By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville — Just in time for Halloween, the Brandon Township Public Library will be hosting author and psychic medium Kristy Robinett for her program History, Mystery and the Magic of Witches. Registration required.
“I’m going to talk about the cultural history of witches, how they were really natural healers, and how they were misunderstood and feared,” said Robinett. “We cover everything.”
The program talks about the starting of witch hunts and witch hunters, including the Salem Witch Trials and several witch trials in Michigan, and goes on to talk about media representation of witches such as the Wizard of Oz and Hocus Pocus.
“We talk about the folklore of, what does the broom mean, and the hat in connection to the witches,” she said. “A lot of people are surprised, because a lot of people know about Salem, but they were surprised at how many people, especially women, were killed. It was in the millions.”
Robinett also goes into why so many women were killed in witch trials, and how those reasons carry into modern day.
“A lot of it was they didn’t want women to have a say in the house, and the women were who were accused were the healers, the midwives, they were the women who were taking mens’ jobs,” she said. “And it was easier to accuse them instead of trying to understand. There are still these so-called witch trials today, we still feel threatened by things like holistic medicine or people who are different.”
Join Robinett for History, Mystery and the Magic of Witches at the Brandon Township Public Library, 304 South St, Ortonville Register for the free program at brandonlibrary.org, or call 248-627-1460.