Salem in USA is it worth a visit

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Becky b

Salem in USA is it worth a visit

Post by Becky b »

I have always been intrigued to visit Salem I am due to fly to Boston from the uk in 2 weeks.

Would anyone recommend ...?..

Blessings to all becky b :) :fairy:
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Xiao Rong
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Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

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Depends on what you're going for! I went for the first time a couple of months ago. It's cool to see a lot of pagan shops and stuff, but it was very touristy and kitschy. The history is interesting, but honestly most of it is not pagan history at all (most likely none of the "witches" who were killed during the witch hunt were really witches). The town is very cute, and it was fun to go to, and there are quite a few things to do. I'm told Salem has a very large Wiccan community but I didn't get a chance to interact with them - and there were very few pagans there, by the looks of it. It was fun and worth a visit! But I didn't think it was the "spiritual pilgrimage" that some people think it is.
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Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

Post by loona wynd »

Becky b wrote:I have always been intrigued to visit Salem I am due to fly to Boston from the uk in 2 weeks.

Would anyone recommend ...?..

Blessings to all becky b :) :fairy:
Ah Salem. The center of New England Witchcraft.

Yes I would recommended you visit. And yes I would recommended you visit not only all the stores but all the witch tourist sites. This is my culture and my heritage. I live in New England. New England and witchcraft often=Salem. While the history is dramatized for tourists, as a modern witch and as some one who lives in New England (an area that constantly battles between its Puritan views and past and its current Liberal future)you need to visit the city.

As a practicing witch I guarantee you will be able to tell the difference between the stores which sell their wares geared towards tourists and those which are geared towards actual practitioners. I can name a few specific stores if you would like. I will be there on the 15th and 16th of November and maybe again later :-)

There are a few things to think about when you visit Salem. I visit Salem regularly. I used to visit every year for my birthday for like 6 years straight but missed a few years. For me it has become a pilgrimage as I feel the Salem painted the picture for the New England views and mythology around Witches and Witchcraft and as a New England Witch when I visit Salem I pray and honor the sacrifice and horrid treatment that went on at the Salem witches memorial.

Some modern witches today consider Salem MA to be a Neo-Pagan Witchcraft Mecca. In all honesty my experience has told me that while the Salem witches enjoy the publicity and the tourism in October, in the end it's really something that many of the Pagans and witches in Salem wishes they could ignore and have be a side line to the cities history.

You will find shops that embrace the Witch City and tourism and stores that don't embrace it, but recognize that part of their success and reason for being able to stay in business is the cities history. You won't find a single occult shop in that city (and there are half a dozen or more at my last count) that wont admit that the history of the city is not why witches in that city are reclaiming the city as their own.

I feel that all witches that live in the Us need to vists Salem. When some one looks us the history of witch trails in the US the first place they find is Salem MA. Yes the witches of Salem have claimed the past of that city as their own. Many of the witches I have met in Salem use the cities past as a reason to be out of the closet and in public there.

I love Salem and would live there if I had a chance to move. I don't care if I am the only New England witch who considers Salem a sacred space and a powerful space. My energy and spirituality as a witch is always rekindled upon visiting Salem. The fact that the city to this day embraces witchcraft to me proves that witches in New England have a home, if only in one city.
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Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

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Xiao Rong wrote:Depends on what you're going for! I went for the first time a couple of months ago. It's cool to see a lot of pagan shops and stuff, but it was very touristy and kitschy.
What shops did you visit? I will say that I can name the tourist spiritual shops in Salem and the serious shops in Salem. As a New England Witch for me it is a place of a pilgrimage.
Xiao Rong wrote:The history is interesting, but honestly most of it is not pagan history at all (most likely none of the "witches" who were killed during the witch hunt were really witches).
The bolded there is a bit of a duh statement. That same statement can be applied to the majority of any of the witches during the witch trials. Most of the people accused of witchcraft were never actually witche However for witches in New England the significance is extremely important.
Xiao Rong wrote:The town is very cute, and it was fun to go to, and there are quite a few things to do.
This is true. As well as being known for witchcraft (the thing Salem is most known for) Salem was once the largest and most popular port in New England for pirates and Piracy. With Boston a stones throw away and New York close as well it was a popular port for trade. Its sad how the Piracy museum in Salem is actually overshadowed by the fact that it is connected to a wax witch port history museum...
Xiao Rong wrote:I'm told Salem has a very large Wiccan community
It does. The BTW center of New England is Salem. The Traditional Witches of the North East is also located here. One simply needs to look at witchvox and include Danvers MA in their serarch to see how large the witch and Pagan community in Salem is.
Xiao Rong wrote: but I didn't get a chance to interact with them
So you didn't visit any of the shops at all that sold occult or magical goods?
Xiao Rong wrote: - and there were very few pagans there, by the looks of it.
Actually Salem is full of Pagans. Many don't adveristse it. If you visit in October or Early November you are not likely to meet any actual local pagans to Salem but more New England Pagans. Hex and Nu Aeon are two of the shops I can guarantee don't play to tourists in Salem.
Xiao Rong wrote:It was fun and worth a visit! But I didn't think it was the "spiritual pilgrimage" that some people think it is.
For New England Witches it really is. The reason is Salem MA is a perfect example of how New England is a mix of Puritan Values (we were the first European settlements in the USA after all) and Progressive Liberal Values. Salem MA has embraces the witch history and bigotry of the past and created a place where the past and current practices can be studies and explored united. For this reason I strongly biggest all witches in the US visit the Tourist spots and the real witchery spots in Salem. Salem is a place that e,braces the past and acknowledges the present together.

Granted this is coming from some one who lives in New England and does deal with the puritan values and the witch history constantly
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Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

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Okay, since apparently my visit to Salem is on audit here ...

I have lived in New Hampshire for about 5 years now, but until only recently have had access to a car and had the time or means to travel. My visit to Salem was, admittedly, about 3 hours long - it was a stop that I insisted that my boyfriend and I make on our way down to Boston. My visit was not very thorough, I don't have a huge amount of familiarity with the place, and I can really only speak from my own experience. So no, I didn't really get a chance to really interact with the pagan community there - we were trying to fit in as much as we could in our couple of hours there. I hit up like 15 shops in an hour and a half, and it's true that you can tell some were more kitschy and touristy than others. Which is okay; I was there as a tourist, I didn't wander off the beaten track, and I didn't expect to get a whole lot else out of Salem than the tourist experience. So on the streets that I was on (I'm sure you know the names better than I), there were loads of families who were clearly there as tourists as well and not from the area, so I really do not think I saw very many Pagans.

I thought that the "message" that Salem was broadcasting (or the Salem tourist department, at any rate). was that the Salem witch trials were a terrible human rights atrocity. The museum I visited had a display specifically set up to demonstrate the value of tolerance so that things like the witch hunt and the Holocaust never happen again. I did go with somewhat unrealistic expectations that this was going to be a spiritual pilgrimage, and that I would connect with paganism's historical roots, etc. But when I was at the memorial, I was really struck by how none of the people there were pagan at all (which you point out is an obvious fact, and it is, but it's still a fact often left out when people talk about the oppression of witches), but were victims of a terribly repressive society. That was the message that stuck with me most, not the "Real witches live here today!" advertising.
Xiao Rong wrote:It was fun and worth a visit! But I didn't think it was the "spiritual pilgrimage" that some people think it is.
For New England Witches it really is.
Finally, I would like to advise you to avoid speaking in such broad generalities. You identify as a New England Witch, and so do I, and plenty of other folks on this forum. However, it is not your place to try to speak for all New England Witches; only yourself and your own experience. "All New England Witches do ___" is just a quick jump and a hop from "You don't do ___, so you are not a real New England Witch." We embrace a multitude of paths on this forum, and we do our best to recognize that everyone's experiences are valid, and all identities are valid, regardless of how we might disagree with them. Please keep this in mind in the future.
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
Becky b

Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

Post by Becky b »

Thank you loona and everyone else.

I have always wanted to visit and go yearly to Boston as a 2 day shopping trip from the uk very sad I no lol.
Purpose really was a couple of things firstly as I have always felt a need and need to follow that. Strange as it sounds I almost feel the visit will be magical in a way just with the energy. (How I know this I do not no,but I feel it).

Also totally agree with knowing the difference between the commercial shops and the ones that sell the pagan supplies that are utilised by practicing Wiccan/pagan. Funny I am laughing as I am typing and thinking I no by the smell of the incense and the feeling I have inside.

I go on the 25th November and been told by a concierge team I work with that Salem is around a 30 min drive from downtown Boston. So whilst having the car I will most definately take that trip. So exciting.

I love Boston and New England so beautiful. You are lucky to reside there and can understand how Salem could be used as a mojo fill up when you need it. Almost a haven to go think and re load.

Your feedback was great. Thank you kindly
Becky b

Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

Post by Becky b »

Can I just add not sad as in going to Boston but sad to travel from uk to Boston for 2 nights. Read this back and thought oh no becky tutt lol. I can be very dizzy so if I ever reply to a post and its strange than I am having a moment
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Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

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I posted pics from my visit to Salem from a few years ago. You can see our tourist pics of Salem here on Facebook and pics from the Witch Dungeon Museum here on EUTM.

The Witch Dungeon Museum is pretty creepy and extremely sad. It's actually a replica of the original, but they do have one beam from the original jail.

The town and the stores were the best part for me. I don't know anywhere else where you can see so many witchcraft stores. Bring a lot of spending money because there will be lots of stuff you'll want to buy. I posted pics of my purchases there on the Facebook link.

I'd definitely recommend going if you get the chance. The stores alone were worth it for me. I don't know how you tell the difference in a real store and a tourist shop, but they all looked like real occult stores to me - at least the ones I visited. Most of them were being run by actual witches and pagans. There's one large discount (non-pagan) gift shop there that had many of the witch and fairy figurines (shown in my FB pics) for much lower prices than the occult stores charged.

Have fun if you go. Go around Samhain for extra excitement.

Bright blessings,
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Re: Salem in USA is it worth a visit

Post by lilmizsunshine727 »

Honestly, it would probably be cool for someone like yourself to see Becky, but I lived in New England for 22 years and I thought it was a waste of time. To me, it was nothing but a tourist stop because the people had become very focused on that and had lost the true history. Kind of like famous haunted sites. People just go for the pictures, they usually don't care about the spirit itself. That was just my take on it, but it might be different from someone not in this country.
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