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The Mage's Well

Isobel Gowdie - Building the 'Evil Witch'

Season 4, Ep. 15
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Isobel Gowdie is Scotland's most famous witch, giving the world the idea of a coven and that must contain 13 members. On trial as a witch, four infernally sensational confessions rocked the late medieval world, so much so that modern historians have described her confessions as ‘one of the most remarkable documents in the history of witchcraft.’ Todays episode is difficult to listen to in places in regards to how women and those labelled a witch were treated within the legal system. But the suffering Isobel endured wasn’t in vain, we have some powerful insights into how this talented woman practiced witchcraft. Ironic, considering the very system that sought to condemn and quell people like Isobel the documents from which are being pawed over and have the ability to empower a new generation of witches, the numbers of which haven’t been seen the world before. It’s very much the season of the Witch, and possessing powers over life and death - Isobel Gowdie is a blinding beacon. 


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