The History of Witchcraft and Women with Prof Diane Purkiss

The witch is a deeply important and appealing figure, and her story is more relevant than ever. Witches weren’t evil, and they certainly didn’t wear pointy black hats. Instead, society has long used the idea of the witch as a dumping ground for everything it fears or hates in women. Witches are old – too old to be sexy, too old to bear children – and even today, we stigmatise older women as “problematic” or “ugly”. Exploring the true history of witches reveals much about ourselves, how we got here, and how we can change.

But who hunted witches? Surprisingly, it wasn’t mostly men. It was often younger women, pressured by patriarchal systems to blame older women in exchange for temporary favour, that disappeared as they aged. This history still echoes today, as generational divides between women persist and even worsen. Learning about witches reminds us of the importance of solidarity between generations – why we must stand together to break free from these old patterns.

Doors open at 7pm, talk starts at 7:30pm - come down early to grab a good seat!

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Speaker Bio:

Diane Purkiss is Professor of English at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Keble College. She has published on witchcraft, fairies, and also on the English Civil War, the occasion of England's biggest witchhunt. She has been in more than a dozen television documentaries; she even has an IMdb entry and a Wikipedia page… She has spoken to general audiences at numerous literary festivals and to many local history societies.

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