Riding the Nightmare: Women and Witchcraft from the Old World to Colonial Salem

By: Selma Williams and Pamela Williams Adelman

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Since ancient times, women practiced the art of healing with herbs, and developed a spiritual connection with the natural world. In the 15th century the Catholic Church, under threat from a variety of social upheavals in western Europe, launched an all-out attack against heretics and persons considered to be practitioners of witchcraft. For more than 200 years witches (mostly, but not wholly female) were accused, tried, and frequently put to death. The author traces the history of witchcraft, weaving in mythology about powerful women of ancient times. She shows how both Catholic and Protestant churches used the fear of witchcraft as a means to force compliance. The crusade against witches came to New England with the Puritans and reached its highest pitch in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692.