Essays on Witchcraft

During 1692 twenty people were executed in Salem Village on a charge of witchcraft. These trials became a history. Modern sources give different opinion about causes that led to people’s hysteria and unforgivable actions. However, most of them agree in one main event. Both Linder’s and Blumberg’s works say Salem Witchcraft Trials were provoked by strange disease and behavior of Betty Parris and her playmates of different age. Modern experts suggest girls’ condition was caused by ergot or combination of “stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis” (Linder). But in the 17th century ...

The Salem Witch Trials were a strange and defining time in American history, as well as religious history. Formal education as we see it today was scarce. The primary means of education was given through bible school, church, and bible scripture itself. Therefore, anything seen as devil worship, or anything seen as impure was deemed as in league with the devil. That person was automatically considered a candidate for hell, by circumstance. As individuals were accused of being witches, paranoia spread and the villagers began to fear that witchcraft was real, but also that they would be accused and hanged if ...

In the year 1880, when Susan Coolidge published her book, A Short History of the City of Philadelphia, From Its Foundation to the Present Time, she observed the rapid growth of the city. She wrote, “It is difficult to realize, when studying any one of our large American towns, how short a time it is since the ground on which it stands was an unbroken wilderness, upon which eye of white man had never rested” (Coolidge, Chapter 1). Indeed, to stand in Philadelphia today, one absorbs a sense of great history, ideas, and progress, feelings that seem as if they should ...

“Macbeth” is one of the greatest literary works of William Shakespeare. This play proves why Shakespeare is still the most influential English author. Shakespeare has tried to portray mordant psychosomatic and political effects when people do not hesitate in taking help of evil for fulfilling their aspiration of power. The play is believed to be written in the beginning of the seventeenth century but it still pleases people who love English literature. This paper intends to discuss the “Macbeth” and presents a succinct analysis of the play along with discussing all other related aspects.

The play takes place ...

Informative Speech: Unearthing Voodoo’s True Relevance to Erase the Historic Misinformation

- Specific Purpose: To enlighten the audience specifically young White Americans regarding the true nature and relevance of Voodoo - Introduction: - Most people believe in religions. - The discrimination of dominant race and religion to other relatively minority religions like Voodoo. Transition: Ask the audience especially those from White race regarding their notions on Voodoo. Give examples of wrong notions. The speaker accepts having judged the Voodoo without gathering facts to support the judgement. - Body - Voodoo is a religion not only of African-Americans nowadays. It is already widely spread across the ...

Analysis of an American Trial: The Salem Witch Trials of 1692

Today, the Salem village located in Massachusetts in the United States of America is notorious to the world for being the village, where unjustified witch prosecutions and trials took place. The Salem has fallen into such disrepute because of the sad historical events occurred there in 1692. Many women, including little girls aged 4 and 11, were accused of witchcraft without any valid evidentiary material. All of them were considered to be the Devil’s servants, who possessed supernatural powers for the purposes of harming people and pleasing the Devil by doing so. Such women were imprisoned, hanged on ...

In the play of Othello by William Shakespeare, the theme of uncertain vision clearly comes out in the story through the characters. Othello, who is the main character in the play, and his wife Desdemona bring out clearly the theme of uncertain vision in the story. On the other hand, in the play of Oedipus the king, the king is eager to get the truth about the murder of Laius. King Oedipus consults every available source in order to establish the truth about Laius’s murder. In Othello, a play by Shakespeare, Othello is a soldier; based on his introduction from ...

Modernity is closely linked to democratic models and ambitions. It reconfigures the connection of individuals to other persons as well as to their society through promotion of individualism. Enlightenment is among the turning points in the European’s history periodization. Human reason is an important tool in modernizing institutions and beliefs issue (Issue 18 v1 pp 315). The Isles of Britain had grown confidence in information on the basis of sensation. Britain received a head start on enlightenment due to the fact that they relied on contact with the world for information. Through this, they focused on intellectual thought. Achievement ...

Anthropology of Religion, Magic and Witchcraft;

Anthropologies speak of religion; they usually mean it as magic and witchcraft. Witchcraft involves things, events and processes that are held to unseen on the outside the real things of the ordinary working experience and also, the normal physical cause and the effects exerted by them. Hindu cosmologies, as well as a Shakta Tantric way of life adore Kali as the definitive authenticity or Brahman. Kali is also well-regarded as Bhavatarini literally savior of the world. Current devotional appointments fundamentally visualize Kali as a munificent mother goddess The mother Kali, despite her being so compassionate to the children, and ...

Scientific thinking can be defined as the process by which individuals extend their knowledge through the formation of theory on the basis of observations or epidemiological arrays. The theory is then put to trial by dividing the entire population and the outcome or results given a broad view to the correct population via the course of inductive common sense. Before the hypotheses are implemented, the results must undergo an examination by the research planned on the argument that the theory may have substantial backing or be denied. There are six principles of scientific thinking namely: falsifiability, extraordinary claims, replicability, and ...

History

Paper Due Date

Introduction

This paper discusses the historical topics of Bacon’s rebellion in Chesapeake and the practice of witchcraft in New England. Both these events were caused by social, economic or religious factors that affected the colonial America. In the middle of 17th century, around 80 New England colonies were indicted with the practice of witchcraft. New England colonists were known to have strong conservative convictions, witches and demons and other supernatural instances were common in daily life. Whereas, Bacon’s Rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon in 1676 was a popular revolt in the colonial state of Virginia. This ...

Religion is strict with its limitations; a matter often destroying the specific constructive liberal structures of the society. Although it is not considered detrimental, the extensive rules that religion often imposes create more harm than good to its members. With such strict commandments, the response of the people were rather common; to hide secrets, to deal with matters in a hypocritical manner, presenting themselves clean when they actually are doing something else behind the back of the church’s knowing. Among the primary characters who could be noted for such consideration of the church’s laws include John Proctor and Reverend ...

American Past

Bridget Bishop was the first woman to be hanged during the well-known Salem due to accusations that she practiced witchcraft. The case against Bridget Bishop includes deposition taken mainly from lay people who came forward to accuse the Bishop Bridget of witchcraft. She had some of classic attributes that made her New England neighbors to incline being associated with the witch. She was alienated from the religious faith of the community because she never attended worship services. Moreover, she ran a tavern where excessive drinking and game playing were common. She was seen as embodying relaxed sexual traits because deponents ...

Part A:

John Proctor was one of the most complex characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. He has both positive and negative qualities to his personality. Primarily, Proctor is honest, dependable, and a man of solid moral. However, he is not always the pillar of morality. Perhaps most noticeably is the negative propensity he has for cheating on his wife. He is lustful after one of the young girls in the village: Abigail Williams. Eventually the two begin an affair. The affair ends before the play begins, igniting Abigail’s intense jealousy toward Proctor’s wife. It also ignites the audience’ ...

“Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birthmark” and “Ethan Brand” are all notably published works from the dark romanticism sub-genre era published by Nathaniel Hawthorne that have lead characters embracing the concepts of morality and isolation. Hawthorne is an American author well-known mostly for his writings in this particular classification of stories from 1839 to 1860. Hawthorne typically incorporates such topic as isolation, sin, and the devil in his writings. These topics can generate and fester sinister feelings and ideas of alienation, guilt, and gloom. Hawthorn draws influence from multiple aspects of his life, for example, incorporating the use of his ...

PHILOSOPHY, HEALTHCARE ETHICS, AND RELIGION: DECISION MAKING

- Introductory Summary There are a wide array of choices that individuals must make in their lives, and it is important to have guiding principles when it comes to making hard choices. The Bible and relevant philosophical texts give good guidance; even so, difficult decisions must be made frequently, especially in the medical profession. This discussion will focus on individual absolutes and the Biblical basis for those absolutes, especially in the context of difficult decisions that will be made daily. In addition, decision-making strategy will be introduced, including the question of what to do when one’s absolutes are ...

WitchCraft

Witch is considered as an individual who have inborn ability to do mischievous acts, so that they can harm others. Witches do not always harm other intentionally, most of the time, they themselves are not aware of the fact they witch, and they may harm others unintentionally, as they do not have any idea that other individual will suffer badly because of this act. Witchcraft in the traditional societies is different than the witchcraft in the modern popular culture. The traditional beliefs regarding witchcraft are different as compared to the contemporary beliefs regarding witchcraft. There are several traditional concepts ...

The task of this brief opinion essay determines both arguments, for and against, the guilt of Rebecca Nurse as pertains to the evidence and perspective concerning the Salem Witch Trials. First is my argument against the guilt of Rebecca Nurse. According to the document, Thomas Putnam’s wife Ann testified that Rebecca Nurse “appeared to me only in her shift,” and urged her to “write in her book,” which was a “hellish” temptation (“Testimony Rebecca Nurse,” 170). Ann further claims that Rebecca had threatened to tear out her soul said the Lord Jesus Christ could not save her. First of ...

1. Compare and contrast the British and Spanish imperial enterprises in the Americas up to the early 1700s. Please consider these nations’ goals, practices, and achievements in the New World. Useful readings would include the textbook, Gray’s documents, and the article by Hackel titled “Spaniards” on the course website. First of all, geographically the British and Spanish colonist journeyed from the similar location of Europe. However it is important to note that each country, Spain and England, had separate languages and cultures. These influences would permeate the new colonies, instilling the results of these differences to this ...

Religions in societies that are tribal are based on what is happening around them. There is no specific founder of religion as every tribe had their religion based on what was happening to them at the time. The beginning of religion is covered with many myths and folklore and of people who are claimed to have been close to God. Most anthropologists claim that Christianity is filled with animism where people believe in a supernatural being that takes care of their entire problem (Frykenberg 67). Additionally, the term animism became such a popular term that it was used in the British ...

It is important to observe the times when allegations of witchcraft happened to understand the stories of the Salem witch trials. In January of year 1692 in Salem Village, Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter and niece became ill. When they did not get well, William Griggs, who is the village doctor, was called. Griggs’ findings of bewitchment caused the power that would eventually become grounds for death punishment by hanging of nineteen women and men. Aside from that, a man was then crushed to death, and seven other men died while in prison, and the lives of many people were ...

Salem Witch Trials

The events that transpired in Salem, Massachusetts occurred between the years of 1688 and 1693 constituted the most significant witchcraft outbreak in the history of the New England colonies. The entire event was quickly labeled as “colossal mistake” by the government after they had passed.(Ray, 2010) With this in mind the question remains; how did it get started and how did it get out of hand so quickly? Salem is a town in Massachusetts that has unfortunately earned its reputation from these trials. It was founded in 1626 when settlers led by Roger Conant settled in Naumkeag after a ...

Historical records indicate that the belief in the supernatural world emerged in Europe as early 13th century. These harsh realities were commonly experienced in the villages that later spread to the colonial New England rural lands. During this period, the witchcraft was often associated with the use of a certain spiritual and supernatural powers to harm others in return for their loyalty. In 1692, Salem Witch Trials in the United States represented a unique history of Witch hunts to the entire world. This society decided to carry out unjustified accusations in order to stabilize fear and prevent the further spread of ...

Human beings are social creatures who live in a society under different social regulations. There are many activities which take place in the society, some are acceptable while others are considered to be a threat and unacceptable to the society. Even with human freedoms, there are regulations on the extent of human freedom in a social society. The activities it is engaged in and the type of people who love in it identify a society. As much as there is social, diversity in the society in terms of religious, cultural, political and economic practices and believes, there are practices that the society ...

[Author’s Name] [Class Name]

One of the most prolific plays of the 1950’s was The Crucible. Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem Witch Trials is a book that not only transcends time but also speaks to a wide audience. In the play the protagonist John Proctor is portrayed as a tragic hero, he makes mistakes in his comfortable life but by the end of it realizes his mistakes and dies on his path to self worth. He is his own worst enemy and is torn apart by his own guilt from the acts of lechery and adultery that ...

Introduction:

Mary Conde’s book ‘I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem’ uses the Salem Witchcraft Trials as a background for the political implications of a post slavery scenario where the political implications are great. There are also some ironies which can be observed since the Puritans who ended up as abolitionists entertained the worst excesses as regards cleansing and purifying the nation of witches and Conde plays on that notion with subtle irony. The sense of catastrophe is also imminently felt especially in the analogous dynamics of the novel. Tituba is imbued with fantastic and wild notions of witchcraft which also impart ...

Demons co-exist among men on earth to tempt them to do evil. This is the central theme of the short stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, particularly Alone and The Last Demon. Singer is an immigrant from Poland and he lived in New York City. He writes in Yiddish and his stories are translated into English. According to Singer himself, during an interview in 1968, he absolutely believes in the supernatural because he feels that “we are surrounded by powers, by mysterious powers, which play a great part in everything we are doing” (Flender n.p.). The succeeding sections discuss Alone and ...

Introduction

Cotton Mather was an influential Puritan minister of New England in USA. He was the son and grandson of two prominent Puritan ministers Increase Mather and Richard Mather. He was a prolific writer who had 468 publications to his credit. Some of the books written by him like 'Magnalia Christi Americana', 'Bonifacius' and 'The Angel of Bethesda' are very important for American history (GSU 2011). He completed his graduation at the age 16 from Harvard University, thereby becoming one of the youngest graduate ever from the institution. Mather like his father Increase Mather was a strong defender of Puritan orthodoxy and played ...

Introduction

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is widely acknowledged as the greatest English language playwright. He was born and raised to a middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England (Cohen, 6). He wrote masterpiece poems, plays, short stories and books about 400 years ago and his works have been timeless. Two of Shakespeare’s most celebrated works are the play titled Macbeth and the novel titled Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare’s upbringing in a middle class family and lack of adequate education predisposed him to a challenging life which motivated him to write as a way to express to future generations the turmoil and tragedies of the ancient ...

The 17th century was riddled with strong beliefs in the supernatural and the presence of Satan on Earth in colonial North America. Witchcraft was majorly used by peasants with particular charms associated with evil spirits and demons for prosperity in their agricultural activities. There was in fact literature on the same written around the same time. For instance, Joseph Glanvill in 1668 claimed proves of the existence of these powers in witches and ghosts in a treatise titled “Against Modern Sadducism”. This and other works by the likes of Cotton Mather, a minister at the Boston North Church, raised the fears of ...

The aim of this essay is to present you with an analysis of ‘Arthur Miller’s Play ‘Crucible’. The analysis of this play is to present you with a portrait of the historical context in which the play was written as well as the meaning underlying its plot in relation to its author’s profile. Arthur Miller is an author whose plays have been received with great enthusiasm on behalf of his readers / audience. It is commonly acknowledged that Miller’s plays have been talking to the hearts of their audience since they seem to depict through their ...

Salem witch trials refer to a series of trials and executions of people who were allegedly involved in witch practice. All these incidents of witch practice took place during seventeenth century in newly established colonies of New England, Massachusetts. Puritans used to inhabit in these colonies and their theocracy is blamed for such trials that took place in an organized manner. This paper intends to discuss Salem witch trials, role of puritans in these trials and several other related aspects. Puritanism is a part of Christian belief that emerged in the England at some point in seventeenth century. Puritans were ...

Introduction

Witch hunt is a term that originated from the medieval act of people actually seeking out suspected witches and accusing them of colluding with the devil to cause misfortune among the people. Most of the victims targeted by these persecutions happened to be innocent civilians and as such, often died for accusation they were not familiar with. This led to the development of the popular and modern application of the phrase witch hunt as the investigation, supposedly meant to uncover subversive activities but in actual sense used to harass and undermine those deemed to be of a dissenting view from the ...

Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation (Davis 220). Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. ...

The evolution of racial slavery in America was a slow process, which commenced with both white and black servants occupying an almost equal position in their master’s home. Since no rules or regulations governed the state of slavery in the nation, both races could acquire freedom. It later, however, became evident that this could not be the case for black servants. The growing animosity and white racism between the planters and the servants made it impossible for the black servants to gain their freedom. By 1641, Massachusetts legalized slavery, and with it came a set of rules to govern the ...

Zombies have long been thought of as creatures of myth and lore. The fear of death is common in most all cultures and zombies play right into that fear making them a source for legends, movies, and popular culture. Despite Hollywood style zombies we now think of, zombies actually have a rich history stemming from religions such as Voodoo. By looking at the origins of zombie legends one can better understand their cultural meaning. I propose that there is scientific evidence supporting that it is possible for zombies to exist, just not in the traditional Hollywood means. By looking at both ...

Social and Religious Equality

Introduction America was discovered in the last decades of 16th century. During the early part of 16th century America was still an unknown land for many. At present, America is a land of social, religious and political equality but it was a different scenario in America during the 17th century. Religious equality was not there in the 17th century America. Most of the early people who settled in the country were Puritans. After the first colony was established in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1620, it became a trend for colonial rules in America (Varon, 2001). America in the 17th century had ...

Othello, considered as one of the most painful Shakespearean tragedies (Bradley 176), is a fine demonstrator of a man’s mental vulnerability when temptation begins to penetrate his mind, blurring his judgment. In the book Shakespearean Tragedy, Othello is not only a noble hero who is brought down by fatal jealousy, perhaps, because he has married before his time “But, I pray you, sir, Are you fast married? (II, 10-12), according to Iago, but also a protagonist of domestic tragedy that is characterized by repetitive themes, such as love and hate, intrigue and jealousy, revenge and suspicion, self-interest, racism and judgment (Hunt 55). ...

The fact that Tina hears voices that command her to perform hygienic activities is a first sign of abnormal psychology. Auditory hallucinations are usually referred to as symptoms of schizophrenia, but before setting a diagnosis, Tina’s case must be carefully evaluated by taking into consideration all the information that she provided, included her own believe that her symptoms are a result of a witchcraft performed by her boyfriend for controlling her and the current research in the field of psychopathology. As Tina confessed that she has used methamphetamines heavily in the past several months, this can be an indication that her ...

Women have long been considered second class citizens (if considered citizens at all!) throughout the course of world history. Often dismissed from history books, I feel that it is important to recognize their role in Spanish colonialism. By carefully analyzing important events, I endeavor to draw out examples of how women have helped shape the Spanish colonies and the great danger they were put in my Spanish Inquisitors. By looking at gender roles one can determine how these roles played a part in the Spanish society and how they have changed. I propose that women did indeed provide instrumental support ...

Explain Why There Were No Major Witchcraft Scares in the Chesapeake Colonies and No Uprising like Bacon's Rebellion in New England Explain Why There Were No Major Witchcraft Scares in the Chesapeake Colonies and No Uprising like Bacon's Rebellion in New England The Chesapeake Colonies constituted the colony as well as Dominion of Virginia while the Bacon rebellion was made up of an armed group of Virginia Settlers against the leadership of Governor William Berkeley. The Chesapeake colonies lacked a strong family structure, a developed religion as well as developed towns and cities, and hence there were witchcraft scares in ...

Main Argument of the Readings

Silvia Federici, Chandra Mohanty and Alicia Muszynski discussed in their respective articles the sociological facet of the inferiority perceived upon women. “Insatiable sexuality”, in the case of Federici, socioeconomic differences for Mohanty and race-gender stratification noted by Muszynski all point to reasons why women, under different classifications, receive unfair treatment. The three articles stand united in explaining that women received discrimination because of their biological sex and that it is a demeaning factor when added with other condescending characteristics such as socioeconomic conditions and race.

Personal Argument on the Readings

On a personal note, I perceive the connection between the three articles as highly characteristic of ...

Before Liberation, Mao’s thoughts propagated against religious superstition; because there was no clear boundary between religions and superstition, against superstitions also included against superstitions. Religious superstitions were considered anti-social and anti-government, so many religion propagator of was exiled, including Buddhism. Along with Liberation, religion was accepted by society in order to unite all people together, and then the distinction between religion and superstition gradually became clear. Undeniable, religion had close relationship with superstitions, but religions are completely different in ideology then superstition (Jagou, n.d). Both superstitions and religion are theist idea and unscientific, but this is the ...

Introduction

The Crucible is a historical motion picture released in 1996 and adapted from a play by Arthur Miller. The plot of the film is based on real events and these are the Salem Witch Trials which took place in 1692. Salem is a religious Puritan village located in modern day Massachusetts. The infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials occurred in 1692 after several girls fell victim to hallucinations and seizures. During this period, religion extremity in the lives of the local people caused them to attribute surprising activities to the cohorts of the devil, for example witches. This movie screenplay is filled with a lot ...

One of the highly-rated movies and best-selling novels in the 21st Century is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. In fact, in addition to the 8-series novel, the movie series definitely gained everybody’s interest. However, there is a contradicting issue regarding this masterpiece, wherein many Christians and conservatives claim that it is not good for watching or reading. The inclusion of witchcraft, sorcery, magic, and so on throughout the series led these people to judge the movie as violent and inappropriate for the public – especially their children. Indeed, the Bible itself stands against such practices. It does not ...

First question: This piece of literature poses a challenge to the traditional notion where the women were not given chances to be the protagonists in the play. In this drama the heroine was murdered an issue that greatly affects the conscience of human beings. This drama is a mythical since it brings out the perception of women in the society and the various roles that they play despite the fact that they are believed not capable of performing some tasks and responsibilities just because they are women. The author has tried to make some contemporary issues irrelevant or of less importance ...

Jealousy is a theme that has prominently appeared in the novel. This is spurred by the need of the characters to be protective of what they posses as well as obtaining what they believe rightfully belong to them. This eventually spurs hatred among some characters who act without finding out the truth. The two main characters, Othello and Iago are in contention of what Iago felt that Othello stole Desdemona by witchcraft and made her his wife. The plans to frustrate their marriage were defeated when Desdemona stated clearly before his father Brabanzio that she loved Othello and was now ...

Changes in Belief System in Europe.

The earliest inhabitants arrived from Africa about 700,000 years ago. This group of people mainly depended on hunting and food gathering. They used hand tools such as axe made of stones. They also made fire to protect themselves from cold weather. History has it that the Neathernals who lived in caves were the first to bury their dead and displayed good social -organizational skills. They also performed rituals and organized themselves into strong social groups. It was not until 35,000 years later that some technological changes started to sweep through Europe. First was the pressure-flaking technique. This ...

Introduction

Hidden in mystery and practices that challenges human understanding through its complex relations, occultism is considered as the domain of obscure practices, defying science and religion. Being widespread in many African countries, occultism is believed to be practiced in secret within various circles, performed by witch doctors or other insiders of occult practices, as a solution for healing but also for generating certain benefits or advantages. This paper analyzes the influence of occultism and witch doctors in Africa, by examining if and how occult practices are used for healing or as a remedy for treating ailments or “magical illness” (such as ...

The conclusion in the article shows that indigenous medicine and personnel believe that there should an effort to understand and learn more about traditional medicine. The questions that come into mind are whether this kind of medicine should be entrenched to mainstream medicine. There should be research undertaken to look into the use of indigenous medicine. Another question that is raised here is the extent at which witchcraft and indigenous medicine are related. There is a lack of differentiation between the two areas. The Aboriginal introduced herself as witchcraft. The issue is how true the statement. If the ideas of ...

Paranoia is deeply entwined with the human psyche, and parallels can be seen across generations. This is made extremely clear with Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, written in 1953, which parallels the communist-hunting era, so characterized by Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy and his incessant search for communists, against the backdrop of the Salem Witch trials. There are indeed many parallels which can be made. In both the anti-communist atmosphere of the Cold War and the paranoia of ultra-religious Salem in 1692, there was an element of “the enemy is among us”. It was, to an extent, taken ...

Introduction

After all the enlightenment and modernization that has actually taken place in the modern world, the superstitious beliefs still exist in our societies. Each individual to some extent believe in these absurd superstitious beliefs. Cultural superstition is therefore a belief in the supernatural causality (Owens-Meyerson 17). Thus, one event contributes to the cause of another event without any physical process that links the two particular events. These events include; omens, witchcraft, astrology among others and which contradicts the natural science. For that reason, superstitious belief is the notion that an activity or a ritual can have a negative or positive impact on ...

Apparently, Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings are, arguably, the most popular fantasy novels of all time. The two books narrate stories that take the reader away from the actual world into a world of dream-like happenings where the impossible happens and humans have tremendous capabilities (Fantasy Worlds 56). Apparently, the authors of these books borrow from the rich and complex culture of the ancient world, which was characterized by such arts as sorcery and witchcraft. While there are many differences and similarities between the two legendary novels, the characters in both have extraordinary powers. Many researchers in ...

The motivation to settle in the Americas included both economic interest and escape from religious persecution. After Gilbert and Raleigh returned from their expeditions, they urged the queen to challenge Spain's threat of domination in the West. After Spain attacked Antwerp in 1570, thus endangering England's hold on European cloth, England looked at the new world to find a new market for the stuff. As a result, people started to make sojourns to the Americas to try and forge new economic prospects there. People like Frobisher and Gilbert, though they failed, attempted to traverse to America in order to either find ...

In the essay “Devil In Salem Village” from Portrait of America, Edmund S. Morgan describes the terror that had spread through Salem, Massachusetts, when the locals were convinced that many of the women living in the city were in fact witches. In this essay Morgan outlines the factors that ultimately led to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Morgan starts with how the Massachusetts Bay colony was founded by the Puritans in 1630 as a model Christian community. However, by 1680, the Puritan movement was perilously in danger of losing its following. Many of the youngsters had become “increasingly preoccupied ...

The human inclination to seek explanations for the strange and unusual is as old as human civilization. The supernatural has always provided a convenient rationale for forces that are beyond human control and understanding. War, disease and other natural phenomena are misfortunes that have been ascribed to the influence of witchcraft, of a force directed by a malevolent intelligence bent on subverting the harmony of a godly universe. Patriarchal European society has historically assigned witchcraft a decidedly feminine cast, an image that was formalized during the Middle Ages by the church and in print. The result was centuries of gender-based persecution, torture and violent ...

Witchcraft refers to alleged magical and supernatural performances which range from one cultural set up to another. Witchcraft has existed for many years. People believe that witches perform actions which are not only aimed at harming them but also which are against their will. These actions cause despair, pain, and suffering to individuals, family members and society at large. People have blamed witches for causing strange, untreatable diseases, bad luck, barrenness, impotence, abrupt death, and illness in animals. As such, practice of witch crafty has been condemned worldwide due to much pain inflicted on individuals who blame their misfortunes ...

The Salem witch trials took place in colonial Massachusetts from 1692 to 1693. The two year trials was very complex with more than 200 people being accused of practicing whitchcraft of whom 20 were executed. More than 300 years after the trial, the paranoia and the injustices that surrounded the Salem witch trials made the colony to admit that it was a mistake convicting the accused and they compensated the family back then. Indeed these memories still leave on yet it’s very long time since the trials took place. Between June 1692 and 1693, nineteen men and women who ...

All the systems of healing are referred to as ethnomedicine. Traditional or indigenous medical systems exist around the world. They are part of the culture of the society involved. The way of treating illnesses differ in different societies. However, a common feature they share is the emphasis on magic and religion. In the Islam society, mental illness is associated with supernatural causes and inflicts sinners. Spirit possession and witchcraft are involved in understanding and treating mental illness. The knowledge and attitudes towards mental illness is also different depending on gender and socioeconomic status of the subject involved

Campbell, R., & ...

1. Discuss the Lay Investiture struggle and give its effects.

Lay investiture was a system in Europe where the kings and the noble lords used to appoint the church leaders such as bishops. The aim of these kings was to ensure that they would easily get any advice they required from the clergy. The people in the church usually accepted any religious leader who was appointed to them by these kings (Sherman, 123). These leaders also usually accepted their appointment by the kings. During the period, pope was given an authority that was not very clear to the people. The ...