, which are not to be written; but they comfort me with a prospect of a hopeful issue.
The whole town yesterday turned the lecture into a fast, kept in our meeting-house; God give a good return. But in the morning we were entertained with the horrible tidings of the late earthquake at Jamaica, on the 7th of June last. When, on a fair day, the sea suddenly swelled, and the earth shook and broke in many places; and in a minute�s time, the rich town of Port-Royal, the Tyrus of the whole English America, but a very Sodom for wickedness, was immediately swallowed up, and the sea came rolling over the town. No less than seventeen-hundred souls of that one town are missing, besides other incredible devastations all over the island, where houses are demolished, mountains overturned, rocks rent, and all manner of destruction inflicted. The Non-conformist minister there escaped wonderfully with his life. Some of our poor New England people are lost in the ruins, and others have their bones broke. Forty vessels were sunk�namely all whose cables did not break; but no New England ones. Behold, an accident speaking to all our English America. I live in pains, and want your prayers.
Bestow them, dear Sir, on Your,
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Found the text
See, I don’t know because so many of those things like these I’ve seen where later it was stated those were used to scare potential witches, but I know real burning at the stake happened, so.
I don’t know the 100% correct answer on this one.
How much of it was an agenda on the religious side? I mean I’m not a historian by any means.
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They were burnt alive. Thats 100% true.
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So, lots of interesting stuff here.
I can point out this book, which I have just read, that might offer you some insight into how witches were initiated and how they practiced. I have no way of knowing how valid it is (btw, it’s practical as well as theoretical), as I intend to study it further down the road, but it clarified some doubts I had myself.
The book is “The Clovenstone Workings: a Manual of Early Modern Witchcraft.”
Essentially, the point the author makes is that witchcraft was a primarily visionary experience. Through visionary encounters, primarily dreams, as the author claims, you’d encounter magical and powerful beings which would initiate you, and bestow their power to you. This power would then be infused and channeled into whatever spell, incantation, charm, or ritual you did. In very, very broad strokes, this is what this book says, but I do recommend you read it.
This is spot-on. I don’t know where you live, but people in Medieval times lived mostly in rural areas. And that’s basically how things work in these areas: the cousin of your wife’s friend was sick a few years ago, went to a “healer”, etc., etc., and then you get your witch’s contact info.
Something else that’s worth pointing out is that witches were likely much better integrated into society (especially rural society) than it might seem. Knowledge about folk magic, even though it probably wasn’t called ‘magic’, was widespread. Herbalists were common. Even St. Hildegard von Bingen wrote a book on the use of plants to cure, that we could call folk magic today. Then, I suppose that, many times, you could be using the services of a witch without realizing it lol
Now, as to how people found witches to initiate them, I guess that’s a little more complicated. Being born into a family of witches certainly helped, but there probably were other ways. I mean, a few years back, when homosexuality was forbidden, gay men and women had ways to identify each other, right? Maybe there was an equivalent of it that worked with witches or Occult practitioners in general.
But these are my 2 cents, I hope you find the book useful 
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Quite interesting. I will give it a read, thank you!
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There are tons of grimoires from the Medieval and Renaissance. Read them if you want to find out how they practiced. For a very long time almost all of Western magick was based off of them. But you’ll find most of the magick is extremely impractical and ineffective. Most of it was very experimental and many times theoretical. And for the medieval and renaissance ones most often they are completely full of Christian dogma.
To add to what @DarkestKnight said, that is very untrue. Meditation is part of Astrological Geomantic tradition in the west. It’s not at all just an eastern thing in tradition.
Yes, they read a book lol. Other times they learnt it from another.
Well this is a fun conversation. I guess I just have a few points to add.
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You don’t need to work with Chakras to experience Kundalini Awakening, it happened to me and all I was doing was basic elemental calls and energy work. So it is very possible that ancient witches were having powerful spiritual experiences without the need for Eastern influences.
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Based on historical fact, most ancient witches would not be able to read or write. They were village women, they knew herb lore and stories passed down to them. They practiced seasonal rituals that were taught to them.
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Most of the stories of “flying” are believed to be drug induced. Most likely the drug was inserted via the vaginal canal on the tip of a broom stick. This was also used for masturbation and sexual rituals.
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Many historians argue that the “satanic witch” never existed and even the Church denied that witches existed until the Malleus Maleficarum was published. Most likely as propaganda. After all, traditional witches wouldn’t care about the Christian devil.
Truly their practices would have been very simple. No complicated grimours that required massive wealth to operate with. No need to read in three different languages or use complicated star charts. They knew the essence of magic and cared more about protecting their crops, safety and keeping women alive during child birth.
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It’s just a different tradition to explain the same underlying magick focused in a different direction for a different purpose. Though, I agree that the charkra system is eventually hobbling and works to control people rather than liberate them, and that’s why advanced practitioners went through a trend of removing them last year. I do qigong and find it valuable, I would never develop chakras on purpose, I dislike fake things and I find them fake.
Energy follows mind, your intent and how you direct your energy is what matters. Meditation is a way to connect your energy and your two minds to work in sync instead of against each other. There are many other ways.
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