Literature / Witches

Before the article starts, let’s warm up with some questions:
1. Have you ever read fairy tales about witches and wizards?
2. Speaking of witches, what places or countries do you think of?

Familiar fairy tales can be seen from Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid. Similar to the image description of the witch, such as wearing a cloak, using witchcraft, looking ugly, and persecuting the good protagonist. However, in fact, witches and wizards should use witchcraft in essence, but witches became the target of public criticism due to the publication of the Witch's Hammer (Note 1) in 1487, which may also have some sexist implications. The doll was formed from Adam's rib, and it is not uncommon for women to be accused of having sex with demons.

Medieval witch hunts saw the persecution of many innocent women, many of them powerless old women or widows, who were inflicted and burned at the stake. Most people know that in the 14th century in Europe, people blamed witches for the cause of the Black Death and aggravated witch hunts. It gradually disappeared in the 17th century, and tens of thousands of women were accused of witches during this period. executed on charges. There are also witch hunts taking place in the United States, the most famous being the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, in which witches were tried and hanged by a serious court. In fact, not only Europe and the United States, the scope of witch hunting is wider than imagined. India and Africa also have witch hunting campaigns. It is hard to imagine that women living in the current era must face great social pressure.

One of the short essays on witch literature is a good read A Witch Trial at Mount Holly. (If you want to read the original text, you can click https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-01-02-0056 )

Presumably, a man and a woman were tried for allegedly using witchcraft to make the cows dance (and their accusers would like to be tried together to prove their innocence). There are two ways of judgment. The first is to weigh a man and a giant Bible on both sides of the scale. The Bible is God’s language. If it is heavier than the Bible, they are not allied with Satan. Bible heavy. So they started a second experiment, tying people up and throwing them into the water, and if they floated they were guilty, and if they sank, they were innocent. This time someone started to sink, but two of the accusers were on the surface, desperately trying to sink to prove their innocence, but couldn't. Therefore, it was finally decided to re-run the trial next time in a nude manner.

This is a fictional story, written anonymously by Benjamin Franklin and published in newspapers in 1730, to mock people's ignorance of witch hunts and their self-scientific trial. A large reason is also written to satirize the aforementioned Salem witch trials.

Think of witch hunts in the traditional sense now gone, but replaced by more sophisticated modern witch hunts. The development of social media allows people to quickly target and target specific people. From physical threats in the Middle Ages to psychological harm in the 21st century, gaining a sense of superiority by targeting others seems to be a law that has never changed. Modern people claim to be civilized, but in fact they are still doing the same things as centuries ago, and the onlookers seem to be watching the excitement, but they are not worried that they will be the next target of trial one day.

Writing and writing may become a little serious, but such a social phenomenon is indeed worth thinking about.

(Note 1) Witch's Hammer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch's Hammer
(Note 2) Benjamin Franklin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin Franklin