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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2017)
Street Roots • Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2017 Culture Page 11 r t Hg ì S è w Joseph E. Baker's “Witch No. 1 ’’from 1892 is a lithograph illustrating the mythological events of the Salem witch trials o f the late 17th century. WITCHES, fro m page 10 English legal history - were two elderly widows in their 70s: Anne Whittle (aka until now,” Spooner said. “It became a story Chattox) and Elizabeth Southerns (aka in which a lot of other concerns could be Demdike), both blind and appearing to come addressed, about marginalization, exclusion straight from the pages of a fairy tale. and persecution.” The representations of the witch as sexy Both publications implied that the or hag-like are two sides of the same coin, witches were a threat to the patriarchal metaphors for the two things society, both institutions of the church and what passed then and now, fears most in women - sexual for orthodox medicine, and they were liberation and aging. brought down accordingly. Both also used “What’s really disturbing about the hag is the inflated claim that there were 9 million when she becomes sexual, and when the victims of the witch trials - an estimate sexy one loses her youth, she becomes the made by German scholar hag,” Spooner said. “The sexy Gottfried Christian Voigt in one can be recuperated by 1784 - and so have been patriarchal culture - why Tli® represents- condemned because of wouldn’t it like a sexy witch? Ileus of the witch historical inaccuracy. But when the hag becomes In conservative England and as sexy or ha®- sexy, then that becomes later in New England during lik e are two sides threatening.” the Salem witch trials of 1692- of the same coin? Uneducated and poor, 93, hanging was preferred to Chattox and Demdike were metaphors lo r burning. most likely wise-women, the two things “The burning witch is not common in isolated village life, society, both then accurate of England at all,” making small sums as healers, and now, fears Spooner said. “It was a using charms or ointments Protestant country, and that most In women - when doctors were not readily was not considered hum ane.... seinal liberation available. It’s safe to assume that if they and their neighbors, Witchcraft is represented and aging» believed they had powers for differently in different good, they would also believe countries, so while (in Europe) those powers could be used for it was much more sexualized, hexes and wrongdoing against those who representations in Britain were not at all.” aggrieved them. Witches in England and in the United Spooner pointed out that these women States are characterized by the other type of became obvious scapegoats during a time of Halloween costume you’ll find on the religious and political upheaval. In remote shelves - the one with the pointy hat, areas like Pendle, Catholics continued to broomstick and warty hooked nose - the practice openly during the English hag. Reformation, and stories from the town At the center of the Pendle Witch coven soon reached King James I, who had two trial of 1612 in Lancashire County, England intense interests - Protestant theology and, - perhaps the best-known coven trial in after a visit to Denmark where he’d attended a witch trial, witch hunting. His book “Daemonologie” instructed his followers to prosecute any practitioners, and in his native Scotland, witch hunting reached far more brutal extremes. “Society chooses who it wants to exclude, and it finds reasons to exclude them,” Spooner said. “To shore up their sense of self and consolidate their own identity, societies have to reject certain things - throw them off. So to deal with the social pressures that were fermenting at that time, they had to pick someone, dirty people outside of the community, that they could get rid of to bolster their own strength. It was arbitrary - it could have been anyone - but it was useful that those women were there and already were the object of social tensions.” One of the arguments against feminist interpretations of the witch trials is that women were often the accusers. But if Chattox and Demdike were both local wise- women, poor and marginalized and in competition, it is logical that they would be ready to accuse one another when the witch hunters began paying attention to Pendle. Their competition ultimately led to each other’s, and to their associates’, demise. In addition to duplicity among the Lancashire witches, many believe they were coerced into confessions. Starved and sleep deprived when they stood before a court, they ended up saying what they thought they were supposed to say. But although that fits with the picture of the witch as oppressed victim, Spooner believes this isn’t how we should remember them. “We shouldn’t get rid of the evil witch completely because for many of those women, that is how they thought of themselves. If you take that away from them, then they don’t have anything - that was their way of reclaiming some power in horrible circumstances. You can see from some of the confessions, there’s a real sense of enjoyment in it, like: ‘Right, I’m just going to make up the most extravagant thing I can think of. Yes! I am going to ride off on a black beast!”’ In 2012, Spooner was involved in the 400th anniversary of the Lancashire witch trials. She was surprised to find how lively this history remains in Lancaster where the executions took place. “Some people would want to merchandise it - sell pointy hats and brooms - and others just said, ‘No. Absolutely not. This is not appropriate. People died. They were real people who were executed as a miscarriage of justice, and we have to be sensitive and respect that,”’ she said. As for Halloween, Spooner doesn’t necessarily think we need to pay similar respect on that day. “I think Halloween is slightly different because it’s not linked to a particular event or specific set of historical circumstances. I love Halloween. There’s something celebratory and joyful about it that we shouldn’t ignore. That in itself can be positive and even political,” Spooner said. “It’s a chance to raise up social fears and deal with them in a way that is comfortable. We can enjoy being scared, but it’s not really scary. It’s innocence. It’s letting off steam, and that forms a really valuable social function.” Courtesy o f B ig Issue North / INSP.ngo
