xxi+ 296 = 317 pages
I'm not sure how I encountered this book. Possibly via an ad on Facebook. At any rate, it seemed interesting, the library had a copy, and I put in a request for it. The library's stamped RECEIVED date is January 23, 2026, so I might be the first person to read this copy of this book. For some reason that thought pleases me.
Day 1 (DDRD 3,039) February 26, 2026)
Read to page 73.
"...when the going gets tough in any society, it is the most vulnerable who are accused of causing the damage." (xviii)
There are some VERY gross descriptions of the tortures "witches" were put through. This is definitely not for the faint of heart...of whose number I count myself, alas. Despite that, I find this book quite compelling. That's due in part to the occasionally sarcastic voice of the writer(s). Sarcasm is a balm for my soul.
Day 2 (DDRD 3,040) February 27, 2026)
Read to page 146 (halfway point).
Read to page 146 (halfway point).
This book has actually FOOTnotes. That's the way you do it, folks. (As opposed to hiding them at the end of the book with no indication that they exist until you reach the end of the book. I'm looking at you, Mr. Brando Starkey.)
"If a woman's behavior is unacceptable or suspicious, Could it be she's a witch?" (98)
I couldn't help but think of my daughter when I read this. She is a very odd human being. Also, my favorite female human being. But if you met her, it would not take more than a few seconds to realize that she was, at very least odd. We volunteer at the hospital once a week. As we were leaving one day, she went into the women's room. Shortly after she entered an old woman came out, her eyes wide. She whispered to her son, who was waiting for her, "There's a woman in there talking to herself. I think she's crazy!" For a moment I was offended and was going to say something in my daughter's defense...and then I realized, No, that's fair.
So my daughter might have been labeled a witch back in those days, simply for being her autistic self. A frightening thought.
In a first draft opinion on the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted Matthew Hale's opinion that abortion is a great crime. Matthew Hale was a judge who presided over a Salem witch trial in which two innocent women were hanged on the testimony of several children who said they were attacked and threatened by invisible spectres of these women. Dobbs v. Jackson WHO is the case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Still hunting down those witches, I guess.
Day 3 (DDRD 3,041) February 28, 2026)
Read to page 222. So tomorrow will probably do it. Good read!
Read to page 222. So tomorrow will probably do it. Good read!
BTW, you can find the Witches of Scotland podcast HERE.
Day 4 (DDRD 3,042) March 1, 2026)
Read to page 296, The End. A good book. At the end it linked past treatment of women with present treatment of women with the possible future degradation of women. It was necessary, of course, but also a bit screedy. As a man who has tried very hard not to mistreat women, it's hard for me to listen to blanket condemnations without thinking, "Hey, wait a minute." I understand why it's done that way, and maybe even why it's necessary to do it that way, but it still hurts.
Read to page 296, The End. A good book. At the end it linked past treatment of women with present treatment of women with the possible future degradation of women. It was necessary, of course, but also a bit screedy. As a man who has tried very hard not to mistreat women, it's hard for me to listen to blanket condemnations without thinking, "Hey, wait a minute." I understand why it's done that way, and maybe even why it's necessary to do it that way, but it still hurts.
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