Fairies and Witch Trials: Connections and Beliefs

The witch trials of the 16th and 17th century have many facets within the accusations of the women (and men) involved. One of the most intriguing is the links between accused parties and the fairies. How did these people claim to be convening with the fae? What fairy magic did they profess to use?  In this special extended episode of The Folklore Podcast, host Mark Norman is joined by historian and tour guide of London's Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Jon Kaneko-James. Jon works extensively with original documents from the period and discusses a case that he stumbled across about which little is generally discussed.

Jon writes extensively on the history of the supernatural on his blog at www.jonkanekojames.com He has released an exclusive blog in support of this episode which can be used along with the transcript of this episode and Jon's suggested reading which is available in the episode supplement from our website at www.thefolklorepodcast.com