Burn Her!

The Minister's Daughter
by Julie Hearn (a student of Philip Pullman)

Before holding their famous witch trials in Salem, the Puritans hunted in England. I suppose this book can’t be unique in its excellent mix of historical accuracy and gripping story (with a touch of fantasy), but it’s one of the best I’ve come across. The story is told in alternating chapters. One set focuses on our protagonist, the granddaughter of the cunning woman, a follower of the old ways who functions as village (as well as piskie and fairy) midwife and healer. The other set comprise “The Confession of Patience Madden,” the younger sister of the title character and witness to her selfish manipulations of their father’s religious zeal. The old and new ways collide in a rather combustible fashion.

The cover and title give a bit of a staid impression, but the book is not at all. It’s very earthy and fun. I loved learning about the cunning woman’s ways, the potions and spells she taught to Nell, and how much they still influenced what we think of as a Christian nation and time. And I’d really recommend giving this one a listen. Reader Heather O'Neill brings the dialects and characters to life in a way that my imagination didn’t. An excellent choice for both teens and adults.

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A bit of flavor from the Malleus Maleficarum, a serious document:

All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman. Wherefore S. John Chrysostom says on the text, It is not good to marry: What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colours! (link)

To conclude: All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, a fourth thing which says not, It is enough; that is, the mouth of the womb. Wherefore for the sake of fulfilling their lusts they consort even with devils. (link)

The evils which are perpetrated by modern witches exceed all other sin which God has ever permitted to be done. (link)

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And a bit of parody that doesn't seem so outrageous in light of the history it mocks:

So, logically, . . .
If . . . she . . . weighs the same as a duck . . . she's made of wood . . .
. . . and therefore . . .
(pause)
A Witch!

From The Witch skit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.