I figured now was a great time to pitch a few of the edited works I've released since it seems we have entered another burning times in which allegation and presumption and emotion are superior to evidence, logic, reason, and enlightenment. While this is sad and means innocent people will suffer, it is hardly unprecedented even in modernity- remember that even extremely modern eras have been pockmarked by moral panics which are based not on evidence but emotion. I'd almost be more worried if this era did not contain at least a minor moral panic regardless of the stupidity of each such moralistic period of hand wringing and disingenuous he-said-she-said nonsense.
First we have DEMONOLOGY by none other than King James. Other than the Malleus Maleficarum itself this is the premier text of all moral panics in the history of mankind and probably killed tens of thousands of people- more than almost any text other than those that are themselves canonical within religious paths themselves. This work contains a great deal of odd material especially related to James' own philosophy on witch hunts.
Second, we have Workmans' DEMONOMANIA which rationalizes the witch hunts of yesteryear in an early sense while slightly missing the mark in some aspects of science as now generally recognized.
Third and finally we have a work on COTTON MATHER and witchcraft, which technically apologizes for and defends the perpetrators of the Salem witch trials on several grounds. A short work, it is nonetheless well written.
As we wait for the Lesser Keys I figured that revisiting a few works on persecution made sense, given the political climate of today.
Showing posts with label cotton mather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cotton mather. Show all posts
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Cotton Mather and Witchcraft: Now Available!
This short tract is one of the more interesting looks at the Salem Witch Trials that I have seen. Not only does it openly defend Cotton Mather (usually saddled with a significant proportion of the blame for the witch hysteria there) but does so with enough persuasion that over a century after its authorship I found myself at least partly convinced that perhaps Mather really wasn't the devilish sadist he's usually considered. It helps that he arguably outflanked Gregor Mendel in a basic understanding of rudimentary genetics by a century.
Mather, of course, was a pious puritan of his age- but he was also a relatively scientific man with an extreme level of education. This work, then, exonerates him from some of the criticism he began receiving in this mid 19th century era, as rationalists sought to universally condemn virtually all specifically religious minds of the past age. It gives a little bit of insight into the concept of the "white specter" and similar paranormal topics as well.
24 pages.
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