T
Thekla
Guest
I can't put it all on Protestants either.
I heard a theory that some ergot rye mold had gotten into their crops.
It is a source of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). That could make you think someone cast a spell on you.
A study done of all colonial American accusations/trials other than Salem, where records were still extant, found a pretty clear pattern -- accusations centered around "class" (reversal of fortune, acting outside of one's economic strata). In general, change (social) was the issue. The author offered the (then contemporary with the study) day-care 'satanic abuse' accusations as a possible parallel -- a period of seismic shift in social realtions and structures related to heightened feeling of alarm and vigilance -- fear.
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