ARTICLE: SHAMANISM

Shamanism

Shamanism is premised on the belief that the visible world is pervaded by invisible spirits that affect the lives of the living. Intermediaries known as shamans are believed to have contact with these forces and to be able to cure illness, foretell the future, and control natural events. Some societies distinguish shamans who cure from sorcerers who harm, while others believe that all shamans have both curative and deadly powers. What methods do shamans use to make contact with the spirit world? More…Discuss

Related articles

• Secrets of Siberian Shamanism
• Shamanism

Today’s Birthday: REVEREND JOHN HALE (1636)

 

Title page of “A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reverend John Hale (1636)

Hale was a church pastor in nearby Beverly, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials in the late 17th century. Initially, Hale supported the prosecutions of the alleged witches. Once his second wife was accused of witchcraft, however, he had a change of heart, denouncing the practice of witch hunts in his book A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. A fictional portrayal of Hale appears in Arthur Miller’s famed play The Crucible. What happened to Hale’s wife? More… Discuss

Related articles

• The Crucible (heybebetter.wordpress.com)
• How did the Judicial court help end the Salem Witch Trials? And what is the Judicial court? (witchcraft-and-sorcery.knowledge-pool.com)
• Did all the Salem Puritans “Hunt Witches?” (reformedforhisglory.wordpress.com)
• The witch hunt (janeteas11.wordpress.com)
• 1692 Salem, Massachusetts – Witch Trials (biveyettesinclair.wordpress.com)
• Bewitchment: Ancestors in the Salem Witch Trial (mfixo.wordpress.com)