National Capital Area ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ S○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○KEPTICAL EYE • encourages critical and scientific thinking • serves as an information resource on extraordinary Vol. 18, No. 1 claims • provides extraordinary evidence that skeptics are cool 2006 Mysterious Delusions: Witchcraft in by Walter F. Rowe, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Forensic Sciences The George Washington University Washington, DC

he Salem witchcraft trials are events that most Americans have heard of, but about which they actually know very little. For ex- ample, some people believe that witchesT were burnt in Salem. Actually, the prescribed punishment for witchcraft under English law was hanging. Another commonly held belief is that the witchcraft hysteria started when a group of young girls in Salem, under the tutelage of , an African slave, used magical spells to try to find out the occu- pations of the men that they would marry. This cluster of beliefs now has the status of an academic urban legend. The notion that a

group of girls was using magic to find out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials about their future husbands stems from a care- 1876 illustration of the contributions to American history (even if that less reading of a remark of Rev. , courtroom; the central contribution is the creation of a moral panic). figure is usually Mary who wrote that one of the young accusers had This claim flies in the face of the clear, unam- Walcott confided to him her own use of magic in this biguous statement of Rev. , her way. owner, that she was an Indian. The idea that a group of girls in Salem coming events 2 After generations of shame over the Village could meet clandestinely to carry on witchcraft trials, the town of Salem has now prez sez 2 magical séances represents a failure of the his- decided to capitalize on it. Thus, Salem has its The Amazing torical imagination. The girls lived on widely Meeting 4 4 Salem Witchcraft Museum, its Salem Wax dispersed farms; many were domestic ser- Museum (with tableaux of the trials) and the So-called vants; and all lived in very cramped houses Intelligent Witch House (actually the house of Justice of under constant adult supervision and surveil- Design is Not the Peace ,). Ironically, al- Science 24 lance. A perusal of the floor plan of any 17th though the trials did, indeed, take place in Sa- century New England house shows that per- Michael lem, the witchcraft hysteria in 1692 started in Servetus—Death sonal privacy simply did not exist. Salem Village (now the township of Danvers), by Fire 26 Finally, the belief that the slave Tituba and most of the accused witches resided in Origin of Modern was African has been put about by academic other townships. A 17th century inhabitant of Day Occult 30 activists eager to highlight African-American about NCAS 32 continued on page 8 coming events

The 2005-2006 NCAS Lecture season ends at the Tysons-Pimmit Library in Virginia in May. There will be a social for NCAS on September 9, November 11, December members in June—details forthcoming. 9, and February 10. Dates are being re- The Board has decided to resume holding served for NCAS talks at the Bethesda Li- monthly NCAS events in Virginia as well brary in January, March, April, and May. as Maryland, true to the “Capital Area” The NCAS annual program will be held in part of our name and mission. In the com- October at a venue to be determined. ing 2006-2007 lecture season, talks will be prez sez by Gary Stone

ear NCAS Members: These five issues were ranked equally As the annual NCAS board election high by the most respondents: Darrives, it is a good time to take stock. ■ Creationism/Intelligent Design, Evolution, Although the recent informal NCAS members Religion vs. Reason, Separation of Church questionnaire was not designed to produce ro- and State bust statistical inferences about the entire ■ K-12 Science Education, Science Literacy, NCAS membership, a simple tabulation of the Critical Thinking, Political Correctness responses does provide the following insights, ■ Unscientific/Alternative/Quack/Fringe Sci- which will be helpful in planning future ence/Health/Medicine/Psychology: e.g., NCAS activities. Thanks to all who partici- Herbal Medicines, Medical Charlatans, pated. Keep your suggestions coming to Medical Scams, False Memories [email protected]. ■ Scientific ignorance, misuse of Science/ Statistics/Data in media/politics/public policy/ government regulation; fads in management, health, and self-help ■ Explanations/Debunking of Cold Readings, Hoaxes, Frauds, Scams, Psychics, Pseudo- Current NCAS president, Gary Stone, has served in many science capacities in NCAS over the years, As indications of NCAS members’ wide- most recently as vice president of ranging interests, these other issues were men- the board of directors. Gary often tioned by one respondent each: will be seen videotaping the monthly ■ Anomalous science and technology

NCAS presentations for posterity. photo of Gary Stone by Helen Hester-Ossa ■ Archeological controversies ➨

NCAS Board of Directors Editor/Designer/ National Capital Area Skeptical Eye (ISSN 1063-2077) Photographer is published by the National Capital Area Skeptics, PO Executive Committee Box 8428 , Silver Spring, MD 20907. Gary Stone, president Helen E. Hester-Ossa Jim Giglio, vice president Copyright © 2005 National Capital Area Skeptics. Signed Marv Zelkowitz, secretary Guest Editor articles are the opinions of the authors. Opinions ex- Grace Denman, treasurer Sharlene Deskins pressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position of the Chip Denman, spokesperson editors, the Board of Directors, or the National Capital Area Skeptics. Other Board members Sharlene Deskins Meredith Rode 24-hour phone number: 301-587-3827 Herb M. Federhen Walter F. Rowe e-mail: [email protected] Neil Inglis Tim Scanlon Skeptical Eye input: [email protected] Curtis Haymore Scott Snell Internet: http://www.ncas.org Brian Morton Jamy Ian Swiss

NCAS discussion group: [email protected] Eugene W. Ossa recycled paper ○○○○○○

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■ Astrology The zip codes from which people come to ■ Biological sciences attend weekend and week night NCAS events ■ Conspiracy theories will take a little longer to analyze. Several dif- ■ Cosmological controversies ■ Government disinformation Percentages of Respondents Who Said They ■ Low energy nuclear reactions Could Attend NCAS Events at These Times ■ Occult beliefs, how they affect culture MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN ■ Post Modernism ■ Space First Week ■ Systems Biology Morning 16.7 11.11 ■ Unconventional ideas in science, the value of Afternoon 55.6 55.56 ■ UFOs Evening 38 27 22 27 11 55.6 22.22 Respondents said they were able to attend Second Week weekend daytime NCAS events in Metro Morning 27.8 16.67 Montgomery County (94%), D.C. (77%), Afternoon 55.6 55.56 Metro VA (72%), and Metro PG County Evening 38 27 16 22 11 44.4 22.22 (61%). For evening events it was Montgomery County (72%), D.C. (50%), Metro VA (44%), Third Week and Metro PG (38%). Morning 27.8 11.11 Regarding subway or bus transportation, Afternoon 61.1 50 half the respondents said that subway/bus Evening 38 27 22 27 11 50 22.22 transportation is “very important” (11%) or Fourth Week “somewhat important” (38%) for their atten- Morning 27.8 16.67 dance at NCAS events—correspondingly, the Afternoon 61.1 50 other half of respondents said that subway/bus Evening 38 27 22 27 11 55.6 27.78 transportation is “not at all important” (44%) or “not very important” (5%). The percentage of respondents who were discouraged in attending high-interest NCAS ferent inferences are possible from the data. If events by each of these factors were: conflict- you are interested in helping with that analy- ing obligations (61%), day or time (27%), lo- sis, please contact me. cation (16%), too far (16%), didn’t see notice We received many excellent comments, (11%), forgot (11%), don’t like gatherings suggestions and specific offers to help (5%). NCAS—we’ll soon follow-up on each of Shown below are the percentages of re- those individually. spondents who said they could attend NCAS events at these times: Gary Stone, [email protected]

elections coming soon

lections for the NCAS Board of Direc- Bing Garthright tors will be coming soon. The Board Curtis Haymore Emembers up for election/reelection this Ron Levin year are: Walter Rowe Sharlene Deskins Scott Snell

Herb Federhen Jamy Ian Swiss Be watching your mail! ○○○○○○○○○○

Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 3 The Amaz!ng Meeting 4, hosted by James “The Amazing Randi” and the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), was held at the soon-to-be-torn- down Stardust Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from January 26-29, 2006. James Randi has an international reputation as a The Amazing Meeting 4 magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world’s most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.

All photos by Helen Hester-Ossa James “The Amazing” Randi, host of TAM4

Randi and NCAS’ own Chip Denman and Eugene Ossa. Other NCAS members who attended were Grace Denman, Curtis Hayfield, Helen Hester-Ossa, Scott Snell, and Jamy Ian Swiss.

Christopher Hitchens’ trademark savage Todd Robbins and the Human Pretzel, which included Adam wit flattens Savage from Mythbusters hypocrisy inside the DC Beltway and around the world, laying bare the “permanent government” of entrenched powers and interests. He’s the author of many bestsellers. From Mother Theresa to Michael Moore, no one is above scrutiny.

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4 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 TAM4 continued from previous page Award-winning magician, psychologist, and author, Dr. Richard Wiseman is frequently seen on British television and has given lectures in many different countries. He pays particular attention to the psychology behind belief in psychics and most recently, alleged hauntings.

Grace & Chip Denman, National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS). Daniel W. “Chip” Denman is a statistician at the University of Maryland. He teaches “Science and Pseudoscience” for the Daniel Dennett’s research centers Honors Program, and recently created a graduate course in on philosophy of mind and information visualization for the College of Information Studies. philosophy of science, particularly He is a past-president and co-founder of NCAS. Grace is also as those fields relate to evolutionary a co-founder and current treasurer of NCAS. biology and cognitive science. He is currently the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and director Dr. Stanley Krippner has of the Center for Cognitive Studies conducted workshops and at Tufts University. (No, your eyes seminars on personal aren’t fooling you, Dennett and mythology, dreams, hypnosis, Randi look very similar.) and/or anomalous phenomena in over a dozen different countries. He is a Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study Lt Colonel Hal Bidlack, Ph.D., (left) is an Associate Professor of of Religion, and has published Political Science at the USAF Academy. He has a long history with the cross-cultural studies on JREF, and has previously performed as Master of Ceremonies, spiritual content in dreams. speaker, and presenter. Dr. Michael Shermer (right) is the Director of the Skeptics Society, founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, columnist for Scientific American, and producer of the TV series, Exploring the Unknown. His many books include: The Borderlands of Science, How We Believe, and Why People Believe Weird Things.

Magician and comedian Mac King was named “Magician of the Year” by the Magic Castle in Hollywood, broke a Guinness World Record, just appeared on his special for NBC, was voted the 6th best show in Randi and the Amazing Levitating Astronaut, Ed Lu. Since obtaining his Las Vegas, and his new book has just Ph.D., Dr. Lu has been a research physicist working in the fields of entered its 5th printing. King is shown here solar physics and astrophysics. He’s also spent 207 days in space pulling a Fig Newton out of his pants aboard the Space Shuttle and ISS, and was a volunteer in “The First Card Trick in Space.”

Mac King and his cloak of invisibility

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Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 5 TAM4 continued from page 5 In 1969, Professor Dr. Carolyn Porco is a Murray Gell-Mann leader in the received the Nobel exploration of the solar Prize in physics for his system. She wrote her work on the theory of thesis on Voyager, elementary particles has worked on the and is author of the Mars Observer, the popular science book, Lunar Explorer, and The Quark and the Cassini. Her company Jaguar, Adventures in produces space the Simple and the imagery in an artistic Complex. and educational manner.

Known to viewers from hit shows Northern Exposure and Empty Nest, Paul Provenza is on the cutting Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are the Mythbusters, a couple of guys with lots of edge of comedy. Most recently, Paul directed the special effects experience who test urban legends and blow stuff up. Part science, part award winning documentary, The Aristocrats. education, their hit show on the Discovery Channel shows that science can be fun as well as informative. Shown are Hyneman, Kari Byron (one of the Mythbusters team),Savage, and Penn Jillette.

Carney showmanTodd Robbins and Paul Harris, of “The Paul Harris Show” on News- Talk 1120 KMOX .

Ellen Johnson is the President of American Atheists, which defends the civil rights of nonbelievers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses First Amendment issues. A second-generation Adam Savage of Mythbusters speaks to Ovation Award winner Julia Sweeney, who is Atheist herself, she best known for her character Pat on Saturday Night Live, and her acclaimed Broadway organized the historic show “God Said, Ha!”. She has worked on the shows Sex & the City and Desperate “Godless Americans Housewives and has written and performed 2 one-woman monologues. Julia won her March on Washington”

Ovation Award for her current one-woman show, “Letting Go of God.” in 2002. ➨ ○○○○○○

6 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 TAM4 continued from previous page Penn Jillette is half of the duo known as Penn & Teller. They defy labels, and, at times, good taste. They’ve performed together for more than 25 years; skewering the genre of magic, their sold-out audiences, and

themselves — very often all at the same ➨

time, within one mind- boggling evening. Penn is shown here in his American Jamy Ian Swiss has flag shirt, which he later performed internationally literally took off his back for for corporate clients, the auction to benefit the lectured to magicians in 13 James Randi Educational countries, and made Foundation. Randi wears numerous television the shirt, below, during the appearances including auction. CBS 48 Hours, PBS Nova, the PBS documentary The Art of Magic, and Comedy Central. He is a co-founder of the National Capital Area Skeptics and a contributor to Skeptic magazine.

Artist Jose Alvarez (aka “Carlos”) donated to the JREF auction two pieces of quartz artwork that raised more than $6,000 apiece.

Todd Robbins, above and above left, demonstrates his carney skill of sword swallowing. Todd Robbins is the world’s foremost purveyor of reality at its most amazing—He is the classiest act to ever grace the stage of the American Sideshow. You may have seen him on one of the over 100 TV appearances he has done! These include multiple appearances on David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien; and the NBC

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Salem Village would nod knowingly at this time. In 1636 the Bay Colony had established modern example of Salem Town’s getting “To advance Learning and over on Salem Village. perpetuate it to Posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches.” Although The 17th Century New England Mind the emphasis of the early curriculum of the The Salem witchcraft trials occurred at the College was on classical languages, the cur- very beginning of the scientific revolution. riculum also included Aristotelian philosophy, Copernicus’ heliocentric solar system was just logic, mathematics, physics, and astronomy. becoming widely accepted. Robert Hookes’ The quality of the education provided at Micrographia (the first book on microscopy) Harvard was highly regarded: Oxford formally was just off the presses. had recognized a Harvard A.B. as equivalent to an published his Principia Mathematica in 1687. Oxford A.B. Given that Harvard College was In 1692 Rev. Richard Bentley presented the the only institution of higher learning in New first popularization of the Newtonian world England, it is not surprising that many of the system when he delivered the first Boyle Lec- major figures in the Salem witchcraft trials ture. Robert Boyle, the father of chemistry, were Harvard graduates: William Stoughton, discoverer of Boyles’ Law of Gases, and au- deputy governor and chief justice of the spe- thor of the Sceptical Chymist, had died the cial court that tried the witches; Nathaniel previous year and left an endowment for lec- Saltonstall and Samuel Sewell, members of tures demonstrating the compatibility of sci- the special court; , negotiator ence and Christianity. of the colony’s new charter, President of The Bay Colony was, in Harvard College, pastor of Old North Church many ways, an intellectual backwater. There in , and ultimately a harsh public critic were no newspapers; books were rare and of the special court; , son of In- costly. In most households reading material crease Mather, pastor of , was restricted to the Bible and the almanacs Giles and . prolific writer and the strongest public de- He was pressed to death issued by Harvard College. At Harvard Col- fender of the trials and the special court; John with stones; she was hung. lege the principal scien- Hale, minister of Beverly, Massachusetts, wit- tific textbook, Charles ness at several of the witch trials, and author Morton’s Compendium of one of the few contemporary books on the Physicae, was never trials; , former minister of actually printed; gen- Salem Village and supposed leader of the New erations of Harvard un- England witches; and , minis- dergraduates ter of the Third Church in Boston and a harsh laboriously copied its public critic of the special court. Samuel text by hand. New En- Parris, in whose home the witchcraft hysteria gland was, however, began, had attended Harvard but did not take a unique in the history of degree: he was forced to leave college upon colonization in the large the death of his father. number of college In the 17th century virtually everyone be- graduates who had im- lieved in witchcraft. Indeed, virtually every migrated. It has been culture has accepted the reality of witchcraft. estimated that during In pre-Christian belief systems, witches were the first decades of the persons with access to supernatural powers Bay Colony, one in who committed acts of maleficium against forty men held a college their neighbors. Witches destroyed livestock degree—a far higher and other property; they made adults and chil- proportion than would dren sick. The Golden Ass of Apuleius pro- have been found in the vides a compendium of witchcraft belief in general population of ancient Greece and Rome. Some of the testi- Great Britain at that

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Satan was conceived as heading an antichurch An afflicted person would claim to see a http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil//mather.htm that mirrored the Christian church in hierarchy specter of the witch; the specter might pinch, Cotton Mather and liturgy. Satan tempted or afflicted persons scratch, or bite the afflicted person to force the to gain their allegiance. The temptations and victim to sign Satan’s book. The accusers afflictions could come directly from Satan or were often able to display bite marks on their through his emissaries (witches). Satan’s re- arms, as well as pins or knife blades stuck in cruits would sign his book and participate in their flesh. As the Salem witchcraft hysteria the witches’ sabbat. The sabbat included a progressed, the specters began also to confess mockery of the Eucharist: the witches would to serious crimes, such as murder. In the 17th eat red bread and drink red wine, often reciting century Christian theologians were divided on the Lord’s Prayer backwards. the use of ‘spectral evidence.’ Some thought The New England Puritans saw the that it could be used in court because they be- witches and their sabbats as part of a wide- lieved that Satan could not send forth the spec- ranging conspiracy against their colony and ter of an innocent person. Other theologians their church. Satan and his minions intended to thought that accepting ‘spectral evidence’ overthrow all the churches and bring in the amounted to accepting the testimony of Satan. rule of Satan. Satan would supply his follow- As will be seen, the issue of the admission of ers’ material wants and his followers would all ‘spectral evidence’ ultimately provoked strong be equal. The size of the witch conspiracy was public criticism of the trials from the Puritan vast: one of the confessed witches told au- elite. thorities that there were 307 witches in New Other tests were also used. If the accused England. witch glanced at the accusers and the accusers The idea that New England was uniquely then went into fits, this showed that the ac- targeted by Satan and his minions resonated cused had ‘overlooked’ the victims. When ac- Cover to John with the New England Puritans’ belief that the cusers went into fits the ‘touch’ test Hale’s book establishment of the Bay Colony was a reli- would then be applied. The accused gious event second in importance only to the witch would be compelled to touch original establishment of the Christian church. the afflicted; if the fits ceased, that The New England Puritans were building a was evidence that the accused was Godly commonwealth, purged of the accumu- indeed a witch. The ‘overlooking’ lated corruptions of Catholicism and main- and ‘touch’ tests figure significantly stream Anglicanism. Satan would, of course, in accounts of the Salem witchcraft attempt to destroy this effort to return to the trials because the accused and ac- purity of the early Church. cusers confronted one another in At a deeper level, many prominent New open court so that there was ample England Puritans (of which Cotton Mather is opportunity for the accusers to col- merely one example) were suffering a crisis of lapse in fits that would be quieted faith. The rapidly developing materialism of by the touch of the accused. These early modern science tried their faith in an om- in-court attacks on the accusers also nipotent, omniscient God who was intimately met the legal requirement for two involved in the day-to-day workings of the witnesses to a single act of witch- world. If it could be demonstrated that witches craft. photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM

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A Brief Chronology of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

■ 1688: In Boston, Martha Goodwin is ‘bewitched’ by Goody ■ July 1692: , Susannah Glover; Cotton Mather attempts to treat Goodwin; he pub- Martin, , , lishes Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and and are hanged on Gal- Possessions, describing Goodwin’s affliction. lows Hill in Salem Town.

■ 1689: Samuel Parris becomes new minister of Salem Village ■ August 1692: John and Elizabeth Proc- and moves there from Boston. tor, George Burroughs, and others con-

■ 1691: Some Salem villagers quarrel with Parris and stop pay- victed and sentenced to death; George ing his salary. Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, and John ■ January 1692: , Elizabeth Parris, and other Proctor are hanged on Gallows Hill; young girls begin acting strangely. is found to be pregnant. ■ February 1692: Doctor treating children suggests cause of ■ September 1692: Giles Cory is pressed their afflictions may be witchcraft; Tituba bakes a ‘witch to death in effort to force him to enter a cake;’ Elizabeth Parris accuses Tituba and later Sarah Good plea; Martha Cory, Margaret Scott, and of witchcraft; Tituba, Sarah Good, and Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Sarah Osborne are arrested. Pudeator, Willmott Redd, Samuel ■ March 1692: Tituba confesses to practicing witchcraft and Wardwell, and Mary Parker are hanged. confirms that Good and Osborne are also witches; more ■ October 1692: Cotton Mather produces young girls join accusers; more women are accused of witch- defense of trials; Increase Mather de- craft, including Martha Cory, Rebecca Nurse, Dorcas Good, nounces the use of spectral evidence; and Elizabeth Proctor. Rev. Samuel Willard and Thomas ■ April 1692: More villagers are accused, including Sarah Brattle produce critiques of the trials; Cloyse, John Proctor, and Giles Cory; Accuser Mary Warren Governor Phips blocks further use of attempts to recant accusations, then rejoins accusers; former spectral evidence, prohibits further ar- Salem Village minister George Burroughs is accused; accu- rests, releases many accused witches, sations spread to neighboring Andover, where and dissolves Court of Oyer and Terminer. confesses and names other witches. ■ November 1692: General Court estab- ■ May 1692: New Royal Governor Sir estab- lishes Superior Court to try remaining lishes Court of Oyer and Terminer under Lieutenant Gover- witches. nor William Stoughton with prominent judges such as John ■ January 1693: Superior Court orders Hathorne, , and as mem- execution of condemned whose hang- bers; Essex County grand jury and petit jury are summoned ings were postponed because of preg- to hear cases. nancy; Governor Phips blocks order; ■ June 1692: Cotton Mather suggests that court not use spectral most of the remaining accused are re- evidence; is convicted and sentenced to leased from jail. death; Rebecca Nurse is acquitted, then convicted and sen- ■ May 1693: Governor Phips pardons tenced to death. those still in jail.

The bodies of accused witches were also sensation. Hence, the standard test for this searched for the Devil’s Mark: any unnatural type of mark was to prick it with a needle and excrescence on the skin. In Europe, it was be- observe the accused witch’s reaction. The lieved that Satan placed two types of marks on other type of mark was a preternatural teat witches. The first was a sort of brand that was with which the witch suckled his or her famil- placed on witches to identify Satan’s own. iar, a supernatural companion capable of tak-

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birds. Puritans, both in Britain and in New En- Andover witches, readily confessed to being a gland, seem to have conflated the two kinds of witch and named other members of the witch marks. Accused witch Rebecca Nurse was ex- conspiracy. In May Sir William Phips, the amined at least twice by a jury of women: the newly appointed Royal Governor, arrived from first examination found a witches teat near her England with the new colonial charter. private parts; it was gone when the second ex- To deal with the witchcraft crisis Phips amination was conducted. As might be imag- created a special Court of Oyer and Terminer ined, given 17th century standards of hygiene to try the accused witches. A special court was and medical care, it would not have been diffi- needed because the abrogation of the old colo- cult to find all sorts of ‘preternatural’ excres- nial charter and its replacement with a new cences on the bodies of the accused. one had left Massachusetts without any legal system. Some historians have asserted that the Satan Unleashed in Salem witchcraft trials were, therefore, technically A detailed chronology of the Salem witch- illegal. The court would be headed by the craft outbreak is given in the sidebar. The deputy governor William Stoughton and witchcraft hysteria began in February 1692 would include a number of noted magistrates. when the daughter and niece of Rev. Samuel A grand jury and a petit jury were also sum- Parris, the minister in Salem Village, began to moned for Essex County (which included Sa- display strange and disturbing behavior. Rev. lem Village, Salem Town, and Andover). The , a former minister in Salem Court of Oyer and Terminer and the Essex Village who came to deliver a sermon in County juries acted with commendable zeal March 1692, has left a vivid account of the and efficiency. An accused witch could be in- antics of Parris’ niece, Abigail Williams. She dicted, tried, convicted, and condemned to fluttered about the parsonage on tiptoe, wav- death, all in the same day. By October 19 ing her arms and crying ‘whish, whish.’ (This witches had been hanged, one accused witch bizarre behavior would have brought a chill to had been pressed to death for refusing to plead anyone familiar with the testimony in the Bury to the charges, dozens of witches had con- St. Edmunds witchcraft trial: one of the af- fessed, and over a hundred accused witches flicted children in that case had fluttered about languished in jail. murmuring ‘hush, hush.”) Abigail then The proceedings of the Court of Oyer and climbed into the fireplace and threw burning Terminer now came under public attack. A logs out into the room. The next day in church convocation of Puritan ministers convened by Abigail repeatedly interjected loud comments Increase Mather in Cambridge harshly criti- on Lawson’s sermon. A doctor who examined cized the court’s use of spectral evidence. the afflicted girls could find no medical reason Examination of a Witch for their behavior and suggested that the girls were being bewitched. When prayer and fast- ing failed to ameliorate the children’s condi- tion and the children began to accuse neighbors of being witches, the matter was turned over to local justices of the peace Jonathan Corwin and for inves- tigation. Corwin and Hathorne conducted their inquiries in the worst possible way: they ex- amined the afflicted girls and the accused to- gether in public. The afflicted girls now began to suffer fits when confronted with the accused witches. By April a number of accused witches had been arrested and the hysteria had spread to the neighboring township of Andover. Abigail Hobbs, one of the accused photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM

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Mather published Cases of Conscience, in of the residents of Groton (where Willard was which he presented a detailed critique of the then living) of being witches. Unlike Samuel court’s handling of the cases. More liberal Pu- Parris, Willard refused to allow the names of ritans, such as the Rev. Samuel Willard and the accused to be made public (even in his provided their own public con- written account of this episode, he suppressed demnations of the court’s faulty logic and their names). Willard believed that Knap was faulty application of English law. possessed by Satan and that her accusations In 1692 Samuel Willard was minister of were prompted by Satan. Eventually Knap’s the Third Church in Boston. Although he was afflictions abated (although she apparently did one of those accused of being a witch, he re- not return to normal). Willard wrote a very fused to mute his criticism of the special court. detailed account of the episode, which he He wrote the preface to Increase Mather’s passed on to Increase Mather, who published Cases of Conscience. Willard also published an abbreviated account of Knap’s possession his own short pamphlet Some Miscellany Ob- in his book Memorable Providences. servations on Our Present Debates Respecting Early in October 1692, Thomas Brattle, Witchcrafts, in a Dialogue Between S. & B., one of the members of Rev. Samuel Willard’s despite Governor Phips’ prohibition of further Third Church in Boston, wrote a circular letter publications relating to the witchcraft trials. criticizing the trials. Brattle is usually de- The pamphlet reiterated Increase Mather’s scribed in books about the Salem witchcraft criticisms, but with a more biting tone. The S trials as a rich merchant. His father had made and B in the title refer to Salem and Boston. his fortune as a merchant, but Brattle himself Willard framed his critique as gentlemen of was given to more intellectual endeavors. He Boston (i.e., the Bay Colony’s intellectual was probably the only empirical scientist elite) trying to correct the logical and legal er- working in the British colonies in 1692. rors of the gentlemen of Salem (i.e., hayseed Brattle had received both his A.B. and A.M. rubes). Willard’s condemnation of the court from Harvard College. He had made tele- would have carried special weight among liter- scopic observations of the Comet of 1680-81 ate New England Puritans. Some years before that were used by Isaac Newton in the the Salem witchcraft outbreak, Willard had Principia to calculate the orbital elements for been confronted with the demonic possession the comet. Newton refers to Brattle in the of his servant girl, Elizabeth Knap. Knap had Principia as ‘our observer in New England.’ displayed many of the symptoms of the af- Brattle had spent a number of years in Lon- “The Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692.” flicted girls in Salem. She also accused some don, where he became a friend of chemist By T. H. Matteson, 1855. Robert Boyle, architect Sir Christopher ,Wren and Astronomer Royal . Brattle even had two papers published in the Philo- sophical Transactions of the Royal Society: “Eclipse of the Sun and Moon observed in New England,” (1704) and “Lunar Eclipse, New England” (1707). Brattle is frequently described as a Fellow of the Royal Society. However, my search of the list of Fellows of the Royal Society on the Royal Society’s website failed to confirm this claim. He has evidently been confused with his brother, Wil- liam, who was elected Fellow in 1714. , the second minister at the Salem Town church, had provided a “scien- tific” explanation for “overlooking” and the “touch” test. According to Noyes, when a

witch looked at one of the afflicted, poisonous ➨ photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM ○○○○○○

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■ Abigail Williams (11 or 12) during many of the examinations and trials: ■ ■ , Jr. (12) Q. What do you say Goodman Proctor to these things? ■ Betty Hubbard (17) servant ■ I know not, I am innocent. ■ (19) servant, leader of the group Abigail Williams cried out, there is Goodman Procter going to Mrs. Pope, ■ (17) servant and immediately, said Pope fell into a fit.- ■ Mary Warren (20) servant

■ (18) servant

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really were witches engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the Christian churches and institute the rule of Satan—was quickly rejected. Dur- ing the Enlightment, the sympathies of histori- ans shifted from the afflicted children to the accused witches. The accusers came to be viewed as liars who faked their fits and mali- ciously accused innocent neighbors. This view is still held by some modern historians. One recent historian has even gone so far as to de- scribe the accusers as a group of girl juvenile delinquents. Arthur Miller’s is, of course, based on the fraud explanation. There is some evidence to support the charge that the afflicted girls were faking—at least in some instances. , an outspoken critic of the Salem witchcraft trials, describes an interesting episode of the trial of Sara photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM Trial of an Accused Good: Witch in Salem ■ [The Court] You see the devil will deceive At the trial of Sarah Good one of the af- you; the children could see what you was flicted fell in a Fit, and after coming out of it, going to do before the woman was hurt. I she cried out of the Prisoner, for stabbing her would advise you to repentance, for the in the breast with a Knife, and that she had devil is bringing you out. broken the Knife in stabbing her, accordingly Abigail Williams cried out again, there is a piece of the blade of a knife was found about Goodman Procter going to hurt Goody her. Bibber; and immediately Goody Bibber A young man present in the courtroom fell into a fit. recognized the piece of the blade as being from a knife that he had broken the day before, The accused were initially the “usual sus- in the presence of the afflicted witness. The pects:” low status, middle-aged women who Court merely admonished the witness not to had had previous brushes with authority—in- tell lies and permitted her to testify in the cluding previous accusations of witchcraft. Good case and others. Accused men were initially relatives (hus- To modern skeptics the bite marks, pins, bands, brothers, or sons) of accused women; and knife blades displayed by the afflicted ac- however, as the witch hunt intensified, men cusers fairly scream fraud. However, the ma- were charged in their own right (e.g. George jority of modern historians accept both the Burroughs, who came to be regarded as the innocence of the accused and the reality of the head of the satanic conspiracy against New afflictions. The afflictions seem too severe and England). Increasing numbers of high-status lasted too long to be wholly due to fraud. In individuals were accused (such as the wife of the 1940s the old Enlightenment view of the Governor Phips, Captain , and afflicted girls as frauds began to be replaced Rev. Samuel Willard). with greater sympathy for the afflicted. If there Searches for Explanations were no witches and the girls were not mali- Over the years since 1692 a variety of ex- cious liars, then some naturalistic explanation planations for the outbreak of the witchcraft for the girl’s sufferings and for their accusa- hysteria in Salem have been advanced. The tions had to be found. These naturalistic expla- explanation of the accusers and the members nations have included toxins, pathogens, mass of the Court of Oyer and Terminer—that there hysteria, and a variety of psychological stres-

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Jimson Weed other The Jimson weed theory is the oldest ergopeptines), toxin theory. Marion Starkey credits this ergonovine, and theory to reporter Donald Willard of the Bos- methylergonvine. ton Globe. Willard’s two young children had The use of suffered convulsive seizures, falling fits, and moldy rye in the painful spasms. The children also experienced Middle Ages twitching and burning sensations in their arms was responsible and legs. The children’s physician traced their for St. ailment to contact with the stalks and burrs of Anthony’s Fire Jimson weed, a member of the nightshade (ergotism), family. Jimson weed was brought to New En- which was char- gland from the West Indies in the 1600s. acterized by

Willard speculated that Tituba may have dosed gangrene of the photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM the Parris children with infusions of Jimson limbs and hallu- The June 10, 1692 Hanging of Bridget weed. Needless to say, there is no evidence cinations. The cause of the gangrenous form Bishop that Tituba dosed the children with Jimson of the disease was the lack of blood flow in weed or any other herbal remedy. This theory the extremities caused by the powerful α-ago- leaves unanswered the question of why the nist effects of the ergot alkaloids, and their accusers’ fits continued long after Tituba was associated CNS stimulatory effects. There is, imprisoned (Tituba was among the first however, no evidence of the gangrenous form witches to be jailed and one of the last to be of ergotism in Salem. Dr. Nicholas Spanos and released from jail, because it proved to be dif- his Ph.D. student Jack Gottlieb have pointed ficult to find a buyer for her). The Jimson out that the convulsive or hallucinatory form weed theory does not account for the fits in of ergotism (as opposed to the gangrenous court; nor does it account for the content of the form) occurs only when there is a severe defi- hallucinations. ciency of Vitamin A in the diet. Vitamin A occurs in fish and dairy products, both of Ergotism which would have been readily available to In 1976 psychology graduate student Salem villagers. In any case, the ergot theory Linnda R. Caporael published an article in the does not account for the content of the journal Science in which she proposed that victim’s hallucinations. consumption of foodstuffs contaminated with Encephalitis William Stoughton, Judge ergot fungus could account for the symptoms exhibited by the supposed victims of witch- Researcher craft. The family of could Laurie Winn have been exposed to ergot-contaminated rye Carlson has pro- from their fields along the Ipswich River. posed an out- Putnam, as a major supporter of Samuel Parris break of in Salem Village, would have inadvertently encephalitis contributed contaminated rye to Parris’s pan- lethargica as an try. Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris explanation for would have ingested the ergot fungus in their the Salem witch- food. craft outbreak. Ergot develops more abundantly during There was a ma- wet seasons. The summer of 1691 had been jor outbreak of notably hot and humid, so that the growth of this disease in ergot would have been favored. As it grows, Europe in 1916- ergot fungus produces a number of alkaloids 1930. Its symp- with chemical structures related to LSD (lyser- toms included restlessness, de-

gic acid diethyl amide): erogotamine (and photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM

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lirium, hallucinations and delusions, lethargy, ing of skeletal bones. Unfortunately, this type stupor, and muscular rigidity. Mortality rates of auditory hallucination was never reported in Salem. in the 1916-1930 pandemic were high: 20- Mass Hysteria 40% of affected patients in London and 40% in Austria. Many survivors later developed Marion Starkey and Chadwick Hansen parkinsonism. Oliver Sacks’ book Awakenings have advanced the theory that the accusers describes the author’s attempts to treat survi- were victims of mass hysteria. The latest ver- vors of the encephalitis lethargica pandemic. sion of the American Psychiatric Association’s The cause of the encephalitis lethargica epi- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM IV) demic remains unknown, but an arbovirus is a replaces the term ‘mass hysteria’ with the possibility. There is no evidence of any ex- terms ‘Mass Sociogenic Illness’ and ‘Mass traordinary morbidity among the accusers dur- Sociogenic Illness by Proxy.’ Both Starkey ing the Salem witchcraft trials. So far as I can and Hansen rely on the early work of Charcot determine, none of the core group of accusers and Freud on hysteria. Hansen elaborates the died during the trials; many seemed to have theory to a greater degree than does Starkey lived normal life spans. and adds the suggestion that some of the ac- The Jimson weed, ergotism, and encepha- cused were really practicing witches. Practic- litis theories cannot account satisfactorily for ing witchcraft in a culture that believes in it the demographics of the accusers, virtually all can induce serious, even life-threatening hys- of whom were young women. Carlson sup- terical symptoms in the targets of the spells. poses that young women would have been Both Starkey and Hansen place the origin of more exposed to the insect vectors (mosqui- the hysteria in the theocratic culture of the Pu- toes) that spread arboviruses because they ritan New England, with minimal concern would have had the chore of milking and feed- about political and military conditions in the ing their families’ cows. However, in a period years leading up to the witchcraft outbreak. when almost everyone worked out of doors Village Factionalism and when there were no window screens, the entire population would have been exposed to Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum have mosquito-borne illnesses. Carlson attempts to made an exhaustive study of the bitter feuds show a similarity between the hallucinations that existed in Salem Village. The Salem Vil- produced by encephalitis lethargica and those lagers fought over property boundaries, inher- experienced by the afflicted girls in Salem by itances, debts, and the Salem Village church. citing an auditory hallucination in which an Unlike other Massachusetts communities, Sa- lem Village lacked internal mechanisms for The Hanging of encephalitis lethargica victim heard the clack- George Burroughs resolving these disputes. Whenever the farm- ers of Salem Village went to court, they had to go to Salem Town and appear before town magistrates. Even their church fell under the authority of the ministers in Salem Town. Boyer and Nissenbaum interpret the witchcraft trials as a fight between the Putnams (conser- vative farmers at the western end of the vil- lage) and the Porters (wealthy landowners and merchants in the eastern end of the village and in Salem Town). They see many of the ac- cused as surrogates for Porter family members or associates too powerful to be accused di- rectly. Thus, Rebecca Nurse was a surrogate for Elizabeth Verens Putnam, the daughter of Israel Porter, the head of the Porter family. Elizabeth Putnam was the stepmother of Tho- ➨

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mas Putnam, whose wife and daughter were prominent accusers and who signed many of the formal complaints against accused witches. On the death of Thomas’s father, she had man- aged to get herself and her eighteen-year-old son Joseph Putnam (Thomas’s half brother) named as administrators of her late husband’s estate. Thomas was largely disinherited and Joseph instantly became one of the wealthiest citizens of Salem. Although Boyer and Nissenbaum’s Salem Possessed has been hailed as a classic and been used as a text for many years in courses photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/ projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM Repentance of in American Studies, their theory has a dis- Judge Sewall in turbing ad hoc quality. A commonsense read- adulthood (accusers) and older post-meno- 1692 ing of their theory of village factionalism pausal women who had failed to acquire would lead one to predict that the accused wealth, status, and/or a large number of off- witches would be the leaders of the hated and spring (accused). The young women were re- feared Porter clan of mercantile capitalists. sisting being recruited into the fellowship of Instead the accusers focused on minor Porter the downwardly mobile. Demos theory is at- allies (when the accused had any connection to tractive and may fit what might be called nor- the Porters at all). The idea of surrogacy is re- mal witchcraft accusations. Demos quired to avoid having the theory fail the most acknowledges that his theory does not fit the obvious empirical test. By rendering their Salem witchcraft trials, which involved more theory unfalsifiable by empirical tests, Boyer accusations spread over a larger geographical and Nissenbaum have also made it unscientific. area than normal witchcraft trials. ‘Uppity Women’ Politics and War Historian Carol Karlsen has proposed that Historians Charles Upham (former minis- the accused women were those who had chal- ter and mayor of Salem Town) and Mary Beth lenged the normally subordinate position of Norton have emphasized the political and mili- women in Puritan culture. Many had laid tary context of the Salem witchcraft trials as claim to money and/or property in their own providing at least a partial explanation for the right; many were outspoken about the inequi- 1692 outbreak of witchcraft accusations. In the ties of New England society. However, 1680s the government of King James II had Karlsen did not compare the accused with abrogated the original charter of the Bay comparable non-accused women. Were non- Colony, replaced it with a new royal charter, accused women docile quietists? This theory and appointed Sir as royal also fails to account satisfactorily for the fact governor. Governor Andros declared all legal that the accusers were overwhelmingly other actions under the old charter to be null and women. The accusers as a group definitely void. All land titles were declared to be in- turned the hierarchy of Puritan New England valid; valid titles could, of course, be obtained on its head: young women had made them- from the new colonial government for a fee. selves the center of attention. Andros also forced Congregational churches Gender and age issues in New England in Boston to share their meeting houses with witchcraft cases have been studied by historian Anglican congregations, despite the fact that John Putnam Demos. He looked at the whole the meeting houses were private property. Fi- body of witchcraft accusations in New En- nally, Increase Mather slipped out of Massa- gland. He has advanced the theory that witch- chusetts on a mission to London to renegotiate craft accusations arose out of an implicit the colonial charter. While he was gone, Andros conflict between young women about to enter was overthrown in an armed insurrection: he and

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particularly those in Essex County. Salem Vil- lage and Essex County were by no means safe havens: between 1689 and 1692 three resi- dents of Salem Village were killed by Indians within the boundaries of the village. Just six months before the outbreak of witchcraft in Salem, Essex County was ordered to organize mounted patrols of the roads of the county to detect Indian war parties. During the Salem witchcraft trials there was an Indian attack on Billerica, home of one of the confessed witches (one who confessed that she had covenanted with Satan for his protection against the Indians). In 1697 both Andover and Haverhill (just across the Merrimac River photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM from Andover) suffered heavy attacks. The Salem in the (School Street) level of violence in these attacks is exempli- his cronies were seized and thrown into fied by the ordeal of Hannah Dustin, the wife prison. The committee leading the rebellion of a farmer near Haverhill. She saw her home issued manifestos demanding that the citizens burned by Indians and her newborn child of Massachusetts be accorded the ‘rights of dashed to death against a tree. She, her neigh- Englishmen.’ Fortunately for the Massachu- bor, Mary Neff, and an English boy named setts, James II was himself overthrown in 1688 Samuel Lennardeen were carried away as cap- in the Glorious Revolution. His successors, tives. En route to their village the Indian raid- William and Mary, might be more sympathetic ers made camp in the snow. While the Indians to the plight of the New England Puritans or slept Hannah killed ten with a hatchet (an in- might view with alarm the arrest of a duly ap- jured Indian woman and an Indian boy es- pointed royal governor. During 1692 Massa- caped). At dawn Hannah scalped the dead chusetts waited anxiously for a new charter Indians and carried the scalps back to Massa- and a new governor. chusetts, where she received a bounty of £50 Many historians of the Salem witchcraft for them. Dustin is reputed to be the first trials have failed to note that in 1692 Massa- woman in what is now the United States to chusetts had been at war for nearly three years. have a statue erected in her honor. She has One of the first acts of King William after he two: one in Haverhill and one in New Hamp- ascended the throne was a declaration of war shire. The one in Haverhill shows Hannah against France. For Massachusetts, the war firmly gripping her hatchet. began with Indian attacks on frontier settle- Many New Englanders thought there was ments instigated by Count Frontenac, the a conspiracy against them involving the French governor of Canada. One of the first French, the Wabanaki Indians, and some of was an attack on Dover, New Hampshire, in their own English leaders. The ‘black man’ which Major Richard Waldron was put to claimed to be seen by so many of the afflicted death with frightful tortures, the town was accusers and confessed witches was presum- burned to the ground, about half the people ably an Indian sachem or shaman. It is impor- were massacred, and the remainder were car- tant to remember that for New Englanders ried away and sold into slavery. Further at- ‘black’ equaled ‘Indian.’ Very significantly, tacks struck Pemaquid and York, Maine; confessed witch Abigail Hobbs first encoun- Durham, New Hampshire; Groton, Massachu- tered the ‘black man’ in the woods in Maine. setts; and Schenectady, New York. ‘King of the Witches’ George Burroughs lived The attacks on frontier settlements re- most of his adult life on the Maine frontier and sulted in an influx of displaced settlers into was a protégé of , a frontier

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come to the aid of a beleaguered band of mili- Aftermath tiamen. Mercy Lewis, the leader of the core In 1697 the group of accusers, had lived on the Maine proclaimed a fast day, seeking to avert the an- frontier—at one time in the same house with ger of God, which had manifested itself in the Burroughs. conviction of innocents and the shedding of As attractive as Mary Beth Norton’s their blood. William Stoughton signed the theory that the Salem witchcraft trials arose proclamation as acting governor. Samuel from the stresses of protracted warfare is, it Sewall, one of the justices of the Court of fails to explain why King Philip’s War in the Oyer and Terminer, had a statement seeking 1670s did not result in a similar outbreak of pardon for his role in the Salem witchcraft tri- witchcraft hysteria. During King Philip’s War als read by his minister Samuel Willard to the the Maine frontier was also attacked. Much of congregation of his church. Thomas Fiske, the intense fighting in King Philip’s War also foreman of the petit jury, and eleven of his fel- occurred within the boundaries of the New low jurymen recanted their verdicts; they England colonies. For example, The Great blamed the convictions of innocents to the Swamp Fight, the most significant engagement ‘mysterious delusions’ of Satan. In 1711 the of the war, took place near what is now West- Massachusetts Bay Colony paid restitution to erly, Rhode Island. the surviving accused and to the families of The Witches of Andover those executed. This restitution covered actual financial losses (property of convicted witches Almost all accounts of the Salem witch- seized, outlays for the maintenance of jailed craft trials focus on the witches of Salem Vil- persons, and so forth) rather than pain and suf- lage. There were thirty-nine accused witches fering. During the first quarter of the 18th cen- in Salem Village and Salem Town. However, tury, on a case-by-case basis, Massachusetts there were forty-three accused witches in the reversed the attainders of the surviving con- neighboring township of Andover. More than victed witches and restored their civil rights. thirty of the accused witches confessed. No European government ever admitted that it Chadwick Hansen has proposed that historians had made any errors during its witchcraft tri- should speak of the Andover witchcraft trials als. Nor did any European government ever or perhaps the Essex County witchcraft trials. pay any financial compensation to the families Compared to the Salem witches, very little is of convicted witches. known about the Andover witches. The Andover witches by and large confessed and The Salem Village Meeting House where were held in jail until Governor Phips granted the trials took place the imprisoned witches bail. Because they were never brought to trial, the documentary record of the accusations against them is sparse. The Andover Historical Society has an ongoing project to collect information about the Andover witches. Nevertheless, what little is known about the Andover witches seems to contradict both the ergotism theory and the village conflict theory put forward by Boyer and Nissenbaum. Andover is geographically different from Salem Village and lacks the low-lying swampy areas. While there is some evidence of village factionalism in Andover, the Andover witchcraft accusations seem to have involved much intra-family conflict. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/salem.htm

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tion of Harvard graduates in the fundamentals of Enlightenment science. The more humble figures in the Salem witchcraft drama faded into the obscurity from which they had briefly emerged. Abigail Hobbs, who confessed to being a witch and was convicted of witchcraft, married and raised a family. Mercy Lewis had a child out of wedlock on the Maine frontier; she married the child’s father and moved to Boston. Susannah Sheldon was warned out of Provi- dence, Rhode Island, as a person of evil fame. She died some time before 1697. Mary Beth Norton believes Sheldon to have been the girl who experimented with fortune telling. Abigail Williams and Mary Warren cannot be traced. Williams’ cousin Elizabeth Parris mar- ried and had five children. Thomas Putnam and his wife Ann died in 1699; the Putnam

photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM estate was heavily encumbered with debt so The Salem Witch House that their children received only modest inher- itances. Ann Putnam, Junior, died unmarried Samuel Parris did not long retain his pul- in 1715. When she joined the Salem Village pit in Salem Village. After much wrangling, church in 1706 she had had Rev. Joseph Green he agreed to sign over the deed to the parson- read the following statement to the congrega- age and its outbuildings to the village in return tion: for his unpaid back wages. Parris was replaced by Joseph Green, a Harvard graduate who was I desire to be humbled before God for yt a friend of Thomas Brattle. Green embarked sad and humbling providence that befell my on a program of reconciliation within the Sa- fathers family in the year about 92, yt I then lem Village church: he persuaded the church being in my childhood should by such a provi- to rescind its excommunication of executed dence of God be made an instrument for yt witch Martha Cory and re-seated the church so accuseing of severall persons of a grievous that Putnams and Nurses occupied the same crime wherby their lives were taken away benches. from them, whom now I have just grounds and Increase Mather did not fare as well as good reason to believe they were innocent might be expected in the aftermath of the Sa- persons, and yt it was a great delusion of Sa- lem witchcraft trials. He was soon maneuvered tan yt deceived me in that sad time, whereby I out of the presidency of Harvard College. His justly fear I have been instrumental with oth- Walter F. Rowe, Ph.D., political enemies in the General Court passed ers tho’ ignorantly and unwittingly to bring has been a Professor of upon myself & this land the guilt of innocent Forensic Sciences at the a law that required the President of Harvard to George Washington reside in Cambridge. Mather endured six blood Though what was said or done by me University since 1990. months in squalid rented living quarters before against any person I can truly and uprightly He is a frequent say before God & man I did it not out of any contributor to and he threw over the presidency and went back to speaker at scientific and Boston. This left a group of theological liber- anger, malice, or illwill to any person for I skeptical conferences. als in control of the College. Rev. Samuel had no such thing against one of them; but Willard, the Vice President of the College, be- what I did was ignorantly being deluded by came acting president. Thomas Brattle became Satan. And particularly as I was a chief instru- a Fellow of the College, its treasurer and the ment of accuseing of Goodwife Nurse and her de facto professor of mathematics and science. two sisters I desire to lye in the dust & to be He and his brother William educated a genera- humbled for it in that I was a cause with oth-

ers of so sad a calamity to them & their ➨ ○○○○○○

20 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 mysterious delusions continued from previous page picture of Phips from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_IPHI.HTM familys, for which cause I desire to lye in ye dust & earnestly begg fforgiveness of God & Dramatis Personae from all those unto whom have given just Sir William Phips (1651-1695) cause of sorrow & offence, whose relations were taken away or accused. (Signed) Anne Sir William Phips was born at Putnam. Kennebec, Maine. He worked as a This is the sole statement made by any of shepherd in Maine and then moved the accusers about the events of 1692 and its to Boston, where he became a text may have been crafted by Joseph Green as ship’s carpenter and ship captain. a part of his program of reconciliation within While living in Boston he married a the Salem Village church. wealthy widow (a custom still kept By the 19th century Salem had become alive among Massachusetts politi- the most prominent negative lesson drawn cians). He went to England where from American history. It was supposed to he gathered financial support for a show the perils of fanaticism, particularly reli- salvage expedition to the Caribbean. In 1687 Phips was suc- gious fanaticism. Before the Civil War South- cessful in salvaging treasure from sixteen sunken Spanish ern political leaders used Salem as an ad treasure galleons. Ten percent of the salvaged treasure went hominem argument against the New England to the British Crown. In 1690 Phips led a successful attack abolitionists. During the Civil War similar ar- on the French stronghold at Port Royal in Acadia. His subse- guments were used in the North to marginalize quent attempt to take Quebec, however, was an embarrass- the radical abolitionists. It was during the ante- ing failure that left the Massachusetts Bay Colony saddled bellum controversy over slavery that Southern with a £40,000 debt. Phip’s success as a treasure hunter and politicians started the calumny that the Puri- Increase Mather’s politicking in London led to Phip’s ap- tans burned witches. There seem to have been pointment as the new Royal Governor. Phips returned with no large-scale witch hunts in the South during Increase Mather to Boston to confront the crises of the Sa- the colonial period. However, large numbers lem witchcraft trials and the Second Indian War. During the of legal documents in the South were de- Salem witchcraft trials, Phips’ wife was accused of being a stroyed during the Civil War, so it is impos- witch. This may have influenced Phips’ decision to shut sible to determine how many witchcraft down the Court of Oyer and Terminer. In his letters to the accusations there were in the southern colo- home government, Phips attempted to whitewash his role in nies. the witchcraft trials: he grossly exaggerated the threat posed Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is the best by the witches and then lied about the extent of his knowl- known modern evocation of the Salem witch- edge of the activities of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. craft trials. The play takes significant liberties Phips traveled to London to defend his actions as Royal with the facts: Miller makes Abigail Williams Governor and died there in 1695. older and creates a love affair between her and John Proctor. This affair provides a motive for Williams to falsely accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. Miller wrote The Crucible as a leased decrypted Soviet cables from the 1930s response to Senator Joseph McCarthy and the and 1940s that show that the United States House Un-American Activities Committee’s government was infested at the highest levels crusade against supposed communist sympa- by Soviet agents. Miller was in a position to thizers within and without the United States have direct knowledge of communist infiltra- government. When the play debuted in 1953, tion of a variety of nongovernmental organiza- some of Miller’s friends objected that Miller tions: he himself had a long history as a was presenting a false analogy. The play communist fellow traveler. Whatever else The seemed to be saying that just as there were no Crucible may be, it is definitely a piece of ag- witches in Salem, there were no communists itprop. in the government. Miller continued to defend this analogy until his recent death. However, in the 1980s the National Security Agency re-

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■ Treating the accused as guilty (Hathorne and Corwin)

■ Conducting examinations in public (Hathorne and Corwin)

■ Appointing Stoughton as head of special court (Phips and the Mathers)

■ Relying on spectral evidence (Stoughton and other members of the Special Court)

■ Resubmitting Rebecca Nurse’s case to the petit jury after her initial acquittal (Stoughton)

photo from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ ftrials/salem/SAL_PHO.HTM ■ Not executing confessed witches (Phips, Trial of Rebecca Nurse Stoughton, and other members of the Spe- Contingent Events cial Court) In his book, Wonderful Life, Stephen Jay To understand how individual actors can Gould argued that the course of evolution in- shape the course of history, consider events in volved a number of contingent, unpredictable western Massachusetts in 1734. A number of events. The course of history likewise may be residents of Northampton began to experience influenced by contingent events. Even in mass extreme anxiety. The young were particularly upheavals like the Salem witchcraft trials afflicted, one 4-year-old girl hiding weeping many crucial decisions are made by one per- and moaning in a closet for many hours each son or by a small group of men or women. day. Some of the townspeople even talked Had certain positions of authority been occu- about the afflictions being caused by witch- pied by other persons the course of events craft. Unlike Samuel Parris, the local minister, might have been different: there might have portrayed reading Jonathan Edwards, chose to view the afflic- her Bible in the been no witchcraft trials at all or the number tions in Northampton as evidence of an out- Salem jail. of trials might have been very limited. Some pouring of God’s grace. The events in Source Mabel of the accused (e.g., Rebecca Nurse) might Martin:. By John Northampton were the beginning of a religious Greenleaf Whittier, even have been acquitted. Here is a partial list revival known as the Little Awakening. The Boston: Houghton, of contingent events (and the principal actors) Mifflen & Co. 1876, Little Awakening led to the Great Awakening, p. 43. Artist, Mary where different actions could well have a religious revival that swept the British colo- A. Hallock. changed the course nies before the American Revolution. of events: Further Reading ■ Quarreling with parishoners There are many websites related to the over salary and Salem witchcraft trials, I have found the fol- status (Parris) lowing to be the most useful: ■ Calling in the Documentary Archive magistrates, rather http://www.iath.virginia.edu/salem/ than relying on home.html prayer and fasting (Parris) This is website has a wealth of primary source material: The complete Salem ■ Preaching a Witchcraft Papers, the WPA transcription sermon on Christ of the surviving legal documents (arrest summoning the 12 warrants, summaries of examinations of disciples and call- witnesses, testimony before the examining ing one of them a magistrates and the like), as well as the devil (Parris) contemporary accounts of the witchcraft ➨

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outbreak by Increase Mather, Cotton women who Mather, John Hale, Deodat Lawson, controlled or Samuel Willard, Thomas Brattle and Rob- attempted to ert Calef . The website is a research control project of the University of Virginia’s law money and/ school. or property. Hawthorne in Salem John Putnam Demos, En- http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/ tertaining Introduction.html Satan: This website focuses on Nathaniel Witchcraft Hawthorne and his associations with Sa- and the Cul- lem; however, there are many interesting ture of Early images of sites associated with the trials. New En- gland, 1982. There is a vast literature on the Salem witch- craft trials. The books listed below are some of Demos ex- the more interesting works in this field. amines all http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/parris.jpg the New En- Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare : The Rev. Samuel Parris gland witchcraft accusations outside the Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, 2002. Salem witchcraft trials. He tries to provide This book explores the relationship be- a psychological explanation of witchcraft tween the accusers, accused, and the accusations in terms of an implicit conflict Maine frontier. between accusers (young women on the verge of adulthood) and the accused (post- Laurie Winn Carlson, A Fever in Salem: A menopausal women who had failed in New Interpretation of the New England life). Witch Trials, 1999. Paul Boyer and Stephan Nissenbaum, Salem Carlson defends the thesis that the afflicted Possessed: The Social Origins of Witch- suffered from encephalitis lethargica. She craft, 1974. makes tendentious use of documents and offers up much unsupported speculation. Chadwick Hansen, Witchcraft at Salem, 1969 Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Marion L. Starkey, The Devil in Massachu- Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New En- setts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem gland, 1987. Witch Trials, 1949 Karlsen explores the gender issues in the trials. She defends the thesis that the ac- cused women didn’t know their place in Puritan society; in particular, they were

This scene, set in the Salem Village meeting house, shows Judge John Hathorne and the Rev. Cotton Mather interrogating Martha Corey, who stands in the dock with her hands raised in prayer, with Mary Walcott, her accuser, sitting in a chair. Source Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Houghton Mifflin Boston, 1902. Artist, S. S. Kilburn, 1880, p. 747.

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Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 23 So-called Intelligent Design is Not Science On Dec. 20, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pa. ruled against the Dover, Pa., Area School District policy of teaching so-called Intelligent Design in public school science classes and trying to discredit the scientific validity of evolution theory—for religious reasons. by Gary Stone

urs is a pluralistic society, with wise The court’s conclusion constitutional protections against gov- “The proper application of both the Oernment-sponsored establishment of endorsement and Lemon tests to the religion—and for freedom of individual ex- facts of this case makes it abundantly pression of belief. clear that the Board’s ID Policy vio- It is, therefore, an egregiously evil breach lates the Establishment Clause. In of mutual respect, civility, and the law for any making this determination, we have one religious group (majority or minority) to addressed the seminal question of try to force its own religious views (main- whether ID is science. We have con- stream or extreme) on the rest of society by cluded that it is not, and moreover that trying to take control of government institu- ID cannot uncouple itself from its cre- tions or government-sponsored activities, such ationist, and thus religious, anteced- as public schools, that serve all Americans of ents. all religious and non-religious beliefs. Such Both Defendants and many of the behavior is just plain selfish. leading proponents of ID make a bed- On December 20, 2005, the United States rock assumption which is utterly false. District Court for the Middle District of Penn- Their presupposition is that evolution- sylvania issued a ruling against the Dover, ary theory is antithetical to a belief in Pennsylvania, Area School District policy of the existence of a supreme being and teaching so-called Intelligent Design in public to religion in general. Repeatedly in school science classes and trying to discredit this trial, Plaintiffs’ scientific experts the scientific validity of evolution theory—for testified that the theory of evolution religious reasons. represents good science, is over- That ruling is a benchmark in our under- whelmingly accepted by the scientific standing and practice of the constitutionally community, and that it in no way con- mandated separation of church and state. flicts with, nor does it deny, the exist- The court’s Memorandum Opinion estab- ence of a divine creator. lishes legal precedent only in the Middle Dis- To be sure, Darwin’s theory of evo- trict of Pennsylvania. But it offers extensive lution is imperfect. However, the fact fact finding and legal analysis (far beyond that that a scientific theory cannot yet ren- quoted here) that will significantly inform any der an explanation on every point litigation elsewhere regarding any attempts to should not be used as a pretext to teach so-called Intelligent Design in public thrust an untestable alternative hy- science classes. pothesis grounded in religion into the This article provides two relatively short science classroom or to misrepresent quotes from the court’s full 139-page Memo- well-established scientific proposi- randum Opinion, that fully and fairly charac- tions. terize the ruling. The citizens of the Dover area were

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Board who voted for the ID Policy. It is entific theory of evolution, and from re- ironic that several of these individuals, quiring teachers to refer to a religious, who so staunchly and proudly touted alternative theory known as ID. We will their religious convictions in public, also issue a declaratory judgment that would time and again lie to cover their Plaintiffs’ rights under the Constitutions tracks and disguise the real purpose of the United States and the Common- behind the ID Policy. wealth of Pennsylvania have been vio- With that said, we do not question lated by Defendants’ actions. that many of the leading advocates of Defendants’ actions in violation of ID have bona fide and deeply held be- Plaintiffs’ civil rights as guaranteed to liefs which drive their scholarly en- them by the Constitution of the United deavors. Nor do we controvert that ID States and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 subject should continue to be studied, de- Defendants to liability with respect to bated, and discussed. As stated, our injunctive and declaratory relief, but conclusion today is that it is unconsti- also for nominal damages and the rea- tutional to teach ID as an alternative to sonable value of Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ evolution in a public school science services and costs incurred in vindicat- classroom. ing Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.” Those who disagree with our hold- The court’s order: ing will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS OR- erred as this is manifestly not an activ- DERED THAT: ist Court. Rather, this case came to us 1. A declaratory judgment is hereby as the result of the activism of an ill- issued in favor of Plaintiffs pursuant to informed faction on a school board, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, 2202, and 42 aided by a national public interest law U.S.C. § 1983 such that Defendants’ ID firm eager to find a constitutional test Policy violates the Establishment case on ID, who in combination drove Clause of the First Amendment of the the Board to adopt an imprudent and Constitution of the United States and ultimately unconstitutional policy. The Art. I, § 3 of the Constitution of the breathtaking inanity of the Board’s de- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. cision is evident when considered 2. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 65, De- against the factual backdrop which fendants are permanently enjoined from has now been fully revealed through maintaining the ID Policy in any school this trial. The students, parents, and within the Dover Area School District. teachers of the Dover Area School 3. Because Plaintiffs seek nominal District deserved better than to be damages, Plaintiffs shall file with the dragged into this legal maelstrom, with Court and serve on Defendants, their its resulting utter waste of monetary claim for damages and a verified state- and personal resources. ment of any fees and/or costs to which To preserve the separation of they claim entitlement. church and state mandated by the Es- Defendants shall have the right to tablishment Clause of the First object to any such fees and costs to the Amendment to the United States Con- extent provided in the applicable stat- stitution, and Art. I, § 3 of the Pennsyl- utes and court rules.” vania Constitution, we will enter an order permanently enjoining Defen- dants from maintaining the ID Policy in any school within the Dover Area School District, from requiring teach-

ers to denigrate or disparage the sci- photo of Gary Stone by Helen Hester-Ossa ○○○○○○○○○○

Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 25 Michael Servetus—Death by Fire by Neil Langdon Inglis

keptics enjoy researching scientific his- French persona of Michel de Villeneuve, pun- tory, and they love to read about scien- ning on the name of his Spanish hometown of Stific “priority”—who discovered what Villanueva, and possibly recalling the name of a first (remember who found Pluto?). But decid- Catalonian medical pioneer (Arnaud de ing who got there “first” can be difficult and Villeneuve) from the 1200s. fruitless. Two or more investigators may come This camouflage worked for 15 years, but to the same conclusion independently, but only the fickle Spaniard blew his own cover by one is honored by posterity. Or a maverick writing books. He incorporated his anatomical toiling in obscurity may make a remarkable observations on blood circulation into the discovery; and the discovery is remembered, last—his personal religious manifesto (the but not its finder. Christianismi Restitutio or Restoration of Michael Servetus (born in Spain 1511, Christianity) which he self-published under the burned at the stake in Geneva in 1553) cared name of Servetus in the South of France in 1553. little for conventional professional trajectories Blessed with a gift for diving into issues and was—at varying stages of his life and that even the toughest militants shied away sometimes all at once—a lawyer, medical stu- from, Servetus’s writings had always taken dent, anatomist, doctor, editor, theologian, heresy to a new level. In De Trinitatis self-published author. Family life eluded him Erroribus (On the Errors of the Trinity, his (an accident left him impotent). History books maiden publication in 1531) he had com- recall him, dimly and in footnotes, as the “dis- mented disparagingly on the Holy Trinity. coverer” of the lungs’ role in the circulation of Such language invited accusations of fellow- the blood. In that era of superstition, long be- traveling with Islam and Judaism, two reli- fore microscopes, others had worked on blood gions which equated Trinitarianism with circulation and groped toward the same con- polytheism. clusion, before Servetus. Yet prizewinning— But it was his spiteful tone that especially who discovered what first—meant nothing to raised hackles. His enemies began to take the Spaniard, who note, and to keep score. He continued to quit a successful ca- dabble in theology as the years progressed, but reer in science and eventually, when he released the Restitutio, he medicine for the lu- went too far. rid lure of theologi- Acting on a tip that de Villeneuve, the cal controversy. doctor, was Servetus, the heretic, the ecclesi- Men with he- astical authorities in Lyons scheduled a hear- retical views in that ing in 1553; imprisonment followed. Unsure time were burned they had the right man, the inquisitors dith- alive. Those with ered. Servetus exploited their hesitation. In a powerful protectors, gamble copied by nimble-footed Protestants and a well-honed everywhere, he tricked his jailor, removed his instinct for self-pres- nightgown to reveal a full set of clothes under- ervation (Servetus neath, and slipped away into the night to find a had both), could cache of money hidden for the journey ahead. cheat death for a That was to be Michael’s last bright idea. while. A zest for Instead of seeking refuge in a free-thinking leading a double life community abroad, Servetus fled to Geneva, a helped to delay the bastion of orthodoxy ruled over with all the inevitable. After set- warmth of an Alpine glacier by Jean Calvin tling in France in the himself. late 1530s, Servetus Calvin and Servetus had a history; as stu-

had adopted the dents in Paris at different times in the 1530s, ➨ http://www.servetus.org/en/michael-servetus/image-gallery/iconography/ico2.htm ○○○○○○

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Servetus—a skilled debater who had won Pierre Lizet, that stopped short of a prison term (or worse). many public debates in his adoptive It was time for a change of scene, and country of France—found the Swiss court Servetus—who had soaked up the medical school atmosphere without formally enrolling system stacked against him and a sentence or graduating—set himself up as a country of death by burning was a foregone doctor in Vienne, outside Lyons. Here he met conclusion. Archbishop Pierre Palmier, a major figure in the Catholic hierarchy and mildly sympathetic toward the new Humanistic learning that men for granted now—not so in the Middle Ages, like Servetus exemplified. Paulmier be- where the revered theories of ancient authors friended “de Villeneuve,” hired him as his per- (Galen, Avicenna, and others) held sway. sonal physician, and perhaps protected him for While the practice of anatomical dissec- the next dozen years. tion had taken hold in Italy in the 1400s, its The 1540s see the only extended period of potential and ramifications for medicine were personal comfort and professional recognition not fully grasped. The initial assumption—that in the peripatetic Spaniard’s life. He took the dissection would validate ancient authors— Mass and rubbed shoulders with orthodox was slashed to ribbons, and the teachings of Catholics. He gained a reputation as a doctor Galen and Avicenna were exposed as old who could cure patients other physicians could wives’ tales. Servetus’ dissecting partner in not save. This was quite a complement in the Paris, Vesalius, was taking notes for his own era of leeches and cupping vessels; or perhaps

Gregorio Calvi di Bergola massive anatomi- it attracted suspicious envy at a time when re- cal compendium covery from serious illness was the exception on the human rather than the rule. To supplement his income body (De Humani and sate his curiosity, he edited scholarly pub- Corporis Fabrica, lications (the French publishing industry was or On the Struc- taking off at that time), and penned some of ture of the Human his own material, including cheerfully non-PC Body), that would diatribes against the English, Irish, and Scots. come out in 1543. By night, Dr. Jekyll became Mr. Hyde, But Vesalius had and de Villeneuve wrote (as Servetus) to missed one key Calvin in Spain, excoriating Calvin’s beliefs aspect of blood and whipping the Genevan into a frenzied fa- circulation that natical vendetta. The two men exchanged Servetus spotted books they had written and mocked their re- and filed away for spective contents. The tenor of this debate later reference. need not concern us here—it is the worst kind Never miss- of pettifoggery. By 1553, Jean Calvin, thanks ing an opportunity to his own network of spies, had figured out to land in the that theologian Michael Servetus and Lyons soup, Servetus physician Michel de Villeneuve were one and (a.k.a. de the same. And it was Calvin’s men who Villeneuve) alerted the Church to de Villeneuve’s identity. dabbled in “judi- Catholic apologists made hay with the cial astrology” Servetus story. According to this school of and earned a rep- thought, Protestants were never the angels rimand from one they claimed to be and certainly never harsher of France’s most than when policing their own ranks. There is feared Inquisitors, some truth in this. ➨

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But Servetus is so much more than a pawn where be- in a long-forgotten squabble; he is a fascinat- cause those ing man of science who deserves to be remem- little mem- bered in his own right. There are many such branes or authors, scholars, translators, and researchers valvules of from that period. Those who ended up in the the heart are wrong place at the wrong time found them- not opened selves beneath the wheels of the inquisitorial until the time juggernaut. That they have no public relations of birth. industry to keep their name alive (as the noto- Therefore that rious heresy-hunter Sir Thomas More un- the blood is doubtedly has) does not entitle us to poured from complicity in their abandonment. the heart into We can give the forgotten their due. Thus, the lungs at it is well to ponder the life of Michael the very time Servetus—a mind of agile ferment and won- of birth, and der, cruelly snuffed out. so copiously, After all, who among us can fail to feel a is for another frisson of delight as we read the critical pas- purpose. Like- sage from his Restitutio. wise, not “That the communication and merely air, elaboration are accomplished in this but air mixed M. Servetus by Guillermo way through the lungs we are taught with blood, is sent from the lungs to by the different conjunctions and the the heart through the pulmonary vein; communication of the pulmonary ar- therefore the mixture occurs in the tery with the pulmonary vein of the lungs. That reddish-yellow color is lungs. The notable size of the pulmo- given to the spiritous blood by the nary artery confirms this; that is, it was lungs; it is not from the heart.” not made of such sort or of such size, (From Michael Servetus, by C.D. nor does it emit so great a force of O’Malley, American Philosophical Society, pure blood from the heart itself into 1953).

Never missing an opportunity to land in the soup,

Servetus (a.k.a. de Villeneuve) dabbled in “judicial Neil Inglis spoke astrology” and earned a reprimand from one of on the life of Michael Servetus France’s most feared Inquisitors, Pierre Lizet, that at the Bethesda stopped short of a prison term (or worse). library in January 2005. Neil is a member of the NCAS Board of Directors. the lungs merely for their nourishment; We skeptics know that superstition offers nor would the heart be of such service only betrayal and that science is cool, but as to the lungs, since at an earlier stage, Servetus’s sobering story shows, reason and in the embryo, the lungs, as Galen unreason can coexist in the same mind.

teaches, are nourished from else- ○○○○○○○○○○

Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 29 The Origin of the Modern Day Occult: Starry Influence by Richard Dengrove

f Mesmerism is the origin of psychic re- the ‘imagination’ because they were preoccu- search, “positive thinking,” and spiritual- pied with the mischief it could do. Iism, where did Mesmerism originate? Often Mesmer did not specify what was Natural Magic. doing the influencing. It was more important The idea of something like natural magic that we were not receiving the animal magne- being both legally and religiously lawful ex- tism properly. Similarly, with natural magic, isted by the 13th century, reaching, its zenith what was doing the influencing was not neces- in the 16th century (when such notables as sarily known or of interest. In fact, the word Agrippa, Della Porta, and Cardan advocated it, occult comes from the idea that the explanation and even the skeptic, Scot, was influenced by for some phenomena was considered hidden. it), and declined in the 17th century. However, Another similarity between natural magic vestiges of it remained in subsequent scientists and Mesmerism had to do with powers beyond such as Newton and van Helmont (who gave curing diseases, e.g. psychic powers, such as gas its name). foretelling the future and mind reading. In natural magic, often the stars or angels ulti- Starry Influence mately imprinted the future on natural objects, In February 1778, Fransz Anton Mesmer such as palms or crystal balls, and the future proclaimed that his fluid, Animal Magnetism, could be foretold from them. Mind reading existed throughout the universe. This concept was not as popular as a wild talent in natural had many things in common with natural magic. Still, the concept existed in the 15th magic. The influence of the stars, which was and 16th centuries. conducted by Mesmer’s fluid, was also impor- Until now, the similarities between natural tant in natural magic, and included the influ- magic and Mesmerism could be viewed as be- ence of not only the stars, but the planets as ing merely the result of a similar social milieu. well. As in natural magic, starry influence af- However, people in those days, far more than fected our minds through the head, a la Plato. today, knew what had been written before them. Like natural magic, there were other influ- The name, “animal magnetism,” came from the ences as well. For instance, the earth influ- scientist Van Helmont in the 17th century. He enced the feet most. Some Mesmerists, believed that magnetic fluids in people could

Richard Dengrove is the especially after the French Revolution, be- influence others. librarian for the Food and lieved invisible beings influenced us: e.g., an- However, there were differences between Nutrition Service, gels, devils, and ghosts. However, when it Mesmer’s animal magnetism, which he had Department of Agriculture. He lives with came to spirits, natural magic was more cir- adapted to the 18th century, and natural magic. his wife, Heidi, in cumspect. Invoking invisible beings (even Natural magic differed greatly from the Alexandria, Virginia. His ambition is to write a God and the angels) was against the law. In respectable ‘scientific’ theories of its time. Be- history of occult magic. the freer 18th century, Mesmer’s followers did cause natural magic was often thought to work Richard discussed not worry about the law as much as in previ- by action at a distance, it conflicted with the Mesmerism in an article entitled, “Early Origins of ous generations. accepted principle of Aristotle, that there was Psychic Research,” in Both Mesmerists and natural magic be- no action at a distance. Skeptical Eye vol. 17, #1, lievers felt that psychic powers by individuals, 2005. On the other hand, Mesmer’s theory was both living and dead, could influence us. The not that different from the theories accepted by 16th century’s Paracelsus was a proponent of scientists of his time. It was noted that J.S. it. Some of the stronger proponents of natural Bailly, a respected enemy of Mesmerism, held magic claimed psychic powers could be ob- a theory quite similar to it. Also, there were tained by concentrating on magical symbols. similarities with Lavoisier’s ‘caloric.’ A Mes- Again, natural magic was circumspect. merist compiled a fair sized list of thinkers

Conventional writers took a dim view of using whose beliefs bore some similarity. ➨ ○○○○○○

30 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 modern day occult continued from previous page

One way Mesmer adapted to the 18th cen- powers came from beyond the material world tury was to put on a good show. You could see of our senses. the cure coming because the patients had epi- Still, even with all these differences, Mes- leptic fits and somnambulistic trances. They merism owed a great deal to the natural magi- attracted because they provided a good show. cians of previous centuries. Touch had a special place. It was consid- Selected Bibliography ered risqué, which, in pre-Revolutionary France, gave it an added panache. People Darnton, Robert, Mesmerism and the End of the En- loved to be shocked. lightenment in France. Harvard, 1968, 218p. Furthermore, Mesmer’s animal magnetism Daston, Lorraine and Katharine Park, Wonders and worked less by juxtaposing the substance to the Order of Nature 1150-1750. New York: people, through proximity or amulets, as natu- Zone Books, 1998 ral magic did, and more by channeling influ- Eamon, William, Science and the Secrets of Nature: ences already there. Cures by touch, iron rods, Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern rope, and music were supposed to make Culture. Princeton, Nj: Princeton, 1994, xviii, people more susceptible to influences coming 490p through animal magnetism. Also, tubs filled Fauvel, John, Raymond Flood, Michael Shortland, with iron filings and ‘mesmerized’ water were and Robin Wilson, Let Newton Be! Oxford, supposed to enhance influence. 1988, pp136-42 This emphasis on the mind and less on Scot, Reginald, The Discovery of Witchcraft. Dover, apparatus developed into later idealistic occult 1972 [1584], 283p beliefs, where mind was often over matter and

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Skeptical Eye Vol. 18, No. 1 2006 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 31 about NCAS Bits and Pieces

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