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Karen Frandsen interviews Jeanette Ellis on witchcraft in the UK, and
Ellis is one who should know, as she is not only a lecturer of traditional
British witchcraft and has written a book, Forbidden Rites, about
it, but is also a witch (or in her words, "wise woman" or
"cunning woman") herself, which of course has very little to do
with the evil witches of fairy tales and much more with someone who knows
about herbs, alternative healing methods, pagan rituals and the like. Ellis
not only traces the origins of witchcraft back to ancient druidic rituals
and ancient Egypt and the like, explains many superstitions in a
surprisingly rational way and even makes numerous references to the Harry
Potter-books and -movies, she also tells the story of notorious
witchhunter Matthew Hopkins (of Witchfinder
General-fame), who made a name of himself under King James I (a
notorious witchhater according to Ellis), but basically he was in it for
the torturing, killing and making money more than out of any deeply held
belief. The end of the film takes us to the Swann Inn in Mistley, the
inn which was in Hopkins' possession and in which he held many of his
witchtrials. Interestingly, Hopkins died at age 27 from TB. From
a purely cinematic point of view, this film doesn't have much to offer,
basically it's just two women talking, and there is very little visual
material to support their conversation, and even the camera remains static
most of the time - so there is not much to actually see in this
film. However, at the same time, this is a rather interesting depiction of
witchcraft inasmuch as it is totally unpretentious, and Jeanette Ellis
proves to be an interviewee as knowledgeable as she is likeable - she
laughs a lot, doesn't try too hard to bring her point across, and keeps
the conversation in a light tone. All this helps her to reach out to
"non-believers" of course, and makes this film an interesting
watch for anyone even remotely interested in witchcraft.
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find Witchcraft: The Magick Rituals of the Coven at adultvideouniverse.com
