The Demonology of King James, the Witch Plot & Witchcraft Trials that Inspired It w@AtunSheiFilms

Torture is said to have revealed an international plot by Witches to assassinate both King James and his bride in 1590. What followed was a series of witchcraft prosecutions stretching from Copenhagen to Edinburgh in which James VI of Scotland personally sought to root out and destroy witchcraft and necromancy in his realm. These dreadful trials inspired his 1597 Daemonologie, detailing the reality, nature, activity and means to detect and punish witches and sorcerers along with a protestant analysis of the array of diabolical forces, the spirits and devils who take the forms of ghosts and fairies with whom witches and necromancers commune. Join me for this exploration and, as a collaboration with @AtunSheiFilms , enjoy his annotated visual presentation of the 1597 Daemonologie itself in Original Pronunciation! See you Friday or for Early Access on my Patreon!

Normand - Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland: James VI's Demonology and the North Berwick Witches - 978-0859893886

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[masonhancock]

My favorite horror trope is that the Church was full of crypto Satanists and the Inquisition victims were part of a ritual.

[wscroggins]

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." -- William Faulkner

[merrymachiavelli]

One thing I do find bizarre is when modern Wiccans/Witches claim a history of persecution based on the witch trials of the Early Modern period. The people killed in the witch trials probably didn't (or wouldn't in the absence of torture) claim to be anything other than devout Christians, and the actual religious beliefs of modern witches don't typically have anything to do with Satan - which was at the core of the Early Modern idea of what witchcraft was.

To claim a historical kinship there feels like it both retrospectively validates the convictions and mischaracterises modern witchcraft as satanic. On the other hand, religions _do_ tend to like a good persecution narrative, so I can understand the appeal.

[bvanhoosen]

“Danish Navy Seal Demons” is my favorite Mercyful Fate album

[quinnmallory]

your channel is literally the most important esoteric channel on YT rn

[alfonso]

“This needs to be a show” my attitude towards all of our history ❤️ thank you sir

[KirkMauler]

Love love love LOVE your work, Sledge! Have you considered covering Eastern magic and religions for future content?

[gmccaughry]

Such an excellent episode dear Justin, had a blast listening to you while working! Thanks!

[DanKaraJordan]

I know it might be a little outside your wheelhouse, but I would love to hear a deeper dive into Shakespeare's appeals to James and the connections of Macbeth and the Tempest to these historical events and beliefs (and of Prospero to John Dee). Thanks for everything you do, Dr. Sledge!

[aumathewarriormouse]

In a college course on "Heresies and Witchcraft " we learned that Germany had the worst rate of witch trials but interestingly Ireland had the least number of witch trials. Thank goodness for the Irish.

[shogun]

Dr Sledge thank you for making texts intellectually accessible

[jnanashakti]

I just really enjoy when creators support other channels. I found Esoterica thanks to Genetically Modified Skeptic, and now you've shared two channels to which I've subscribed. Thank you, coz my algorithm was getting too newsy.

[robertallen]

I grew up in rural West Tennessee in the 50s. I remember people of my grandfather's generation talking about a woman who had bewitched a fellow about 1900. The response was for the victim to drink water off silver--a silver dollar was put in a cup of water and he drank the water. The woman was disposed of by carving her picture on a tree and then shooting it with a silver bullet. Which strikes me as at least benign

[nonameronin]

*Witches Did It* is an awesome band name, or at least an album title.

[WK-]

I'd no idea the Scottish gov't had issued an official apology. Goes to show how little attention I pay to the news...

Joking aside, the whole phenomenon should really be an essential part of the national school curriculum. Growing up, we learnt more about colonial Australia and Salem than native history of the same period. We might as well when for instance there aren't even enough Gaelic speakers to teach it as a third language.

Anyway, I've visited (by chance) a few places where trials took place. Strange how even the most picturesque places can be the sites of such historical trauma.

Thanks, Dr Sledge, for another fantastic video.

[genexe]

So excited to see you tackle James VI! I know he wrote that book on witchery and remember hearing he was paranoid witches were out to get him.

[VantaCube]

I love the use of de goyas artwork when discussing witches

[jimmywim]

I grew up close to North Berwick, and all the villages along the East Lothian coast seem to have some sort of ghostly reminder of that period in the architecture of the older buildings & churches. Very cool to look out for.

[Goblin_Daddy]

Love it! Recently started reading up on the demonology of King James I.
Love the channel