After class one day Dr. Miller agreed to talk with me about my project. She asked what books I'd already read and pointed out the ones from her syllabus that would be good to add, so I'll have to look into getting those (probably through ILL) when I get back to Tech.
In terms of the direction and narrowing-down of my project, she asked what aspects of the witch phenomenon interested me most and we just started bouncing ideas off each other. It was a really helpful way for me to kind of verbalize ideas I'd been having and getting feedback from someone who's read almost all the historiography on the subject and helped create the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database.
Pretty soon we were discussing the possibility of focusing on religion, and when I described my proposal about the hunts taking place during various societal and cultural changes she seemed to think parts of that was a really good idea. She also said that I was welcome to email her to bounce ideas around even after I've left Scotland, which was nice of her to offer. Here are just some of the ideas I jotted down after our conversation. I'll try to make it somewhat coherent, but it was more just a stream of thoughts to remind me about what we talked about:
The role of the Reformation in Scotland was highly encompassing. Such a drastic change had a profound effect on the country's culture, and more than just in terms of religious practices. The fact that an authority and institution so strong as the Church had been criticized so widely influenced and challenged the mentalities of Scots in all classes, from common peasants to the governing elite, and even royalty. Such an uproar that could cause the Church to split made many monarchies fear being similarly unseated from their positions of power, while lower classes struggled to understand and negotiate the differences between the two sects. The Church's fall from grace, as an institution that they had trusted and obeyed without question for centuries, resulted in nationwide insecurities. The Protestant Kirk was able to capitalize on the widespread sense of fear and mistrust by preaching about the dangers of the heretical "Catholic" Church which was popish and filled with ceremony and ritual. This sense of fear, along with the vendettas by the Kirk and King to stamp out any lingering beliefs in ceremonies and rituals, had a direct relation to the development of the witch-hunts in Scotland. People were condemned due to religious "treason" (ie, pacts with the Devil and renunciation of baptism), as well as for the ritual/ceremony involved in more pagan styles of magic (healing, chanting, prophecy, protective sorcery, etc.). The Protestant Kirk also built up and emphasized a connection between supernatural creatures (fairies, elves, ghosts, etc.) with evil beings (demons, devil) and condemned people for associating with them as well.
The concepts of what constituted superstition changed, and practices that had been allowed by the "Catholic" Church were vehemently attacked by the Protestant Kirk, such as festivals, protective rituals, relic worship, etc. Both the State and the Kirk had even developed fears of folktales and tales of rebellion, linking most to the Devil. Thus, with most of their outlets stymied by the Kirk, many Scots turned to asking witches for help, usually in search of their healing skills. The perceived rebellion against the sanctity of the Kirk, along with the acts of 'malifices' or criminal sorcery committed by witches, made them serious threats to the Kirk and King, increased by the constant sense of fear throughout Early Modern society in Scotland.
Another interesting aspect is the fact that there were professional 'Prickers' that were paid to be the unbiased authority that could 'prove' whether or not people were truly witches, as there was definitely a concern that innocent people were getting killed in the panic of the witch-hunts. These Prickers, who would often roam from various towns and cities to offer their services, were able to make a personal profit off of the the fear that had settled around the rift of religion. Was Pricking an embracing of the move towards science just before the age of Enlightenment? It was certainly the only bit of evidence that was not based on testimony of either the witch or her victims.
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I know that was kind of long, but it might later turn out to have been worth writing down. It's still very jumbly, but it incorporates my themes of societal change as factors in the witch-hunts with this underlying concept that much of it was fueled by a developing and incredibly widespread sense of fear and distrust that resulted from the Reformation. I didn't incorporate anything about the third societal change listed in my proposal (the Union of the Crowns), but I do think I might be able to expand on that a bit too if I wanted to.
