ABSTRACT
The study of New England witchcraft has undergone a marked resurgence over the last twenty years. 1 In particular, the Salem trials can no longer be described apart from their social context. A complex system of belief and action, witchlore was a vital force in daily life, for it provided explanations, remedies and scapegoats. It also allowed aggrieved persons, believing themselves to be either witches or victims, some influence over others and modes of self-expression beyond the limits of respectability.
