In February of the same year prayer services and fasting were held by Rev. Parris so that evil forces would be removed from the two girls. A man by the name of John Indian, in an effort to expose Abigail and Elizabeth made a witch cake made of rye meal and their urine. This witch cake was meant to reveal their true witch identites. Only a society with a belief so strong in witchcraft and the devil would come up with an idea to make a cake out of urine and rye meal and expect it to actually reveal some kind of information. The fact that the reverend allowed the process of making a cake that could reveal witches and went along with the “hunt” for witches also shows that the society was so wrapped up in believing there was really a such thing as witchery.
On May 27th Phips, the Governor at the time set up a special Court of Over and Terminer comprised with seven judges to try the witch cases. They based their judgments on intangible evidence. In this day and age it is almost impossible for a person to be found guilty without tangible evidence, but the judges found people guilty on hearsay, “witch marks” and the way the girls acted. They believed that the Devil could assume the “body” of an innocent person, this was also relied upon. The judges were convicting people on evidence that could no really be proven. On June 2nd the first session of the Court of Oyer and Terminer was held. Bridget Bishop was the first to be pronounced guilty of witchcraft and condemned to death. July 19th Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good, and Sarah Wildes were also executed. Here it is, 1692, a society where if enough people said another person was a witch then that person was arrested and or executed. This is a culture where religion is supposedly so strong and yet people were convicted and executed without any hard evidence and the church allowed it.
In the song “The Devil and the Farmer’s Wife,” the interest in the Devil is obvious. The song is about a man and his wife who is not liked. When the Devil comes to take a family member, it is too soon for the husband or the son to leave, so the Devil takes the wife instead. In the end the Devil brings the wife back because of the torment she brought upon him. The belief in witchcraft is very visible as well as the belief that they should persecute anyone who performed witchcraft. In the song “John Barleycorn,” the lyrics suggest that John Barleycorn was accused of witchcraft. Three men believed that because of that he should die. The three men thought that they had killed him until, “little Sir John sprung up his head and so amazed them all.” These tavern songs were sung for amusement and entertainment. Even in this part of their lives they incorporated the Devil and witchcraft.
In John Hale’s “Preface to a Christian Reader” it is easy to see that how the people of Salem incorporated the Devil into society. “There hath been such a dark dispensation by the Lord, letting loose upon us the Devil,” says Hale. John also believes that the Devil lives amongst the people in town and believes that witchcraft is a product of it. John and the people of Salem are obviously passionate about their religion. The emotion conveyed by Hale was comparable to the residents of Salem with their religious beliefs regarding what was happening in the town at that time.
As depicted in their way of life and the way they behaved the Devil and witchery was very much evident in Puritan life 1600’s – 1700’s. Because of the Puritan’s beliefs and obsession of the Devil many innocent people were hanged, and a society was virtually turned against each other.
Extra Sources:
The Salem Witch Trials 1692. September 17, 2003. A Chronology of Events. http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/index.shtml