Not feeling well today–high pain level–but want to keep the posts coming, so I thought I would share some of my own historical photographs. These are from Salem, Massachusetts, in 1994, when I was attending grad school at BU.
The witchcraft trials memorial is quite powerful. One rough-hewn, cold stone seat (of sorts) exists for each person killed, with their name and manner of death (either hanged or stoned) carved into it. The image is of the only ingress and egress. To either enter or leave the small memorial–the size of a jail cell that would, and did, hold many–you must trod on, or step over, the prisoners’ declamations of innocence. These protests are abruptly silenced, as you can see, by the enclosing masonry.
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Death in Salem: The Private Lives behind the 1692 Witch Hunt
And then, there’s Laurie Cabot.
My understanding is that, now, Crow Haven Corner is run by her daughter (?) The above link is Laurie’s official site now.
I will never forget meeting her. She definitely has an energy about her. I was in her second shop, down by the wharf, looking at Celtic runes in the glass jewelry cabinet, out of sight of the entrance. Suddenly I felt static electricity all over…but more intense, almost painful, and all my hair stood up. I could actually see the hairs on my arm standing up. I stood up to see Laurie, in a swooping black robe, entering the store. Can’t explain it, can only document it.
Crow Haven Corner, Salem, Massachusetts
125 Essex Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970
978.745.8763, shop online
The Witch in Every Woman: Reawakening the Magical Nature of the Feminine to Heal, Protect, Create, and Empower
Related episode: 84: Goody Davis and Elizabeth Howell
