Notable Quotable:

Notable Quotable:

Remember, folks: whenever a woman says "die for me because you are a man," just look her in the eye and say "my body, my choice."
TCM

Thursday, September 22, 2011

I Just Bought a Witch's Hat for Halloween



This photo, taken by Leigh Cummings, shows a memorial for Mary Easty that is part of the Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Memorial (dedicated 1992) in downtown Salem. It is adjacent to the 17th century Charter Street Old burying Point.




Three hundred nineteen years ago today, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-(count them, there should be 9)-grandmother, Mary Easty, was executed by hanging in Salem, Massachusetts, for witchcraft.  She was 58 years old.  It's an interesting link to history, but a sad one.


Of course the real story of the Salem witch trials was one of power and wealth - politically motivated people taking advantage of a disruption in the lives of ordinary people.  It started with a handful of bored teenyboppers, and it ended when the PTB's decided it was all hogwash - right about the same time that the "possibly unwarranted accusations" were making their way up the food chain and threatening the wives of said PTB's. 


I visited Salem long before I knew Mary and I were blood relatives.  My utter hatred of evil committed in the name of religion, predates my knowledge of that connection by many years.  Kind of a cool coincidence, isn't it?  Or maybe it's hereditary...  



5 comments:

  1. Sad to say but there have been as many lives lost in the name of Christ or God as there have been in the name of Alla. I've seen that memorial and love the town of Salem (a shorten/slang name for Jerusalem.) And witches are a big part of the town now. Many covens there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kind of ironic, ain't it? All of the witches there now are real. It is a beautiful town, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Absolutely fascinating connection. What a strange feeling it must be for you.

    Love,
    Lola

    ReplyDelete
  4. Now the news is out, how many people have called you a witch? Just asking

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cool! Sad but cool! It saddens me the utter evil that gets done in the name of religion.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.