Author: A Solitary Pagan
Burroughs George (d. 1692)
Burroughs, George (d. 1692) Minister accused of witchcraft and executed in the Salem Witches hysteria in Massachusetts in 1692 to 1693. George Burroughs served as minister of Salem Village from 1680 to 1682. He was a man of good reputation, having graduated from Harvard in 1670. He had distinguished himself as a preacher in Maine, especially in the face of hostilities from Indians. Invited to Sale...
Gowdie, Isobel:1662
Scottish witch whose stories of wild sexual escapades with the Devil titillated and shocked her stern neighbors and reinforced the prevailing beliefs in witches as evil creatures bent on destroying their fellow man. Isobel Gowdie, an attractive woman with red hair, a color associated with witches, voluntarily confessed to witchcraft on four occasions in April and May 1662. The confessions in thems...
Cole, Ann (17th century)
Accused witch in Hartford,Connecticut, who was believed to be under demonic possession. The case was recorded in a letter written by Reverend John Whiting, which in turn was published by Increase Mather in An Essay for the Recording of IllustriousProvidences (1684). Ann Cole was described by Mather as a woman of great integrity and piety. In 1662, she was living in the house of her father—“a godly...
Greensmith, Rebecca (17th century)
Hartford, Connecticut, woman accused of witchcraft, who confessed and was executed. Rebecca Greensmith and her third husband, Nathaniel, lived next door to Ann Cole. The couple was reasonably affluent, but Rebecca was considered a “lewd and ignorant” woman. In 1662, when Cole was brought up on charges of witchcraft, Greensmith was already languishing in prison on charges of witchcraft, which she d...
Good, Dorcas (17th century)
The youngest victim of the Salem Witches hysteria of 1692–93. Dorcas Good was the daughter of Sarah Good, one of the first persons to be accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Only four years old, Dorcas was also accused of being a witch. In a childlike fashion, she readily confessed to witchcraft, which she said she learned from her mother. Dorcas was arrested about a month after...
Burning Times
A term used by Witches and Pagans to refer to the period in Western history of intense witch-hunting and executions, generally the mid-15th to mid18th centuries. Burning, one of the most extreme forms of execution, was urged by St. Augustine (354–430), who said that pagans, Jews, and heretics would burn forever in the eternal fire with the Devil unless saved by the Catholic Church. During the Inqu...
Bodin, Jean (1529–1596)
Bodin, Jean (1529–1596) French demonologist and political theorist who encouraged the vicious persecution of witches and helped fan the fires of the Inquisition throughout Europe. Jean Bodin said that people who denied the existence of witchcraft were witches themselves and said that, with rare exceptions, no accused witch should go unpunished. Bodin was born in Angers, France. For a time, he serv...
Bishop, Bridget (d. 1692)
Bridget (d. 1692) The first victim of the Salem Witches hysteria in Massachusetts in 1692–93. Bridget Bishop was the first to be accused and examined, and the first to be tried and executed. Bishop was an easy target when the hysteria began. She was not well regarded by her neighbors, for she owned a tavern and exhibited “loose” behavior. She dressed provocatively, and some of her younger tavern p...
Women who Burned
“It was not witches who burned. It was women. Women who were seen as Too beautiful Too outspoken Had too much water in the well Who had a birthmark Women who were too skilled with herbal medicine Too loud Too quiet Too much red in her hair Women who had a strong nature connection Women who danced Women who sung or anything else, really. Sisters testified and turned on each other when their babies ...
Burning at the Stake as a Punishment for Witches
Contrary to popular belief, witches were not burned at the stake in England, after the Reformation. Instead, death sentences were carried out by hanging. In Scotland, however, the sentence of burning was still inflicted. However if the witches had confessed what they were ordered to confess, they were accorded the mercy of being strangled before being burnt. If they refused to confess, they were b...
The Persecution Of Witches
In medieval times, there were possibly many issues, political, religious, and otherwise, that brought about the persecution of witches. Amongst other things, These issues included the religious emphasis on the sin of Eve and the belief in the inferiority of women. The belief in the inferiority of women had existed since the time of St Paul. With the rise of an organized male medical profession, wo...
Witchcraft Theory & Practice – Solstice and Equinox
The Wheel of Solstice and Equinox is as follows: Winter Solstice (known as Yule); to Spring Equinox (known as Ostara); to Summer Solstice (known as Litha); thence to Autumn Equinox (known as Mabon). This is the Solar/Earth Wheel. We ritually acknowledge the solstice and equinoctial processions to align ourselves with these cycles, both personally and environmentally. The mythological symbolism is ...