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Spellbound: Women and Witchcraft in America. Ed. Elizabeth Reis. (Wilmington: SR Books, 1998. Pp. xxiii + 276, introduction, suggested readings.)
Spellbound: Women and Witchcraft in America raises two images: the infamous Salem witchcraft trials, and today's practicing Neopagan witches. As Elizabeth Reis notes in her introduction, the relationship between the Salem witches and those of today is a controversial one. Many modem witches claim to be reviving an ancient religion that was also practiced by the victims of the Salem trials-in other words, that the Salem witches really were witches. Most historians, however, would dispute that claim. To investigate this controversy, Reis has collected 12 articles that explore various definitions of witchcraft in America, from New England trials to modern witchcraft, including studies of witchcraft and women's spirituality among Native Americans and African Americans. Half of the contributions are reprints or excerpts of published work.
One broad group of witchcraft definitions is that offered by persecutors, who, as Reis says, have used theology to control women throughout history. The first four essays in this book all take a feminist approach to witchcraft accusations, not just at Salem but in colonial New England generally. In "The Economic Basis of Witchcraft," Carol Karlsen argues that a woman was more likely to be charged as a witch if she were a single or widowed woman who had inherited an unusually significant amount of property. Based on the excerpts reprinted here, her statistical argument is flawed, in that she does not compare the rates of wealthy women among the accused to the...