Book of shadows

Witch Trials

I became obsessed when I first started out this journey. This is what I learned about the witch trials and Salem.

During spring of 1692 after a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts claimed to be possessed by the devil. And sadly accused several local women of witchcraft. A wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch was named Bridget Bishop she was hanged that June. Eighteen others followed Ms. Bishop to Salem's Gallows Hill, while two hundred more men, women and children were accused over the next several months.

Thankfully by September 1692, the hysteria had begun drop and public opinion started to turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against the accused witches (who were innocent people) and granted security to finacial loss to their families, of course bitterness lingered in the community and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials will live on. Not only in history but in the hearts of the descendant.

These are the test they made you take to see if you really were a witch or innocent.

Swimming Test
People accused of being witches were dragged to the nearest body of water, stripped of their undergarments, bound then tossed in to the water to see if they would sink or float. Since witches back then were believed to have spurned the sacrament of baptism, it was thought that the water would reject their body and prevent them from submerging. According to this an innocent person would sink like a stone, but a witch would simply bob on the surface. The victim typically had a rope tied around their waist so they could be pulled from the water if they sank, but it wasn't unusual for accidental drowning deaths to occur.

Prayer Test
Back then their "logical" or "wisdom" told them that witches were incapable of speaking scripture aloud. So people who were accused were made to recite selections from the Bible it was usually the Lord's Prayer and they were not allowed to m any mistakes or omissions. (I mean they could have a stutter problem, be shy, have anxiety, or be illiterate. But of course they didn't think about that.) of course any errors were viewed as proof that the speaker was in league with the devil. Of course that didn't mean you were set they still killed you if they thought it was a trick.

Touch Test
The touch test worked on the idea that the victims of sorcery would have a special reaction to physical contact with their evildoer. In cases where a possessed person fell into spells or fits, the suspected witch would be brought into the room and asked to a lay a hand on them. A non-reaction signaled innocence, but if the victim came out of their fit, it was seen as proof that the suspect had placed them under a spell.

Cake Test
A bizarre form of counter-magic, the witch cake was a supernatural dessert used to identify suspected evildoers. In cases of mysterious illness or possession, witch-hunters would take a sample of the victim's urine, mix it with rye-meal and ashes and bake it into a cake. This stomach-turning concoction was then fed to a dog—the "familiars," or animal helpers, of witches—in the hope that the beast would fall under its spell and reveal the name of the guilty sorcerer

(It failed but sadly the women who made the cakes was later accused and killed.)

Witches Mark
Witch-hunters would often have their suspects stripped and of course they would do even more damage to these poor innocent people publically examined them for signs of an unsightly blemish that witches were said to receive upon making their pact with Satan. This "Devil's Mark" could supposedly change shape and color, and was believed to be numb and insensitive to pain. Prosecutors might also search for the "witches' teat," an extra nipple allegedly used to suckle the witch's helper animals. In both cases, it was easy for even the most minor physical imperfections to be labeled as the work of the devil himself. Moles, scars, birthmarks, sores, supernumerary nipples and tattoos could all qualify, so examiners rarely came up empty-handed.

Pricking and Scratching Test
If witch-hunters struggled to find obvious evidence of "witch's marks" (they are not lucky you would think the are nope they had to go through this) on a suspect's body, they might resort to the practice of "pricking" as a means of pointing it out. Witch-hunting books and instructional pamphlets said that the marks of the devil were insensitive to pain and couldn't bleed so examiners used needles to repeatedly stab and prick at the accused persons flesh until they discovered a spot that produced the desired results. In England and Scotland they used con man, and fake needles.

Incantations
This test was also known as Charging, this test involved forcing the accused witch to verbally order the devil to let the possessed victim come out of their fit or trance. Other people would also utter the words to act as a "control," and judges would then gauge whether the statements had any effect on the victim's condition.