Reply
Tue 25 Oct, 2005 04:11 pm
I was wondering if there was a real explanation behind the afflicted girls's fits. Were they faking it or did something really happen?
about this time of year, alot of these questions pop on the board.
There must be alot of school lessons behind these questions.
If you use Search and type in Witch trials, you will get HUNDREDS of threads with tons and TONS of information
I read in a book once, can't remember if it was fiction or non now, but it said perhaps a reason for it was some kind of seed in some kind of something they were using to bake bread. Haven't got a clue as if that was it or not. That's all I remember about the book.
obviously they were witches.
M'Angel is on the right track. It was a fungus called ergo and is similar to LSD. When grain gets wet in storage this fungus can form and humans ingest it as bread. It's believed that many people who were thought to be possessed by evil spirits were actually suffering from ergo poisoning. Sad to say, many people were tortured and killed when the real enemy was lack of refrigeration.
Green Witch,
Yep! That's it. That's what I read. Thanx for elaborating for me.
You mean we can get high off wet grain as long we let it sit long enough?......Joking.....
Yes - ergot fungus - it grows on rye (also on other similar crops). Ergot fungus contains lysergic acid - lysergic acid diethylamide is LSD. Apparently there are reports of "temporary madness" in parts of the US caused by eating bread baked from ergot-infected grains. Some of these events have been reported quite recently. There is a theory that this occured in Salem - I don't know if that's accurate though.
Momma Angel wrote:I read in a book once, can't remember if it was fiction or non now, but it said perhaps a reason for it was some kind of seed in some kind of something they were using to bake bread. Haven't got a clue as if that was it or not. That's all I remember about the book.
Oh yeah, I found that. Ergot of Rye, in the book Acceptable Risk.
goodfielder wrote:Yes - ergot fungus - it grows on rye (also on other similar crops). Ergot fungus contains lysergic acid - lysergic acid diethylamide is LSD. Apparently there are reports of "temporary madness" in parts of the US caused by eating bread baked from ergot-infected grains. Some of these events have been reported quite recently. There is a theory that this occured in Salem - I don't know if that's accurate though.
Wow.
Thank you, I'm gonna stick that in somewhere, somehow.
That's it, goodfielder! Thank you. You refreshed my memory!
Hey. I highly recommend reading Arthur Miller's, The Crucible for a really good insight. There's also a movie if youre not a reader.. the movie isn't as good in my opinion but its a really worthwhile text to be familiar with.
There's that theory about the ergot alkaloid, but it's also possible that they were faking, or it was a form of hysteria.A lot of those girls had been through some traumatic experiences, and their claims of witch craft were the only control they had over the other people in the village ( a fair few of them were servants). It's quite possible they began to believe what they were doing actually happened, in the
A lot of people don't need to have access to a hallucinogenic substance to remember things that haven't happened, and feel possessed/controlled by another person or illness. Hysterical illnesses are far more common than you might expect. In Victorian times, women would become "bed cases", suffering fits and unable to leave their beds. More recently, conditions like dissociative identity disorder ( multiple personality disorder) , recovered memories and alien abductions have emerged ( all likely to be forms of hysteria) in which the person affected usuallyconvinces themselves of the authenticity of their illness/memories.
Also, if you look a few pages back, you'll find another post where we talked about the Salem witch trials. You might find that information useful.
The standard book on the subject is "Salem Possessed" by Boyer and Nissenbaum . It locates the origins of the accusations in social tensions in the community.
Yeah, what causes them to get the seizures and things is a kind of fungus called ergot fungus that LSD comes from, and its not like a regular high stupid teens get with their drugs, it makes you crazy and you see things and it's like taking an acid trip, but it probably doesn't feel great...
I saw something on the history channel once that said the girls were faking everything. One of the reasons of proof for that was that they went into "hysterics" or such at the exact same moment as each other. There were other reasons but it's been a while.
I do believe that the Salem Witch trials were about one century
behind the times, so to speak. Behind Europe. This WAS the
"new world" after all. Some things never change. Just as it is
today ... a person hears the latest, recent craze depending
upon where they live. Big city - catch on quick. Live out in the
middle of nowhere, on a farm - it may well be years before
these folks have the slightest idea what is going on in the rest
of the world.
There had already been a long history of witch trials/
witch murders/killings in Europe. The good people of Europe had
already enjoyed several centuries of such trials/tortures/murders;
from which they came away feeling safe, satisfied, justified. It
was a relief for the males of the species, because what actually
was going on in Europe ( and later in Salem) was purely a simple
case of projection. "The Church" the very powerful Church
was preaching celibacy as if it was THE SINGLE CERTAIN PATH TO
TRUE VIRTUE, TO LIFE EVERLASTING. NEVER TO HAVE TO FACE
THE PROSPECT OF HELL. These were very serious times,
very scary times. The goal in a man's life was to avoid hell.
How to do this? Avoid the fires of hell by being "good" in this
life & rewarded in the next. Because "The Church" urged
people to lead a life of goodness & perfection; men felt a great
need to quit what was considered to be "man's base instincts".
In other words, avoid sex because it is inherently bad.
Being sexually repressed by this urgent need for "a life of
goodness & perfection" made life hell on earth!!
How can a healthy human male not EVER have any sexual
feelings? Men lived in fear of ever being taken over by their
own sexual needs & frustrations. If ( for example) a man is
rossing a street, sees a truly beautiful young woman, nature
calls, the man becomes aroused at the mere sight of her.
IN HIS THINKING .. this debacle has destroyed his chance of
avoiding eternal damnation, hellfire & brimstone, and
all that jazz.
Becoming aroused throws this poor guy into a fit of terror.
Women at this time ( and up till the late 19th century ) were
KNOWN TO NOT HAVE SOULS. He is sure that he is
being tempted by Satan himself. Naturally, it is just a quick
hop, step and jump to point a finger at her, then yell & scream:
WITCH!! WITCH!! WITCH!!
The poor girl didn't stand a chance. There were more
women/girls killed/murdered during these centuries,
than died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, more than the
Jews in the Nazi crematoriums and camps. More than in Rwanda.
Maybe not as fast .... true. But in the final analysis it amounted
to what can only be called a kind of ethnic cleansing. Churches
have changed a little ... but ANY religion proposing the concept
of Adam and Eve, is clearly in the business of "the demonization
of women". And any guy who chomps on the apple, then blames it
on the nearest female ... has a serious problem with projection!!
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace