Why Do Witches Burn? - A blog about witches, magic, and much more

     I watched the very first episode of Salem , and I must say, I was both surprised and fascinated by what I saw. I thought the episode did a good job setting the scene and establishing the main characters. I did find it interesting that Mary Sibley and John Alden were at the center of attention since I haven't read as much about these people as I have about those people that were the accusers and accused. However, I was happy that I recognized characters like Cotton Mather, Tituba, and Giles Corey. Right away, I realized that this show wasn't going to simply rely on rumors, mystery, and fairytale to create the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. Instead, the show established early on that witchcraft would be a real thing, and depictions of Satan, the dead, familiars, and the connection between them all would drive the early depictions of witches in the show. A few things I liked was how Cotton Mather was written as an educated and knowledgeable character, but ...

      The practices of witchcraft are alive and well on social media platforms. Below are some examples of present-day witches on social media. 1.  Wicca on Instagram     This post on Instagram was found under #witchesofinstagram. User moonmysticgoddess agrees with the idea that Wicca is not devil worship and has nothing to do with the Christian idea of the devil, but instead is the worship of nature. 2.  Types of Witches     "WitchTok" has a pretty big following on the emerging social media app TikTok. This video shows different types of witches, their practices, and some books and accompanying items associated with that type of witch. 3.  Speaking to the Dead     This TikTok user believes she has a gift to communicate with the dead. In this video, she recounts an occasion in which she mediated a conversation between an owner and their deceased dog.     There is plenty more out there, and not just on Instagram and Ti...

      I think I might be cursed. For much of my time as a student, both in high school and college, I have been a stage five procrastinator. No matter how big or small the task or assignment may be, I always find a way to save it until nearly the last possible second to start doing it. Like most people I know that procrastinate, once I start doing the task, I have no problem whatsoever completing it. I always put off writing papers (or blog posts.... whoops) until the last minute, but I actually enjoy writing and feel satisfied when I am finished. Most of the time, I just look for something else I would rather do like go to a baseball game, play video games, watch a movie, or stare at the wall just to further put off doing whatever assignments I need to get done. Of course, I can always do those things after I finish my work, but the way I see it, I have time to do my work after I do these other things. I think I keep doing it because I never really get punished for it. S...

      After hearing Maya and Victoria talk about curanderas in their family and some of the fascinating healing practices used to cure stomach pain and back pain, I decided to perform my own little witch hunt on my girlfriend later that evening. My girlfriend, Madison, also comes from a Hispanic family, so I wanted to ask her about the things I had learned about in class that day to see if her family believed in any of them.     I remember when we first started dating, I had started coughing a lot and she told me to rub Vicks on my feet and put on socks. I looked at her like she was crazy because my grandmother always rubbed a little Vicks on our chests when we were stuffy, but to think about putting it on my feet was bizarre. She explained that in her family, Vicks was the cure for almost everything. I quickly learned that this wasn't too out of the ordinary and isn't culturally specific to Hispanic families. So, she's off the hook with the Vicks thing, bu...

     One of my guilty pleasures that I am a bit embarrassed by is that I watch the History Channel show Ancient Aliens . If you aren't familiar with the show, each episode takes on a different topic like "Cowboys and Aliens," "Aliens and Mythology," or "Aliens and Ancient Technology." Essentially, the show pushes forward the claim that advanced aliens have visited Earth before and have gotten involved in shaping human history. As a history student, I find it enjoyable to watch because its almost like a form of alternative history and historical fiction. Sometimes the end of a really good episode will leave me saying, "I don't know, maybe there was something interesting going on there," whether I truly believe in the theory that aliens were an integral part of making the event, person, civilization, etc. interesting.      Why am I talking about Ancient Aliens ? One of the things I have picked up from the show is that humans always come up ...

     After reading Victoria's blog post on witches in popular music, I started thinking about other portrayals of women as witches in music. I listened to the Radiohead song, "Burn the Witch," that Victoria mentioned in her blog, and I listed to the song "Witchy Woman" by The Eagles. After digging into the background and meaning of "Witchy Woman," I learned that drummer and co-lead singer Don Henley drew the inspiration of writing about a seductive enchantress from a biography he was reading about Zelda Fitzgerald, who was said to be the muse for famous American writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Zelda's biography portrayed her as a bewitching and mesmerizing "flapper" in the Roaring Twenties, and it is sometimes thought that she was the inspiration for Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby .      My brief exploration of witch songs in rock music led me to look elsewhere for songs where women are thought to be magical and mesmerizing. I listen to ...

      There are many things about sports that are magical. Watching the most athletic humans in the world pull off seemingly impossible feats of strength, agility, and finesse is magical in its own right. Many announcers and commentators have said something along the lines of "There is magic in the air," in the middle of some of the biggest moments in big games. As a sports fan, I can attest that there is something magical about going to a baseball game under the lights or witnessing the underdogs pull off an upset in basketball. Yet, there may be more magic involved in sports than the feeling you get witnessing some of the greatest athletic accomplishments or getting wrapped up in the atmosphere of a big game.     Superstitions are something that people tend to dismiss as crazy or just fun to talk about in everyday life. In sports, however, superstitions are not taken lightly. Even if players or fans are a little skeptical about the beliefs in question, they us...