Reply With Quoteummm, know of any that might fit in this RP?, say Cherokee or Lakota?
Which part of Native American folklore, it is a huge field with wide variety between myths and legends found in various areas and between various tribes and which have developed and changed over a long time.
SadSongs what do you want to know. I am not an expert but I have read quite a bit about the witch trials, being both generally interested in the topic and being Pagan it have been a topic close to my heart.
ummm, know of any that might fit in this RP?, say Cherokee or Lakota?
Well I don"t know much about witches in europe.
Jacklyn J. C.
Well it is 3 in the morning here in Norway right now, but give me until to morrow and I will write something up on both.
YAY!!
Jacklyn J. C.
double YAYY!! ,lol
Ok on the European witch hunts, off course a post like this will only have some information as it is a huge field. In the middle ages there where not allot of witch hunts, allot of heretics where executed but it was generally considered to be bad form to believe that the Devil had so much power in the world that he could have witches, that off course do not mean that witches was not believed in but in large parts of medieval Europe it was not an offense punishable by death, most often it was frowned upon and at most people would be banished, there was exceptions to this however, among other things in old Norse societies when Christianity came to the land the Volves, socielly powerful female mystics, and other magic users where outlawed, off course folk magic was still common and Volves where employed, some Norse chieftains however took matters into their own hands and one king had dozens of seidmen, sorcerers, chained out by the coast to be drowned by the incoming tides. Generally though the witch hunts did not properly start before the Renaissance.
In the 1400 witch trials begun but they where very rare. Joan of Arc is one example though her trial have more in common with a heretic trial than a witch trial. It was not until the 1500 that witch trials picked up speed and became common. In 1487 two men by the name of Kramer and Sprenger wrote the infamous Malleus Maleficarum or the witches hammer, a manual of how to hunt, torture and convict a witch. The book was actually banned by the Church at first and the Inquisition warned against it, but soon it was accepted as a useful manual to hunt down witches.
Now as for torture this was not just done for witches, it was common in all sort of trials where one wanted a confession, however it often became more fervent in witch trials where one had little evidence and one also wanted to safe the accused's soul by having him or her confess, often a sentence could be reduced to banishment or imprisonment if the accused agreed to testify. The witch hunts often became hysterias since the accused where tortured to give up names of others and also after a while in many areas the state could confiscate a witch's land and property and then even the witch became likely targets.
Men where victims of witch hunts as well, not just women, though women where more prevalent, in Finland though almost all of the accused where men. Now as for how many where executed in the witch hunts, some say wild numbers like nine million, but historical scholars estimate that 35 to 40 000 is more likely. Execution methods also varies, some places held that a witch had to die on the fire to reduce the chance that she could rise again, others just used burning as an execution method since it is painful. How people was burned also varies, some places they where tied to a stake, while a often more common method was to tie the witch to a ladder and then lower her into the flame, this could be a more humane method as then the condemned usually got so close to the fire that they lost consciousness from the smoke quickly, you could also drop the ladder quickly so some was killed by the fall. In some areas a witch that cooperated would be killed before he or she was burned or they where given strong drink to get wasted on before the execution, on the other end of the spectrum sometimes fresh wood was used to make the fire burn slowly and wet cloth was used to keep the smoke away from the witch's face so he or she would live as long as possible.
Torture was generally not used as a punishment, it was used as a tool to get confessions and the names of other witches. Usually if someone was tortured and then agreed to talk it was said that the confession was gained without torture as the threat of more torture was not considered to be coercing the accused. Often someone accused of witchcraft was not allowed a defense since protecting a witch meant you where a witch as well, so often these poor, uneducated women and sometimes men had to stand before learned men and try to defend themselves without a lawyer. Often things like spectral evidence was allowed and often criminals and children could testify in witchcraft cases even if they where considered to be unsuited to do so in normal criminal cases, off course the actual laws varies between nations and time periods.
Many places the witch tests would be applied if someone did not confess, these methods where not intended as torture even if some of them where painful, but they were more meant as a way to identify if someone was a witch. One method was the water test like mentioned above, another test would be to prick the accused over all of their bodies to see if they had a insensitive spot on their bodies which where thought to be where the Devil touched them, it was also common to look for marks, third nipples used to feed the accused's familiar and other such marks on the body which was said to be the Devil's mark. Other methods would be to force the accused to carry hot coals in their hands and if their hands healed abormally fast it was said that God protected them and they where not witches.
I have to run but I will write more when I have the time.
Ohh the OOC I will have a look at it.
The OOC's up, incase some guys have missed it.
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