Witchcraft Expert Malcolm Gaskill Breaks Down Famous Witches in Films & TV

[@ZombieWilfred]

"They fled the devil in England but then they get there and the devil's there too..." Reminded me of the Terry Pratchett Quote: "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." Love that quote, it's epic and haunting even if you're not spiritual. It would stand to reason that darkness is at least equally as fast as light and that is a kind creepy aspect of reality.

[@Serai3]

It would be, if that was how light and dark worked. Since it isn't, it's just a cute thought.

[@ZombieWilfred]

@@Serai3 It essentially is how light and dark work, as darkness is simply the absence of light, darkness is exactly as fast as light...

[@brat_prince]

Love to see a Pratchett quote

[@RBelmont007]

If The Never Ending Story 2 has taught me anything, is that the speed of darkness is faster than the speed of light.

[@handsanitizer5127]

Thanks it's tripping me out at 12AM.

[@rhichi11]

I appreciate that he gives as much sincerity in his analysis to Hocus Pocus as The Witch.

[@Nebularzzz]

Prof Gaskill taught me a module as an undergrad student, it’s so awesome to see him here! Was one of my favourite teachers throughout degree. Lovely man

[@onemorechris]

The Witch is such a good film. definitely a top 5 best film/horror films i’ve ever seen

[@cleverusername9369]

Agreed. I don't easily get scared by horror movies but the Witch stuck with me long after watching it. Very eerie and unsettling.

[@Bryan4Hillary]

It’s a very strong film, but to give it any degree of historical accuracy is hilarious

[@austinwilkerson84]

@@Bryan4Hillary Why do you say that? Surely it does a good job in some respects. The dialogue, perhaps?

[@Bryan4Hillary]

@@austinwilkerson84 well, the **** spoilers Whole witches being real and evil/malicious and actually practicing witchcraft and being the stereotype of going after children

[@CyberWolf45]

@@Bryan4Hillary The film leaves a lot of clues that what's happening shouldn't be taken at face value. Probably the most significant is the ergot fungus infecting the family's crops. Ergot poisoning causes hallucinations & mania, and it's been suggested that ergot poisoning contributed to the paranoia surrounding the Salem witch trials. Its open to interpretation of course, but it's something to consider

[@reaceness]

I think we can all respectfully agree that this man is obviously wrong, and that the masterpiece which is Hocus Pocus is in fact a historically accurate documentary manifested through found-footage (yes, including the 17th Century scenes).

[@celieboo]

🤣

[@ShapeStoned]

😭🤣

[@ThatGuyLondon]

He's clearly a heretic..the gallows will solve this problem

[@amywebb4586]

The Witch: the real fear was being banished from the village. There was safety in numbers to be sent away meant almost certain death from lack of shelter, food, disease, injury, animals, and humans. As a punishment this was much more severe than hanging or burning at the stake would have been.

[@vinnieg6161]

Seems like a strong person with a bit of knowledge could survive on their own?

[@isthatrubble]

​@@vinnieg6161 sure, it was possible, but if you were just an ordinary person who perhaps went into the woods to forage but that's all, you wouldn't have been prepared and you wouldn't have known what you were doing. and honestly, the chance of a person being strong and healthy when they went in was somewhat low

[@sarahr8311]

​@@vinnieg6161a strong and knowledgeable person or family could survive on their own, sure. But the community is a safety net, and without it, that net is gone. In the movie, the family is doing alright until their corn crop fails. They can't go to neighbors for help, so things are looking dire. Then witches happen, which doesn't help any. One family can survive on their own. But when a tree falls on your house, one of the two adults breaks a leg, someone gets ill, or one of the hundred other things that can go wrong do, the community that would step in to take care of its own isn't there. That's the danger. 😊

[@vinnieg6161]

@@sarahr8311 It can be a safety net yes, but with that you get all the negatives as well

[@sarahr8311]

@@vinnieg6161 oh totally agreed. I just meant that the lack of a safety net (as well as the isolation) is what makes it such a dire punishment.

[@dawnlovejoy8917]

This is fascinating as two of my ancestors (early settlers in America) , a mother and daughter were tried as witches, luckily they were both declared innocent.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Wow! Good for them and you!

[@ishrendon6435]

Most witches werent killed despite media hysteria. Talked to many historians and other experts. Its a trope. Most accused of witchery werent burned at the stake . Overrated part of history

[@toastedmalteser3613]

Yeah cos they drowned.. like most of the others, because they were human, because witches don't exist

[@meridaskywalker7816]

@@toastedmalteser3613 Tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video

[@stephenwest6738]

I’ve loved the witches of eastwick since I was a kid. It contains everything that makes witchcraft fun. And the cast is flawless

[@ginnyjollykidd]

Sometimes a mole was considered a witch's mark. One of the characteristics of the mole as a witch's mark is that it could change and that's how people would know the person bearing it was a witch. And sometimes they couldn't feel anything there when pricked. This kind of mole is not unheard of today. Today there's another reason to take note of a mole, especially a dark mole or one with an irregular edge or one that changes shape. These symptoms can indicate skin cancer. Funny how, for the wrong reasons, witch accusers stumbled onto clues to a serious and life - threatening ailment. While they did not determine a witch, the symptoms are used in a clinical setting to suspect (and subsequently biopsy) the presence of a most ravaging disease of modern times.

[@bluemariomedia8351]

So ironically they spare them from dieing due to cancer?

[@ginnyjollykidd]

@@bluemariomedia8351 Yes, ironically. And thus they contributed to the short average lifespan of a person at the time.

[@stephenwest6738]

He gave the witch a 10/10 on historical accuracy. You heard it here first people. Witches are real.

[@greedybat6123]

witches are in fact real! magic may or may not be real to you but people who believe it and practice it are certainly real 👌

[@kaylawilliam7893]

Well, I'd hope I'm real lol

[@danielrubinstein896]

I know

[@juttamaier2111]

If you are for real, go to Acrica, where they still believe this bullshit

[@jonathanl9229]

Wow…what an astute and wise person you are

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

Oh my gosh! I was just recommending his book to people on another channel! I’ve let my husband borrow it to read; we’re both history nerds. 😅 I love that they got Gaskill to do this!

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

It really is an excellent book!

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

Malcolm Gaskill is a major league historian. His book "Witchfinders" is a fantastic book!

[@OneWingedSephiroth]

This was great! I fell for the knowledge TV and film gave us on Witch Trials so it's oddly nice to know it was broader and more contentious than I previously thought.

[@alexhazell4078]

Was lucky enough to take a class from Malcolm he's a legend

[@elle_rose_xx]

Ok I need to watch The Witch ASAP

[@onemorechris]

it’s a pretty good film!

[@saschamayer4050]

Does anybody know whether it really used to be spelled "VVitch" or was that just thought up for the movie? PS: it's pretty hardcore if you like babies or families. Just a heads up, if you haven't seen it before.

[@onemorechris]

@@saschamayer4050 i have no idea why it was called ‘VVitch’ i presumed it was for marketing :) and yes, this film is quite uncompromising. put it this way, not everyone makes it to the end

[@msawyer406]

My favorite horror film!

[@RakastaaKissa]

@@onemorechris it was stylized that way in the spirit of the times it takes place. W wasn’t a die that a lot of presses had so they’d substitute either U, or V.

[@Errol_cz]

I woud love to see break down of Witchhammer (Czech: Kladivo na čarodějnice). Both book and movie depict how witch trails were used to eliminate opposition and acquire wealth.

[@MiliaMalae]

Agreed. It captures the air of paranoia, terror and greed so well. (Very familiar to political trials of totalitarian regimes as well - it was shot behind the Iron Curtain after all.) One of the films I have on my list of "that was fantastic, but I never want to see it again."

[@saschamayer4050]

7:23 I think it's "kindly": "We're just three kindly old spinster ladies."

[@Dparish24]

I think The Love Witch is the best witchcraft film. There’s no actual magic depicted on screen but feels magical. Also love how the film portrays cults in a positive light as opposed to other films.

[@RedFlyingFox007]

I found it so boring. Cool aesthetic though

[@TechnoSpectre3]

I think a more important aspect of such films is to show the fear of the commonfolk but also the terror and uncertainty of pagan beliefs and rituals. That stuff gets DARK. There is no such thing as "good magic" in real life.

[@paigemclachlan2189]

Suddenly the witch scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail makes much more sense, with them equating her with a duck lol, it clicked with the “ducking stool”

[@christabelle__]

I thought for sure he was saying 'dunking', huh.

[@paigemclachlan2189]

@@christabelle__ could be either one honestly!

[@johncartwright8154]

"We only did the nose".

[@JCej]

The Crucible is missing. I know it was originally a play, but it would have been cool to find out where it ranks.

[@operationgoldfish8331]

The play of The Crucible is actually based on historical events. I think the play is a fairly accurate depiction of what happened in the trial of Urbain Grandier. However, the movie was a Ken Russell production and is probably one of his worst excesses in regards to nudity and general bad taste.

[@HBoyle]

Arthur Miller took many historical liberties because he wasn't trying to write a historically accurate play, it was an allegory for the McCarthyism in the 50s (there's a communist under every bed=witch hunt) For starters, Abigail was 11/12 not 17, Procter was near 60. They were not having an affair. It was not a ploy to kill his wife so she could have him. There no evidence that they ever met. There are more changes, but those are the big ones

[@operationgoldfish8331]

Oops, sorry! Got the Crucible mixed up with The Devils.

[@handsanitizer5127]

Wasn't it made into a movie? Kiera Knightly is in it.

[@Reticence9zen924]

Yes 1996 film but in 1957 the first film adaptation was released too.

[@peppermintpsaki1157]

I’m disappointed that you did not review my top favorite witchy movie: Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman 😞

[@RPG_Angie]

I watched that movie so much as a kid. I loved the worldbuilding: the sets, the costumes, the props, the music...

[@jackass123491]

Same. That and The Craft.

[@taniaABal]

The Witch was such a good movie. Great video!

[@skycat04]

We need part two... and it should include scenes from Charmed...

[@Lomi311]

A wonderful video for the Halloween season! I’ve just realized the Witchfinder General is Brain from Pinky and the Brain and many other childhood cartoons. So doubly wonderful!

[@OneWingedSephiroth]

This is close! Vincent Price is the Witchfinder General (who voices the introduction to Thriller by Michael Jackson) but Maurice LaMarche is the brain, but he did base a lot of voices on Price and Orson Welles.

[@findsharon]

I was hoping for the witch scene In Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[@LindaC616]

😆

[@robokeeffe3889]

His book is really good, highly recommend it.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

His book Witchfinders is fantastic!

[@murderoustendencies]

Holy shit is this where Miss O'Brien ended up? I thought she was going to be a lady's maid in Scotland!!!

[@Batmonthesequel]

“Lynching, which is a very disorderly and undesirable thing to do” Wow my vocabulary sucks. I would have just said “lynching, which is bad”

[@LindaC616]

Welcome to academia

[@drjulia6860]

Yes The Witch was brilliant.

[@SaigonMikael]

Correction to the closed captions at 11:40: "But he's actually been challenged by gentlemen _at the Norwich assizes."_ Assizes were courts in England and Wales.

[@KakuiKujira]

Is Norwich not in England?

[@SaigonMikael]

@@KakuiKujira Yes, Norwich is in England. That's not the point, though. Whoever wrote the closed captions couldn't make out what he says in the video. If you turn on closed captions, it reads: "(indistinct) of sizes" where it should be "at the Norwich assizes".

[@KakuiKujira]

@@SaigonMikael That makes way more sense.

[@mothcub]

such a great video ty

[@dad_jokes_4ever226]

13:09: nice to see Karl Pilkington getting some quality work !

[@chesaraepepple9120]

This man obviously refuses to believe that the idea of witches is based in misogyny.

[@theblackkittie13]

Exactly

[@SunnysFilms]

That might be because accusations of witchcraft knew no gender. Men were often accused, tried and executed for witchcraft as well, including during the Salem witch trial. It was rooted in superstition that had been manufactured by the church in order to snuff out any source of knowledge outside the church's walls, so their "flock" would consult church leaders exclusively in all matters.

[@itzakpoelzig330]

Misogyny, absolutely. Big time. But also capitalist competition. From what I understand, men were at that time in the process of stealing women's time-honored role as healers, and converting it into an industry accessible only to wealthy males who could afford to go to university. We lost a lot of knowledge when the grassroots healers were killed off, particularly a lot of knowledge about female bodies and medicines applicable to female bodies, like natural forms of birth control and safer methods of childbirth. The male-centric medical industry has been fumbling in the dark for centuries now, when it comes to women's health and, sadly but not surprisingly, they still are.

[@raiah6237]

@@itzakpoelzig330 to be fair, the "male centric" medical industry also saved millions. Water borne illness, penicillin, and so much more can't be fixed with folk medicine. Though your take also entirely discounts the important role women played in formal science and medicine.

[@morley364]

Wait, I'm confused, I didn't pick up on that. Which part of the video was that? I'm not familiar with his work so I don't know if he's said anything about this that I just haven't heard about.

[@springsogourne]

The Witch is one of the best films of the genre ever.

[@vinnieg6161]

''if you die, you're innocent. If you survive, you're a witch'' This seems like a very flawed test..

[@natasha6867]

how is sabrina the teenaged witch not on this list

[@peppermintpsaki1157]

How long did it take the inquisitors to figure out that if the accused were really as powerful as they were accused of being, that they could just use their powers to escape?🤔🤷🏻‍♀️

[@bethanybarden1953]

Oh don't worry, they had an excuse for that. The theory goes like this: witches can only act with God's permission, meaning even if he doesn't like it he allows it to happen to make sure people are always on guard about the devil and renewing their faith in God. So, once a witch has been brought to trial, it would inspire more faith to have her convicted and punished than it would for God to allow her to escape (since that would kind of mean she/the devil had actual power to thwart God).

[@murceg0electrico]

@@bethanybarden1953 'Oh don't worry, they had an excuse for that.' Ok that made me chuckle. The many ways zealots can stretch facts and logic to fit their narratives... and when running out of ideas, you can always say the ever classic 'God works in mysterious ways'..Lol

[@cacashosho1]

@@bethanybarden1953 huh?

[@boohankins2993]

Did Hopkins use a retractable needle? I wish you mentioned that if you accuse a woman of being a witch with no proof you could be tried

[@charlesramirez2153]

Omg, there is a degree in witchcraft history, I’m in!!

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

Specializing in something like that would be at the graduate level.

[@Anon-xd3cf]

In the last hour, before seeing this upload, I have been catching up with the event of the past 24 hours in UK politics... And I gotta say, I am starting to wonder if maybe there is something to this *"Chaos Magic"* idea... Then this video pops up in my feed because i subscribed to the Penquin Books channel, hardly the source of magical knowlegde. I dunno... as the chaos churns it feels less and less as though coincidence happens by accident.

[@talknerdy2me926]

I’m surprised he didn’t talk about the crucible 😮

[@slytheringingerwitch]

Blessed be sisters!

[@erikramaekers63]

Night of the Eagle,The City of the Dead,The Blood on Satan's Claw,The Witchfinder General,Suspiria,The Seventh Victim,The Witch,Weird WomanBewitched,I Married a Witch.The WitchesJennifer's Body,Hocus Pocus

[@DonnaBarrHerself]

Shakespeare's eye of newt business is hilarious - except for a toad, it's PLANTS make the finest medicines and potions.

[@amazinggrace5692]

You missed the hilarity in Hocus Pocus. It seems out of place in this line up where in the other films were more serious.

[@adrianac3258]

Love it 🖤!

[@dannimcknight670]

Decently wrote a thesis paper on gender and the witch trials from 1450 to 1750, and as a nordic pagan myself, I wish he spoke more on modern practice compared to what the media shows

[@thebadpoet]

He’s an expert in historical witches, probably specifically British and American colonial witchcraft. It would have been so far outside his lane to comment on modern practice and highly doubtful he’d agree to comment on something so far from his area of expertise.

[@aimeewood1352]

I lived near Pendle and Pendle Hill xxxx

[@alexwaters4238]

"Witch Pricker" 🤣 That's going on my CV

[@KayeHalliwell]

“Do you know what Salem abhors even more than a witch? A Catholic.”

[@isthatrubble]

they should have given him the monty python "a duck!" scene!

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

I'd love to hear what the extent and limits of witchcraft are.

[@jackass123491]

Depends on the witch.

[@davidandadamplaygamesphelp3601]

3:56 "prideful conceit". . . The statement hurts my tiny brain. Conceit is an over abundance of self pride. So he's prideful of his own overflowing pride? I mean I guess it kinda makes sense but idk.

[@TaurusWitch29]

Being a self declared witch, I am so here for this! I love the history and lore and always have deep dives in the subject, and re-read material if I get stuck in a rut. History is my favorite subject and seeing this video pop up on my recommendations was great! I am more of a book fan than a movie fan, and havent seen all the movies he talks about, but its so interesting so I'm hooked on the video anyway. I read a lot more than I watch a screen, but this popped up when I was pulling up my witchy music playlist by the composer Peter Gundry. His music is haunting and beautiful and good for reading lol. I have a LOT of books on the history of witchcraft, and a lot on modern. But this video! Im gonna need another! 😂 Edited to say that I dont worship the devil and I live by karma and goodness and compassion and meditate and dont ever want harm to come to someone else. I dont believe in organized religion but I believe in a higher power that is a higher consciousness in a higher density that we dont understand. I dont wish for bad things or want someone hurt. I just focus on my plants and history and try and live positively and quietly in my little green corner of Kentucky. Im more of the manifestation type, where you focus on things you want and work towards it, and growing my herbs and flowers and cleansing my property, using my cards if I feel I need a little help but most of the time I can just sit and think quietly and come up with something on my own. We have our own power, each of us. I have a touch of claircognizance and have dreams that come true sometimes, but its been a while since ive needed to be warned of something, im pretty open to signs and havent had anything crazy from ignoring signs happen in a couple of months.

[@nomdeplume7537]

The Salem Witch Trials, REALLY went off the rails, when Spectral Evidence was admitted as evidence. That what eventually brought them to an end

[@filmlover123]

Imagine asking an "expert" on Christianity or Islam to verify the accuracy of depictions of a religion in films, instead of, oh, I don't know, someone who actually practices the religion. Witches are already marginalized, vilified, crucified, misunderstood, and left out of the conversation. That clearly hasn't changed.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

But Wicca and the beliefs about witchcraft from hundreds of years ago are two very different things. Gaskill knows vastly more about the witch-hunts and trials of hundreds of years ago. He's not studying modern practitioners of Wicca. Although, Anthropologists would.

[@filmlover123]

@@ericsierra-franco7802 But films portray witchcraft across the eras, including now. Witch trials are not witchcraft. Salem had no idea what witches actually were. Two different topics to be an authority on.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

@@filmlover123 That has nothing to do with Gaskill. He's not a filmaker, he's an historian of a specific period in English history.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

@@filmlover123 I would also disagree that Salem had nothing to do with witchcraft. If there was a belief in it's presence in that community then it is part of the overall history of witchcraft.

[@filmlover123]

@@ericsierra-franco7802 Witchcraft as an abstract, inaccurate concept by people of a different religion. Not actual paganism, witchcraft, neopaganism,wicca, etc. I understand what you're saying but I think we're approaching this from two different angles.

[@kevinjewell233]

Bewitched??? Belle Book & Candle??? The Wizard of Oz??? Elizabeth Montgomery as her Samantha character's cousin would enchant everyone while Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the East & her sister Wicked Witch of the West scared every child for 50 years....What about Dr Bombay????

[@kevinjewell233]

Uncle Arthur?????

[@jackass123491]

Small correction: Hamilton played the wicked witch of the west. The sister was the wicked witch of the east.

[@wildlifewarrior2670]

There's actually a witchcraft expert

[@iainmiller3113]

Professional means that you make money from the trade that you do! Expert means you clam to more than everyone else! X is the unknown and spurt is a drip under pressure. Gerry Fukes!

[@aequitasvox2488]

The only thing I believe is somewhat inaccurate is the hangings. In what is now proctor's ledge and now gallows hill in salem MA;even being closer to the outskirts of town the so called witches were hung atop the hill. The whole town of salem could see this. I've been there and could see below the houses easily;just imagine what they saw?

[@saschamayer4050]

What? No The Name Of The Rose? 😱

[@DrFranklynAnderson]

“The Lord would not allow an innocent woman to stand accused.” I mean, He allowed his innocent Son to stand accused. And don’t even get me started on Job.

[@tomashize]

You could have combed your hair Malcolm!

[@ikigai_terapias]

Too bad we didn't get his opinion on Goya's Ghosts.

[@FurikoMaru]

I hope you won't be offended by this remark, but you have the vibes of a character who appears in a single episode of Buffy and gets killed off in a grimly humourous manner.

[@KarensOpinionsMayDiffer]

An inept Watcher for sure!

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

He's also a major league historian.

[@scumskimmer]

A female magistrate (the doctor who episode) was rare to non-existent I would say, and yet he doesn't remark on it; odd.

[@savethezombies]

Witch pricker?! Sounds kinky. Bedknobs and Broomsticks is my favorite "witch" movie.

[@haileymclaughlin3961]

I would watch him commentate the entirety of the VVitch

[@avigayilb]

A woman wouldn't be in any kind of authority position at this time. They were lucky if they got to testify in their own defense.

[@nikolasa.6163]

They wouldn’t be in a position of authority but they did testify both in their defense and quite commonly against those they perceived as witches

[@avigayilb]

@@nikolasa.6163 of course, but they wouldn't run the trial by ordeal

[@ishrendon6435]

Obviously .......

[@ishrendon6435]

Still in most parts of the world thats how it works sadly once the state which is almost always even in modern governance is patriarchal decides something it usually cant be reversed

[@ayykayy73]

What I want to know is how you become an expert in WitchCraft 😄

[@dinerwaitress]

10:00 When was the Civil War??

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

The English Civil War.

[@shlby69m]

Scold (Noun)-A woman who disturbs the peace by noisy & quarrelsome or abusive behavior constituting a public nuisance.

[@moonlily1]

Well, obviously, the magistrate would not have been a woman. I'm a bit surprised he didn't point that out. And while he is not a fashion historian and neither am I, I'd like to point out that costuming in 'Jamestown' is ludicrously terrible. Hair down and titties out? Lol, no.

[@caracolpsic]

Big miss not to mention Akelarre, great Spanish film!

[@saschamayer4050]

And The Name Of The Rose, it's a pan-European movie. Some of the scenes were shot in Spain (Molina de Aragón). 😉

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

@@saschamayer4050 It's an American film adapted from the novel by the Italian writer Umberto Ecco.

[@saschamayer4050]

@@ericsierra-franco7802 How is it American?

[@CMCC921]

scarlet witch?

[@thebadpoet]

Definitely an expert in witchcraft, but not an expert in Protestantism. The Puritans practiced what we now call consubstantiation rather than plain symbolism. Catholics believe in transubstantiation- the bread and wine fully become the body and blood of Christ. Consubstantiation is the physical actual bread and wine co-existing fully with the body and blood. It’s more than just a symbolic gesture. There are certainly Protestant denominations today where it is pretty much purely symbolic, but it was definitely more than that for Puritan pilgrims in Jamestown.

[@abbey-marieslatter9021]

Historically this guy was excellent. But true witchcraft, and the practice of magic, and witchcraft had very rarely been accurately depicted. I've been a practising witch for 5 years. As so, I know when a witchcraft scene is accurate or not. Hocus Pocus the first film is a great film. However, it being accurate no way. Yes, we use cauldrons, and we do make potions and spells. But we never ever use deadmans toes. Majority of witches have tremendous respect for the dead and we would never desecrate a grave. The only thing we buy from a grave is dirt. As I said we buy the dirt. We ask the grave owner whether we can take some dirt in exchange for something, such as placing toys on a children's grave, or we pore a bottle of whisky on a grave, or even cleaning and maintaining a grave that is neglected. In Harry Potter there was only 2 lines in the whole franchise that is correct. One is, the wand chooses the wizard it's unsure why. This is very true when it comes to any of our tools, they choose us not us choosing them. The other was with mandrakes. In the old days people didn't realise mandrake were poisonous and to stop a human dying from it, they would tie the plant to a dog and then they force the animal to run. So, that the screams of the mandrake would kill the dog instead of the human. In Hocus Pocus 2 there was 1 5 second scene that actually depicted an accurate spell work. The other thing that is accurate to the craft is the term sisters. That's how we address each other. Another witch can call me sister. If I spoke to a male witch I would call him brother. Not to call one of our own any other way is considered disrespectful. This is only amongst ourselves. Everything else in other witches films are inaccurate. One thing that this expert should have known about Hocus Pocus. This film begins in October 31st 1693 in Salem. It's based around the Salem witch trials. Here's the funny thing the Salem witch trials ended in May 1693. 5 months prior to the beginning of this film. As such the Sanderson sisters would have been pardoned for witchcraft. So, this hanging was a lynching. They should have been tried for murder and the hung. Not hung for witchcraft. Lynching was common in that time period right up to modern times. Lynching would still be occurring today if it wasn't for police intervention. That's why there's a high police presence when a high profile criminal is tried in court. The police are there to protect the criminal from lynching.

[@Twixx]

THE CRAFT!!

[@lorenwood4386]

women leviate and a talking goat.. 10/10 historical accuracy :D

[@andrewreid4320]

I think he was commenting more on what they believed witchcraft to be at the time as well as the trials and legality of it all. But in terms of what the people at that time period genuinely believed witches were capable of and willing to do, then yeah, The Witch is probably pretty accurate.

[@DonJuanDecepticon]

Wichraft is fun, tell your friends.

[@SparkleLuna77]

Who hasn’t, at some point in their life, wanted somebody else’s goat??!! 😁

[@desiv1170]

He gave a movie that had ACTUAL witchcraft 10 out of 10 for historical accuracy? And then gave Hocus Pocus 4 out of 10 as a film in general? For what it was, Hocus Pocus was a great film (not a 10, but maybe 7 or 8 out of 10). I will allow a really low score for historical accuracy tho, as it was a comedy... ;-)

[@cacashosho1]

He's saying that witches being murdered and being subjected to instant summary "justice" didn't actually happen? Knowing what I know of humanity, I call bullshit.

[@KarissaGaskill]

I wonder if we are related my ancestry traces back to England

[@hubertothemastador1361]

TIL the UK also had a civil war. 🧐

[@nevem5010]

❤️

[@operationgoldfish8331]

Anyone who can give 'The Witch' 10 out of 10 for historical accuracy is sadly lacking in knowledge of their subject. Throughout this entire presentation he at no point addresses the very important fact that _witches were not real_ (at least those of the sort feared by the early protestant church). 'The Witch's' depiction of devil worshiping, baby eating, Satanist witches is therefore entirely inaccurate. And this makes up a large part of the film. But even the non-supernatural, supposedly historical, depiction of how the people in the film acted didn't make sense. As far as I'm aware (though I'm open to persuasion) , there is no historical evidence of people being driven from their community in the way depicted in the film. The early devout settlers had fled from persecution in Europe and I've read that they were therefore averse to allowing such prejudice to grow among them. Even if such things did happen, I doubt if the community would consider sending children to suffer with their parents. So watching this film, I was already finding it hard to suspend disbelief, especially since it is praised for its attempt to portray historical accuracy. Then there is the sheer stupidity of the characters. Despite their expulsion, the family are devout Christians and it's clear that some kind of supernatural activity is at work. Given this, despite the father's 'pride', they would have approached the community for help. And where did this quite large gathering of 'witches' come from? Were they all expelled by local communities of settlers? There can't have been that many of the latter. Or perhaps there was some satanic version of the Mayflower that landed nearby? And, the final mystery of the film; why did the wretched girl join the witches? They'd slaughtered her family and made her life a trial of fear and misery. Given the trouble they caused her, she should have hated them and her most likely action would have been to make her way back to the colony and get help. She was only guilty by association with her father, as I have already pointed out. Given the above, I don't rate 'The Witch' very highly at all, and can only assume that it is people's general ignorance of the subject that makes them think it is so good. Part of my problem with all this is that I find the current popularity of witches as a monster of horror extremely distasteful. Tens of thousands of people were tortured and brutally murdered because the Church encouraged a belief in magically empowered baby eating Satanists, which they then weaponised to enforce their power across the face of Europe. When you really think about it, celebration of this deadly propaganda is like having fun by exploiting Hitler's depiction of the Jews. 'It's just a bit of fun' doesn't really cut it. Unlike the ghosts and un-dead and imaginary monsters, those accused as witches were real people. Of the films mentioned, I think 'The Witchfinder General' is probably most accurate, as I don't remember it pandering to the fantasy of witchcraft and the only monster in the film is Hopkins himself, who sadly didn't die the way he did in the film.

[@Foxyscribbles]

Yeah he lost me there that is not what "real" witchcraft is about .

[@itzakpoelzig330]

True, the witch-finders were the real monsters.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

You misunderstand his point. He is saying the setting is realistic. It's a horror film, not a historical document. And Malcolm Gaskill is a major league historian on witchcraft in Briton. He wrote the definitive history of Matthew Hopkins and other witchfinders in his book "Witchfinders" published by Harvard University Press.

[@operationgoldfish8331]

@@ericsierra-franco7802 I've explained at some length elsewhere in this discussion that the setting is NOT realistic. I am not aware of any accounts of communities exiling entire families for the views of one member. And there is zero evidence for the type of organised witchcraft depicted in 'The Witch'. As for being a 'major league historian in witchcraft' - the evidence is limited to what is known. He will not have found anything different from what has been available for centuries, and I was reading the accounts of the British witch trials and 'A Discoverie of Witches' and multiple different source materials before he was out of diapers. If he can give the badly made fantasy called 'The Witch' ten out of ten for historical accuracy, then he has no business claiming to be an expert in the subject. He 'wrote a book'? Woo, woo! There is no accepted academic qualification in the history of witchcraft. He's self taught, I'm self taught, and we've probably worked from exactly the same sources, because that's all there is. It's just that I wouldn't presume to write a book on the subject and call myself an 'expert'.

[@operationgoldfish8331]

@@ericsierra-franco7802 You're talking about a very crowded field. I was reading comprehensive accounts of Hopkins back in the seventies and, as I've already pointed out, the bulk of the evidence has been available for decades. The history of witchcraft was thoroughly explored in the late fifties and early sixties, when there was a fairly prolonged craze about the subject. I doubt that he contributed anything new or innovative, because there is little to add. He doesn't say the setting is realistic; he gives it full marks for accuracy, which is absurd. As for the realism of the setting, well there isn't much you can do wrong in depicting a frontier farmstead of the 1600s but the presentation of the biased attitude of the community, I find unlikely due to their own flight from oppression.

[@mattnobrega6621]

Witchcraft, in general, is a bunch of psychological bs. I used to be into that when I was younger. After realizing how it almost destroyed my life, I left it all behind and went back to christ. I've been better ever since.

[@SakiBlablabla]

Envy , han …they were so off the rail…how about heath , happiness, love for themselves, nature and their loved ones and accountability, justice for those who crossed or wronged them ! That’s my witch craft ! Guess men really do be terrified of women’s wisdom and power…for some reason ! A whole bunch of mommy issues…sadly for all the innocent people that died cause of those collective patriarchal psychosis !

[@andrewreid4320]

I fully agree with you about witchcraft nowadays. Those who actively practice witchcraft or Wicca generally aren’t the same people who would go and make a deal with the devil. But you also have the internet, and a wealth of information that most of the people depicted here didn’t have, including modernized analyses of ancient Druidic customs that are closer to the witchcraft you preform. These folks, men and women, were just way more ignorant in general. They’re whole culture and life were filtered through “God and The Devil,” so yeah, it makes sense that if someone was using powers that weren’t from God, it had to be endowed with envy, hate, and other evil things associated with the Devil. So, I’m not sure if we can get angry at the patriarchy for this one, but more at the lack of outside knowledge and resources. But that’s just my take. And it sounds like your witchcraft is a much better alternative to the ones depicted onscreen.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

Very different subject than what Malcolm Gaskill studies. He is an historian of the witch-hunts and trials in England hundreds of years ago. An anthropologist would be someone who would study modern Wicca which is a very different subject from the witch trials. Incidentally, I had an anthropology professor in college who did her doctoral thesis on a practicing witch or Bruja in Puerto Rico. It's published by the University of Texas Press. But Malcolm Gaskill is considered a real authority on that period of history in England and his book "Witchfinders" is excellent.

[@liannsherbin5515]

An expert on historical witch trials he may be, but he is not an expert on witchcraft.

[@victoriamahon3765]

Also some of his historical points are off as well, at one point he said you didn’t have large numbers of people tried for witchcraft, well the former residents of Salem Massachusetts would disagree with you, perhaps they should be more specific and stay at that he’s an expert on English witch trials and not other countries.

[@AllGreyEverything]

When he started talking about witches deriving power from Satan without any qualifiers, I was out.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

@@victoriamahon3765 He's not wrong. In Britain and Europe far, far greater numbers of people were prosecuted for witchcraft than in North America.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

@@AllGreyEverything From a historical perspective he's not incorrect. If you were at all familiar with the historical literature on witch hunting and witchcraft trials you would know that the belief that the witches were doing Satan's bidding was widespread.

[@liannsherbin5515]

@@ericsierra-franco7802 Unfortunately, he didn't express it that way. He didn't say "The common belief was...", He stated it as a fact.

[@Concreteowl]

None of these films are about Witchcraft. They are all about Christian anxiety about other faiths.

[@lizb3139]

Agreed. And thus guy is not a witchcraft expert

[@somerandommen]

That's because witchcraft isn't real. It exists in the mind of the religious and the fanatic

[@imfpredicts]

There is a difference between a "witchcraft expert" and a historian. And that difference is clickbait v information.

[@SplatterInker]

Erm... you realise Gaskill is a published and serious academic... right? He's one of the biggest names in the study of early modern Witchcraft in England. However, do not disagree that this has been marketed towards a general audience and is correspondingly lacking a lot of depth. But then do you really come to this format of video for serious information? Or edutainment?

[@kaylawilliam7893]

@@SplatterInker The video title came across as if he was a witch himself and a expert. As a witch myself, I laughed. However, watching the video it started to make more sense as really, in what case would this channel show case a real witch? Never.

[@kaylawilliam7893]

@@SplatterInker I think it's quite obvious to understand that when reading the title, of course people might think that he's a "expert" on actual witchcraft. Especially those who are involved in the craft themselves or are simply unaware that there has been so much research done on it historically. So next time, instead of being snarky to the above commenter, how about we use some common sense hmmm?

[@SplatterInker]

It never even occured to me that by witchcraft expert someone might mean a practicing witch. I mean on the one hand that's my own biases - we do tend to think of experts not as people who practise but people who analyse (often from outside). I probably also wouldn't have assumed an expert on Christianity was a priest unless they were dressed as such. But then if they'd used a practicing person like a witch or a priest the title would have been: "Actual Priest Breaks Down Famous Scenes in Movies". So they were clearly aware that such biases are common in society. Also, I'm not being funny but, surely modern day witchcraft has like a billion ways to practice. Imagine if they had a Protestant minister to talk about Christianity in film... the Catholics would be mad, the Orthodox would be unsurprised but annoyed. So it would be odd to ask someone whose only an expert on one type of modern day witchcraft to comment on period dramas. Moreover, because of the nature of witchcraft practice... you know, the fact its not an organised religion, which is like one of the best parts of it... its not like modern day practise is a one for one, or directly descended from medieval or earlier practice. I don't think that's a weakness but a strength, that witchcraft isn't about preserving a factual unbroken chain of tradition, but about tapping into our ancestors through rediscovery. But it does mean that we often bring our own ideas of what is and isn't "magic" to the past when... they might not have seen it the same way. Incidentally Christians often make this mistake too of thinking their faith has been practiced in exactly the same way since time immemorial. I guess people get comfort from it. Anyway I digress, all this to say, I'm unsurprised they did not go to a practising witch as an expert. And that's even before we get to the scepticism of the producers and general public.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

Malcolm Gaskill is a major league historian on the issue of witchcraft. If you don't know anything about him then you should refrain from commenting on his expertise because it's making you look foolish.

[@devilpupbear09]

There's an actual job called "Witchcraft Expert"?!

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

No. But there is an actual job called Historian, which is what Gaskill is.

[@Serai3]

"Witchcraft expert"? What's that when it's at home? How about getting an actual WITCH to react? You know, someone who actually DOES this stuff and thus knows what she's talking about?

[@operationgoldfish8331]

Most modern witches don't 'do this stuff'. I'm a British Traditional Witch and none of us would touch Satanism with a very long pole. We worship nature and the old gods. The only place that I know of actual Satanic witches is in parts of Eastern Europe, where they exist as a kind of reaction to the power of the Catholic Church, having not been exposed to any possible alternative spirituality. If your only choice is between 'God' or the devil and you feel rejected by God, then to whom do you turn? It's a sign of how f***d up Christianity is that it is the only spirituality to create an actual 100% god of evil.

[@Serai3]

@@operationgoldfish8331 Yeah, honey, I know. I'm a witch, too, which is why I brought it up. The point is that it would be much more informative to get a reaction from someone with experience, instead of someone who only knows from what he's read. As far as "this stuff" goes, I was talking about magic and witchcraft. If you assumed I meant Satanism, that's on you. (Why would you even assume that was what I meant?)

[@operationgoldfish8331]

@@Serai3 Because Satanism is what the European witch hunts were all about, and I assumed that you were aware of that. If you read the accounts of the witch trials they were all about proving that the accused person was in league with the Devil and that this was where they derived their power. To be honest, I don't think this has anything to do with witchcraft as it is practiced today. It was entirely about an expression of power on behalf of the Church and the Crown. I am unintentionally quite well read in this subject and also, to some extent, in the historical development of modern witchcraft (my father was a bit obsessed with the subject during the 70s and had a fairly extensive library). I tend to draw upon this knowledge when discussing the subject, which is why I wouldn't consider a modern practitioner to have relevant experience or understanding. I apologise if I have offended you. I was not suggesting that you were referring to Satanism, in fact I assumed otherwise, but the only person who would have the relevant experience, if such a person ever existed, would be a magic user who believes that their power is derived from a pact with Satan. I know that there is a myth that has many of those accused of witchcraft being 'wise women, healers and midwives' but there is little, if any, evidence for this. Most of those accused seem to have been nothing more than innocent victims of neighbours' spite or oppression by Church and Crown, or both.

[@ArdanArianis]

Because there're no such things as witches, you can call yourself a witch but that doesn't make you one. I can call myself a 19th-level wizard, that doesn't make me one. Stop deluding yourself!

[@Serai3]

@@operationgoldfish8331 So you automatically assumed that I meant what you wanted to think I meant? That's on you, honey. Next time, ASK. You won't come off looking so arrogant.

[@ispoilers9535]

If you are not going to talk about The Craft, then what are we even doing here?

[@nunyanunya4147]

i have a button up shirt... should I button it up all the way? tuck it in? OH I have a sweater shirt. i could wear that over the unbuttoned buttonup untucked blue... OH OH OH !!! i have this fugly shit brown button up I could wear? what? no time? frag it ill wear all three at once... bother.

[@chesaraepepple9120]

The witch, historically accurate? Lolololol

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

The setting is what he means. And Gaskill knows more than you about the topic.

[@jackass123491]

He's talking about the way things were back then, not the horror scenes.

[@TomTubesYou]

More like Malcolm BUZZkill

[@dyejohn1905]

Does this guy believe in witches.

[@kateapple1]

😴