Witchvox Article

Author: Dreamwand
Posted: July 22nd. 2012
Times Viewed: 1,598

I have written one book: "The Afflicted Girls: A Novel of Salem, " published at the end of 2009, but a process begun in 1993 when I first picked the 1692 Salem Witch Hunt as the subject for a screenplay. My research in those hard-to-imagine pre-internet days consisted of reading every book on Salem available in the Los Angeles Public Library, although some were too old and decrepit to be forwarded to my branch. I also searched through two university reference libraries. Of course, there were a handful of books I was able to take home for study.

Sometime while taking notes, I got bitten by the ghostly bug still haunting Salem that hunts for blood and an audience. And sometimes I had to implore the books I was skimming to help me weed out dramatic irrelevancies. In the end I had collected more than a thousand disparate but novel facts, most of which were later incorporated into my novel� 126 single-spaced typewritten pages, indexed by character, subject, and strangeness, each item prompting its own unique scrutinization and speculation, because of my having learned at film school that motivation is key to a well constructed dramatic story.

I asked: Why would an indentured nineteen-year-old girl in Salem Village accuse a minister of witchcraft, a man she hasn�t seen for years but once dwelt with in childhood after being orphaned on the Maine frontier? And what was the relationship between that minister and her Salem master? And why would the wife of her master simultaneously accuse an elderly neighbor of murdering her newborns? And not just one infant, but several? Hmmm. Only when I applied modern lenses did it all begin to make sense. And yet one puzzle remained elusive... until I coincidentally read an article in my local newspaper that hinted at the logical answer.

A bit more research, and the mystery of �the afflictions� that sparked a 300-year-old Witch-hunt was solved. As my understanding of Salem evolved, and that mysterious gestalt came into focus, I began building gossamer bridges. Using my modest intellect and a well-developed intuition (from meditation) , I let my left-brain analytical mind align with my right side inner-listening, sensing, and seeing; a mindful collaboration, known to most Pagans, as well as to historical novelists, detectives and scientists, who also pursue Aha! moments.

Angling (and real-ing) each of my characters through every applicable lens: psychology and depression�post-partum, post-traumatic�infanticide, rape, middle-aged impotence, child-spousal-elder abuse, alcoholism, class warfare, teenage angst, drug-taking, eco-warfare, sexual experimentation, superstition, seven deadly sins, and spiritual belief�I sought possibilities and probabilities beyond historical records. Wherever a characteristic shoe fit, I let a character wear it.

Historical scholarship has begun to address these omissions. But back when I was writing my screenplay, it was absent. Only after publishing my novel did I learn how there were thousands of 17th century New Englanders charged with lewd speech, fornication, adultery, bigamy, rape, child molestation, incest, sodomy, bestiality, and infanticide. A 1693 sermon by Cotton Mather: �A Holy Rebuke to the Unclean Spirit, � marks the execution of two women �for murdering of their bastard children.�

Because contrary to popular belief, Puritans appear not to have repressed their sexual instincts at all. There were wild, mixed-sex parties at Harvard Divinity School in the late 17th century, as well as roving bands of local youth sneaking out after midnight seeking drunken revels. A result, perhaps, of their fathers and ministers couching sermons and stern warnings in erotic terms?

�If they offer to ravish our hearts, we must cry out as the seized virgin, and call in help from heaven, to rescue us from the rape they offer us, � one preached. While Cotton Mather pledged: �to lead a life of heavenly ejacuations, � and his minister father Increase Mather taught: �Those not yet changed by regenerating grace of the spirit of God usually live in some unclean lust or another. Either fornication, or self-pollution (masturbation) , or other wanton pranks of darkness.�

In Sunday sermons, Puritan ministers repeatedly warned their male parishioners against using their �members as weapons of unrighteousness.� For, as Rev. John Rogers pointed out: �Every child of Adam is a lump of uncleanness.� And these same men, hyperventilating about sex, were the ones who manipulated and dominated the judicial system; punishing perpetrators and victims equally, believing that a female who was forced to have sex, �who had no delight in the act, � could not possibly conceive... because she had to have an orgasm for conception to occur. Should she get pregnant, there soon came a trial, conviction, a painful corporeal punishment, and branding as a harlot.

It�s why most teenage girls, when indentured to other households by their parents, felt powerless to resist abuse, and remained utterly vulnerable to the advances of older masters, masters� sons, and neighbors. The historical records of Essex County, where my story is set, state that between the years 1645 and 1685 over 100 women and girls were convicted of bearing illegitimate children. How about the rest? I would guess far too many miscarriages, abortions, and births resulting from rape have passed through time unreported. Of these, I suspect, some were suffered in the shadows of the witch-hunt.

Historical characters all once lived flesh and blood lives in societies as messy and complex as ours. Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, Bridget Bishop, the Putnams and Porters, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Reverend Parris, Tituba and John Indian, Cotton Mather were each very much alive in 1692. Yet, for the last 300 years�as factoids�they�ve been mere wisps standing in guard of the most vague of personal histories. Perhaps, by becoming characters in a historical novel, they�ll be able to bear witness to an intuitive rearrangement of fact, and their collective ghosts�with nothing shameful enough to hide from a modern world, or an interested fiction reader�can reach out from that infamous story�s otherside to offer us plausible new conclusions.

Copyright: copyright Suzy Witten 2011

ABOUT...

Dreamwand

Location: Los Angeles, California

Website: http://www.theafflictedgirls.com

Other Listings: To view ALL of my listings: Click HERE

Email Dreamwand... (No, I have NOT opted to receive Pagan Invites! Please do NOT send me anonymous invites to groups, sales and events.)

Home - TWV Logos - Email US - Privacy

News and Information

Chapters: Pagan/Heathen Basics - Pagan BOOKS - Traditions, Paths & Religions - Popular Pagan Holidays - TV & Movies - Cats of the Craft - Festival Reviews - Festival Tips - White Pages (Resources) - Issues/Concerns - West Memphis 3 - Witch Hunts - Pagan Protection Tips - Healing Planet Earth

Your Voices: Adult Essays - Young Pagan Essays - Pagan Perspectives (On Hold) - WitchWars: Fire in the Craft - Gay Pagan - Pagan Parenting - Military - Pagan Passages

Pagan Music: Pagan Musicians - Bardic Circle at WitchVox - Free Music from TWV

Vox Central: About TWV - Wren: Words, Wrants and Wramblings - Guest Rants - Past Surveys - A Quest for Unity

Weekly Updates: Click HERE for an index of our weekly updates for the past 6 years

W.O.T.W. - World-Wide Networking

Your Town: A Link to YOUR Area Page (The largest listing of Witches, Pagans, Heathens and Wiccans on the Planet)

VoxLinks: The Pagan Web: 8,000 Listings

Your Witchvox Account: Log in Now - Create New Account - Request New Password - Log in Problems

Personal Listings: Pagan Clergy in Your Town - Adult Pagans - Young Pagans - Military Pagans

Events: Circles, Gatherings, Workshops & Festivals

Covens/Groups/Orgs: Local Groups Main Page

Other LOCAL Resources: Local Shops - Regional Sites - Local Notices - Global/National Notices - Local Skills & Services - Local Egroups - Political Freedom Fighters

Pagan Shopping: Online Shops Index - Original Crafters Sites - Auction Sites - Pagan Wholesalers - Pagan Local Shops

Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2013 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.

Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.

Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.

Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you
can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.

Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.

Witches, Pagans
of The World

Current Topic
Editorial Guide

NOTE: The essay on this page contains the writings and opinions of the listed author(s) and is not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Witches' Voice inc.

The Witches' Voice does not verify or attest to the historical accuracy contained in the content of this essay.

All WitchVox essays contain a valid email address, feel free to send your comments, thoughts or concerns directly to the listed author(s).