In the year of 1692, a massive wave of hysteria swept
across Salem Village. For the better course of a year, the church
examined cases of strange behavior and witchcraft. The Puritans believed
that the Devil had come into Salem with the intention to destroy it.
While in Salem, He was building his ranks of witches, plaguing the land.
After one witch admitted to practicing magick, accusations of witchcraft
spread like wildfire. In Salem, witchcraft was a major felony.
A court was established to try the cases and worked for five months to
clear the devil from Salem. Over twenty innocent people died in the trials,
only one of which was a true witch. The trials were not only a crude
act, but also illegitimate and morally wrong.
The trials in Salem Village were illegitimate because
they were not eliminating witches, but only innocent people. They
were looking for what they believed to be a witch. Webmaster for
the Salem Wax Museum, Anatole Mazour explains how in the early middle ages,
witchcraft was tolerated by most groups of people. In a general sense,
a witch was an older person that displayed a clear understanding of how
the world worked. Because of this, a loose translation of witch is
“wise one.” However, when a social conflict occurred, these witches
were blamed because of their power and superior knowledge (n.p.).
Historian Robert Ellwood adds that during the late middle ages, Christians
began associating pagan beliefs with evil, partly because of the pattern
formed of blaming witches for social conflicts centuries earlier.
Witches clearly had supernatural powers and an understanding above any
common person. These powers that did not come from God could have
only come from one place: the Devil. In 1486, The Malleus Maleficarum
was published. Known as the “Hammer of Witchcraft,” it described
all of the supposed satanic actions of witches (n.p.). However, Christians,
not witches, published this book. From this alone, it is very obvious
that The Malleus Maleficarum is a biased book. Despite all of this,
it was widely known and gave witches a bad reputation. Witch-hunts
in Europe became increasingly popular. Some common forms of testing
for a witch included pricking; looking for marks that were insensitive
to pain; looking for additional breasts with which a witch could suckle
familiars; and failure of the water test. The water test was when
a witch was hog-tied and thrown into a body of water. The theory
behind this is that if the accused were a witch, their powers would be
able to save them. So if they sank, they were innocent and
if they floated, they were found guilty and hung. Either way, an
accused witch would die (Ellwood n.p.). Increase Mather, a well known
Puritan tells how to the English, this water test was not very popular;
instead witches were tried for guilt or innocence and often burned at the
stake (294). The idea of witchcraft being an evil practice began
early on mostly due to a misunderstanding of witches’ beliefs. From
that time on, those feelings snowballed, creating such works as The Malleus
Maleficarum and the inescapable water test.
When the Puritans came from Europe, they brought
the same views of witchcraft that most Europeans held. Puritans did
not believe that magick should be part of Christianity. Scholar,
Elizabeth Frost-Knappman continues that Puritan belief also held that the
Devil worked through people by appearing to his victim in the shape of
someone else and convincing her to become one of his own. Through
this method, the Devil built his ranks (643). In Cotton Mather’s
“Wonders of the Invisible World,” he declares that the Devil himself had
come to spread evil and destroy the holy settlement. The Devil was
believed to be increasing his numbers through witchcraft. Witches
supposedly went into the woods at night and danced with the Devil.
While in the woods, a witch would join with the Devil by signing in his
book with blood (298). Because the Puritans kept the same views of
witchcraft as their ancestors, whenever the possibility of it if came into
society, hysteria broke out.
The causes of the Salem Witch Trials are very complex.
Several different components factored into the prosecution and execution
of twenty-one witches. Professor Linder at UMKC believes these causes
include economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, as
well as personal differences and jealousies (n.p.). Discovery Online
posted an article that described the trials in Salem. They explained
that the most obvious reason for the trials was the geography of Salem.
Salem, Massachusetts was split into two sections, Salem Town and Salem
Village. Salem Town was next to the ocean and was a busy shipping
port. Salem Village was a small Puritan, farming community.
Over time, Salem Town began to grow and prosper from trade, while Salem
Village remained poor (“Village Possessed” n.p.). Another separation between
Salem Town and Salem Village was religion. Salem Town lost most of
its original ideals in its growth, but Salem Village remained relatively
small and upheld its original Puritan ideals. Because of this separation,
Salem Village asked on several occasions to have it’s own church, but Salem
Town continually denied them this right. In 1689, a new pastor, Rev.
Samuel Parris, came to Salem Village. Rev. Parris strengthened the
fight for a new church. Once again the separation grew; those in
favor of the church lived in Salem Village, while those who did not lived
in Salem Town (“Village Possessed” n.p.). The dividing line between
Salem Town and Salem Village fell along Ipswich Road. It is not a
coincidence that most of the accused witches lived on or close to Ipswich
Road.
A release to these growing tensions was the Salem
Witch Trials. When there was the first sign of any magick being used
in Salem Village, accusations of witchcraft flew in all directions.
Historian of the Salem Witch Trials, Alison D’Amario comments that “in
Salem Village, consorting with the Devil was a serious felony, as in most
other Puritan settlements” (n.p.). The actual history of the Salem
Witch Trials began with a black slave, Tituba. Originally from Haiti,
Tituba came to work for Rev. Parris as a nanny. She was in charge
of the Reverend’s daughter, Betty and his niece Abigail Williams (Frost-Knappman
642). Over time, Tituba showed the girls various displays of obeah,
an ancient form of magick from Africa. The two girls and Tituba kept
their magick a secret because if caught, they could be arrested for dabbling
in the occult arts. In January, Betty and Abigail began to display
strange behaviors such as trances, making animal noises, and convulsions
(Frost-Knappman 643). Professor Linder suggests that these behaviors
could be a result of asthma, guilt, child abuse, or even epilepsy (n.p.).
When modern medicines of that time could not help the girls, the people
of Salem Village turned to God and prayed that the Devil would leave their
Holy land. Despite this, their prayers could not help the afflicted
girls (Frost-Knappman 643). When the children she cared for became
ill, Tituba baked a Witch Cake made of rye bread and the urine of the afflicted
girls, and fed it to the dogs. By feeding it to a dog, the most common
familiar of the Devil, the girls were supposedly cured. This Witch
Cake did not cure the girls, so Tituba broke down and confessed to Rev.
Parris that she and the girls had been practicing magick. She also
accused Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn of participating in witchcraft (Linder
n.p.). On February 29, 1692, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osburn
were arrested (Frost-Knappman 644). From this point on, the church
held a few small, mini hearings on the accused. After these first
three arrests, several hundred more followed. On May 27, 1692, The
Court of Oyer and Terminer was established to try the cases with modern
law. Common evidence included confessions, “witchmarks,” reactions
of the afflicted girls during the testimonies, and spectral evidence.
The first session of The Court of Oyer and Terminer, held June 2, 1692,
tried Bridget Bishop and found her guilty of witchcraft (“Salem Witch Trials”
n.p.). During her testimony, Bridget stated that, “I am no witch.
I am innocent. I know nothing of it” (“Salem Witch Trials” n.p.).
She was hung on June 10, the first official execution of the Salem Witch
Trials.
Now that Salem could see that The Court was serious
about witchcraft, accusations escalated astronomically. The jails
filled rapidly as the hysteria wore on. The trials continued into October
when Gov. Phips dissolved The Court (“The Salem Witch Trials” n.p.). Towns-person
Thomas Brattle described the typical course taken by the courts as listening
to an accusation, issuing a warrant of arrest to the accused and questioning
the accused, to which the accused denied all accusations. During
the trials, the afflicted children would throw a “fit,” and the accused
was forced to touch the children to stop their torment. At this touch,
the fit would stop. Of course, this person was then found guilty
of tormenting the children (286). Accused witch, William Hobbs, declared
during his testimony, “I can deny it to my dying day” (“Salem Witch Trials”
n.p.). Those persons who continued to deny the existence of witchcraft
in Salem Village soon became subject to accusations. One such victim
was John Proctor. The count of accused witches found guilty and hanged
totals nineteen; all of which were hung at Gallows Hill. Four more accused
witches died in prison before they could be hanged. One man, Giles
Corey, refused trial and would not plead innocent or guilty, so he was
pressed to death. In addition to these twenty-four people, two dogs
were executed, as they were believed to have been familiars of the Devil
(Linder n.p.). The trials caused mass hysteria and struck a vein
of fear in the small Puritan settlement.
The trials described above were very unfair to those
accused. Even the participants admitted their wrongdoing after the
trials were over. Frost-Knappman concludes that within a year, The
General Court of Salem ordered a day of observation for prayer and fasting
dedicated to the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. In both 1703
and 1710, the legislature in Salem reversed several of the convictions
from 1692. In addition, they also offered to pay compensation to
those families who had lost someone in the trials. However, seven
convictions still remain on record today (646). The residents of
Salem Village, as well as most of the surrounding areas did not take long
to realize how awful and false the trials really were.
One major reason as to why the trials shouldn’t have happened is that
the Puritans were not really out for witches, but just for personal enemies.
The labeling of a witch allowed an accuser to legally eliminate someone
from society. Pagans Janet and Stewart Farrar explain that in reality,
witchcraft is the witches’ practice of a religion known as wicca.
Wicca is a religion based on ancient pagan views, balanced with nature
in its entirety (135). Witchcraft has been the same for several hundred
years. The same basic ideals have remained unchanged, even though
there are several different forms of witchcraft. Like most other
religions, wicca has holidays. Known as Sabbaths, they are designed
to keep the witch in tune with nature (Farrar 138). Witches recognize
that they are only a part of the earth, just as a bird, rabbit, or tree
is. They believe in the Goddess, also known as nature and Mother
Earth. All living creatures are her cells, nervous system and lungs,
the minerals are her skeleton, the bodies of water are her bloodstream,
and the ozone layer is the air she breathes (Farrar 137). The idea
that witches are evil is a major misconception. The morals of witches
are very similar, if not the same, as Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus.
These morals include respect, civic responsibility, parental care, and
honesty (Farrar 140). Religions such as Christianity feel that they
are the true believers and do not exactly accept other religions, so they
witness. Wicca accepts other forms of religion as they are constructive
and all are paths to the same truth (Farrar 175). Wiccan Justin Honey
continues that wicca is also a very peaceful religion and does not believe
in evil such as the Devil. One major code of conduct for witches
is the Wiccan Rede: “If it harms none, do what you will.” Another
code is the Three-Fold Law: for every action, good or bad, it comes back
three times over (n.p.). The belief and idea that witchcraft is evil
is absolutely absurd. Noted historian, Robert Ellwood, explains that,
“witchcraft is entirely different from Satanism or the diabolical witchcraft
imagined by the persecutors of past centuries” (n.p.). So, the Salem
Witch Trials were not really about witchcraft; they were about branding
the “evil” people in the village as witches. By doing so, an accuser
could have a personal enemy killed by framing them for witchcraft.
In addition, confessions often held conflicting
stories, but judges pardoned these confessions because it was believed
that the Devil had the power to make people forget things. Considering
this, Brattle protests that the Devil could also make them think someone
was a witch, even if she was not (288). Brattle, a witness to the
Salem Witch Trials, comments:
I cannot but condemn this method of the justices, of making this touch of the hand a rule to discover witchcraft; because I am fully persuaded that it is sorcery, and a superstitious method, and that which we have no rule for, either from reason or religion. (286)Adding more proof to the fact that there were not really witches in Salem Village is from Professor Linder, who notes that George Burroughs recited the Lord’s Prayer perfectly. Common belief in Salem Village at the time was that a witch could not perfectly recite something as Holy as the Lord’s Prayer (n.p.). Historian Robert Ellwood believes, “personal differences were exacerbated in a small, isolated community in which religious beliefs—including belief in diabolical witchcraft—were deeply held” (n.p.). The trials just were not fair. The law being practiced wasn’t very legitimate in that it was based almost solely on the accusation of the afflicted girls. Essentially anything the afflicted said was believed to be true. The trials were simply a group of superstitious Puritans eliminating members of society for personal reasons.
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© 2000
Nate Metz