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The below-linked article has been written by a girl who says: "I have been accused of the following sins and abilities... Being able to metamorphose, at will, into a large poisonous spider."

Not in the 1950s or something. In the late 80s and early 90s. As part of a community-wide hysteria.

The full article is quite interesting to anyone who wants to know how folklore develops.

NO, i reall can't. i l;ive i nthe suburbs of philly. there's no way it could happen.

Though, come to think of it, i'd be a canditate, because i have pale skin adn the dark hair tings (likem, i'm really pale) i'm atheist (elaning towards buddhist-ish beliefs) and i dn't fit in.

Add that to 'i like scary creatures that eat people'
Add in " i have light colore eyes which are really sensitive to sunlight which burns if it's too bright'
add in my love of all thinhgs dark...

and there ye goo.

but i oculdn't kimagine such a thing really happening.

this would make a fascinating book, though...

Insane.

I could see it happening though. People are f*** stupid.

People are nuts.

I've been accused of similar things, though no one's actually tried to hurt me over it. They're afraid of me. I don't know why, but they are.

Good lord! People are freakin nuts! Maybe they have all been eating that fungus-infested-bread stuff like back in the middle ages. Thats pretty scary if its all true

I suppose it could happen anywhere with groups of people. Most likely in Bible-Thumping-Christan places. I tell ya, religion can make people insane

Set wrote:People are nuts.

I've been accused of similar things, though no one's actually tried to hurt me over it. They're afraid of me. I don't know why, but they are.

Heh, that sounds fun to deal with. Probably caused by paranoid people and your being relatively 'odd.'

Bleh, I hate spiders!

First time I've heard of Satanism using *anything* white. White sheets? Sorry, that's KKK territory. Not that they shouldn't be run outta town on a rail...

Witch-crazes can happen anywhere, anytime, because people can be idiots. It's not confined to little country hamlets, either, a witch-craze can happen in urban environments too. Again, because people can be idiots.

As for the girl who's being harassed...I'm having a hard time with her story. My Spidey-sense tells me she might be trumping. She claims to have had sharp things forced up her nose and came home with her clothes bloody? If someone did that to me, I'd hand 'em their crusty a** on the ugliest Majolica platter I could find! Heck, I'd take the trip-up games by themselves to be cause and license to break bones. Hand up anyone who'd answer that kind of harassment with a self-pitying post on the Internet, alone!

As for the slimeball who crucified the cat...he needs to be taught some manners by the Texan definition.

vrikasatma wrote:Witch-crazes can happen anywhere, anytime, because people can be idiots. It's not confined to little country hamlets, either, a witch-craze can happen in urban environments too. Again, because people can be idiots.

It's funny how half the reason that works is because noone expects it to happen.

vrikasatma wrote:As for the girl who's being harassed...I'm having a hard time with her story. My Spidey-sense tells me she might be trumping. She claims to have had sharp things forced up her nose and came home with her clothes bloody? If someone did that to me, I'd hand 'em their crusty a** on the ugliest Majolica platter I could find! Heck, I'd take the trip-up games by themselves to be cause and license to break bones. Hand up anyone who'd answer that kind of harassment with a self-pitying post on the Internet, alone!

I noticed that too. Could happen, but 'twould be best to take with a grain of salt...

vrikasatma wrote:As for the slimeball who crucified the cat...he needs to be taught some manners by the Texan definition.

Agreed.

Definetly. that's just cruel.

It's going to be hilarious when he dies.

Slimeball: "Hi St. Peter!"
St. Peter: "Oh, hi. We weren't expecting you."
Slimeball: "But I stuck it to a witch! 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,' right?"
St. Peter: "That's right, so where does it say in the Bible that it's okay to kill a cat and hang it to an inverted cross on someone's door? I personally can attest to how horrific it is to be crucified upside-down, and you did it to a harmless cat that had absolutely no chance of escaping or defending itself against you, you f*** bastard." [St. Peter frowns, plants a hand on his hip and stares at Slimeball] "So, why'd you do it? Again? To illustrate that this guy was a Satanist? I think you qualify for that title just fine. Hey, Michael! Someone here" [points at Slimeball] "needs a can of 86 opened up on him!"

people have acurly called me a werewolf. A lot of people think I'm on drugs my eyes chang brown to blue and I'm a little harie.

You know, this reminds me of my grade school days. Seriously.
I had just bought a book called 'The Witch's Handbook' or something. Basically, it was a book of ghost stories. To a nine-year-old, it was scary as h*ll, but at the same time it was the coolest thing ever. (Also the first book that introduced me to werewolves and such, which only makes it all the more precious to me, but that's beside the point.)
You know how kids are: "It killed people, got rid of the body and then took the form of the person it killed? Cool!"

Now, one day I was reading the book in school yard, and one of my classmates came asking "What's that?" I showed her the cover, which had a big picture of a red-eyed, fanged skull and the book's name in big, bold lettering, and a few of my favorite pages.
She said jokingly: "Wow. So, are you gonna be a witch when you grow up?"
"Yup!" I answered brightly.

Next day, when we were assinged into teams to do a short paper on something or other, there were some girls who loudly exclaimed that they didn't want to be teamed with me because 'they had heard me telling Hanna that I was a witch'.

I'm still wondering if they really were serious about the whole thing.

dnl wrote:people have acurly called me a werewolf. A lot of people think I'm on drugs my eyes chang brown to blue and I'm a little harie.

I know what you mean. Once somebody did an unprepared oral and they were given the topic werewolves, I ended up being the comparison to how hairy they are.

i was told i was a werewolf a lot when i was little...then i grew up and stopped interacting with that particular facet of humanity and now only have to get called that on halloween.

I dont think it would happen in Cornwall. people are too down to earth there. in primary school i tended to just get laughed at and told i had an "overactive imagination".

Thats really sad that people are so closed minded. Ive had several people ask me what the book I was reading was about and more then once I had to say werewolves. I got some pretty funny looks.

And once at Barnes and Noble, I bought a book on therianthropy and the cashier dude looked up at me like he was scared. Stupid people.

The link didnt work when I clicked it, but from the comments it sounds like the real creeps were the ones harrassing the girl.

When I was in school some students (in highschool mind you) accused me of being a witch (out of the blue really). I don't know where they got the idea and I don't know if they actually belived it or not. Frankly, I just ignored them.

As for if I belive the people of my community could develop such irrational fears, I'd have to say "Yes". The town I live in is backward enough to do that, I wouldnt put it past 'em. Up until a couple years ago coming into this town was like entering a time warp.

I'd say this is very likely where I live now. theres been a sudden increase in bible thumpers for about a year. I tend to fit the description of an "unclean" or whatever they call em now. Not because I look like a Goth or anything, but because I'm just differnet guy anyway. I'm a native american in a white comunity with open beliefs in shaman/animism. Normaly I'm not afraid, but now I may decide to move back to the rez.

Does witch-craze mean something like witch hunt?
If it does...
Well, I'm moving in the middle-age/LARP/Reenactment community somehow and there's a little story which is interesting and scary.

Some folks were hired for a market and thought out an entertainment program for the visitors. This year they wanted to do a middle-age witch hunt with burning her and everything. Of course, the intention was to show the people how crazy folks have been at these times and let them taste how cruel the midle- ages have been.
So they began the show, everyone participating was an actor/actress, by presenting the witch and pushing her through the streets on a small carriage. They accused her of making the milk sour and all that stuff.
Surprisingly enough, the visitors started to do the same...
louder than the actors.
They got her off the carriage and to the stake, where a short trial was held. Not only the actors were throwing vegetables at her, but also the visitors (which was not approved as they did not throw latex-cabbages...but they continued).
She was found guilty and condemnd to be burnt at the stake.
These guys were professionals and the replacing of the girl by a dummy not visible by the crowd. Screams and everything coming from the dummy.
So "she" got burned.....and there was no one who tried to intervene. The whole crowd applaused at the end.

The group cancelled the performance after this.

We havn't changed so far since the middle ages.

people are either weird or just stupid as hell.

Roodhoor wrote:Does witch-craze mean something like witch hunt?
If it does...
Well, I'm moving in the middle-age/LARP/Reenactment community somehow and there's a little story which is interesting and scary.

Some folks were hired for a market and thought out an entertainment program for the visitors. This year they wanted to do a middle-age witch hunt with burning her and everything. Of course, the intention was to show the people how crazy folks have been at these times and let them taste how cruel the midle- ages have been.
So they began the show, everyone participating was an actor/actress, by presenting the witch and pushing her through the streets on a small carriage. They accused her of making the milk sour and all that stuff.
Surprisingly enough, the visitors started to do the same...
louder than the actors.
They got her off the carriage and to the stake, where a short trial was held. Not only the actors were throwing vegetables at her, but also the visitors (which was not approved as they did not throw latex-cabbages...but they continued).
She was found guilty and condemnd to be burnt at the stake.
These guys were professionals and the replacing of the girl by a dummy not visible by the crowd. Screams and everything coming from the dummy.
So "she" got burned.....and there was no one who tried to intervene. The whole crowd applaused at the end.

The group cancelled the performance after this.

We havn't changed so far since the middle ages.

Thats horrible. People suck.