In a message dated 04/20/99 6:36:29 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: << "Q-Where do I get The Burning Times video? A-"The Burning Times", Direct Cinema Ltd., Inc, 213-396-4774 A-'The Burning Times' [a 58 minute video put together by a group of Canadian women to depict Europe's turbulent 15th-17th centuries] Video is referenced under 'Women and Spirituality' and distributed by Direct Cinema Limited, PO Box 10003, Santa Monica, CA 90410; ph-310-396-4774. " http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~jup/witches/FAQ.html >> Fellow Listers, "The Burning Times" video is one of a three-part series called Women and Spirituality. The other two are "The Goddess Remembered" and "Full Circle." I highly recommend all three. You can purchase all three at Direct Cinema. The haunting musical background is by Loreena McKennitt, the Canadian singer-songwriter. Regards, Kathy Smith

On 4/24/99, Charlie Bond <[email protected]> wrote: >Anyone who allows anger or hate to rule his or her life is reinforcing the >weakness in man's nature that was demonstrated in Salem in 1692. A very sad case in point this week: Columbine High School. My deepest condolences to everyone affected by that tragedy. --Margo Margo Burns, Webweaver [email protected] http://www.ogram.org Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." -- Chomsky

It is an unfortunate practice in our society to look for something or someone to blame for our mistakes. There was nothing behind the "witch" accusations except the ugly side of man's nature. If you have ever lived in a small New England town you know what I mean. In 1692 that, coupled with lack of respect for life, resulted in carrying hate to the extreme. Obviously we are as capable of the same thing today. The only way to prevent it is to be aware of that. What happened in Salem was a scene in the human tragedy that must be a lesson to all. The commercialization of witchcraft in the City of Salem is truly offensive. Would you tolerate a similar use of Buchenwald? The only difference is a matter of scale. The lesson is lost on Salem. Anyone who allows anger or hate to rule his or her life is reinforcing the weakness in man's nature that was demonstrated in Salem in 1692. Charles D. Bond ---------- : From: J. Lindblom <[email protected]> : To: [email protected] : Subject: [SALEM-WITCH-L] Ergot~ Salem Witch Trials - Hallucigins? : Date: Friday, April 23, 1999 10:34 AM : : Ergot [Clavicep purpurea] has had some historical usage, including the : induction of labor contractions in medieval midwifery. It was a common bread : mold contaminant in the middle ages [Rye Smut] which would produce : circulatory disturbances and gangrene of the extremities ["St. Anthony's : Fire"]. Ergot is used in modern medicine usually combined with caffeine as a : treatment for migraine headache [Cafergot]. Several of their immediate : derivatives possess remarkable antibiotic activity [Agroclavine, : festuclavine]. : : Eich E, et al. Clavines as Antitumor Agents: Natural : 8-Hydroxymethyl-ergoline Type Clavines and Their Derivatives. Planta Medica : 1986; 5: 290-4 : Eich E, Eichber D, Muller W. Clavines: New Antibiotics with Cytostatic : Activity. Biochemic Pharmacology 1984; 33(4): 523-6 : http://www.healthy.net/library/journals/naturopathic/vol1no1/news/clavines.h : tm : : : Ergot is a fungus parasite of the heads of grasses. In mid- to late-summer, : entire grains are replaced by the black, hardened bodies of the fungus. : Class of Signs: Behavioral changes, lameness, abortions, convulsions, : gangrene, death. : http://vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/cover1.htm :

Ergot [Clavicep purpurea] has had some historical usage, including the induction of labor contractions in medieval midwifery. It was a common bread mold contaminant in the middle ages [Rye Smut] which would produce circulatory disturbances and gangrene of the extremities ["St. Anthony's Fire"]. Ergot is used in modern medicine usually combined with caffeine as a treatment for migraine headache [Cafergot]. Several of their immediate derivatives possess remarkable antibiotic activity [Agroclavine, festuclavine]. Eich E, et al. Clavines as Antitumor Agents: Natural 8-Hydroxymethyl-ergoline Type Clavines and Their Derivatives. Planta Medica 1986; 5: 290-4 Eich E, Eichber D, Muller W. Clavines: New Antibiotics with Cytostatic Activity. Biochemic Pharmacology 1984; 33(4): 523-6 http://www.healthy.net/library/journals/naturopathic/vol1no1/news/clavines.h tm Ergot is a fungus parasite of the heads of grasses. In mid- to late-summer, entire grains are replaced by the black, hardened bodies of the fungus. Class of Signs: Behavioral changes, lameness, abortions, convulsions, gangrene, death. http://vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/cover1.htm

Hi Rebecca Towne Nurse is my 10th great aunt. Learning about the Salem Witch Trials is very important to me as I didn't know much about them before I started research- ing my family. Rachel Poss [email protected]

There are a few theories about the witch trials. I believe the best one is greed and power. I you look at who the accusers were it makes some sense. In some cases the accusers were neighbors who acquired the victims land for a pittance after the trials. Some of the accused were people who didn't abide by the intolerance of the church and they somehow made it onto the list of the accused. There is a lot of sordidness behind the story. Dave, a descendant of both Susanna Martin and Samuel Wardwell

I received this info from one of my "cousins": >>> "The Associated Daughters of Early American Witches preserves names of >>> those accused of witchery in early America plus the location of living >>> lineal descendants. for more information, write Charles E. Loucks, 14108 >>> 20th Street, Arlington, VA 02202." >>> Bonnie Descendant of Susanna Martin, executed July 19, 1692, Salem, MA

I don't buy the hallucinogen theory, not after reading about the family histories, the family dynamics and some of the charactars of the individuals who were involved. I believe the situation involved power and greed..... They wanted to choose the minister because whoever ran the congregation had the power. You have to remember the Walcotts and the Putnams lost considerable power after the death of Deliverance and Thomas Putnams father, when he left everything to his second wife and their stepbrother. And, you have to look back and see the litigation between some of the individuals accused and the Putnams. The Putnams had a real problem with their stepbrother, Joseph, who received the bulk of the family inheritance and who was married into the Porters who were very powerful and very close to the Nurses. There was a very strong line divided in that community during that period of time. What better way to establish the need for a minister than to find evil within a community? And, what better person to accuse of being evil than the enemies of the family? That coupled with the guilt of school girls who had been playing with tea leaves with their Indian housekeeper (such a thing was witchcraft and very evil) left the situation ripe for false allegations. Accusing individuals of witch craft in those days was not an uncommon incident, as is accusing an individual of child abuse of sexual assault during child custody cases today. Linda Descendant of the Putnams, Porters, Walcotts, Hales, Hathornes and others........................

On 4/22/99, Claude Hunter <[email protected]> wrote: >Has anyone seen, or did the recent PBS video mention the likelyhood that >some of the girls that reportedly had "fits" may have been under the >influence of halucigins?. My understanding is that a mold that can grow >on rye has haluciginic effects. I also understand that the hauciginic >mold can form on bread baked with rye flour. This is the infamous "ergotism" theory, put forth in Linda Caporael's "Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem?" [Science, Vol. 192, No. 4234 (April 2, 1976)]. It was refuted almost immediately by Nicholas P. Spanos & Jock Gottlieb in a subsequent issue of Science, but it is certainly pernicious because it keeps popping up. The basic problems with the theory which Spanos and Gottlieb point out include: 1) specific digestive-tract symptoms of ergot poisoning are not reported in the afflicted; 2) the symptoms would come and go in a group in unison, which is more indicative of a psychological basis for the fits than a biological one; and 3) whole households would be more likely to be affected by a poison in a dietary staple, but only one or two members of any given household were affected. The theory has a firm place in the current folk theory of the events in Salem, and was used by Robin Cook in his novel "Acceptable Risk." Both articles from Science are available in Marc Mappen's excellent anthology about how historians have viewed the events in Salem: "Witches & Historians: Interpretations of Salem" [Keiger: Malabar, Florida. 1996]. This is unfortunately now out of print (according to Amazon.com), but I did a quick search for "Marc Mappen" and found that a couple of used book dealers at http://www/bibliofind.com and at http://www.abebooks.com have copies for sale for $10-12 plus shipping. Cheers, Margo Margo Burns, Webweaver [email protected] http://www.ogram.org Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." -- Chomsky

Has anyone seen, or did the recent PBS video mention the likelyhood that some of the girls that reportedly had "fits" may have been under the influence of halucigins?. My understanding is that a mold that can grow on rye has haluciginic effects. I also understand that the hauciginic mold can form on bread baked with rye flour. Possibly one or more of the girls that reportedly had fits may have been affected by some halucigin. They likely would not have known what caused it, & may have let their minds focus on the possibilty that someone had bewitched them - expecially after hearing some of the tales from the west indias woman involved (don't recall her name). My interest is peripheral in that the first and second wives of my grandfather were related to 5 or more of those accused/and or found guilty of being witches. My grandfather's third wife is the one I am descended from, thus I am not related to those involved in the witchcraft trials. Claude Hunter ([email protected]

HI, I too would like to know if there is an organization for descendants of the people that were killed at Salem in 1692. My 10th Great Grandmother was Rebecca Towne Nurse who was hung on 19 July 1692. Also would like to correspond with any cousins. Thank you Margo for all the work you put into this list. Best wishes, Janice (Davenport) Todd [email protected]

Hello, I am new to this discussion group and have been monitoring it for the past few days. As Jean Ely noted, I feel that there is more attention paid to witches and wicca than to the tragedy and delusion of the time when my and many other's ancestors were wrongfully executed because of three young girls became ill due to some fermented grain. I see this as a travesty perpetuated by the town of Salem for monetary purposes. I am including an excerpt from Karl Gelpke's book "ESTEYS of England and America" that speaks of the times and particularly of Mary Easty who was hung September 22, 1692. Her petition clearly demonstrates to all that she was not a Witch. George Estey, Direct descendant of Mary (Towne) Easty "One of the most notable incidents of this generation was the tragic involvement of Mary Easty in the Salem Witchcraft Trials. She and her two sisters, Rebecca Nourse and Sarah Cloyce, were accused of being witches. Rebecca was tried and found guilty and executed by hanging July 19, 1692. Mary followed her sister to the gallows September 22, 1692 but sister Sarah escaped harm for Mary was among the last group hanged during this terrible time of witchcraft delusion. Much has been written on the happenings at Salem -- but probably the wide diversity of opinions expressed stem from the inability of people of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries to understand the genuine power of witchcraft in a society that believes in it. Such was the belief in 17th-century New England, and accusations of fraud directed at the young accusers of Salem Village or of power lust directed at the clerical and judicial leadership do not explain away the fact that some of those who were tried and executed practiced witchcraft consistent with the mores of the time. The innocence of Mary Towne Easty, however, is accepted by her contemporaries and later confirmed by an analysis of trial testimony and her actions. Her preliminary examination was held on April 22, 1692, and her conduct so impressed Judge Hathorne that he asked the afflicted girls "-- are you certain this is the woman?" They repeated their charge and she was imprisoned until May 18, when they changed their minds and she was released. This action brought on more hallucinations and, on May 20, a warrant was issued for her rearrest and imprisonment until September, when she was condemned and executed with seven others: Martha Corey, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, Wilmot "Mammy" Redd, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker. She is quoted as saying "I am going up the ladder to be hanged for a witch, but I am innocent, and before a twelve month be past you shall believe it." Before he death, Mary Easty sent the following petition to the trial magistrates and to the ministers of the County: The Humble Petition of Mary Easty unto his Excellency Sir William Phips, and to the Honored judge and Bench now sitting in Judicature in Salem, and the Reverend Ministers, humbly showeth, That, whereas, your poor humble petitioner, being condemned to die, do humbly beg of you to take it in your judicious and pious consideration that your poor and humble petitioner, knowing my own innocency, blessed be the Lord for it! and seeing plainly the wiles and subtility of my accusers by myself, cannot but judge charitably of others that are going the same way of myself, if the Lord steps not mightily in. I was confined a whole month upon the same account that I am condemned now for, and then cleared by the afflicted persons, as some of Your Honors know. And in two days' time I was cried out upon them, and have been confined, and now am condemned to die. The Lord knows my innocency then, and likewise does now, as at the great day will be known to men and angels. I petition to Your Honors not for my own life, for I know I must die, and my appointed time is set; but the Lord he knows it is that, if it be possible, no more innocent blood may be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way and course you go in. I question not but Your Honors do to the utmost of your powers in the discovery and detecting of witchcraft and witches, and would not be guilty of innocent blood for the world. But, by my own innocency, I know you are in the wrong way. the Lord in his infinite mercy direct you in this great work, if it be his blessed will that no more innocent blood be shed! I would humbly beg you, that Your Honors would be pleased to examine these afflicted persons strictly, and keep them apart some time, and likewise to try some of these confessing witches; I being confident there is several of them has belied themselves and others, as will appear, if not in this world, I am sure in the world to come, Whither I am now agoing. I question not but you will see an alteration of these things. They say myself and others having made a league with the Devil, we cannot confess. I know, and the Lord knows, as will ... appear, they belie me, and so I question not but they do to others. The Lord above, who is the Searcher of all hearts, knows, as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I know not the least thing of witchcraft; Therefore I cannot, I dare not, belie my own soul. I beg your Honors not to deny this my humble petition from a poor, dying, innocent person. And I question not but the Lord will give a blessing to your endeavors." Mary Easty" The petition prepared by Mary Easty attests to her intelligence, perception, and self-effacement. She has been called the "self forgetful". It is a remarkable document and makes one regret the meager record she left to posterity. After her execution, Isaac, her husband, labored twenty years to clear her name and was, in a measure, successful when the petitions presented to the court were recognized, the verdict annulled. Twenty pounds was granted him in acknowledgement of the injustice done as shown by the following: By His Excellency the Governor Whereas ye General Assembly in their last session accepted ye Report of their Committee appointed to consider of ye Damages sustained by Sundry persons, prosecution for Witch-craft ye Year 1692. Vis. To Elizabeth How, 12-0-0 Rebecca Nurse, 25-0-0 George Jacobs, 70-0-0 John Willard, 20-0-0 Mary Easty, 20-0-0 Sarah Good, 30-0-0 Mary Parker, 8-0-0 Martha Carrier, 7-6-0 George Burroughs, 50-0-0 Samuel Wardwell Giles Corey & wife 21-0-0 and wife, 36-15-0 Sarah Wild, 14-0-0 John Proctor and Abigail Faulkin, 20-0-0 wife, 150-0-0 Abigail Hobbs 10-0-0 Mary Bradbury 20-0-0 Anne Foster 6-0-0 Rebecca Eames 10-0-0 Mary Lacey 8-10-9 Dorcas Hoar 21-14-0 Mary Post 8-14-0 578-12-0 The whole amounting to Five Hundred and Seventy-eight pounds and 12 shillings. (Ordered paid to Stephen Sewell, Esq., who was to distribute legally to heirs, etc.) 17 December 1711 J. Dudley

Can anyone tell me if there is an organization for the descendents of people who where tried for witchcraft? Patsy

I think I must have missed something. I certainly don't want to unsubscribe to the list. I understand that ROOTSWEB is changing somewhat. If there was a message about the subject, I would greatly appreciate it if you would put it on the Salem-Witch-L again.

I hope this recent spate of postings will put a little life back in this list. Where are you all?? On 4/21/99, Chad Ximiness wrote: > PLEASE TAKE ME OFF YOUR MAILING LIST > >THANKS YOU NO NEED TO SHOUT! -- but seriously, in case the recent traffic has made anyone else realize they are on a list they'd rather be off of right now, his way ended up sending that message to the entire subscriber list of 312 people... Not so good! I am including directions for unsubscribing from SALEM-WITCH-L: Send a message to the following address: [email protected] that contains (in the body of the message) the single word: unsubscribe and no additional text. If you subscribed to the digest format of this list, simply substitute a D for the L in the above address: [email protected] If you have a .sig file, it's better to set your e-mail program so it doesn't send it. It will generate a few errors, but nothing fatal -- so if you haven't a clue as to what I'm talking about in this paragraph, don't worry. In case you lose those directions or have *any* trouble with them, please feel free to contact me directly ([email protected]) and I can unsubscribe you myself. General info for this list is located at http://www.ogram.org/17thc/salem-witch-list.shtml -- but if you have any questions, please drop me a note, okay? Cheers Margo, your list keeper Margo Burns [email protected] http://www.ogram.org

I got in touch with Henry Ferrini today about his independent movie, "Witch City," and he has directed me to the following URL for information on purchasing copies, for $30 (for personal use) plus $4 shipping: http://www.artsgloucester.com/witchcity/wcpurch.html There is also information there about institutional copies with unlimited public performance rights, rentals, and a touring package designed for schools and universities. I would like to take this opportunity to make a plug for buying copies of independent filmmakers' work. If you like a person's film, nothing says so better than paying them for a copy of it, which encourages and enables them to produce more. Henry also said that WGBH may be showing it again (he does know the dates yet -- he'll let me know, and I'll pass them along), and that they would like to show the program on New Hampshire Public Television Channel 11 but "do not have a contact there as yet." Cheers, Margo, your list elf Margo Burns, Webweaver [email protected] http://www.ogram.org Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously." -- Chomsky

Dear Janet, Margo, et al: Thank you very much for your mails about Witch City. Unfortunately, I was not able to view it (not having TV!). I was interested in the reviews nonetheless. One of the things I found interesting was the influx of Wiccans into Salem. It seems as though they find Salem (Danvers?) some kind of a Mecca. To me, however, this contradicts the idea that the witch trial victims were innocent of practicing forbidden religions, whether it be Satanism, Wicca or even the Quaker religion (a big no-no in Puritan New England). Are these modern day witches functioning on the assumption that the victims were, in fact, practicing witchcraft? This notion is contrary to everything I have heard and read about the subject. Thanks again, Jean Ely (descendant of Rebecca Nurse)

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------7EE477703830 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks from me, too, for posting the info on "Witch City". I checked out the website last night, and felt compelled to write a letter to the producers of the show. My local PBS station didn't broadcast the program, so I emailed to ask how I could obtain a copy of the program. Have forwarded the answer I received. Vicki Brooker descendant of Ann Pudeator, hung August 22, 1692 in Salem MA --------------7EE477703830 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from oz.wgbh.org (oz.wgbh.org [198.147.175.32]) by atl3.america.net (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA16692 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 20 Apr 1999 16:58:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: from wgbh.org (mail3.wgbh.org [10.1.1.62]) by oz.wgbh.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id PAA25554 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 20 Apr 1999 15:41:53 -0400 Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: 20 Apr 1999 17:03:43 -0400 From: "Feedback" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: feedback To: "Vicki Brooker" <[email protected]> X-Mailer: Mail*Link SMTP-QM 4.1.0 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by atl3.america.net id QAA16692 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; Name="Message Body" Thank you for your recent inquiry about video distribution. Please contact* Witch City is available by calling HOME: Viewers can call producer Henry Ferrini 978-281-2355. Thank you for your inquiry -------------------------------------- Date: 4/20/99 4:42 PM To: Feedback From: Vicki Brooker MemberCard_number: email_body: I understand that you are broadcasting a program called "Witch City" tonight. Is there a way for me to order a videocassette of this program? I'm a descendant of one of the Salem "witches" and I'm eager to see your show. Thanks in advance for showing what sounds like it will be an informative program on this period of American history. email_sender: [email protected] email_subject: feedback phone: 802/496-5533 sender_address: PO Box 892 Waitsfield VT 05673 sender_name: Vicki Brooker I understand that you are broadcasting a program called "Witch City" tonight. Is there a way for me to order a videocassette of this program? I'm a descendant of one of the Salem "witches" and I'm eager to see your show. Thanks in advance for showing what sounds like it will be an informative program on this period of American history. ------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by wgbh.org with ADMIN;20 Apr 1999 16:41:24 +0100 Received: from alpha.wgbh.org by alpha.wgbh.org (5.65v3.2/1.1.10.5/29Apr98-1020AM) id AA16235; Tue, 20 Apr 1999 16:31:35 -0400 Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 16:31:35 -0400 Message-Id: <[email protected]> To: [email protected] From: [email protected] (Vicki Brooker) X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/3.01-C (Macintosh; U; 68K) X-Http-Referer: http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/members/contactus/feedbackform.html X-Form-Generator: feedback.pl Content-Type: text Errors-To: [email protected] Subject: feedback If the video you requested is available through WGBH Boston Video, please know that WGBH Members receive a 10% discount! Just don't forget to ask and have your WGBH Member Card handy! Thank you for your interest in WGBH programs. Please consider supporting WGBH programs with a membership contribution. Membership with WGBH will bring you twelve months of the WGBH program magazine and a Member Card, allowing you to take advantage of discounts at over* locations throughout New England and Eastern Canada. Please visit the "Pledge Today" page on the WGBH website <<www.wgbh.org>> and pledge right now, or call 1-800-492-1111. If you are already a member of WBGH - THANK YOU! If you are not in the WGBH broadcast area, please support your* --------------7EE477703830--

Margo, Thank you for putting the information about the PBS - WGBH documentary "Witch City" on our Salem-Witch site. It was not scheduled to be shown on our local PBS station (KAET in Phoenix). As a "Friend of Channel 8" I will request that it be scheduled in the future. In the meantime, I hope the video will be available for sale through WGBH or through a PBS Store of Knowledge located in better shopping malls. I also appreciate the information on the "Burning Times" video which I intend to order right away. I am very happy to see that the Salem-Witch List is still active. Thank you again, Janet Yates Descendant of Susannah North Martin and Edward Wightman (burned at the stake in England, twice, for his "heretical" beliefs)

A friend sent this along yesterday. I don't know if PBS stations outside of the Boston area will also be broadcasting this program, but I thought I'd alert everyone to watch for it! --Margo, your list-keeper ====================== Public Television's WGBH, Boston, Massachusetts, USA., announces the April 20th 1999, airing of "Witch City", a contemporary documentary about Salem, Massachusetts, Witches, government, evangelical Christians, merchants, pilgrims, etc: http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/tv/viewpoint/witch.html Witch City Production Web Site: http://www.artsgloucester.com/witchcity/ Thank you to Tammy Todd, of Mining Co.'s Alternative Religions: http://altreligion.miningco.com/ Complete announcement is included. "Witch City also looks at the religious battle brewing over Salem's history, as contemporary witches, known as Wiccans, make their own pilgrimages to Salem and are met with protest by evangelical Christians. WGBH Witch City features interviews with Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, Elie Wiesel, and Laurie Cabot, "The Official Witch of Salem," as well as with local business owners, tourists, Wiccans, and Christians." WGBH "I think this is a well-crafted film, given the aesthetic constraints of working on video. It hits hard on both sides, but I do think the Pagan community appears to have more integrity than the business-owners who are clearly out to exploit the town's history to make a buck. One moment in the film stands out for me as particularly chilling: two young women, perhaps nineteen or twenty, are shown perched upon a tombstone in the cemetery. They are dressed in typical Goth-like garb, and one is pretending to stab the other with a knife. They say they are from New York, and continue their mock-attack upon one another, one now pretending to bite the other, acting as if possessed. Seeing the glow in their eyes as they performed in front of the camera I was reminded of those teenage girls three hundred years ago. In the public eye for perhaps the only time in their lives, given license by the court officials to behave scandalously, and willing to sell out their neighbors in what to them seems to have been a hideous childhood game." Peg Aloi, The Witches Voice: http://www.witchvox.com/media/witchcity.html Salem Witch Trials, Frequently Asked Questions http://www.ogram.org/17thc/faqs.shtml "Q: What is a spectre? A: In 17th-century witchcraft terms, a spectre is an active agent of a living witch. The spectre can interact with others but cannot generally be seen by anyone except the victim of the evil. In contrast, a ghost is the active agent of a deceased person." http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/salem/digest.html "Q: What is spectral evidence? A: The afflicted children believed that they saw invisible shapes (spectres) of the [live] witches who were [allegedly] torturing them. No one but the children saw these apparitions. In effect, the children became the accusers, judges, and jury." http://school.discovery.com/schoolstore/videos/rediscoveringamerica-thesalem witchtrials/discussion.html "10. What are contemporary perceptions of witchcraft? It is widely understood that witchcraft is a pantheistic religion that includes reverence for nature, belief in the rights of others and pride in one's own spirituality. Practitioners of witchcraft focus on the good and positive in life and in the spirit and entirely reject any connection with the devil. Their beliefs go back to ancient times, long before the advent of Christianity; therefore no ties exist between them and the Christian embodiment of evil. Witchcraft has been confused in the popular mind with pointy black hats, green faces and broomsticks." http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/learn.html "Q: What are some differences between European and English/New English witch-hunts? Who were the persecuted? How were they punished? A: In England and New England, witchcraft was a civil felony, and felons were hanged. Generally English witchcraft was a harder crime to prove; in all, perhaps 1,500 people in England and New England were put to death. On the European continent, witchcraft was generally looked upon as a heresy against the [Christian] church, and heretics were burned [alive at a stake]. On the [European] Continent, there were massive witch-hunts which over three centuries resulted in deaths of tens, or even hundreds of thousands of people. " http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/salem/digest.html "Q-Where do I get The Burning Times video? A-"The Burning Times", Direct Cinema Ltd., Inc, 213-396-4774 A-'The Burning Times' [a 58 minute video put together by a group of Canadian women to depict Europe's turbulent 15th-17th centuries] Video is referenced under 'Women and Spirituality' and distributed by Direct Cinema Limited, PO Box 10003, Santa Monica, CA 90410; ph-310-396-4774. " http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~jup/witches/FAQ.html ******************************** WGBH [Salem] Witch City April 20th, 1999 In Salem, Massachusetts, witches are big business. With everything from police cars to potato chip bags sporting the hag-on-a-broomstick icon, the city is cashing in on the 1692 Witch Trial tragedy in which 20 innocent residents were killed. Witch City, a 60-minute documentary airing as part of WGBH's Viewpoint series for independent producers, explores how Salem's history has been twisted for commercial gain and religious promotion. Witch City, made by a collective of North Shore filmmakers, airs on Tuesday, April 20 at 10pm on 'GBH/2. Witch City takes viewers on a darkly entertaining, educational, and controversial ride through Salem. Director Joe Cultrera, a Salem native now living in New York City, returns to his hometown during the city's "Haunted Happenings" Halloween celebration. He finds that among t-shirt hawkers, museum owners, and even city leaders, capitalism and greed have overshadowed the town's history and heroism. Witch City also looks at the religious battle brewing over Salem's history, as contemporary witches, known as Wiccans, make their own pilgrimages to Salem and are met with protest by evangelical Christians. Witch City features interviews with Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, Elie Wiesel, and Laurie Cabot, "The Official Witch of Salem," as well as with local business owners, tourists, Wiccans, and Christians. Witch City was made by Joe Cultrera, Henry Ferrini, Phil Lamy, John Stanton, Bob Quinn, and May Liao-all North Shore natives or current residents-for Picture Business Productions and Ferrini Productions. http://www.artsgloucester.com/witchcity/