Episode Description
In our April 1, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we explore how the afflictions continue to mislead people in Salem and nearby communities through the reported testimony of Mercy Lewis. We recount her vivid description of being taken to a “glorious place” filled with light, where she saw a multitude in white robes singing from Revelation 5:9, Psalm 110, and Psalm 149—passages we connect to the religious climate of the moment, including Samuel Parris’s recent focus on Psalm 110. We also follow Mercy’s reluctance to leave the vision and discuss Deodat Lawson’s report that a recurring “white man” foretold the timing of future fits, which he claimed happened as predicted.
00:00 April Fools Intro
00:30 Mercy Lewis Vision
01:02 Revelation New Song
01:20 Psalm 110 Footstool
02:09 Parris Sermon Context
02:28 Psalm 149 Vengeance
03:19 Lawson Closing Note
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The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/
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The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com
Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905
Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619
Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience:
https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805
Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329
Links