Kyla's Witchy Blog

As I was exploring the Salem Witch Trials on Google, I came across the following information: “The last of the Salem witch trials was held in May of 1693. In total, between 144 and 185 people were accused of witchcraft. All the accused were pardoned by the end of 1693. Fifty-four confessed. Fourteen women and five men were executed, along with two dogs.” Wait, what?? SAY IT ISN’T SO!  Unfortunately, it is so. After cross-checking this information with numerous sources, it is true that two furry friends were accused of witchcraft and killed during the trials. As a dog lover who has a bigger heart for animals than for humans, I was devastated to learn that two defenseless canines fell victim to the Salem craze. What could they have possibly done to deserve this? Out of sadness and curiosity, I did some research on the role of dogs in the Salem Witch Trials as well as their significance in the broader world of magic. Here is what I found.  Dogs played a surprisingly large role in...

  At the end of my popular media presentation on Into the Woods, I asked the class to discuss the roles of older actresses in Hollywood and how their treatment may mirror the historical treatment of witches. While I enjoyed hearing my classmates’ answers, I did not get a chance to thoroughly explore this conversation. Since this is an important topic that integrates many of the themes of this course, I decided to answer this discussion question myself... “In those days I had no reason to believe I would have a career past 40. You could work up to 40 and then you’d start playing hags and witches . It’s one of the reasons I refused to play a witch until ‘Into the Woods’ – and I had been offered many witch roles. It was that trough that women fell into.”  – Meryl Steep "I was offered three witches [roles] when I turned 40 - in one year, and I thought: 'Oh, this is how it's gonna go?' … At this point in my career, I think, I really think hard about: 'What am I puttin...

  As I read the final section of Witchcraft: A Short Introduction , I found myself both intrigued and appalled by one particular topic– torture. As we have discussed in class, methods of torture and coercion were frequently used to force confessions of witchcraft. Aside from the social pressure of hearsay and rumors, the accused would undergo seemingly ridiculous, medieval tests to prove their guilt and ideally force a voluntary confession. Beyond the infamous swimming test, there was also the pricking test. It was believed that teats and “witch’s marks” on one’s body were insensitive to pain and would not bleed; so, examiners would repeatedly stab and prick the person’s flesh until they discovered a spot that did not bleed (Andrews, 2014). Ouch!! Personally, if I was being repeatedly stabbed with needles, I would confess to just about anything to make it stop.  While these coercive methods seem outlandish, cruel, and utterly illegal in my mind, I learned that “the use of tort...

  Witches in school?! As I was browsing the internet and looking through dozens of witchy children’s books, Little Witch Goes To School caught my attention. This book was written by Deborah Hautzig in 1998 and released through Random House Publishing’s “Step Into Reading” series. I felt waves of nostalgia reading this book since I grew up reading many stories from the “Step into Reading” series– how special. This particular book is a level 3, meaning that it is for children ages 4-7 with about a kindergarten reading level. While I have included a few pages from the book in my post below, here is a link to a read-along of the book, if you feel so inclined to check it out.   A brief summary: Little Witch wants to go to school just like her friends, but her mother thinks she should stay home and learn from her nasty witchy aunts. Mother Witch finally agrees to let Little Witch go, but only if she promises to be very, very bad. Little Witch’s time at school proves to be qui...

Every time I encounter a tarot card reading video on my TikTok, I immediately scroll past it. This is partly due to my skepticism that the content creator is being serious, and partly due to my genuine fear of TikTok’s algorithm. The other day, I was going through a rough patch with a close friend and I was frustrated with them. As I was scrolling on my TikTok later that night, I was presented with a video of a tarot card reader explaining that “there is an apology coming your way soon from someone who cares.” While I am not sure if the spiritual world was communicating with me or if my phone was just listening to my conversations, it is safe to say that I was taken aback.  What is this world of witch tok? Who are these content creators that can read my mind, and where did they come from? There is clearly interest and demand for these types of videos, as #witchtok has amassed more than 52 billion views on TikTok. So, this afternoon, I decided to take a deep dive into all things wi...

It is 11:00 p.m. on a summer night in 2018. Bored with nothing better to do, my friends and I gathered around an Ouija board in the basement. While I cannot remember what questions we asked the board, I can only imagine they were something along the lines of “Who will ask me to the homecoming dance” or “Which one of us will be rich one day.” Only asking the important things, of course. Though I have not encountered an Ouija board since that night, I remain skeptical of this commercialized practice and doubt that it holds much validity. However, despite my skepticism, I do believe that it is possible, in one way or another, to communicate with spirits and the souls of lost ones. Perhaps I was just using the Ouija board wrong.  Learning about spiritualism in this week’s reading of A History Of Magic, Witchcraft, And The Occult has sparked my curiosity and prompted me to take a deep dive into the origins and psychology behind Ouija. Where did this come from? How does it work? Let’s di...