Image source: Merlina McGovern
I have always loved drawing this dark and foreboding house in Salem. The “Salem Witch House,” was the New England home to Judge Jonathan Corwin. Born to wealthy parents on what was probably a frigid fall day on November 14, 1640, Corwin completed some of his judicial duties during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Looking at artistic renderings of him, he appears to have been balding, with white, wispy locks that fell to his shoulders. His wide set eyes sat on either side of a large, sharp nose, which itself sat atop a small, mean mouth. Not much history is written about his actual actions during the trials, but in a twist of irony, his own mother-in-law, Margaret Thatcher, was also later accused of witchcraft, a charge that never resulted in an arrest.
You can still visit the house in Salem today, where the site hosts regular tours, a museum, and a gift shop. It’s odd to think about a gift shop taking up space in a dark home that housed a judge of these trials. Trials that visited terrible tragedy to the more than 200 people accused of witchcraft, 30 of which were found guilty, 19 of which were executed by hanging. The home was witness to the power of mob mentality combined with a combustible dose of greed and disinformation. Something that I fear more and more as social media and AI swamp our communication channels with outrage and misinformation.
But, I can’t be too despondent, not when I’m drawing cute little ghosts. Today’s Inktober prompt was “Angel.” I’m not a firm believer in angels or demons, so I drew a little ghost dressing up as an angel for Halloween, with the spooky Salem Witch House as a backdrop.
Honestly, I’m not all that interested in angels, these faultless do-gooders and bringers of light. Yes, yes, the world needs more goodness, but I’m far more interested in the custom of dressing up for Halloween. When we traveled to Ireland earlier this summer, during one of our tours, our tour guide expressed astonishment at the US custom of dressing up as Disney princesses and other light and airy characters for Halloween. According to her, the custom of dressing up in Ireland was handed down from ancient traditions of dressing up in animal skins and dancing around bonfires. The goal was to scare visiting spirits by the bonfire and if that didn’t work then to confuse them with the costumes—these evil spirits would see the animals dancing around in the dark and think they were other spirits themselves.
Now, would a miniature Cinderella in a sparkly dress scare off a visiting spirit? Probably not. But, I also love the idea of taking a night to be something that you’re not. Every day of the year, we adhere to rules and guidelines. We fulfill the roles that society has given to us: wife, mother, daughter, student, professional. We’re stuck in our humdrum lives. But, for one night of the year, we can throw off the rigid shackles of those roles and prance around at night as whoever we want to be. We can ask for candy (and for tasty cocktails if we’re adults), play tricks, and indulge in a managed amount of mayhem, even if it’s just for one night.
It’s a freeing concept even if it nestles up close to ideas of death and the afterlife. As we wander the streets lit only by street lamps and jack o’lanterns, we see leering pumpkin heads and menacing skeletons. Ghostly apparitions float around neighborhood yards amidst tangles of spider webs. The dead and the dying are there in the evening air just beyond our sight. We can smell the decayed scent of fallen leaves, and the crisp bite of winter is suddenly all around us in the air. For me, this touch of fear surrounding crowds of ghouls, goblins, ghosts, angels, demons, and yes princesses is why I love this holiday. It feels a little unhinged, something we could all use a little dose of every now and then.
Comments