Witch Please! Gas Lighting at the Salem Witch Trials
We are gifted with one season a year with beautiful changing leaves, impeccable television, pumpkin ales (if you’re into that and I am), and of course, Halloween. We have one more week to enjoy our precious October, and let’s do it by acknowledging America’s gas lighting origin story.
This week reminded us why mass hysteria works so effectively, and so dangerously. You know the pattern: something goes wrong (disease, famine, economic anxiety), people panic and need someone to blame, fear turns into outrage, and suddenly 10% of your community is accused of witchcraft. Except in Salem, 80% of those accused were women who were too outspoken, too independent, or just inconvenient to men in power.
It took ONE pastor (someone who was really dislikable btw) to start a witch hunt that killed 20 people. Not because he was right, but because he had authority. When basic teenage boredom and shenanigans were deemed “demonic possession” and you “needed” to execute your neighbors to save the community, we’d crossed into manufactured crisis.
Here’s what political gaslighting actually looks like: targeting vulnerable communities at their weakest, promising to “save” people from manufactured threats, weaponizing fear and groupthink, and making people doubt their own instincts. Every authoritarian does it, though the methods evolve. Social media has made it exponentially worse. And yes, it’s coming at us from the right and from the left.
As citizens in the 21st century, and as moms, how are we supposed to watch this play out? We’re watching history repeat itself while sleep-deprived and overwhelmed. Politicians use emotional manipulation disguised as protection. Algorithms know exactly when we’re most vulnerable. Power structures have turned societal anxiety into control.
The system isn’t accidentally broken. It’s designed to make us too scared to speak up until silence becomes complicity. We doubt our own morals so much that we adopt those that are hand picked for us.
New Episode: Witch, Please! Spooky Season, Scary Moms, and the Salem Witch Trials
This week, we’re breaking down the intersection of Halloween, motherhood, and the original cancel culture. We’re calling out the parallels between 1692 and 2025, and sharing what being a “witch” actually meant versus the propaganda version.
We’re also discussing why Halloween as a mom means managing unrealistic expectations and admitting that political campaigns have ruined this holiday forever.
Plus, Love is Blind finale predictions, Halloween candy rankings (Reese’s pumpkins 4ever), and why being called a witch really just meant you were too powerful for your time.
P.S. - Election Day is November 4th. One week away. Make sure you’re registered and vote. Local elections matter. School board matters. City council matters. Don’t let anyone gaslight you into thinking your voice doesn’t count. That’s exactly what they want. LOOKING AT YOU NEW JERSEY AND VIRGINIA.
Now go figure out how to watch Hocus Pocus and drink your pumpkin ale in peace You deserve it.
originally posted on our substack
