The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England
by Richard Godbeer
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The Devil's Dominion examines the use of folk magic by ordinary men and women in early New England. The book describes in vivid detail the magical techniques used by settlers and the assumptions which underlaid them. Godbeer argues that layfolk were generally far less consistent in their beliefs and actions than their ministers would have liked; even church members sometimes turned to magic. The Devil's Dominion reveals that the relationship between magical and religious belief was complex show more and ambivalent: some members of the community rejected magic altogether, but others did not. Godbeer argues that the controversy surrounding astrological prediction in early New England paralleled clerical condemnation of magical practice, and that the different perspectives on witchcraft engendered by magical tradition and Puritan doctrine often caused confusion and disagreement when New Englanders sought legal punishment of witches. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Everyone thinks they know the puritans: stuffy, colonial New Englanders, intolerant of difference, paranoid witch hunters, and ultra religious. Godbeer's work provides the details of their beliefs that many do not know, including belief in and practice of folk magic among the laity, and the division in perspectives of magic between the clergy and laity.
Well researched, and providing significant context (the intercolonial wars between New France and New England, as well as wars with Indigenous peoples) for the witch trials, Godbeer's work contributes signifiantly to the scholarship of colonial New England's social history. The only weakness I can highlight is that he could have spent more time on the impact of the Canadiens, and how New show more Englanders percieved them in relation to their witch anxieties, though he does lightly touch on this with reference to Cotton Mather.
Overall, an excellent work, highly recommended for students of colonial New England and the Salem witch trials. show less
Well researched, and providing significant context (the intercolonial wars between New France and New England, as well as wars with Indigenous peoples) for the witch trials, Godbeer's work contributes signifiantly to the scholarship of colonial New England's social history. The only weakness I can highlight is that he could have spent more time on the impact of the Canadiens, and how New show more Englanders percieved them in relation to their witch anxieties, though he does lightly touch on this with reference to Cotton Mather.
Overall, an excellent work, highly recommended for students of colonial New England and the Salem witch trials. show less
Woodward, Walter. (1994). Journal of Interdisciplinary History 25(2).
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Author Information
9+ Works 564 Members
Richard Godbeer is a professor of history at the University of Miami. His books include Sexual Revolution in Early America, also published by Johns Hopkins, The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents, Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692, and The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England.
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Miles Blomefield; Samuel Wardwell; Elizabeth Garlick; Katherine Harrison; Dorcas Hoar; Anna Edmunds (show all 48); Ann Burt; Jane Hawkins; Mary Hale; Caleb Powell; Alice Metherill; Francis Norwood; John Bradstreet; Winifred Holman; Mary Holman; Rebecca Stearns; Margaret Garrett; Mercy Disborough; Samuel Shattock; George Walton; Moses Godfrey; Hannah Weacome; John Cullick; Thomas Whitteridge; Cotton Mather; John Stedman; John Stansby; Increase Mather; Joseph Beacon; Jeremiah Shepard; Margaret Mitchell; Elizabeth Morse; Elizabeth Godman; Philip Smith; Mary Webster; John Hale; Samuel Parris; Michael Wigglesworth; Jonathan Mitchell; Eliakim Hitchcock; Elizabeth Clawson; Mercy Disborough; Martha Carrier; William Barker; John Hathorne; Sarah Good; Samuel Parris; Tituba
- Important places
- Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA; Salem, Massachusetts, USA; Rowley, Massachusetts, USA; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA; Hampton, New Hampshire, USA (show all 9); Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Newbury, Massachusetts, USA; Stamfotrd, Connecticut, USA
- Important events
- Salem witch trials (1692)
- Dedication
- In Memory of My Father 1936-1991
- First words
- Seventeenth-century New Englanders used magic to predict the future, to heal the sick, to destroy their enemies, and to defend themselves against occult attack.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The quixotic dream of spiritual purity that overlay that ferment of activity has proven to be extremely resilient, but it was as quixotic then as it is now.
- Blurbers
- Morgan, Edmund S.; Grasso, Christopher; Hambrick-Stowe, Charles
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 133.43097409032 — Philosophy & psychology Parapsychology & occultism Specific topics in parapsychology and occultism Demonology and witchcraft Magic and witchcraft Standard subdivisions History, geographic treatment, biography North America Northeastern U.S.
- LCC
- BF1576 .G63 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Psychology Occult sciences Witchcraft
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 97
- Popularity
- 331,906
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.60)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
