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Show . I Pf - J 4 t ' ' .'. ' M V ..... . t - i' ., trjt , N i . ,r,' t i' i'l (' ' - (, ' t 4 s't'i iVi'iV r ' I 4 I 4 i 4 4 4 4 4 t 4 4 i 9444444440 04 4 4 1 444444, , 4444 i ' 444444444444 ',?. 4-- 4 4 1 4 t 44 4 Bewitched By SUSIE DAVIS Halloween is and perhaps in the crisp coolness of the October night, Beware, goblins and witches may take you away! This time of year, we weave mysterious tales, plan bewitching parties, and dress up in costumes, sometimes representing the mysterious and occult. Halloween evolved from pagan beginnings and takes us back to a time of supernatural beliefs. As we see Halloween witches, our minds turn to Salem, the sight of the most notorious witch hunt in history. It is actually a lovely seaside city in Massachusetts, one of the most renown maritime capitals in Americas history. It was a place where exotic cargo, spices, tea, opium, brocades and the like were brought back by sailing ships, daring enough to go to the Orient. Salem was thought by many countries to be a country of its own because of the number of ships which flew its flag and successfully sailed to faraway countries. But Salem has gone down in history as the infamous hotbed of witchcraft. Just how did this happen? There are many reasons. For instance. New England as the name suggest, was settled by immigrants from the British Isles bringing with them to Plymouth and the subsequent colonies, the customs and superstitions of their origins. A knowledge of herbs and plants, part of the Celtic legacy, was brought to America and passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Great Stambridge, Essex is still known as The Witch Country where there were many marvelous remedies for sickness, as well as old legends of female witch doctors. They were said to transform themselves into animals and fly on sticks around the Essex Marsh. Legends and wonder drugs crossed the Atlantic in the early 1600s to be retold and replanted in Essex County, Massachusetts and Salem. These old legends and herbs and tales of mystical powers lead to belief in magic. And country doctors of the 17th century were sometimes quick to blame illnesses on witchcraft if they were unable to explain an illness. It was known that witches often knew more than doctors. The name witch actually comes from a Medieval word wicca meaning one who cures from magic. Witches were believable when mass hysteria broke out in 1692. Salem was the site of great injustice, and hysteria during this witchcraft scare. This is how it happened. One of the servants of a local minister, Reverend Samuel Parris, was a West Indian slave Tituba who brought voodoo with her. She told her tales to bored young Puritan girls. Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris became very agitated by these stories. As they threw Bibles and firebrands around their homes, sputtered and convulsed on the floor and spoke gibberish, the more the general public was convinced they were In Dr. bewitched. fact, Griggs, unable to make a diagnosis determined they were in fact suffering from bewitchment. The girls blamed their behavior on others in the community calling them witches and saying they had been made to sign the Devils book. In the end twenty-thre- e innocent people died. Fourteen women and five men were hanged at the gallows. Three died in prison and Corey Giles was pressed to death by heavy rocks placed on his naked body. Of the 168 accused, 55 confessed to being witches or wizards and not one of them was hanged! When the wife of Governor Phips was accused, he decided that was enough. All the prisoners were released from the dungeons. Fourteen years later Ann Putnam confessed her fraud, but blamed the Devil. Tituba who started everything spent 14 months in jail and was sold. What caused the hysteria? Voodoo tales combined with the folklore and witchcraft brought from the Druids of England? Boredom? Ignorance? Some have said that the clergy jumped on an opportunity to rekindle puritan religious fervor having lost ecclesiastical control. Another bizarre theory is that the rye harvest that year had been moist, thereby moldy causing ergot fungus poisoning. The fungus discovered in 1807 by Dr. John Steams can cause symptoms of hallucinations, violent fits, choking, pinching, itching, a crawling feeling and muscle contractions. These were the ancestors of Nathaniel Hawthorne, famous American novelist. Hawthorne wrote about these New their EnglandersThe and House of the superstitions. Seven Gables is the story of a street as a home to storied witches. curse put on the House of by Matthew Maule Pyncheon when he was accused of witchcraft by Pyncheon in 1692. History tells us because of this Maule cursed Pyncheon by telling him God will give you blood to drink. The wealthy merchant accused Maule of witchcraft because Maule owned a freshwater spring he had refused to sell to Pyncheon. Maule was hanged for witchcraft. It was on this land where Pyncheon built the house of seven gables. A few years later Pyncheon died of a hemorrhage drowned in his own blood. The House of Seven Gables is this very house on Turner Street which is visited by 100,000 tourists each year to see the setting of Hawthornes book and ships cleared their cargos and Nathaniel Hawthorne was employed. the upstairs room where Pyncheon fell victim to Maule s curse. It is interesting to note that Nathaniel Hawthorne changed the spelling of his name from that of his great, great grandfather who was hanging Judge Hathome. If you were to go to the House of Seven Gables on Halloween, you would be guided in candlelight by costumed characters from Hawthornes book. They would portray these characters whose ancestors suffered from witch hysteria. Elsewhere in town, Salem capitalizes on this eerie and unfortunate incident in its past to provide present day Halloween celebration. Not only is there Spirits of Seven Gables but there is Eerie Events at the Essex Institute with costumed story tellers. There is Happenings, Haunted a city wide festival, Spooky Treasure Hunt, and Mysterious Legends of Essex County. t CANDLELIT TOURS: The House of Seven Gables where Pyncheon fell victim to Maules curse is the site of Halloween candlelit tours. I 4 |