Salem is a sensational place to hang-out in October.

The light of summer shifts from a soft haze into dark shadows, leaves crunch beneath our feet, and the air feels crisp. The City’s vibe is steeped in history with exceptional options for entertainment. A safe-harbor for Native culture, marine-lore and a questionable moral compass of American literature, Salem is also ~ famously, fabulously, palpably fascinating!

Tompkins Harrison Matteson’s “The Pillory Scene from the Scarlet Letter” written by Salem’s Nathaniel Hawthorne conjures themes of judgement (PEM)

Adding to the fun, tourists flock where folk-lore and town-folk share the spirit.

“Bewitched” Samantha sculpture:  Elizabeth Montgomery Essex Street, Salem

Landmarking unenlightened times, a monument cloaks the city in global awareness of Salem’s original sin.  The Salem Witch Trials Memorial stands, tree-lined, as rock-solid evidence of the mass-hysteria of 1692.

Salem Witch Trial Memorial 24 Liberty Street

Abutting the Memorial are headstones of some of those who accused neighbors of soccery. Juxtaposition of divergent, communal-suggestive-consciousness is a grim reminder of the dark power of collective-thinking.

And yet, the old cobbled streets buy into new stories of mysticism, pageantry and other-worldliness.

séance PEM “Conjuring”

So ya gotta wonder why this port-side latitude with so much attitude about hanging innocent souls entertains dark shadows by celebrating the occult.

Established in 1799, the East India Marine Society was a warehouse of-sorts for natural and artificial curiosities. Modern-day galleries are a resource of contextual thinking. As the oldest continuously operating and collection museum in the United States, the East India Marine Society’s reincarnation as PEM echos the past, making it a clear voice in American history and potential shaper of the future.

Part of PEM’s collection of Witch Trail artifacts and transcripts

To advance understanding of our culture’s psycho-social curiosity with spiritualism PEM’s galleries are featuring a helix of provocative exhibits. Artifacts from “The Salem Witch Trials” are steps away from “Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic and Mediums” which includes death masks, performances of prestidigitation and props used by Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini’s handcuffs (PEM)

Bookending these exhibits affirms the nexus between spiritualism, social-norms and science.

Peabody Essex Museum CEO, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan quotes Albert Einstein saying  “the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science, whoever does not know it can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, as his eyes are dimmed.”

With so much focus on Hocus Pocus Tedi E. Asher, PhD., PEM’s resident neuroscientist, weighs in on the phenomenon of spectral sensations. She explains ‘the process of believing‘ involves our brains, spinal cords, and neurons as moderators of experiences. Through sight, sound, and touch we perceive our environment. How we value those perceptions depends on our mental capacity, memories and emotional state. Integration of sensations shape our identity and beliefs. According to Dr. Asher the process occurs subconsciously and because experiences are subjective, our beliefs can be polarizing.

Dr. Asher suggests “being mindful that the significance of objects, events, information and even the sensations we each feel within our own body are subject to the way that given individuals experiences and interprets them. Today, we are overwhelmed with domestic and international conflicts rooted in the very same fundamental realities about the nature of “proof” and belief that characterized the age of Spiritualism.”

By extension, the same logic can be applied to the Salem’s witch hysteria.

As the light shifts, the leaves crunch, and air crisps catch  “Conjuring The Spirit World ” and see how you feel

at PEM Now – February 2, 2025

 

 

 

 


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