Were The "Pilgrims" Illuminists??

[lucy]

We have this twisted history that the "pilgrims" are depicted with the long black clothing with large white collars, and "puritans". But doing some research there had been some writings that Sir Francis Bacon's relatives, among others were those early settlers. Some were witches, and other occultists.

The "new world" was their idea of the new atlantis.

Food for thought.

[beatlies]

The pilgrims ---that is the earliest English settlers in North America, also had Black slaves. This is brought out in Arthur Miller's (future husband of a Farilyn Fonroe) play The Crucible (1953), about the witch hunts, and an allegory for the Sen.McCarthy-personified vicious persecution of the left and "communists" in america at the time.

Some Charaters in the play:

Reverend Samuel Parris

Parris is the poorly respected minister of Salem's church. He is disliked by many Salem residents because of his greedy, dominating nature. The man is more concerned about his reputation than of the wellbeing of his sick daughter, Betty. He is also less concerned about his missing niece, Abigail Williams, and the lives of the dead and condemned on his conscience and more about the money taken. He is related to the history of Salem— in real life his niece and daughter were the first to accuse others of witchcraft and he owned the slave, Tituba, who was the first to be accused of witchcraft and who survived prison.

Tituba

Tituba is Rev. Parris' slave. Parris seems to have owned and possibly purchased her in Barbados. She cares for the children and prepares a potion for Abigail that will kill Elizabeth Proctor. Additionally, she attempts to raise the spirits of Ann Putnam's dead children. During the first scene of the play, she is turned in by Abigail and responds by claiming that four women in Salem are witches. She is not seen again until the final scene of the play in the jail. It seems that by this point the events have troubled her to the point of hallucinations and hysteria.

Abigail Williams

Williams is Parris' niece. She is 17 years old in the play and during the trials. Abigail was once the maid for the Proctor house, but Elizabeth Proctor fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail and her uncle's slave, Tituba, lead the local girls in love-spell rituals in the Salem forest over a fire. Rumors of witchcraft fly, and Abigail tries to use the town's fear to her advantage. She viciously accuses many of witchcraft, starting first with the outcasts of society and gradually moving up to respected members of the community. Finally, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor, because she believes that John truly loves her and not Elizabeth. Abigail thinks that if Elizabeth is out of the way, she and John can marry. John says in the play that Abigail "hopes to dance with me upon my wife's grave." She is manipulative and dramatic, as well as darkly charismatic. She attacks anyone who stands in her way (i.e. Mary Warren, Goody Proctor), regardless of who they are. She later flees Salem during the trials and, according to legend, becomes a prostitute in Boston.

[lucy]

And how they treated the Native Americans?

[sabrina]

Now that's a very compelling notion. I have read the Crucible, fascinating play.

I always did find it interesting how Arthur Miller, the playwright, was married to the most popular stepford in our culture (Marilyn Monroe)

But as to your idea of the pilgrims being illuminists....Very very intriguing. They were run out of their own countries for practising a different kind of worship. Since we know how much the church is often linked to satanic stuff I do wonder about what they really were worshiping.

Plus, the witch trials in Salem were just a cover for th real witches who sat on the panel of judges and what not. They accused others to hide their OWN satanic deeds.

Read Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables. Its about generational sexual abuse. Hawthorne knew a lot about that time because his own family descended from those pilgrims. I do tend to believe that the early Americans were quite pagan behind closed doors. Sacrificing and the like.

[beatlies]

Sept 30, 2010 12:12:49 GMT -5 sabrina said:

Now that's a very compelling notion. I have read the Crucible, fascinating play.

I always did find it interesting how Arthur Miller, the playwright, was married to the most popular stepford in our culture (Marilyn Monroe)

But as to your idea of the pilgrims being illuminists....Very very intriguing. They were run out of their own countries for practising a different kind of worship. Since we know how much the church is often linked to satanic stuff I do wonder about what they really were worshiping.

Plus, the witch trials in Salem were just a cover for th real witches who sat on the panel of judges and what not. They accused others to hide their OWN satanic deeds.

Read Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables. Its about generational sexual abuse. Hawthorne knew a lot about that time because his own family descended from those pilgrims. I do tend to believe that the early Americans were quite pagan behind closed doors. Sacrificing and the like.

And during/after that marriage to Farilyn, Miller's ability to write plays appeared to nosedive.

Hawthorne's stories express the plight of individuals recognizing and struggling against hidden, widespread conspiracies of secret horror in American society.