The Holy Innocents book is a mystery novel that has been out for years. Author Kate Sedley wrote the book in 1996 as part of her Roger the Chapman series, which eventually stretched to sixteen books. The Holy Innocents is book four in the series, but stands alone well enough. The setting is England during […]
Tag: witchcraft
Circe Book Review – Is Madeline Miller’s Story Fantastic or a Flop?
This Circe book review describes the Madeline Miller book that appeared in 2020. It is Miller’s retelling of the story of Circe, a Titan witch who appears in a couple of the classics of Greek mythology. We remember Circe best, probably, for the enchantments she places on Odysseus’s men in the Odyssey. So, the first […]
What Caused the Salem Witch Trials – What Was Really to Blame?
In my last post (read it with this link) I described the events of what happened in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Today, I’ll move on to what caused the Salem Witch Trials. Trials such as those in Salem are not common in American history. Perhaps the closest example from later American history would be in […]
The Salem Witch Trials – True Magic or True Madness?
With Halloween approaching, I feel it’s a good time for a discussion of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. It’s one of those events that seems rather anomalous in American history. Witch trials were relatively common in Europe starting in the later Middle Ages. To my knowledge, however, this is the only major example of them […]
The Origins of Witchcraft and Valdés of Lyon
Part of the origins of witchcraft lie with the man we know as Valdés of Lyon. Valdés lived in France in the twelfth century and was an itinerant preacher who lived a life of holy simplicity. His name also has a connection to the origin of the term “witch” and so is part of the […]