Visiting Salem 332 Years After The Witch Trials

    

    The Salem Witch trials have become a major part of history, especially for feminists and other historians of witchcraft. The trials were a time of turmoil for women, as we know now that many were wrongfully accused and only considered 'witches' from a patriarchal lens. 

    March 1st marked the anniversary of when the trails started. On March 1st, 1692, authorities interrogated Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba. The Salem Witch Trials began afterwards. 

    I traveled there to commemorate this anniversary. Of course, there are always many visitors in October, the most popular time to go. But in the off-season, the place is still breathtaking under the cloud of rain. 

    It's sometimes a slippery slope when visiting. One one hand, you want to be careful not to make a complete tourist attraction of this horrible event in history- but on another, it is a place of learning and healing. I traveled there to see what local witches thought of Salem over 300 years later.

    The town itself still had many of its shops open. The shops were magical, literally. You could see the love and attention to detail put in. The shops had curated items for spells and luck, as well as a few with different antiques and real haunted items. One shop in particular called, "Emporium" had an array of top hats, absinthe bottles, vintage postcards, decanters secret flasks, mobiles hanging from the ceiling, costume pieces, jewelry, and so on. All under a beautiful copper ceiling that had probably been the original and restored. I think so many people often associate Salem with the spooky or the strange, but there was so much wonder to be found, and so much love put into these shops. 

    Another shop had items for magic on its ground floor, string lights adding a certain sparkle to everything, and up a small staircase, there was an ice cream parlor and bakeshop. The owner explained that she and her partner opened the shop up together. Her partner's love was all of the magic items on the ground floor, and she worked to curate ethically sourced and legitimate items. And the baked goods were her love. She had gone to pastry school for twenty years. The two combined both of their loves and opened the place. 

    The owner explained how Salem was a "very accepting little pocket of love", and how the couple found a safe place to stay. With so much anti-LGBTQ legislation as well as legislation against women's rights, the pair was thankful to find a place where they could be themselves and offer some hope to visitors as well. 

    We discussed how Salem has become a place for witches, women, and anyone on the 'outs' of societal 'norms' could reclaim so many parts of history. The trials targeted those in society that were marginally 'different' or 'othered', so the fact that Salem has become a hub for acceptance is rewarding for so many of the residents and modern-day witches there. 

    I enjoyed going in the off season which made it feel like less of a tourist trap. And I was able to talk to so many shop owners who spoke to the importance of the place. Whether you believe in magic and witchcraft or not, it was clear that so much of it began in love. The representation of witchcraft in media is often frightening or used as a gimmick around Halloween. But for some today, it's a means of reclaiming what history took, as well as rooted in practices that help individuals align with love and theirselves in a unique way. 

    I went to pay tribute to a few of those lost in the witch trials. I bought roses and put a single penny on the graves for each. With the hate-based rhetoric we know through media today, it is important to keep a close watch on history. Many of these women's lives were lost because of hate, for being wrongfully accused or not living up to a rigid standard of a 'woman' as society saw fit. It is important we remember the lives lost to events like this, but also look out for those that society considers "other" now. We are familiar with some of the ways history repeats itself, and it's important to consider these events and others in history that we may be in danger of repeating.