The Magical Adventures of Mary Parish

Download or read book The Magical Adventures of Mary Parish written by Frances Timbers and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2016-01-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary Parish wasn’t your ordinary seventeenth-century woman. She was a “cunning woman,” who spent her time in the realm of magic, interacting with fairies, hunting for buried treasures, and communicating with the spirit world, along with her partner, the young aristocrat Goodwin Wharton. Drawing largely from Goodwin’s personal journals, Frances Timbers reconstructs Mary’s life in this microhistory, and explores themes of class, gender, and relationships in seventeenth-century England. Mary’s story provides insight into magical beliefs and practices of early modern history, and sheds light on how class and gender affected everyday life.