March 7, 2025

Salem Witch Trials: Betty and Abigail

Salem Witch Trials: Betty and Abigail

We consider the first young girls who made the first accusations in Salem

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We consider the first young girls who made the first accusations in Salem

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Who would like

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to take a late night trip back to Salem sixteen

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ninety one, sixteen ninety two?

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Who's up for that?

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A late night trip back to Salem sixteen ninety one,

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sixteen ninety two, as we continue to explore, research and

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study everything we can about the Salem Witch Trials. I

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hope you're ready, because that's what we're going to do,

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a late night trip to Salem.

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And we'll do that right after I say good evening. Everyone. Welcome.

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It is Friday, March the seventh, twenty twenty five. It

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is currently ten twenty six PMS Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. But we're not going

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to stay in Abilene, Texas. No, we are going to

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go back to Salem.

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Now.

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We've been doing this series on the Salem Witch Trials.

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Each episode has had its own kind of unique feel.

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I've kind of been doing something a little different. I've

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been trying to present things as a narrative. We did

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our first kind of sermon review in this series where

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people were defending, you know, well a certain individual connected

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with well, I think connected with the witch trials, and

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that man's name is Cotton Mather. That kind of sermon

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review was a disaster in many ways. They didn't really

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provide any meaningful evidence that I could really spend time refuting.

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And the way it was presented was just kind of

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an a monotone reading, almost like a one long run

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on sentence. It was very difficult to kind of wrap

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my hands around what to do with that, So that

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that did not go well. But I am really enjoying

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trying to present things in a narrative form. So let's

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go back to Salem, and we're gonna look at what

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leads up to the Salem witch trials. We've looked at

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possibly how Cotton Mather set the he wrote the blueprint,

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he wrote the script. We talked about how what happened

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four years earlier in Boston may have played a major

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role in what happens in Salem.

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We talked about all of that.

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But now we're gonna talk about something that maybe you've

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never heard and maybe you're not aware of when it

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comes to the Salem witch trials.

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We're gonna go back to.

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The very beginning. And this beginning, well, it begins as

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a game. It begins as a secret ritual, one that

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no Puritan girl should ever have attempted. But when their

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innocent fortune telling took a terrifying turn, two young girls

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found themselves caught in a nightmare of their own making.

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They had played with something forbidden, and when fear took hold,

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they did what children often do when they're about to

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be punished. They blamed someone else. This is the story

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of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, two girls whose innocent

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curiosity may have unleashed one of the deadliest witch hunts

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an American history. Now, as we have already discussed and

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talked about the Salem witch Trials, the hysteria really kicks

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in January. What sixteen ninety two, and two girls are

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at the very beginning of this. They're the starting and

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they're their names are Betty and Abigail. Betty Parris and

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Abigail Williams. They are the two girls who are first afflicted.

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And there are the two girls who make the first accusation. So,

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if you're gonna study the Salem witch Trials and you're

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gonna say what starts actually in Salem. Let's forget what

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comes before Salem, but we're going to just start right there.

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Salem village. You got these two girls, Betty Paris and

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Abigail Williams, and they're very much involved and what began

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as a game, a secret ritual that no Puritan girl

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should have ever attempted. But these innocent girls, this innocent

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fortune telling, well not innocent girls, right, We probably shouldn't

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say that, Phil because we believe all children are born sinner,

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so maybe we definitely need to be very specific when

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they're innocent fortune telling? And is there any fortune telling

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that's innocent? Oh, we could go lots of directions with this,

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but it does take a very terrifying turn. And these

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two young girls they find themselves caught in a nightmare

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of their own making because they had played with something forbidden.

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And when fear takes hold, they do what children often do.

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And well, they blame someone else.

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It's winter sixteen ninety one.

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Now let me make this very clear.

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I cannot be very specific on the date of this.

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Now January sixteen ninety two seems to be when they

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first start claiming to be afflicted and showing these symptoms

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and then they ultimately, after being pressured, make their accusation.

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But it may have actually started in the winter of

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sixteen ninety one, right leading into January of sixteen, so

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somewhere maybe late sixteen ninety one, the Massachusetts Bay colony

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is gripped and a cold, bitter season. It's cold, according

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to everything we know about that time, and the home

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of Reverend Samuel Parris, two young girls, his nine year

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old daughter Betty and his eleven year old niece Abigail,

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where their seeking entertainment.

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They're bored. I mean it's sixteen hundreds, okay, They're in

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Salem Village.

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It's freezing cold outside, and they are living their life

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as a Puritan and a Puritan household. It's somewhat strict,

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you know, no singing, no dancing, no play. That isn't

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for God's glory. But the girls they've heard whispers of

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something different, something that offers a glimpse into maybe their future,

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a game that from what we can tell that the

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other girls in Salem Village had talked about a fortune

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telling ritual. Now we don't know exactly. We maybe could

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try to spend some time trying to figure out where

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the origins of this ritual is how does it end

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up in Salem? Who do they hear it from? Is

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it you know they're talking to the other girls when

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of the other girls share this? But we seem it

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seems to be pretty certain that Betty and Abigail know

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about this ritual. Now, it's very simple. It's a very

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simple ritual.

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You take a.

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Glass of water, you crack an egg into it, and

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you watch the shapes that form in the liquid. Those shapes,

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if you can read them correctly, they might tell you

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who you will marry. Two young girls, it's cold, I

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wonder who I'm going to marry. Oh, well, there's an egg,

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let's do it. Okay, maybe they're in their room, maybe

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everyone's sleeping, maybe they're there by candlelight. Okay, crack the egg.

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They crack it, and oh what does it say?

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What does it say?

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Is it going to say who they're going to marry?

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Or does it end up telling them something much darker.

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The girls gather.

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Around the glass, They lean in, watching, waiting, and then

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one of them gasps.

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A shape appears.

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It's not a ring, it's not a heart, it's a coffin,

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a sign of death. The moment hangs in the air.

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They look at each other. They're terrified. Did they just

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see their fate or had they done something far worse?

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Had they invited the devil into their home? Now I imagine

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being a child and a world where everything you do

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is watched by God, where any mistake could be a

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sign of Satan's influence, where disobedience isn't just wrong, it's

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a sin. Betty and Abigail, they knew the rules. Fortune

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telling was strictly forbidden in Puritan society. It was considered witchcraft.

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Now it is interesting a side note to leave this narrative.

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My first trip in Salem. When I park the car,

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it's night. I get out of the car. What is

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the very first thing I see? Fortune teller place where

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you can go in and get your fortune told, Like

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right across the street from where apart. That's the very

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first thing I saw in Salem, my first trip ever there.

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Kind of ironic, isn't it all?

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Right?

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Well, so they know the rules. Fortune telling was strictly

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forbidden in Puritan society. It was considered witchcraft for two

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young girls and a Puritan household. If you got caught

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performing this ritual, performing magic It wasn't just a mistake.

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It was a sin, and a sin that could bring

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public shame. It could bring punishment or even maybe something

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worse like death, like what happened in Salem, or what

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happened in Boston four years before this. Well, this would

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be three years before what happened in Boston, and these

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girls would have known it. So what would happen if

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Betty's father, the Reverend Samuel Parris, found out? What would

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happen if he found out?

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Because the Reverend Samuel Parris has in his.

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Library a book written by Cotton Mather that outlines well

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about how to identify a witch, what you should do,

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and outlines what happened in Boston. They probably had heard

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the stories heard about the execution, that it just happened

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a few years before in November. Samuel Parris wasn't just

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a father. He was the minister of Salem Village, a

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man who preached against the devil's tricks every week, a

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man who warned his congregation that Satan was always looking

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for a way in. Now, if Paris discovered that his

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own daughter and niece had performed a ritual, a practice condemned.

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By the church, what would he do.

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Would he punish them, would he whip them? Would he

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shame them before the entire village? Maybe maybe they found

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another way out not long after the ritual. Now let's

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just say we can't be dogmatic, but let's say the

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ritual happens somewhere in December of sixteen ninety one. Well,

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it's not long after the ritual. Something strange happened. In fact,

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January sixteen ninety two. From all that I currently know

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at the top of my head, here Betty Parris and

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Abigail William began to act differently. They screamed in pain,

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They contorted their bodies. They claimed they were being attacked

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by invisible forces. Samuel Parris called in a doctor, but

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he couldn't find nothing physically wrong with the girls.

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So what was his conclusion?

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It's witchcraft? Oh no, no, no, no, no, it's witchcraft. Okay,

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Now are the girls the witch? Well no, no, no, no,

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no no, they're not going out like that.

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Okay, they're the ones being afflicted.

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But who's to blame? The girls hesitated? Then finally they

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spoke the name Tishiba. Why Tishuba, Why blame tish Well,

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she's an outsider Tishiba was an enslaved woman from the Caribbean.

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Different race, different culture, different beliefs, and in Puritan society,

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anyone who was different was suspicious or viewed as dangerous.

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She told stories and legends. Tishaba likely shared folk tales

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from her culture with the girls. Puritans associated any non

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Christian storytelling with paganism and witchcraft. She was an easy scapegoat.

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The girls knew that accusing another Puritan might backfire, but

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blaming Tishiba, a servant with no power, that would be safe.

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Blaming her took the attention off of themselves. Now, if

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their father had discovered that they had practiced fortune telling,

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they could be severely punished. But by accusing Tishaba, they

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made themselves the victim instead of the sinners.

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Now we don't know did.

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They get caught, were they had had He found out

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that they had done this, and then they were like,

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oh no, what we're going to do?

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What do we go?

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And so then they start exhibiting these signs and then

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he's like, what is going on, what's going on, what's

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going on? What's going on? Calling the doctor it's witchcraft? Okay, doctors,

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my daughters. According to this doctor, and according to everything

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I know from Cotton Mather, my daughters are the victims here.

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They're not the they're not the cause, they're the victims.

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And they finally point out Tishaba. Well then it makes it.

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Tishaba's right here in this house. That's why the girls

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did this. It couldn't be my girls did something wrong. No, no, no,

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my girls are being tormented. They're being influenced by a

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witch who's in the house. Whatever their original intent, the

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moment Betty and Abigail pointed to Tishaba, the wills of

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hysteria began turning. When questioned, Tishuba, perhaps to save herself, confessed.

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She told elaborate stories of witches flying through the air

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and a black man in the woods, forcing her to

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sign Satan's book. We're going to talk more about Satan's

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book in a different episode now. Depending on how you

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hear the story about Tishaba, she signed her name in

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the book, and then she would claim she saw other

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names written down in the book. Right, But she was

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very she wasn't very forthcoming in the information, right, she confessed,

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so they didn't immediately have her killed. But she kept

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also like kind of just slowly but surely revealing more

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information of some of the names she saw in the book.

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By doing this, she was useful, So we can't kill her.

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She's the one who saw the names in the book,

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and so then she could point out other people as

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she felt was necessary to keep herself alive. And she

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survives the witch trials. She's never killed, and she sold

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to a different owner, and she escapes all of this.

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Suddenly the girls weren't just victims, they were prophets. They

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named more witches. Other girls joined in, and within weeks

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the entire town of Salem was hunting the devil's servants.

240
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By the time the.

241
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Trial ended, nineteen people had been hanged, one had been

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pressed to death, and over a hundred more had been accused.

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And to think it may have all started with two

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young girls, a game they should have never played, and

245
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a fear they could not escape. Now, history often focuses

246
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on the trials, the executions, the judges, and the accused,

247
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But tonight we've stepped back to the very beginning, the

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very moment that it all began. Two girls, a forbidden

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game and a choice that changed history forever.

250
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Two girls, a.

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Forbidden game and a choice that changed history forever.

252
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Is it that simple? Is it that simple?

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I cannot be dogmatic about this. Let me make it

254
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very clear. I cannot be dogmatic about it. Right, there's

255
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lots of theories about what these girls were doing.

256
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I do know this.

257
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This is where I can be assertive and somewhat dogmatic

258
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and somewhat like No, I do know this.

259
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They lived in.

260
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Boston, they moved to Salem Village. There's a high probability

261
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they were there in the Boston case where the woman

262
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:23.839
is accused and executed for being a witch, because these

263
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other girls in Boston are, you know, claiming to be tormented, right,

264
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We've talked about that case.

265
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So they're all there. They moved to Salem.

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When they moved to Salem, what does their father, the reverend,

267
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what does he bring with him? We think he brings

268
00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:43.039
it with him or he obtains a copy once he

269
00:19:43.079 --> 00:19:45.519
gets to Salem at some point, but he has Cotton

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Mather's book. This book not only outlines the details of

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the case in Boston, outlining what the symptoms these girls had,

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which these girls begin to demonstrate the almost the exact

273
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same symptoms. It's almost like they read a page from

274
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the book. Right, they blame a woman at the very

275
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type of woman that was kind of blamed in Boston.

276
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I mean, the stories are so that the things are

277
00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:13.319
so similar. So we do know that to be a fact.

278
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We know the book is in the house. We know

279
00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:21.680
that their father would be Betty's father would be preaching

280
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these types of sermons about this type of thing. We

281
00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:28.359
know he was preaching sermons like this right before, within

282
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a month before this all starts. So we don't know,

283
00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:37.279
like if it's winter sixteen ninety.

284
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One, when do the girls do this, and we don't

285
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know what it does to them? Do they now? Are

286
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.759
they overcome with fear? I don't know.

287
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Do they convince themselves? Mean, now, think about this, this

288
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is a hypothesis. Do they play this game, play this

289
00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:58.000
little fortune telling ritual? They are scared to death because.

290
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In their mind they see a confin.

291
00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:02.359
There's no tangible proof that they actually saw a coffin,

292
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but I mean it could have been late at night,

293
00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.319
could have been a candle. They're all in there. They

294
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know they're not supposed to be doing this. They already

295
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know they're doing something taboo, and they look at it

296
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and maybe it scares them to absolute death. They're like, oh,

297
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we're going to die, and maybe it almost now it

298
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places this, We've been cursed, we're going to die, We've

299
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done something, we're gonna be We're gonna be taken by Satan,

300
00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:30.759
and maybe they start those acting out. It's almost kind

301
00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:34.000
of like a psychological thing, dealing with their guilt and

302
00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:37.599
their fear and their concern and they can't go tell anyone,

303
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and so they start acting out like this. Everyone say, oh, oh, no,

304
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you're being afflicted. You're being afflicted by a witch.

305
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Okay.

306
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Well the minute they hear I'm being afflicted by a witch, well, now, okay,

307
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I haven't done something wrong. Something's being done to me.

308
00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:53.400
Well maybe that explains why I saw a coffin when

309
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.920
we cracked the egg in the water. Maybe that's okay, Okay, okay,

310
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we didn't do it. It's being done to us.

311
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Okay, who did it?

312
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What do we do?

313
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Tshaba? She did it?

314
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Because I mean, who else are you going to blame?

315
00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.480
You're gonna blame your dad, the minister, You're gonna blame

316
00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:13.279
your mom. Well, no, you're gonna blame you may not

317
00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:15.519
even at that moment and even think about blaming someone

318
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outside of the house. Because the girls may not even

319
00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:22.440
understand what spectral evidence is that Cotton Mather, you know, supported,

320
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They may not even know that. They may think, well,

321
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it have to be someone nearby, Well, who who better

322
00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:38.799
than Tishaba? She's right here? I think then it begins

323
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:43.279
to make sense. Two girls, a forbidden game and a

324
00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:48.559
choice that changed history forever. Had they truly been bewitched?

325
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Or had they, out of fear, guilt and desperation, woven

326
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a lie so powerful that even they believed it, a

327
00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.480
lie that would bring death to many and spare only

328
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themselves because they don't get in any trouble, they don't

329
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get whipped, they don't get shamed, and most importantly, they

330
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don't get killed. So what do you think did Betty

331
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and Abigail knowingly start the trials? Were they just scared

332
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children who had no idea what they were about to unleash?

333
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Were they just bored?

334
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Were they familiar with what happened in Boston and that

335
00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:40.000
book and their dad's and their house, about the case

336
00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:43.720
in Boston and the young girls? And because they followed

337
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the same symptoms almost identical in many ways, maybe not

338
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completely identical, but there's a lot of similarities. Let me

339
00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.200
say that. I mean, it's almost like they're following it

340
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pretty closely. I mean, in other words, it's not going

341
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to be perfect because they're young girls, so they're not

342
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going to do everything, maybe exactly the same because they're

343
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trying to act it out, or maybe they just think

344
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we are cursed, and all their minds can think of

345
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is this is what happens when when you know the

346
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.599
devil is messing with you because they've heard this story,

347
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and then they that's just what they fall into that

348
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basically the same pattern. And then the next thing, you know,

349
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when the when the adults finally you know, examined them, Well,

350
00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:27.119
the adults give them the out.

351
00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:30.720
This is a witch. Yeah, you're right, it's a witch.

352
00:24:30.759 --> 00:24:33.039
You're right, you're right, it's a witch. It's not us,

353
00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:35.480
it's not us. We didn't do it. This is being

354
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done to us.

355
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Okay, good, good, good, good now. And then they may

356
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have thought it was over, and then they start getting questioned, well,

357
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.039
who did this? Who did this?

358
00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.000
Who did this?

359
00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:48.720
They got to come up with an answer, They got

360
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to come up with an answer quick, did it all?

361
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:59.039
I mean, isn't it insane that something like that could

362
00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:02.880
spark what it turned into one of the most infamous

363
00:25:02.920 --> 00:25:07.759
tragic events in early American history, especially as something connected

364
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to Christianity.

365
00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:11.720
I mean, I mean, this is a horrible thing that happens.

366
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Could it have started that way? Whatever your thoughts are,

367
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.720
it's a fact that started with those two girls, Betty

368
00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:22.359
and Abigail.

369
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Always will go down.

370
00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:26.119
I mean, they forever have lived in history, three hundred

371
00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:27.079
and thirty three years.

372
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Those are the girls. Those are the girls.

373
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Whenever they walked, wherever they went, those are the girls.

374
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Those were the girls who were first afflicted. They're the

375
00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.119
girls who made the first accusation. They'd either be viewed

376
00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:46.400
as heroes, victims, prophets. Because they were naming the witches,

377
00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:49.880
they become the ones. They go from victim to the

378
00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:53.880
ones with power. They now can determine who's guilty and

379
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:58.319
who's not. And to Tisha Buzz's credit, I mean, at

380
00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:01.599
least from a practical standpoint, she realizes that it's almost

381
00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:03.599
like Tisha, buta catches onto the game really quick.

382
00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:05.319
Oh if I.

383
00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.200
Can name others, then I then well, now she doesn't

384
00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:10.920
get the same power because you know she's a slave, right,

385
00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:13.880
She's an outsider. So she's already going to be seen

386
00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:18.079
as dangerous, but she preserves her life. But the girls,

387
00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:23.480
Betty and Abigail, what they kind of like, all they

388
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:25.880
gotta do is point. All they got to do is

389
00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:26.400
say them.

390
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:27.880
They just got to say a name.

391
00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:35.400
And once they say a name, there's a high probability

392
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.480
that that person's gonna end up with a rope around

393
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.519
their neck. They're going to be hung, They're going to

394
00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:47.920
be killed. Can you imagine? So what I want you

395
00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:50.960
to do right now, late at night, go get you

396
00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:53.839
an egg. I know they cost about ten dollars an

397
00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:57.160
egg now, but get an egg, get a glass of water,

398
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:02.039
turn down the lights, crack.

399
00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:06.680
It and see what you see.

400
00:27:06.920 --> 00:27:12.319
You say, this is ridiculous, Nobody would ye. Well, then

401
00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:17.480
that would be seen as you're doing something demonic, you're

402
00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:22.640
doing something satanic. But ladies and gentlemen, it's not that

403
00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:28.200
far fetched. I have heard Christians find fear that this

404
00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:31.079
is satanic, and this and this and this, and the

405
00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:33.119
devil is here, and the devil is in that, and

406
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:36.799
the devil's here and it creates. I mean, I mean

407
00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:39.079
all the way up up to when I was a teenager,

408
00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:41.920
the Great Satanic Panic of you know of the eighties.

409
00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:43.079
I live through that.

410
00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.519
If you play that, if you take the album and

411
00:27:46.519 --> 00:27:49.079
and you make it go backwards on your turntable, you'll

412
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:56.960
hear messages from Satan. The Illuminautien is everywhere, Taylor swiftness

413
00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:02.319
of the Devil. Disney movies have hidden me from the occult.

414
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:11.880
The Devil is everywhere. And whenever you kind of see guys,

415
00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:14.599
what are you doing? Oh, you just don't understand Satan

416
00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.440
and you and it's always like you're in league with

417
00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:23.440
the devil if you don't go with everyone's you know, paranoia, hysteria, insanity,

418
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:28.240
fraudulent information. In many cases, an egg being cracked into

419
00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:30.720
water and you're like, oh, oh I can oh, oh

420
00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:32.960
that's a ring. Oh I'm going to get married. Oh

421
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:36.960
that's a heart, Oh oh oh that's a coffin.

422
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:37.799
I'm cursed.

423
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.640
I'm going to die now. If you're just playing it

424
00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:50.640
as a game, okay, but this was like witchcraft. Betty

425
00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:54.000
and Abigail, remember those names. But again, Betty and Abigail,

426
00:28:55.799 --> 00:29:01.400
their father Pastor. They come from Boston. He has Cotton Mathers.

427
00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:05.160
But all that's why we've talked about the case in

428
00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:08.400
Boston We've talked about Cotton Mather, now we have to

429
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:21.000
go with well, these two girls heroes victims are villains,

430
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:33.400
Heroes victims villains. Thank you for joining me for this

431
00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:38.920
late night trip to Salem the winter of sixteen ninety

432
00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:42.400
one to January sixteen ninety two.

433
00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:46.440
God bless