Witchcraft in Illinois: A Cultural History

Witchcraft in Illinois: A Cultural History
ISBN-10
1625858760
ISBN-13
9781625858764
Category
History
Pages
192
Language
English
Published
2017-09-18
Publisher
Arcadia Publishing
Author
Michael Kleen

Description

Although Illinois saw no dramatic witch trials, witchcraft has been a part of Illinois history and culture from French exploration to the present day. On the Illinois frontier, pioneers pressed silver dimes into musket balls to ward off witches, while farmers dutifully erected fence posts according to phases of the moon. In 1904, the quiet town of Quincy was shocked to learn of Bessie Bement's suicide, after the young woman sought help from a witch doctor to break a hex. In turn-of-the-century Chicago, Lauron William de Laurence's occult publishing house churned out manuals for performing bizarre rituals intended to attract love and exact revenge. For the first time in print, Michael Kleen presents the full story of the Prairie State's dalliance with the dark arts.

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