Witch hunting

Witch hunting is a superstitious practice that leads to the persecution and death of hundreds of women in India every year. This practice is prevalent in different parts of the country in various degrees and mostly single women and widows become targets of this least talked about violence on women. Empowerment of women and inculcation of scientific temper among the people can be seen as the means to root out such practices from the society. The present paper analyses the prevalence of this custom in Assam and through case study of the initiatives undertaken by Assam Mahila Samata Society (AMSS) towards rescue and rehabilitation of the victims, attempts to understand the role of alternative communication strategies in mitigation of the problem. It is observed that AMSS uses an interesting mix of awareness and capacity building activities through women's collectives designed specifically to provide a grassroots support system within the communities.

ABSTRACT
The Jacobean era's infamous witchcraft trials are recalled after reservoir repairs close to Pendle Hill reveal a buried cottage with bricked‐up cat. Interpretations of the building as the site of Malkin Tower, recorded in court records as the venue of a witches coven are critically evaluated in the light of archaeological and historical evidence.

KEYWORDS
WITCH, PENDLE WITCH TRIALS, PENDLE HILL, MALKIN TOWER, FOLK BELIEF, MAGIC, LANCASTER ASSIZES, WISE WOMEN, CUNNING FOLK, ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY, SEVENTEENTHCENTURY, ALIZON DEVICE, SALEM WITCHES, THOMAS POTTS, LOWER BLACK MOSS, ELIZABETH SOUTHERNS, DEMDIKE, ELIZABETH DEVICE, JAMES DEVICE, ANNE WHITTLE, CHATTOX, ANNE REDFERNE, JANE BULCOCK, JOHN BULCOCK, ALICE NUTTER, KATHERINE HEWITT, ALICE GRAY, JENNET PRESTON, GUNPOWDER PLOT, CAT

From the European witch-craze in the 16th century to modern day African witchcraft beliefs and contemporary cases of violent witch-hunting in India, history has been witness to witch-hunting across time and place. Why have witch-hunts taken place in the past? What makes them endure to the present? How are witchcraft beliefs different from place to place? Why are women targeted as witches? What is the role of gender in witch-hunting? How can we make sense of how witch-hunts play out in today’s world? This review of diverse materials including scholarly articles and NGO reports tries to answer these questions and more from a feminist perspective, and attempts to piece together varied understandings on witch-hunting so as to find ways forward in which to respond to ongoing attacks on women in the name of witch-hunting.It particularly explores the value of moving beyond discourses of culture, illiteracy, superstition and irrationality, to investigate the structural reasons that explain the gendered nature of witch hunting. The review is a second publication by PLD on witch hunting, and part of a larger ongoing initiative for creating evidence and a knowledge base on the targeting of women as witches.

Consideration is given to how elements of the occult: witchcraft, magic and sorcery may be identified in the archaeological record. Working definitions of occult terminology are established before proceeding to propose a new approach, which triangulates data from historic and folkloric sources with archaeological evidence, to establish contextual narratives that stand for the past. Excavation of an occult ritual site at Barway, Cambridgeshire is presented to demonstrate how the approach works in practice. Archaeological evidence, combined with local folklore and historic accounts of spells and sorcery, identify the site as the locus of occult activity performed by cunning folk, or ‘white’ witches, during the seventeenth-century.

KEYWORDS
OCCULT, CUNNING FOLK, WITCH, WITCHCRAFT, SPELL, MAGIC, SORCERY, FOLKLORE, EAST ANGLIA, ELY, SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY, GRIMOIRE, PENDLE WITCH TRIAL, MATTHEW HOPKINS, JOHN STEARNE.

Female monasticism and the conversion of the Jews were both major concerns for the ecclesiastical establishment, as well as for Italian ruling elites, after the Council of Trent (1545–1563). Hence, the monachization of baptized Jewish girls acquired a unique symbolic significance. Moreover, during this period cases of demonic possession were on the rise, and so were witchcraft accusations. This article explores a case from late sixteenth-century Mantua in which Jewish conversion, female monachization, demonic possession and witch-hunting all came into play in a violent drama. Drawing on unpublished documents as well as on chronicles and hagiographies, the article elucidates the mental toll that conversion and monachization took on the Jewess Luina, who later became known as Sister Margherita. It delineates her life, which culminated with her diagnosis as a demoniac, and analyzes the significance that this etiology held for the energumen—whose affliction was attributed to her ongoing contacts with Jews—and for Mantua's Jews. The article argues that the anxiety provoked by suspicions that a formerly Jewish nun reverted to Judaism was so profound, that it led to the burning at the stake of Judith Franchetta, the only Jew ever to be executed as a witch in the Italian peninsula.

This paper focuses on the reception of Lucian’s Philopseudes in a particular context, namely the controversy that arose in England about witchcraft and the witch hunt in the seventeenth century. In the first section of this study, a brief introduction will deal with the misinterpretation of Lucian’s works on the part of intellectuals who supported the persecution of so-called witches. In particular, the Strix by Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola will be taken into account. In the second section, attention will be drawn to a treatise against superstition written by John Wagstaffe in 1669 and entitled The Question of Witchcraft Debated; Or a Discourse against their Opinion that affirm Witches. Wagstaffe’s inclusion of the Philopseudes as an appendix to his treatise will be considered and will hopefully shed a new light on the modern reception of this Lucianic dialogue.

It is generally assumed that Santal women contributed imperative role in the Santal rebellion of 1855. According to the judicial records of the rebellion almost every Santal woman was a rebel and many of them were arrested for their active involvement in the rebellion. Scholars on Santal rebellion have used such colonial administrative accounts to emphasize the subaltern protest against colonialism. However, detailed study of administrative accounts also reveals that after trial most of the women prisoners were released as they were found innocent.  Moreover, Santal women were persecuted under the pretext of witch hunting by the orders of the leaders. This article would argue how the women became the victims of unrest which has not been discussed so far. Another most important thing is that this article would also argue that Santal rebellion was not spontaneous.    Therefore, the age old concept of women participation in the Santal rebellion of 1855 needs reconsideration.

The study deals with the activity of György Igyártó, who as procurator and witch-hunter had a major influence both on the judicial activity and the persecution of witches from Kolozsvár/Cluj in the late sixteenth century. First in the service of the citizens, then as the official procurator of Cluj, he had a determinant role in introducing the ex officio proceedings at the law-court of Kolozsvár. He was a ferocious enemy of the witches, between 1582 and 1585 prosecuting almost a dozen of them, more than half of who ended up being burned. Certain acts of judicial corruption he got involved in show that the main motivations of his acts were his financial interests and vengefulness against those who endangered his social and professional status by questioning his honour and reputation.

In memory of András Kiss.

It is generally assumed that Santal women contributed an imperative role in the Santal rebellion of 1855. According to the judicial records of the rebellion, almost every Santal woman was a rebel and many of them were arrested for their active involvement in the rebellion. Scholars on Santal rebellion have used such colonial administrative accounts to emphasize the subaltern protest against colonialism. However, a detailed study of administrative accounts also reveals that, after trial, most of the women prisoners were released as they were found innocent. Access to insider voices reveals how Santal women were persecuted under the pretext of witch-hunting by the very orders of Santal leaders. This article would argue how the women became the victims of the unrest and how the Santal rebellion was not spontaneous, and would critically propose how the age-old concept of women’s participation in the Santal rebellion of 1855 needs reconsideration.