Salem witch trials – Integrating the Spirals

I have had a trip to visit Salem, Massachusetts on my Warren Buffet annual To Do list since 2017 at least. I’m thrilled to say, I can check that off now!

On Sept. 20th, 2025 my daughter drove my eldest granddaughter and I to see the sights of Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is a bit more than two hours from where we live in New Hampshire.

I’m pooped! I could barely do anything on Sunday because we walked about 7,000 steps on Saturday! Even today, Monday, I’m moving fairly slow. I did manage to accomplish my Jiggle Butt dances yesterday and today, mostly because my husband, Richard, wrote a couple of new songs in remembrance of the thirteen female witches hung during the Salem witch trials. FYI: Twenty people were executed in total; nineteen were hung and one was pressed to death. UGH! (Two hundred were accused of witchcraft/consorting with the devil.)

One of my dear friends from Florida lives in Salem now. She texted me several great tips, like where to park for free (a few blocks from the downtown area), and potential places to eat, etc. She also invited us to visit her and her husband at their in town farm, which we did at the end of our day! And THAT visit was the highlight for me, as Salem is too commercialized to suit my taste.

Driving around Salem

My daughter thought it best to drive us around to some of the sites first, that would be too far for us to walk too. Great planning and thinking on her part! This is a fairly good sized town with lots of one-way streets, and some two-way streets that allow parking on both sides, making driving around a little hairy.

Salem’s witchy history

First, we drove by the Proctor’s Ledge Memorial. We could have parked at the closed down Walgreens at the corner, but didn’t realize until we passed that corner, and her GPS had already taken us around the block in the neighborhood to get to it. We didn’t want to go around it again. My daughter always considers how residents feel about all the traffic (as I raised my kids in Daytona Beach, Florida and they know traffic).

Here’s info and photos of Proctor’s Ledge:

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/proctors-ledge-memorial/

While I was reading about early American history and what religious ties might have led to the witch trials in Salem, I read about the Puritans (of which my lineage traces to and why I feel such disdain for the Church of England), and how even the Puritans disagreed; some were Separatists, who believed there should be no state established church) and some were Non-Separatists/Nonconformists who remained loyal to the Church of England: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Puritans_in_North_America

Spiral thought: It’s a rather confusing subject, but since I was raised in the Mormon movement, one can see why this thread runs deep with me, that of separating from the Church of England and its Catholic roots. I’m now such a Separatist or staunchly religiously independent, that I am not an active member of any organized religion! If curious, refer to my previous articles: https://sheilamurrey.net/2018/11/06/the-fences-of-religion/ and https://sheilamurrey.net/2019/08/23/about-omniscience/

Hocus Pocus

Off to the side of this house, you’ll love the beauty of the water! The boats. The marina. It’s simply spectacular!

Marina and water next to the Max and Dani’s Hocus Pocus house.

We drove by The Witch House at Salem while looking for parking downtown. My friend, Jen, gave us parking info, but many lots were full (even the parking garage was full). We eventually took her advice and parked by Furlong Park on Franklin Street. That meant we had to walk across a bridge to get back to the downtown area, but it was free, and one can’t argue with that!

The Witch House Salem: https://www.thewitchhouse.org

A street named after my family name. Williams Street. (My daughter also drove by and took a picture of a Square that had her husband’s surname.)

We saw a festival going on at this park – through the fence, but it was too much for us to walk back there to check it out after we eventually parked the car.

**The Witch Museum**. This is a big draw! There seemed to be quite a long line and I don’t think any of us were in the mood to go anyway. We just wanted to get a feel for the town.

The memorial to the founder of Salem: **The Roger Conant Statue**. https://www.salem.org/notable-locals/roger-conant/

**The Hawthorne Hotel**. We were going to eat lunch here, but the sign outside the door said the kitchen quit serving breakfast at 11am and wouldn’t reopen to serve dinner until 5pm. My friend, Jen C., said the food here is very good.

A fun mural that I thought was well done. It’s Pirates climbing a rope ladder and ropes on the side of a store. Note the iron fence. There is a lot of iron fencing around town.

Driving around town. I enjoyed checking out the old architecture of the buildings, the stone walls, the iron fences, foundations and fireplaces of the homes, and the brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets.

Walking around downtown Salem

Once parked, we walked several blocks to the downtown Main Street area of Salem. It’s nice! It is blocked to cars, and is a wide street where people can get in and out of a variety of shops and eateries. (I think the cobblestone got to my feet though! And I was even wearing good ‘walking shoes’! I could not imagine walking around there in boots or healed shoes like I observed many women wearing! I will NOT suffer for anyone’s perceived idea of beauty.

The first shop we checked out was The Good Witch of Salem. It was a very small shop all built around the story of a good witch. The items in the store for sale were things having to do with a fiction book written by Ashley Tina (the store’s owner).

I glanced through the some odd 20 page book and saw few words but lots of illustrations. (She probably did write a good story, but we are two very different authors! Thus, I am a harsh critic.)

https://goodwitchofsalem.com/products/the-good-witch-of-salem/

I couldn’t imagine having the money to start a store built around one book! The store carried little girl clothing, a doll (no doubt the heroine of the book), fake (extremely dyed) crystals (okay, to be fair, they were quartz), a bit of jewelry, and other small items. This didn’t interest me at all, but my daughter and granddaughter enjoyed looking it all over. In fact, this story reminded me of a line in Hocus Pocus about the sisters noticing how people had turned All Hallow’s Eve into a frolicking fun time! I found a quote that’s close:

In fact, even as we walked into the second shop my eldest granddaughter remarked, “The first place was all cheery and light, and now we’re descending into the depths of darkness,” or something to that effect. I take creative license here to paraphrase her. Ha!

The darkly dreaming shop was The Black Veil Studio on the corner of Essex Street and Sewall. I almost bought a few things in this store, but I wanted to see what else I might find later on. (I didn’t end up buying anything but food! Ha!) Hats off to these guys though. The shop definitely sets a haunting mood!

Screen capture of an older Facebook post for **The Black Veil Studio** referencing the shop we’d stopped in at 304 Essex St.

We popped into another gift shop (I didn’t catch the name) to look at t-shirts, stuffed animals, hats and so forth. And then… we stood in a short line to go into Professor Spindlewink’s World of Wizardry.

About a third of the items they offered for sale were things my son-in-law can print on his 3D printer, so again, I wasn’t too impressed. But sure, the large articulating dragon for $49 was cool. I also liked the vibe and perhaps we should have taken in the attraction part of it. We just didn’t want to overwhelm our sensitive 13, nearly 14-year old.

Screen capture from Ecosia search for Professor Spindlewink’s World of Wizardry

Photo I snapped as we left the shop because I had recently drawn of a tree and it was so stunningly similar to the tree on the glass of the shop, that I gasped!

While walking down the cobblestone-and-brick Essex Street (in the middle of downtown Salem), we saw several street performers. You could chuck in some coins or cash as a tip and have your photo taken with them. It’s nice because that street is closed off to vehicle traffic.

There was an overwhelming amount of shops, attractions, museums, restaurants, cafes, and people standing in lines to enter most of them. While it isn’t Disney World, it sort of has that vibe. I wanted something more authentic. Fact: Walt Disney was a descendant of Rev. George Burroughs, a victim and the only minister executed during the Salem witch trials in 1692.

I nearly missed this very large engraved stone on the side of a building paying homage to Alexander Graham Bell! And of course, this thrilled me to no end because he’s kinda the epitome of my career which merged electronics and communications!

It may be difficult to read, but this is a huge engraved marker that I nearly passed by as we walked up the street between shops. This site may help you discern the text: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=230062

We had a lovely sit down lunch at an Irish pub called, Olde Main Street Pub. I loved the delectable fish ‘n chips I had (best since my time in Ireland in 2019). My daughter enjoyed her pulled pork sandwich and my granddaughter liked her cheeseburger, but said the fries were the best! (My full review of our lunch is on Yelp.)

My fish ‘n chips at Olde Main Street Pub, Salem, MA

We saw some great characters in full costume regalia such as, Frankenstein, an old hag witch (see the photo), the clown from IT, Mike Myers from the Halloween movie, and Sarah Sanderson from Hocus Pocus (of course)! The gal even resembled Sarah Jessica Parker, and she did a bit of acting to drive that point home! Much of the town celebrates the Hocus Pocus witches, since it was filmed in Salem.

I liked the little alley we walked down that had the blue painted trees. After taking this photo, we began taking a lot of selfie group pictures. And I realized that I’d never learned how to set the timer on my new iPhone 16. (Go figure!)

At the temporary Blue Trees art installation. Left to right: My daughter, eldest granddaughter (front), and me (behind her)! –Sheila Murrey

The temporary Blue Trees art installation.

The temporary Blue Trees art installation sign.

Link to my former article as to the importance of blue for me. As well, we drove by a pizza place named, Christina’s Pizza and it had a blue awning out front! Aww!
https://sheilamurrey.net/2017/04/26/that-little-blue-dot/

Wrapping it up

I put my hand out over each stone marker as we slowly and solemnly walked through the park (to leave a gift of loving Energy to all of the persecuted and murdered) at the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. THIS was the most poignant part of our day!

I had not realized how many men had been hung after being accused, and the young man walking behind me commented the same. I also did not realize that all of the ones paid tribute at this memorial died on different dates, some in July, some in September. We also noted that several were hung on Sept. 22, 1692. But this was one of the main reasons I’d always wanted to visit! To learn the real history of the Salem witch trials. (Especially since going to Ireland, England, and Scotland in 2019 and learning of the Cathars.)

After dining, we happened upon the Bewitched Sculpture and took more photos there as well. I was always a fan of the show (since childhood), so this was a fun moment! Elizabeth Montgomery in that role was probably the one who got me so intrigued with witches at a young age. Oh, and The Wizard of Oz film, which is still my favorite movie of all time! Ha!

At the Bewitched statue of Elizabeth Montgomery. Left to right: My daughter, eldest granddaughter, and me! –Sheila Murrey

Here we are in front of the old hag witch. And no, we’re not sure which movie or story she’s from. I searched online but could not find a name for this particular witch. She’s wearing a pilgrim type hat that’s black with a red belt above the brim, a red gown, black robe, and is holding a staff or broom in one hand, and a candle holder in the other.

At the **hag witch statue**. Left to right: My daughter, eldest granddaughter, and me! –Sheila Murrey

My granddaughter wanted us to take her picture in the stockade.

After this, we stopped at a bakery and donut shop that another customer at the pub had raved about. One was Lulu’s Bakery and the other was Funhouse Donuts. We got several treats to bring home.

NOTE: I must say, Lulu’s Bakery had one of the best brownies I’ve ever had (which Richard and I shared on Sunday/Monday)! I didn’t get a donut, but my daughter said they enjoyed them.

On the long walk back to the car, I stopped in front of the Wesley United Methodist Church to look at the stained and leaded glass windows. I couldn’t help but gasp at the sign on the side about the parking and note that on a Saturday, the parking lot was completely empty! All that space that could have allowed visitors a place to park without having to walk as far. Ugh

I’m sure someone in charge at this Methodist Church thought this old English font typeface sign would make people chuckle. I didn’t find it funny at all by the time I was struggling to walk back to where we’d parked.

I always wanted to visit Salem with my friend, Susan who grew up there. She’s into a LOT of the same things I am, and I think she could have shown me more of the authentic side of the town, but we’ve simply never managed to do it–yet. Tick tock time’s a wastin’! But if I never go again, at least I can check Salem off my ‘To Do List.’

After we left the downtown area, we visited my friend, Jen C. and her husband at their home. My daughter got a couple photos of my granddaughter playing ball with Jen’s dog, Misty. I thought I’d share it to show how we ended our day on a high note:

Granddaughter playing ball with Misty. Love the sun streaming through in this photo! –Photo credit goes to my daughter.

❤️🙏💙

Integrating the Spirals

I’m encouraging those “over 60” to open to lifelong learning (observe and gently question their pre-conceived beliefs, aka ‘Programming’), become more aware of their thoughts and emotions, consistently move their bodies (too many are stuck in their heads and physically unhealthy), become strong, and resilient in spirit, soul, mind, body. And to question EVERYTHING!

Link to my YouTube channel where you can see the videos: https://youtube.com/@spiralsister

Yours in consciousness-expansion as we evolve and revolve during our mystical awakening. All while doing-my-egoless-best, to take you on a limitless, spiraling thought ride to better health, through doing more with ease, to help us sustain the JOY in our lives! (With lots of Gratitude throughout.)

Sheila “Spiral Sister” Murrey

The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe.

About us

My husband is an award-winning illustrator, plus he’s a seasoned guitarist, bass player, and songwriter (with over 400 original songs). You can view some of his artwork and listen to many of his songs at: https://www.youtube.com/user/richardmurrey

Here’s a video of us performing on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/416711742?ref=fb-share