Historian Answers Witchcraft Questions - Tech Support - WIRED
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Date: 2024-11-01
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Comments and reviews: 20
Fuchsschwester
10: 55 Actually, this thumbnail question was the reason I clicked on the video. And I loved it. I wish my professors would have given lectures like this. But I have something in my mind, and I hope you can help me with it. Okay, the broom is a domestic item connected to women, got it. But there are so many other things in a house that are more comfortable for traveling than a broom. If I may mention a movie it is 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1971. So, I came up with a theory, and I would like you, the expert, to either confirm or debunk it, please.
Engish is not my native language, so I don't know the name of this device. But there was a torture method, where women would be placed on a wooden triangle or a pyramide, sometimes with weights around the ankles, and the tip or sharp edge would press on the genitals, causing unbearable pain.
Riding a broomstick, that is, pressing your most sensetive bodyparts against a piece of wood, sounds similar to this torture. So, could it be that some twisted mind came up with the idea that witches liked their genitals being manhandled with rough (phallic) objects, and the whole myth about riding on a broomstick is somehow intertwined with this torture method
This is an honest question, I really would like to know. Thank You for the opportunity to ask this, Thank You for this video and Thanks in advance for an answer.
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10: 55 Actually, this thumbnail question was the reason I clicked on the video. And I loved it. I wish my professors would have given lectures like this. But I have something in my mind, and I hope you can help me with it. Okay, the broom is a domestic item connected to women, got it. But there are so many other things in a house that are more comfortable for traveling than a broom. If I may mention a movie it is 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1971. So, I came up with a theory, and I would like you, the expert, to either confirm or debunk it, please.
Engish is not my native language, so I don't know the name of this device. But there was a torture method, where women would be placed on a wooden triangle or a pyramide, sometimes with weights around the ankles, and the tip or sharp edge would press on the genitals, causing unbearable pain.
Riding a broomstick, that is, pressing your most sensetive bodyparts against a piece of wood, sounds similar to this torture. So, could it be that some twisted mind came up with the idea that witches liked their genitals being manhandled with rough (phallic) objects, and the whole myth about riding on a broomstick is somehow intertwined with this torture method
This is an honest question, I really would like to know. Thank You for the opportunity to ask this, Thank You for this video and Thanks in advance for an answer.
reply
wired
The single answer to a lot of these questions is because it was about terror’. It was about the people in power showing to those around them that they had the power to just point their finger at you and destroy you, in the most horrific and public manner. It was a form of human sacrifice, which is always a way for the society to assert it’s right to resort to the most extreme measures in order to feel powerful and safe. The same purpose as is served by death penalty, or arbitrary attacks on weaker nations or sub- groups. That’s also why it is always popular - the bring back hanging’ brigade. The support for genocide, whenever someone in power pushes for it. People alleviating their sense of weakness and existential insecurity through institutionalised, communal violence. It’s always popular, but especially in times of social change, so it makes sense that the early modern era saw a frenzy of this sort of terror.
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The single answer to a lot of these questions is because it was about terror’. It was about the people in power showing to those around them that they had the power to just point their finger at you and destroy you, in the most horrific and public manner. It was a form of human sacrifice, which is always a way for the society to assert it’s right to resort to the most extreme measures in order to feel powerful and safe. The same purpose as is served by death penalty, or arbitrary attacks on weaker nations or sub- groups. That’s also why it is always popular - the bring back hanging’ brigade. The support for genocide, whenever someone in power pushes for it. People alleviating their sense of weakness and existential insecurity through institutionalised, communal violence. It’s always popular, but especially in times of social change, so it makes sense that the early modern era saw a frenzy of this sort of terror.
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I-hate-youtube797
The witch trials were so wild to me because if you were accused you couldn’t get out of it. The way to get out of it was killing you. Either you were innocent or guilty you’d be killed. Of course EVERYONE accused was innocent but you get my point. Like there wasn’t even a chance for people accused to get out of it. And the way they killed people accused was so graphic and horrible. This is why I have a problem with Christian’s against witchcraft that act like it’s real. That kind of thinking is dangerous and led to the deaths of thousands of people in the past. I’d think we’d be advanced enough to realize witches aren’t real and neither is witchcraft but there are still Christian’s that won’t let their kids watch Harry Potter less it influences them to do magic. Absolutely wild
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The witch trials were so wild to me because if you were accused you couldn’t get out of it. The way to get out of it was killing you. Either you were innocent or guilty you’d be killed. Of course EVERYONE accused was innocent but you get my point. Like there wasn’t even a chance for people accused to get out of it. And the way they killed people accused was so graphic and horrible. This is why I have a problem with Christian’s against witchcraft that act like it’s real. That kind of thinking is dangerous and led to the deaths of thousands of people in the past. I’d think we’d be advanced enough to realize witches aren’t real and neither is witchcraft but there are still Christian’s that won’t let their kids watch Harry Potter less it influences them to do magic. Absolutely wild
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DrScott-i9r
I'm a homebrewer, and I've read that many of the accoutrements of witchcraft are thought to be brewer's implements. In medieval Europe there were few ways an unmarried or widowed woman could support themselves. One was brewing. The tall hat was worn while at market, so that they could be located in the crowd. The cauldron is pretty obvious. The broom may have been the large whisk that they used to stir the wort, and more importantly, inoculate it with the yeast it needed to ferment. When brewers guilds became more common it's thought that they waged a smear campaign to vilify their female competitors, and so these objects were given an unsavory association.
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I'm a homebrewer, and I've read that many of the accoutrements of witchcraft are thought to be brewer's implements. In medieval Europe there were few ways an unmarried or widowed woman could support themselves. One was brewing. The tall hat was worn while at market, so that they could be located in the crowd. The cauldron is pretty obvious. The broom may have been the large whisk that they used to stir the wort, and more importantly, inoculate it with the yeast it needed to ferment. When brewers guilds became more common it's thought that they waged a smear campaign to vilify their female competitors, and so these objects were given an unsavory association.
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boogieknee3781
My understanding was that this was not the case.
A priest who defended the women accused of witchcraft was tortured into confessing that HE was a witch and had flown on a YARROW STALK.
The best ACTUAL reason to accuse anybody of witchcraft is that this person speaks against the cleric in the community.
This was simply to curb dissent in most cases.
No wirch was burnt TO death contrary to the hammer films.
The test of drowning.
If any villagers were willing to dive in to rescue the victim. she was conveniently deemed innocent since the cleric himself did not want to face the mob.
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My understanding was that this was not the case.
A priest who defended the women accused of witchcraft was tortured into confessing that HE was a witch and had flown on a YARROW STALK.
The best ACTUAL reason to accuse anybody of witchcraft is that this person speaks against the cleric in the community.
This was simply to curb dissent in most cases.
No wirch was burnt TO death contrary to the hammer films.
The test of drowning.
If any villagers were willing to dive in to rescue the victim. she was conveniently deemed innocent since the cleric himself did not want to face the mob.
reply
Kishandreth
A potential source for witches using brooms to fly would have been farmers showing the crops how high they should grow in demonstrative ritual. Yes, some farmers would jump in their fields while running around with sticks brooms or farm implements to demonstrate to the crops the height to grow. A lot of societies have various rituals performed before any act as a teaching tool and as a blessing. By acting a ritual out of a successful hunt numerous peoples believed it helped the hunt be successful.
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A potential source for witches using brooms to fly would have been farmers showing the crops how high they should grow in demonstrative ritual. Yes, some farmers would jump in their fields while running around with sticks brooms or farm implements to demonstrate to the crops the height to grow. A lot of societies have various rituals performed before any act as a teaching tool and as a blessing. By acting a ritual out of a successful hunt numerous peoples believed it helped the hunt be successful.
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ShieldAre
Take a look at modern day conspiracy theorists, flat earthers, Qanon etc. and it becomes clear that the same psychology, same ignorance, same belief in absolutely insane things, and the same repulsive evil behaviour, has stayed with us. Indeed, many of the ideas are exactly the same, things like cannibalistic infanticide. The same people who are now in Qanon would have been at the forefront of witch hunts if they had lived in the 1600s.
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Take a look at modern day conspiracy theorists, flat earthers, Qanon etc. and it becomes clear that the same psychology, same ignorance, same belief in absolutely insane things, and the same repulsive evil behaviour, has stayed with us. Indeed, many of the ideas are exactly the same, things like cannibalistic infanticide. The same people who are now in Qanon would have been at the forefront of witch hunts if they had lived in the 1600s.
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wired
The ancient war against women continues to this very day, threatening male-dominated society. I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a male friend where I said I would be voting for Harris because, in part, she was a woman. He said, you can't just vote for someone because they are female! I said, Why not, you're not voting for her because she is female. He sat there stunned, realizing that I was correct. Breakthrough Perhaps.
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The ancient war against women continues to this very day, threatening male-dominated society. I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a male friend where I said I would be voting for Harris because, in part, she was a woman. He said, you can't just vote for someone because they are female! I said, Why not, you're not voting for her because she is female. He sat there stunned, realizing that I was correct. Breakthrough Perhaps.
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tsmspace
witchcraft is everywhere, but what's changed by now is that it's harder to blame some old woman for the psychological attacks and conditioning people practice. People are still up to ing eachother over by telling lies, creating impressions, or tricking people into doing something that makes them fit a stereotype at a critical public moment, they just can't blame the lonely old woman as much.
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witchcraft is everywhere, but what's changed by now is that it's harder to blame some old woman for the psychological attacks and conditioning people practice. People are still up to ing eachother over by telling lies, creating impressions, or tricking people into doing something that makes them fit a stereotype at a critical public moment, they just can't blame the lonely old woman as much.
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ewokpants4891
ooh the thing on brooms reminds me of eastern european folklore about witch-like figures flying at night and fighting harmful spirits which creates thunderstorms or something to that effect. Don't think brooms or any objects to aid in their flight were mentioned in that one. Perhaps a pre-cursor to the flying brooms thing. Also baba yaga folklore may be related.
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ooh the thing on brooms reminds me of eastern european folklore about witch-like figures flying at night and fighting harmful spirits which creates thunderstorms or something to that effect. Don't think brooms or any objects to aid in their flight were mentioned in that one. Perhaps a pre-cursor to the flying brooms thing. Also baba yaga folklore may be related.
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CaptPostmod
I hated The VVitch because it was promoted as debunking witch myths and being pro counter-culture at the time. But the narrative taken at face value is 100% pro Witches are real. Counter-culture people are actually in league with the devil. They're witches and evil, and they do horrible, scary stuff to kids and babies. So I went in with the total wrong mindset.
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I hated The VVitch because it was promoted as debunking witch myths and being pro counter-culture at the time. But the narrative taken at face value is 100% pro Witches are real. Counter-culture people are actually in league with the devil. They're witches and evil, and they do horrible, scary stuff to kids and babies. So I went in with the total wrong mindset.
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jpbaley2016
Puritans were not feeling persecuted. They did not come to America for religious freedom. They came here to escape religious freedom. The Puritan elite wanted to create colonies where their women and children would not be exposed to other christian sects and have no choice in their faith. Traveling to America was an act to control their people completely.
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Puritans were not feeling persecuted. They did not come to America for religious freedom. They came here to escape religious freedom. The Puritan elite wanted to create colonies where their women and children would not be exposed to other christian sects and have no choice in their faith. Traveling to America was an act to control their people completely.
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sandygehrmann6309
Excellent video and excellent guest. The only thing she got wrong was that tens of thousands of 'witches' were not executed throughout history - in reality this number was more likely to be in the dozens or hundreds. The fascination with the idea of witches has really made them seem more prominent than they really were: )
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Excellent video and excellent guest. The only thing she got wrong was that tens of thousands of 'witches' were not executed throughout history - in reality this number was more likely to be in the dozens or hundreds. The fascination with the idea of witches has really made them seem more prominent than they really were: )
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elaineb7065
I'd love to know more about, if somebody accused of being a witch came across a modern psychologist, would she (or occasionally he) come out diagnosed as neurodivergent, epileptic, or some other modern disorder we know a ton more about than we did back then. And that's before we even START on LGBTQ traits in them
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I'd love to know more about, if somebody accused of being a witch came across a modern psychologist, would she (or occasionally he) come out diagnosed as neurodivergent, epileptic, or some other modern disorder we know a ton more about than we did back then. And that's before we even START on LGBTQ traits in them
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jack-a-lopium
ROFL, love this guy 15: 18, matter-of-factly: the Salem witch trials were mass hysteria, dummy. but the European witch trials were not, they were trials of REAL WITCHES!
Ummmmmm. US alienation and shamelessness strikes again!
'Kylie' would be first in line with the witch burnings, for sure.
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ROFL, love this guy 15: 18, matter-of-factly: the Salem witch trials were mass hysteria, dummy. but the European witch trials were not, they were trials of REAL WITCHES!
Ummmmmm. US alienation and shamelessness strikes again!
'Kylie' would be first in line with the witch burnings, for sure.
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scootergirl3662
witch hunting is a medieval phenomenon
Have you seen American politics There are modern version of it going on right now basically, where people get really neurotic about events that probably aren't happening, at least in the way their twisted minds think
QANON, Stop the Steal, etc,
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witch hunting is a medieval phenomenon
Have you seen American politics There are modern version of it going on right now basically, where people get really neurotic about events that probably aren't happening, at least in the way their twisted minds think
QANON, Stop the Steal, etc,
reply
Lucernam
So harm to children, I think, is one of those useful, movable fictions that people use as away to articulate, to justify, and to demonize over the course of repeated moral panics Que in every single anti-LGBT reactionary for this single sentence, and let them know that they're propaganda tools.
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So harm to children, I think, is one of those useful, movable fictions that people use as away to articulate, to justify, and to demonize over the course of repeated moral panics Que in every single anti-LGBT reactionary for this single sentence, and let them know that they're propaganda tools.
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Dr. BenHamilton
I know there are numerous comments asking for more like this video. Dr. Brock is not only knowledgeable in a niche and interesting field, but she is an amazing communicator with palpable passion for what she does. I hope these comments encourage her to keep sharing with the world.
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I know there are numerous comments asking for more like this video. Dr. Brock is not only knowledgeable in a niche and interesting field, but she is an amazing communicator with palpable passion for what she does. I hope these comments encourage her to keep sharing with the world.
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josephcastro4684
She clearly has no experience with real witches. She should visit a third world country and in the deeply poorer countryside, she’d find people with real and undeniable experiences. She knows about historically told things but everyone knows most truths are kept under wraps.
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She clearly has no experience with real witches. She should visit a third world country and in the deeply poorer countryside, she’d find people with real and undeniable experiences. She knows about historically told things but everyone knows most truths are kept under wraps.
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scifibob
I wish I had this amazing woman as my history teacher when I was young.
I have always had an interest in world history, this woman is on another level and she could have made my childhood so much better.
Kudos to the institution that managed to get her to sign a contract.
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I wish I had this amazing woman as my history teacher when I was young.
I have always had an interest in world history, this woman is on another level and she could have made my childhood so much better.
Kudos to the institution that managed to get her to sign a contract.
reply
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