Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern SpiritualismPutnam, Allen
Religion
Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism
Putnam, Allen
Spiritualism; Witchcraft -- New England
"_Q._ What hath Osburn got to go with her? _A._ A thing; I don't know what
it is. I can't name it. I don't know how it looks. She hath two of them.
One of them hath wings, and two legs, and a head like a woman. The
children saw the same but yesterday, which afterward turned into a woman.
_Q._ What is the other thing that Goody Osburn hath? _A._ A thing all over
hairy; all the face hairy, and a long nose, and I don't know how to tell
how the face looks; with two legs; it goeth upright, and is about two or
three foot high, and goeth upright like a man; and last night it stood
before the fire, in Mr. Parris's hall."
The obscurity of this description is fully paralleled by the prophet
Ezekiel, who, in presenting the beings seen in the first of his "visions
of God," uses the following language, in chap. i.: "They had the likeness
of a man, and every one had four faces, and every one had four wings; and
their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the
sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like the color of burnished
brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four
sides; and they four had their faces and their wings; and their wings were
joined one to another; and they turned not when they went; they went every
one straight forward; as for the likeness of their faces, they four had
the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side; and they
four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face
of an eagle." This quotation from the Bible hints with much distinctness
that inherent difficulties may beset any clairvoyant who undertakes to set
forth in our language, which was formed for description of material
objects, some things which are occasionally perceived by the spiritual
senses. Where the prophet was so vague and mystical we may pardon the
ignorant slave if she failed to be very lucid, and if one suspects her of
attempting to put forth nothing but fiction, because she was so obscure,
how can he consistently withhold similar suspicions in relation to the
prophet?
We will pass to the children's credit the fact that they also saw Osburn's
ungainly and hairy attendant.
"_Q._ Who was that appeared to Hubbard as she was going from Proctor's?
_A._ It was Sarah Good, and I saw her send the wolf to her."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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