In defence of witches: how witch hunts still pervade politics, society, and culture
When did the witch hunts end?
When the last woman was executed for witchcraft in the 1700s?
When the last woman was tried and convicted of witchcraft in 1944?
When a 17th century jurist, notorious for sentencing women to death for witchcraft, was quoted as evidence in a trial that captivated the world in 2022 (and many more besides)?
Or have they not ended but shape-shifted to assimilate into modern culture?
The irony that the witch hunts cast an insidious and enduring spell over society, one that still influences how women are treated in law, medicine, politics, sport, and daily life cannot be denied.
Ideas first cultivated in the 17th century still pervade our culture to this very day, from the designs of the clothing women wear, to the hard won legal rights they are starting to see dwindle in the age of supposed equality in the western world.
As time moves on, how far have we really moved on from the days of the witch hunts?
We may not be burning, hanging, and drowning, but just because our methods have changed, it does not mean that the driving forces behind those acts has disappeared; they have merely changed form and now effect more ‘witches’ than ever before.
This is a scary story. Not because it is full of green-faced women who consort with the devil, but because the real ‘devil’ is alive and well and still whispering in our ears through politics, social media, the news, and centuries of internalised culture.
Take a walk through history from 17th century Salem to your doorstep this present day, and discover how the witch hunts are not a memory of distant history, but a part of daily life.
Tickets to the event at Vellichor Books, Stoke-on-Trent (Thursday 31st October, 7pm) can be purchased from their website HERE
Tickets to the online event (Saturday 2nd November, 7pm) can be purchased HERE