This is a different kind of show; it's about getting justice for a group of people who were murdered 300 years ago.
It is surprising to learn that even today, many people don't know about a horrific period when Connecticut was a fledgling colony and innocent people, mostly women who were accused of being a witch.
Witchcraft isn't what you think of it today. It wasn't a religion or belief. The definition of a witch in colonial New England was open-ended. It could be a person targeted by any of her neighbors for any reason or no reason or none for that matter. There was a lot of corruption by church and state, extortion, jealously, assaults, and murders.
The pilgrims who traveled to the new colonies were Puritan Christians. These people agreed to live under a rigorous religious government that didn't allow for a lot of forgiveness. If someone was perceived to violate church law, the punishment was swift and harsh—death, often the penalty. There was no place to escape other than the wilderness or to the colony of Rhode Island.
So how did all this start? It all began in the 1400s Medieval Europe when 2 Catholic priests wrote a treatise called the Malleus Maleficarum. The purpose of the document was to control the masses who the priests felt to have deviant behavior against the church and its authority. They concluded the people must be bewitched!
It became a how-to manual giving the church and courts the legal authority to investigate, prosecute, and execute anyone of witchcraft and the book was widely distributed.
Sadly, millions of women, men, and children over the centuries were executed. According to one historical reference, 85% who were viciously tortured and executed were women.
This manual was in use for over 500 years, and the Catholic church finally discontinued using it in 1939 and during its publication, it had 16 revisions, most during the 1500 and 1600s.
Even though the church discontinued its use, the damage was done. As you'll hear in the interview, many protestant ministers made similar versions to suit their own needs.
I want to share an excerpt that I found by Fia Forsström, a Swedish author who posted a comment on Facebook about the witch trials in Europe and beyond.
I thought it sums up the injustice, pain, and suffering that the church and state inflicted on its citizens.
It was not witches who burned.
It was women.
Women who were seen as;
Too beautiful,
Too outspoken,
Had too much water in the well (yes, seriously),
Who had a birthmark,
Women who were too skilled with herbal medicine,
Too loud,
Too quiet,
Too much red in their hair,
Women who had a strong nature connection,
Women who danced,
Women who sang,
or anything else, really.
Any woman was at risk of burning in the 1600s.
Sisters testified and turned on each other when their babies were held under ice.
Children were tortured to confess their experiences with “witches” by being fake executed in ovens.
Women were held underwater, and if they could float, they were guilty and executed. If they sank and drowned, they were innocent.
Women were thrown off cliffs.
Women were put in deep holes in the ground.
Why do I write this?
Because knowing our history is important when we are building a new world.
When we are doing the healing work of our lineages and as women.
To give the women who were slaughtered a voice, to give them redress and a chance of peace.
It was not witches who burned.
It was women.
XXX
This is Connecticut's story – it's a 30-year reign of terror, pain, and suffering, and injustice.
During those 30 years, 11 people were falsely accused of the crime of witchcraft and executed. In some cases, the reason for how the court came to its conclusion is crazy, and it boggles the mind.
One can only conclude the accusers, the church, and the court was corrupt. It was nothing more than men dressed in clergy cloaks and robes acting as an organized crime syndicate.
Approximately 35 more victims – that we know of – were accused of witchcraft. In one case, a woman was accused several times.
In that day and age, this was a serious business. Any accusation destroyed a person's life and family. Many were forced to flee into the wilderness, often leaving children behind to deal with the fallout.
And for what? Someone owning a prime piece of land? An outspoken spouse? A farmer's crop grew better than his neighbors? A woman had freckles or a mole on her body or, sadly, had a child with a disability – therefore, she must be a witch?
Tony Griego and Beth Caruso, founders of the Connecticut Witch Memorial, present a compelling argument as to why they believe acknowledgment from the State of Connecticut and an official memorial is long overdue. These victims and their descendants deserve to be recognized. They deserve peace, justice, and an official place to mourn their ancestors.
Windsor Town Council, Windsor, Connecticut (click here to view video)
Books
Thank you Tony Griego and Beth Caruso for coming on the show and sharing this incredible story.
Reference Links
CT Witch Memorial Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/ctwitchmemorial
Beth Caruso Website
Email: oneofwindsor@yahoo.com
Old State House website
Center Congregational Church, Hartford
https://centerchurchhartford.org
Windsor Congregational Church
State of Connecticut State Library Witchcraft Materials:
https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/colonialresearch/witchcraft
https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/ld.php?content_id=8928764
Samuel Wyllys Papers
Samuel Wyllys Papers at Brown University
https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=US-RPB-mswyllys&view=inventory
The Witchcraft Delusion In Colonial Connecticut 1647-1697 by John Taylor
https://archive.org/details/witchcraftdelusi00tayluoft
Mathew Grants Diary – regarding Alice Young’s hanging for being a witch
https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/colonialresearch/grantdiary
Digital View:
https://cslib.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15019coll14/id/414
Transcript:
https://cslib.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15019coll14/id/1425
The Malleus Maleficarum Website:
http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org
Malleus Maleficarum Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum
Adultery or Witchcraft? A New Note on an Old Case in Connecticut, William K. Holdsworth
https://www.jstor.org/stable/364866?seq=1
New England's Other Witch-hunt: The Hartford Witch-hunt of the 1660s and Changing Patterns in Witchcraft Prosecution
https://academic.oup.com/maghis/article-abstract/17/4/16/970318
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Music
A special thank you to Gene Tullio for writing and producing this music. He has given me special permission to use this song for the show.
Gene's music can be downloaded from Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify.
For more information please contact him at dreamshipmusic@gmail.com
Album: The Dreamship| The Forge Of Life| Copyright 2018
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