Witches Around the World
 |
| Some common themes of witchcraft can be seen in the image above, with a woman riding backwards on a flying goat, a cat seen in the bottom right-hand corner, and all the witches portrayed without clothing. |
 |
| Nigerian witch doctors dressed in clothing and carrying amulets designed to combat Lassa Hemorrhagic Fever |
Native American Witchcraft
 |
| Portrayal of a Navajo skin-walker dressed in the skin of a coyote or bear. These witches were seen as dangerous, hence the spear in hand. |
 |
| A fox witch, or kitsune-mochi, scaring a prince. Fox witches were seen as tricksters, sometimes playful and sometimes more nefarious! |
Photo credits:
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/witch-hunting-and-women-art-renaissance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_doctor#/media/File:Lassa_witch_doctors.jpg
https://rivercityghosts.com/the-terror-of-the-skinwalker-the-native-american-boogeyman/
It is the unfortunate truth that women tended to be the main target of the witch trials that took place throughout Europe and the American colonies in the 17th century. The main cause of this idea was information based on the Malleus Maleficarum, a book written for the public to aid the witch hunt. This book dubbed women to have “familiarity with the devils,” and that they were the gateway to the devil himself. In the Chritian community, it was widely believed that women were less than men due to Eve being birthed from one of Adam’s ribs. Women were also not trusted much, since a woman (Eve, again) was the one who caused all of humanity to be chased away from Eden.
While today when we think of a witch, we often think of an old green hag riding a broomstick at night, it was not until later that witches were linked to brooms. The original connection between the two is thought to have become common by the idea that female witches would put a broomstick in their place when leaving bed at night so their husbands would not notice their absence.
The Malleus Maleficarum: All You Need to Know About Witches
Now a reasonable question might be to ask, what inside this book makes it so popular? Well, the answer might shock you. As stated in the work, witches were said to kill babies and have sex with demons. Not only that, but they had a tendency to steal men’s penises. This was a witch’s way of taking away a man’s power. Some telltale signs that a witch is living amongst you, according to the work, is that a witch would have a “witch’s mark” aka a birthmark. It was said that if you prick this mark with a pin and the person doesn’t react, they’re a witch! Another useful tidbit was that witches cannot cry. So if you suspect someone is a witch, maybe ask them to cut you some onions. If their eyes stay cold and dry, they should be burned at the stake!
The Witchcraft of Easthampton
A few decades before the infamous events in Salem there were actually witch trials that happened even earlier in the town of Easthampton. In this town in 1658, a young girl named Elizabeth Gardiner got ill all of a sudden after recently giving birth. While people were treating her she all of a sudden said “A witch! A witch! Now you are come to torture me because I spoke two or three words against you!” And she said this because she saw a black figure standing at one foot of her bed while Goody Garlick, who was one of the people helping her, was standing on the other foot of her bed. Shortly after this Elizabeth’s father Lion Gardiner, who was the town’s most prominent person, was summoned and Elizabeth told him what she saw.
Unfortunately only a day later Elizabeth died, however, her actions would have a big impact on the forthcoming events of this town. And after Elizabeth’s death, many people started to accuse Goody Garlick of mischievous things such as blaming her for the death of livestock, sending out familiars to do her bidding and there was even an accusation where people said that she killed a baby just by holding it. So after all of these accusations and after Easthampton magistrates collected every testimony they went to a court in Connecticut. Once this happened a trial ensued where the court eventually came to a decision and declared Goody Garlick not guilty because there was not enough sufficient evidence to prove that she was a witch. After this decision, Goody Garlick returned to her normal life however with all the accusations though most of the townspeople still didn’t treat her very well.
Easthampton
by Nicholas Ring
The Wicked Witch of the West is a classic design that has lasted throughout the ages. But how original was this design? To answer this question we look back to the late 1400s to see where this design originated from, the Malleus Maleficarum.
The same monster that formerly hunted people’s nightmares and caused the direct or indirect deaths of over half a million people, is now a classic costume for people to wear for halloween. How did this happen? I think the answer lies with L. Frank Baum’s, The Wizard of Oz. First written in 1900, followed by a now classic movie adaptation in 1939, it depicted the Wicked Witch of the West as an old, sour, uggly, conniving, pilot of a broom stick. All of those ideas have their sources in Pope Innocent VII book the Malleus Maleficarum.
 |
| This is the original cover of the Wizard of Oz from 1900. |
Malleus Maleficarum, or The Hammer of Witches, was written by two Germanic monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, the Hammer of Witches was written in 1486 as an end-all be-all book of how to identify, capture, and kill a witch. According to the Malleus Maleficarum witches dealt with demons, and used them to spy on everyone in order to see when they were weak. A black cat was one demon they used to do this. After patrolling the streets they would return to the witch and and succle on a Mole, Wart, or any other deformation and transform the knowledge that way. They would also meet past midnight and work in their secret covans. In order to hide their disappearance from their husbands they would replace themselves with brooms. Not that they weren’t also claimed to fly on broomsticks. Witches were also infamous for putting curses on their victims to either create more witches, many of these spells requiring eye contact. One of the best ways to find a witch is with water, as water is pure enough to repel a witch, meaning they will float. This book along with its shortened successor, Demonology, was used to identify and prosecute witches throughout the 15th to the 18th century. Its use was so widespread that it held the record for being the second most printed books throughout that time. The novel is not used to identify witches any more, however the Malleus Maleficarum still influences our view of witches to this day.
 |
| The Malleus Maleficarum original cover from 1486 |
The Wicked Witch of the West is heavily influenced by the Malleus Maleficarum. Flying on a broomstick is a clear reference to the legends of witches flying on broomsticks. The wart found on the witch’s chin is also a reference to warts being an identifying mark of a witch. Her green color may seem like a creative choice by the author; it would seem that she turned green from a magic tonic fed to her mother while she was pregnant with the soon to be witch. This could be influenced by midwives’ history of accusations. While she has no black cats, an army of flying monkeys that go out and search for Dorothy are an adequate demonic replacement. The Wicked Witch of the West often uses spells to subdue or attempt to delay Dorothy. She does not need eye contact, she uses a crystal ball to see Dorothy to cast her spells while she can’t see Dorothy directly. The Wicked Witch of the West’s death was caused by water. While water was never used to directly kill a witch, it does portray the pure nature of water. These features might not have been taken directly from the Malleus Maleficarum, but display the cultural influence that witches held. Thanks to works like The Wizard of Oz, witches have become something harmless enough to let your children dress up as for halloween.
 |
| The embodiment of modern witches, The Wicked Witch of the West, here you can see her mole, inspired by the Malleus Maleficarum. |
Torture of Those Accused of Witchcraft
Trial by Water was one that didn’t require any devices. Women accused of witchcraft would be tied up and tossed into some body of running water, which was supposed to represent purity. If the women floated, they were considered guilty of being a witch. If they sank, they were innocent. The idea was that a woman that was a witch would have severed their ties to Christianity, and floating would be symbolic of being rejected by the purity of the running water. It was an outlawed practice due to the dangers the innocent faced, yet it was still carried out during these witch hunts.
It’s shocking to say that these aren’t even the worst of it all, but the ones more relevant to punishment of those accused of witchcraft. These were used not only used to get a confession, but to also force someone to name others as suspects. Surviving any of these would likely end with being burned alive, which was symbolic in that it representing the erasure of the individual’s existence both physically and spiritually.
