By Mari Ellis Dunning /The Conversation The fear of witchcraft led to centuries of persecution and executions across Europe. While there were an estimated 500 executions in England, and between 3,000...
Queen Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, was executed on 19 May 1536 on charges of adultery with five men, including her own brother, and plotting the King’s death. She was believed to have...
As India has continued to modernize, the old issue of ancient superstitions surrounding witchcraft has repeatedly cropped up. This deeply rooted belief has led to a tragic trend of violence against...
The Pendle Witch Trials tell a chilling true story of fear, superstition, and religious tensions that ignited one of the most infamous witch trials in English history. At the heart of this dark...
Mexican witchcraft has long been a topic of fascination for people around the world, and for good reason. In a bustling city of 20 million people, Mexico City, where the majority are devout Catholics...
Whether one is studying European, Asian, or American folklore, different variations of the same nightmarish creatures tend to crop up. Of all the things that go bump in the night, the most prominent...
One of the most controversial organizations in history, the Spanish Inquisition has been poorly understood by the general public. This period of religious persecution, which took place between 1478...
Hecate the goddess of Greek mythology has been primarily remembered for her associations with magic and witchcraft. Throughout history however, her sphere of influence also included the moon, night,...
Many Christian writers identified the gods and lesser spirits of the Greek and Roman world with demons. This ushered in the Christian practice of demonizing those they perceived as their opponents...
We often talk about the modern world’s obsession with celebrities. People love to talk about the rich and famous. This is nothing new. It’s been a part of human nature since time immemorial. Before...
It’s not just something one can bury in the recesses of history because even today many cultures across the world accuse women of practicing black magic and witchcraft. And women accused of this...
What comes to mind when you think of a witch? For most people, the first image that comes to mind is of a witch flying through the night sky on a broomstick. Ever wondered why witches have been...
In the original Blade trilogy, Wesley Snipes played Eric Brooks, the title character also known as Blade. The film, written by David S. Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington, was released in 1998...
Since the beginnings of history, humans believed in religions of a polytheist type, worshipping a plurality of gods and spirits. By proposing a monotheist religious system, Christianity intended to...
Witch trials are among some of the cruelest events in European history. Thousands of innocent women were murdered by people who provided fake accusations. In England, one of the most famous witch...
The Inquisition is normally associated with the ardent renegades of the Renaissance who preferred to die defending science and humanism than go along with the religious dogma that persecuted free-...
The controversial and tragic death of Anne Boleyn in 1536 AD is brought back to mind this week, 485 years since she was beheaded. Now, a master’s researcher from an English university has revealed a...
On January 17 th , 1569, the simple, unwed house servant Agnes Bowker of Market Harborough, England, was in the throes of giving birth to a secret child. By her side were the midwives Margaret Roose...
A witch or not? Guilty or innocent? Witch hunting was all the craze in the late medieval period and onwards in Europe and involved some rather peculiar practices. Witch hunters of all kinds emerged...
Serial killers are not a new phenomenon. Before Jack the Ripper began his legendary killing spree in London in the 1800s, there is a long list of infamous serial killers active throughout history...
In 2016, along with a vast array of international publications, the Daily Mail picked up a story that had been published by a Norwegian-based paper prior to a conference about the confiscation of...
Archaeologists in Poland have unearthed two witches’ skeletons that belonged to an unholy dark trinity, who in 1679 AD were burned at the stake. What did these three women, now known as the witches...
According to legend, one of the most famous mystical women of England was born in a cave in Knaresborough, Yorkshire. The place of her birth, now known as Mother Shipton’s Cave, continues to be a...
In 1692 a darkness descended on Salem , Massachusetts, like no other in American history. Children and adults alike, claimed that the devil himself was walking the streets of the early English colony...