Salem MA has world's largest Ouija board

[Erik Nelson]

World's largest Ouija board materializes in Salem

 

[2PhiloVoid]

World's largest Ouija board materializes in Salem

....wow. The games people play with their minds and souls never cease to amaze me.

 

[Erik Nelson]

....wow. The games people play with their minds and souls never cease to amaze me.

According to the Curiosity Stream documentaries Witchcraft: A Century of Murder, the Salem trials were inspired by the actions of "Witchfinder General" Matthew Hopkins in England in 1645-46, who died "probably of tuberculosis" coughing up blood while defending himself against charges of cruelty, illegal use of torture, extra-legal vigilantism exceeding his legal mandates, and fleecing the public purse for personal financial gain.

Ultimately, witch-hunts in England were, in turn, inspired by King James I's book Demonologie, his literate response to witch-hunts in Scotland in 1590-92, linked to parallel witch-trials in Denmark -- all revolving around the freak storms which beset the convoys of Danish princess Anne, and then of King James and now-Queen Anne, to Scotland from Scandinavia in 1589-90. Danish authorities blamed to freak storms (which had endangered the royals' lives) on witchcraft, and then the accused Scottish witches confessed to an international conspiracy with their alleged Danish colleagues -- so piquing King James' interest in the matter, especially when one of the accused privately repeated to him, in his throne room in Scotland, his own intimate words to his wife on their wedding night back in Scandinavia a year earlier

However, the random, confused and child-folk-tale-ish confessions of the accused, under torture, are more consistent with making stuff up to appease authorities, rather than with any substantive leads on any actual witchery in the works. If such international conspiracies ever in fact existed, no "Anglo-Saxon Witchfinder" every found out anything of actual note, but rather (by all appearances) merely accepted considerable money from particular places to supply a legal pretext to rid them of hated outcasts (Matthew Hopkins) or deflected blame for major maritime accidents to such socially isolated & vulnerable persons (allegedly corrupt Danish Finance Minister whose purported embezzlements supposedly put Anne & James' vessels at risk).

Look at Salem today -- there's the world's giantest Ouija board visible from space, despite their "best Matthew Hopkins efforts" 200 years ago.

In no way was King James' desire, that no innocents be condemned and actual conspirators located, ever met. Those brought to "justice" were (most probably) innocent and (possibly) scapegoat fall-people.



Anna Koldings - Wikipedia
North Berwick witch trials - Wikipedia
Agnes Sampson - Wikipedia