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This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture.

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The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily

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the only ones to the mysteries we will examine.

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The woman calls herself a witch.

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She claims to be performing an ancient ceremony of candle magic.

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The power of the planets has been petitioned, and as the paper burns, a spell is cast.

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This right of witchcraft is being practiced in Salem, Massachusetts, a place where people

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believed to be witches were once put to death.

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Salem, Massachusetts is richly endowed with history and culture.

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For most of us, it is still best known as the site of America's witch trials.

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The past has left the prominent mark, and Salem has come to embrace the witch, at least

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in some respects.

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The witch is the town's symbol, and also a constant reminder of a reign of fear and terror.

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The witchcraft hysteria of 1692 actually began here in the neighboring city of Danvers.

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It was once called Salem Village.

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Dr. Linda Caparal is a social psychologist.

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She has studied the witchcraft hysteria that once swept over the people here.

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Recently, she visited the historical society in Danvers.

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In December of 1691, eight girls were afflicted with what the Puritans called distempers.

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These were characterized by delusions of one sort or another, by severe convulsive fits,

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by odd gestures and disorderly speech.

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The girls were examined and judged to be possessed.

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Several months later, accusations of witchcraft were made, and these were taken quite seriously

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by the community, and we have the beginning of witchcraft trials.

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In an atmosphere full of frenzy, the girls told the court of numerous people who they

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felt were in league with the devil.

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In 1692, witchcraft was a capital offense.

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At the end of the Salem witchcraft trials, 20 people had died.

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Nearly all of the victims were hung here, on Salem's Gallows Hill, now an old and deserted

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playground.

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At the cemetery in Salem lie the bodies of some of the judges who presided at the trials.

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Despite its terrible history, witchcraft now thrives in Salem.

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Meet Laurie Cabot, the city's official witch.

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People commonly believe that witches are the exact definition of the Webster's Dictionary

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Holes.

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It says that a witch is an ugly old hag who cavorts with demons and devils or makes a

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pact with the devil in blood.

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People also believe that witches probably drink blood and eat babies, and of course that's

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not true.

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The word witch comes from the words magus, magi, and the Greek word magi, which still

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means witch today, and the word witch means wise person or seeker of knowledge, basically.

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In the center of Old Salem stands a shop called Crow's Haven Corner.

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It's a kind of sorcery boutique which was opened by Laurie Cabot.

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It has become a popular gathering place for those who claim to be witches.

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The shop has appealed to curious tourists, but it also stocks the herbs and potions that

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are needed by a witch.

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Laurie's daughter, Jody, is an actively practicing witch.

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It has a wonderful scent, so if the person is someone that you know or would like to

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know in the area, it will just by smelling the scent of the ribbon, it will attract you.

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Laurie's younger daughter, Penny, will soon become a member of the coven.

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Laurie's coven has gathered to initiate a new witch.

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The initiate is Penny, Laurie's 16-year-old daughter.

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This rarely photographed ceremony is based on ancient rites.

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Today, it is an amalgam of many different practices gathered over the centuries and adapted

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to modern times.

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Laurie begins the rite by casting a magic circle around the entire coven.

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Each witch is then anointed.

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I charge this circle to protect us from all negative and positive energies and forces

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that may come to do us harm.

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So moat it be.

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I draw into the center of this circle the energy of the universe and the wisdom of the

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pentacle.

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So moat it be.

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We bind your hands in infinity.

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We bind your creativity to the earth to aid us and help us in the name of Isis, the great

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mother and the holy maiden.

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Lady Day, on quiet Lady Day, with blossoms in her hair, comes the form of the fairy maiden

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weaving green everywhere.

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I charge you, Penny Cabot, witch.

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I give you the wisdom of the universe.

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We give you the responsibilities of creativity, fertility, and all wonderful and good things

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to the earth.

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So moat it be.

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By her mother's declaration, Penny Cabot has become a witch.

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As a new witch in the coven, it is now Penny's duty to perform alone a sacred ritual.

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In a forest not far from Salem, Penny gathers the tools to cast a spell.

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With pine needles, leaves, and from her witch's cord, she will summon the powers she needs.

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The spell will be for herself.

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It will focus and concentrate her natural powers of witchcraft.

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Her wand is a branch she has found.

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With it, she scribes a circle that she hopes will harness the earth's natural powers to

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strengthen and protect her.

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Today in Salem alone, at least 400 people call themselves witches.

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All are active and deeply committed.

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Being a witch to me means being more aware of your surroundings, being able to use more

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of your mind and make the life around you work more for you and to help other people.

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I became a witch because my goal in life is to raise my consciousness and it's a tool

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to do that.

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I'm a witch because it'll better myself and the people and animals around me.

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I became a witch just by basically getting involved in all occult matters and wanting

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to know about other phases of consciousness, which I think is really important because

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we don't use enough of our brain capacity to begin with.

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The best thing about being a witch is being able to use the vibrations of material things

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to work for you in the environment.

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I can control my environment through correct thinking, through putting the correct thought

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into the atmosphere by concentrating.

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I don't think everyone should be a witch.

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I don't think it's for everyone because to be a witch is a commitment and to commit

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yourself you have to spend a good deal of your life studying, learning about the world

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around you, various things.

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If we do healings, we have to know about anatomy.

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We have to be willing to make that kind of a commitment and that's not for everyone.

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For Laurie Cabot and the members of her coven, witchcraft is not an idle interest.

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It is an integral part of their lives.

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At 6 a.m., most of Salem, Massachusetts is still asleep.

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For Laurie Cabot, it is the time when the day begins.

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For Laurie, witchcraft is not something dark and secret.

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It is power and a knowledge to be shared.

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She does so every morning for a Boston radio station.

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It's Laurie Cabot's Daily Witch Report.

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So let's find out what's happening out there, cosmically speaking, with the good witch of

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the East, Ms. Laurie Cabot.

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Good morning, Laurie.

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It's Friday, June 20th.

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Good morning, everyone.

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The moon is in Libra and the emphasis is on good manners, consideration, and tact.

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Venus, Saturn, and Neptune are harsh today, so hurt feelings are bound to happen.

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Just bliss out and fantasize a lot and wear rainbows.

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This is Laurie Cabot, a good witch from Salem.

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Remember, every ending is a beginning and for all of us, this is law.

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Where we enter in, from there we must withdraw.

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Bye-bye.

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Like most witches, Laurie believes she is expert at making potions of all kinds.

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When the potion is nearly done, she imbues it with her own power.

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This potion is for protection and meant to be rubbed on the skin.

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I charge this potion to protect me from all negative and positive energies and forces

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that may come to do harm, so molded be.

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The potion is a pungent mixture containing sea salt, verbane, frankincense, myrrh, and

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woe's hair.

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Three times a week, Laurie travels to the nearby city of Marblehead.

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The purpose of her trip is not to practice witchcraft, but to teach it to interested students.

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Welcome to Witchcraft 2 class.

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This is the class that you're going to learn about witch tools.

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It's our most exciting class, of course.

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It's fun to learn about mixing potions and about magic wands.

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Everyone thinks it's so frivolous.

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The magic wand varies extremely.

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This is sterling silver. It has the pentacle on the top.

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We have potions, and we know potions are organic perfumes.

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We're going to learn how to make a potion for every sign in the zodiac.

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We're going to also learn how to make our own little spell kit.

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This is a healing spell, orange from mercury.

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That's right, it's to aid healing.

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In here is something very simple.

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This is sea salt, and this is going to prevent illness.

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What we're going to do is teach you the culmination of all these things so that you can put them together

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and actually perform or put a spell together and do your magic.

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You can use your energy and your power to heal or to change things.

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Maybe change the weather.

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These are very important tools for you.

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June 21st, for most of Salem, marks the beginning of summer,

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for witches, it is a high holiday, a time for celebration and worship.

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It is the summer solstice.

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Lori Cabot conducts a magic circle with her coven.

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I charge this circle to protect us from all negative and positive energies and forces

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that may come to do us harm.

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So-Motive B.

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On the solstice we draw in the energy of the sun and Jupiter into this place.

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We allow it to circulate in this circle.

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So-Motive B.

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I charge this chalice with the energy of Jupiter and the sun

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and the gift of the great mother Isis, So-Motive B.

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So-Motive B.

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Those who today practice witchcraft regard it as a religion.

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It has only been in recent times that its unorthodox rituals have even been tolerated.

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We ask that we be granted correctness, balance, purity,

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and the power of the forces in this circle for the good of all people.

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So-Motive B.

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So-Motive B.

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We now hold this energy within our bodies.

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The witches now form a cone of power, uniting and concentrating their energy.

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Finally, the magic circle is uncharged.

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The circle is broken.

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If Laurie Cabot had practiced witchcraft in colonial Salem,

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she most certainly would have been hanged.

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In the 17th century, spirits, devils, and demonic possession were thought to be very real.

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Witches were believed to be the human servants of evil.

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Even so, what was the reason that Salem Village suddenly fell into a violent episode of witchcraft hysteria?

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Dr. Linda Caparal has carefully developed a new and compelling theory.

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Since the time of the Salem trials, there have been numerous explanations as to the causes of the crisis.

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And these explanations include that there was mass hysteria,

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that there was fraud, that the girls were play-acting, and that they falsely accused people.

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Another explanation is that there was indeed witchcraft in the neighborhood,

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that the girls had been involved with it and became mentally ill as a consequence of their guilt.

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These explanations are not really adequate because they don't address the originating causes of the symptoms,

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which first caused the period in so much concern.

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I think that the original causes of the girls' behavior,

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and this behavior was what started the crisis, was eating contaminated bread,

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and that the bread is contaminated with a parasitic fungus known as urgot.

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Urgot is a fungus which grows on grain, most especially on rye,

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and it has a number of potent pharmacologic agents in it, especially one called isoergy, from which LSD is derived.

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Was the Salem witchcraft hysteria the result of demonic possession, or of a then unknown form of chemical poisoning?

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The symptoms that are alluded to in the trial records are pinpricking, choking, disorderly behavior, convulsions, hallucinations.

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These are all the kinds of symptoms that you would expect from convulsive ergotism.

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Was this the devil loosed in Salem in 1692?

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Today, the people of Salem seem, at least, to tolerate their witches,

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and the public practice of witchcraft is taken in stride.

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Laurie Cabot claims to have the power to radically change the weather.

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On the waterfront of Salem, she gave it a try.

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I call on the archangel Uriel to come and do my bidding.

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I call on the archangel Gabriel to come and do my bidding.

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I call on the archangel Michael to come and do my bidding.

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I call on the archangel Raphael to come and do my bidding.

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We ask that this be granted.

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The weather did change a little, but no one seemed to mind.

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I don't have any objections to witchcraft in Salem at all. I enjoy it. It's good for my business.

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I don't have any objection at all. I think if they want to practice witchcraft, they should be able to.

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I think it's great that they're doing their own thing.

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The witchcraft stories that go around here draw a lot of people in.

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It's clear that in the Bible, the witchcraft is condemned.

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The people who are practicing it are not condemned if they're willing to give it up later.

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But I feel like they're postponing the fullness of life they might enjoy if they look to the true source.

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And not just playing into the devil's hands, which they're doing, whether they're conscious of it or not.

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Now the witches in Salem don't give us any problems. They're very low-abiding.

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People often ask me, do you think the witch trials are over in Salem, or could witches be persecuted again?

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And I have a feeling because of our lack of education, there's a possibility through people's belief systems that it could happen again

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if we do not educate ourselves well enough. People need excuse the expression scapegoat

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somewhere to put their anger and their unexplained happenings.

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But if they really knew what we know, it could never happen again.

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We don't intend it to happen. It won't happen to the witches of Salem. I can guarantee you that.

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Despite the horrifying past, witchcraft in Salem is alive and well and determined to survive.

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The witchcraft hysteria that swept through Salem nearly 300 years ago ended as quickly as it began.

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Many of the accusing girls made poignant public apologies, and Massachusetts became the first state to remove witchcraft from its catalog of capital offenses.

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Perhaps the worst of all demons and devils are ignorance, intolerance, and fear.

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Coming up next in Search of probes the tricks of the trade that made Houdini the world's greatest escape artist.

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Then agents unraveled the events surrounding the murder of a state prosecutor on FBI, the untold stories.

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And later tonight, Hex Factor Week continues on History's Mysteries with a journey into America's psychic past from seances to CIA telepathy.

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At 8 here on the History Channel where the past comes alive.