Norae pagan beard is a term that refers to a specific style of facial hair. It is characterized by a full, thick beard that appears slightly unkempt and natural. This style is inspired by the appearance of Pagan men in ancient times who often grew out their beards as a symbol of masculinity and connection to nature. The term "norae" itself derives from the Greek word "gnorizo," meaning "to know." This connection to knowledge and wisdom is often associated with the image of a man with a full, untamed beard. The term "pagan" in this context refers to the historical association of beards with pagan cultures and traditions.

The Salem Witch Trials: A Story of Patriarchy, Persecution and Misogyny

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 tell us so much about how women have been targeted throughout history.

It’s hard to imagine that the sleepy, bucolic New England town of Salem, Massachusetts, was once known for atrocity, paranoia, and murder. Driving along its winding roads, the proclaimed Witch City has no shortage of shops offering spell castings and divination, potions, herbs, and pendulums. A Bewitched statue commemorates the filming of the iconic 1960s show; the official Salem Witch Museum features mannequin reenactments; and the Salem police logo even features a witch riding a broomstick. At All Hallows Eve, you can see eager tourists dressed in pointy black hats, and scores of Sanderson Sisters look-alikes.

These joyful scenes are a far cry from 1692, when mass hysteria and collective paranoia led to the wrongful imprisonment of more than 150 innocent Salem residents, including a four-year-old child, and the execution of 19 victims — most of whom were women. Their crime was witchcraft.

So what happened? How did we get from there to here? It turns out the Salem Witch Trials were just one small example of a phenomenon that spanned continents and centuries: targeting women as a corrupting force and persecuting them for perceived societal ills.

“From a sociocultural perspective,” says journalist Heather Greene, author of Lights, Camera, Witchcraft, “accusations of witchcraft are a weapon thrown at women.”

“It’s not only a derogatory label that’s associated with women, it’s also a term that’s been used to define the ‘evil aspects’ of femininity. And that comes from Malleus Maleficarum [a 15th-century handbook written by Johann Sprenger and Heinrich Kraemer] — on how to figure out if someone was a witch, how to find them, out them, and how to kill them,” Greene explains.

In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was an early English settlement consisting mostly of Puritan refugees. Salem was slated to be its “shining city, a beacon on the hill,” says Emerson W. Baker, a professor of history at Salem State University and author of A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. It was meant to be a Christian utopia, one that the rest of the world would look upon as an example of harmony and peace.

But even the Pilgrims found the Puritans too strict in their ways. “Puritans were seeking their own version of religious freedom. They were a pretty intolerant lot — freedom for themselves to practice and worship God as they saw fit. It was really a religious colony, a religious experiment,” Baker says. And they had been fighting for their way of life for years before coming to America.

Maureen MacLeod, an assistant professor of history at Mercy College, agrees: “[The Puritans were] pushed from England, Holland, then they’re pushed again from England, and then they go to Massachusetts,” she says. “There’s a lot of mental anguish that comes with being pushed from multiple countries for your beliefs. It’s really fascinating — they’re coming for this religious freedom, but the Puritans are religiously intolerant.”

It came down to control: In the wake of their own persecution, this God-fearing, patriarchal society was determined to preserve its way of life and belief system at any cost.

In 1689, a new reverend named Samuel Parris came to town and became Salem Village’s first ordained minister. According to Smithsonian magazine, he wasn’t well liked due to his “rigid ways and greedy nature,” and quarreling began among the villagers. Mysteriously, in 1692, the reverend’s 9-year-old daughter, Elizabeth (aka Betty), and 11-year-old niece, Abigail, began having fits. These included “violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming.” A local doctor diagnosed them with “bewitchment,” and soon after other young girls in the village began exhibiting similar behaviors. When questioned, the girls accused three women for causing their afflictions: Sarah Good (a middle-aged beggar woman), Tituba (an Indigenous Caribbean woman who was a slave in the Parris household), and Sarah Osborne (a widowed elderly woman).

Under pressure for her life and likely beaten into submission by Parris, Tituba ultimately “confessed” to the crime. “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him,” she allegedly said. She described the Devil appearing as a “hog and sometimes like a great dog”; a “thing with a head like a woman with two legs and wings”; a hairy creature; a red rat and black rat; and a tall man in black clothes with white hair. She also confessed to riding on sticks with the children. In spring 1692, all three women were imprisoned on suspicion of witchcraft and “afflicting” the young girls; over the next year, more than 150 people would be imprisoned for witchcraft.

The “witch craze” of those days has little to do with modern witchcraft or paganism. For starters, contemporary iterations do not typically involve a devil figure in the Christian sense. “Even though the idea of [the Devil] isn’t in paganism, we have to think of evolutionary ideas of religion,” MacLeod says. “Catholicism definitely [has] this idea of a polar opposite of good and evil. In Protestantism, the whole idea is to make sure you get into heaven: If it is deemed not ‘good,’ then you’re being pulled into the negative direction with the Devil. And it’s a scare tactic. It evolved within Christianity, within Catholicism early on," she adds.

In the 17th century, it was believed the Devil could give witches — read: women — supernatural or spiritual powers in exchange for their service and loyalty. In essence, this was a genuinely dangerous moral panic that mixed class, religion, gender, and fantastical imaginings.

“In the witch-hunting era, blaming the Devil for death, disease, disaster, or misfortune was an easy sell," explains writer and educator Kristen J. Solleé, author of Witch Hunt. "Any belief, practice, or behavior that didn’t align with prevailing Christian doctrine could be deemed satanic.”

After Tituba’s confession, more villagers came forward with accusations of witchcraft and bewitchment, leading to more imprisonments. Sarah Good’s four-year-old daughter, Dorothy, was also imprisoned for nearly five months before being released. “You had mothers accusing daughters, grandmothers accusing grandmothers, neighbors accusing neighbors, people accusing ministers of being witches,” says Baker. “It turns out that in most cases of witchcraft across most cultures, usually three fourths of the victims are women. In fact, it’s even more one-sided than that because most of the men who are accused are either relatives of those women or men who will stand up to defend those women.”

The Salem Witch Trials

The events which led to the Witch Trials actually occurred in what is now the town of Danvers, then a parish of Salem Town, known as Salem Village. Launching the hysteria was the bizarre, seemingly inexplicable behavior of two young girls; the daughter, Betty, and the niece, Abigail Williams, of the Salem Village minister, Reverend Samuel Parris.

The Witch House

In February, 1692, three accused women were examined by Magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. Corwin’s home, known as the Witch House, still stands at the corner of North and Essex Streets in Salem, providing guided tours and tales of the first witchcraft trials. John Hathorne, an ancestor of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, is buried in the Charter Street Old Burying Point. By the time the hysteria had spent itself, 24 people had died. Nineteen were hanged on Gallows Hill in Salem Town, but some died in prison. Giles Corey at first pleaded not guilty to charges of witchcraft, but subsequently refused to stand trial. This refusal meant he could not be convicted legally. However, his examiners chose to subject him to interrogation by the placing of stone weights on his body. He survived this brutal torture for two days before dying. It is remarkable 552 original documents pertaining to the witchcraft trials have been preserved and are still stored by the Peabody Essex Museum. Eerie memorabilia associated with the trials, such as the “Witch Pins” used in the examination of witches and a small bottle supposed to contain the finger bones of the victim George Jacobs can be found in the Clerk’s Office in the Essec Superior Court House, Salem. A more provoking commemoration, the Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Memorial dedicated in 1992, can be found adjacent to the Charter Street Old Burying Point.

Salem Witch Trials

At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article.

The topic of this article is of a real-life subject that has been mentioned "in-universe" in a canon source. The Harry Potter Wiki is written from the perspective that all information presented in canon is true (e.g., Hogwarts really existed), and, as such, details contained in this article may differ from real world facts.

The term "pagan" in this context refers to the historical association of beards with pagan cultures and traditions. The norae pagan beard style has gained popularity in recent years as a symbol of masculinity and rebellion against societal norms of grooming and conformity. Many men who choose to grow a norae pagan beard see it as a way to express their individuality and connection to nature.

Salem witch trials

To achieve the norae pagan beard look, men often allow their facial hair to grow freely without trimming or shaping. This results in a beard that is thick and full, with hair that is longer and less uniform in length. Some individuals may choose to style their norae pagan beard with the use of beard oils, balms, or waxes to condition and maintain the hair. While the norae pagan beard style is increasingly popular, it is important to note that not all men are able to grow this type of facial hair. Genetics and individual hair growth patterns play a significant role in determining whether a man can successfully achieve the norae pagan beard look. In conclusion, the norae pagan beard is a popular style of facial hair that is characterized by a full, untamed appearance. It is a symbol of masculinity, individuality, and a connection to nature..

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The Cultural Significance of Norae Pagan Beard in Different Regions