In the past witches were thought to be real – and believers found them
everywhere. From the 15th to 18th century more than 200,000 – usually
innocent victims of mass paranoia – were tortured, burned or hanged all over Europe.
But how, exactly, did accusers spot their targets? Here are the most bizarre and terrifying examples of how to identify your witch...
Do they look like a witch?
Most accused witches were old, poor and “crone-like”. During an English witch frenzy of the 1640s, the Rev John Gaule insisted that “every old woman with a wrinkled face, a furr’d brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, or a scolding tongue is not only suspected, but pronounced for a witch.”
Dunking
This was the most common way to catch a crone. The suspect was sprinkled with holy water, stripped to her undergarments then trussed up with her right thumb tied to her left big toe and vice versa.
With a rope around her waist she was tossed into a pond or river. If she floated, she was a witch, if she sank she could be hauled out and saved... if she hadn’t drowned.
The theory was that witches reject the sacrament of baptism so water rejects their bodies. Ducking stools were later invented to make things easier for the hunters.
Devil’s marks & witches’ teats
Hunters would strip suspects naked, shave their bodies then publicly examine them for Satan’s brands from when they made their “pacts with the devil”. Or they they might find an extra nipple used to suckle their animal helpers (familiars).
Moles, pimples and birthmarks could all condemn the innocent so folk would cut or burn them off... but the scars were also proof.
Pricks & scratches
Even the faintest freckles were pricked with a needle or blade. If it didn’t bleed or hurt, the subject was definitely a witch. Professional “prickers” were well paid, and unscrupulous ones used knives with retractable blades that did nothing. The accused might also be scratched by the victims they had “bewitched” and if any symptoms eased as they drew blood... guilty!
Bible weighing
The suspect was weighed against a heavy Bible or a stack of them. If she weighed less she was guilty. Some got off only if the scales matched exactly.
Prayer test
Sorcerers were believed incapable of speaking scripture – so suspects had to recite passages, usually the Lord’s Prayer, without a single error. Illiteracy or nerves were no defence and in 1712 Jane Wenham was hanged after missing the “not” out of “Lead us not into temptation”.
At the Salem Witch Trials in America in 1692 accused sorcerer George Burroughs recited the Our Father flawlessly before his execution. It was dismissed as a trick.
Bleeding the corpse
If you suspected a witch had murdered someone you made her place her hands on the dead body. If she was guilty it would start to bleed.
Catching the imp
Catching a hag with her “familiars” – imps in animal form – was cast-iron proof. They could not survive more than 24 hours without suckling their mistress so locked-up suspects were watched from peepholes. If a rat, mouse or beetle was in the cell – it must be an imp.
Make a witch cake
Take a victim’s urine, mix it with rye meal and ash and make a little cake. Then feed it to a dog, or better still, one of the accused’s familiars. This was meant to make the beast fall into a trance and reveal the name of the guilty party. It should also make the witch cry out in agony.
Talking to yourself
During the Salem trials one Sarah Good was damned because she sometimes muttered to herself, often when leaving people’s houses. She said she was reciting commandments or a psalm. Accusers said she was casting spells and she was hanged on July 19, 1692.
Spectral evidence
At Salem someone just had to claim they “saw” the accused’s apparition harassing neighbours, flying on a broomstick or cavorting with the devil himself in the woods.
Tools of the trade
Got any unusual potions, ointments, a broomstick, a crude dolls, particularly impaled by a sharp objects? Sorry, you’re obviously a witch.
Touch tests
If a possessed person fell into a spell or fits, the suspect was fetched and asked to a lay a hand on them. No reaction meant they were innocent, but if the victim came round that was enough proof of witchcraft. In 1662 Rose Cullender and Amy Denny were charged with bewitching two girls whose fits left their fists clenched so tightly no one could pry them open – except when they were touched by the two old ladies. Judges had the girls blindfolded and touched by others in court and their fists also opened. But Cullender and Denny were still hanged.
Incantations
The accused was forced to verbally order the devil to let the possessed victim come out of their trance. Other people would also utter the words as a control and judges would then gauge whether the statements had any effect on the victims.
Source
But how, exactly, did accusers spot their targets? Here are the most bizarre and terrifying examples of how to identify your witch...
Do they look like a witch?
Most accused witches were old, poor and “crone-like”. During an English witch frenzy of the 1640s, the Rev John Gaule insisted that “every old woman with a wrinkled face, a furr’d brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, or a scolding tongue is not only suspected, but pronounced for a witch.”
Dunking
This was the most common way to catch a crone. The suspect was sprinkled with holy water, stripped to her undergarments then trussed up with her right thumb tied to her left big toe and vice versa.
With a rope around her waist she was tossed into a pond or river. If she floated, she was a witch, if she sank she could be hauled out and saved... if she hadn’t drowned.
The theory was that witches reject the sacrament of baptism so water rejects their bodies. Ducking stools were later invented to make things easier for the hunters.
Devil’s marks & witches’ teats
Hunters would strip suspects naked, shave their bodies then publicly examine them for Satan’s brands from when they made their “pacts with the devil”. Or they they might find an extra nipple used to suckle their animal helpers (familiars).
Moles, pimples and birthmarks could all condemn the innocent so folk would cut or burn them off... but the scars were also proof.
Pricks & scratches
Even the faintest freckles were pricked with a needle or blade. If it didn’t bleed or hurt, the subject was definitely a witch. Professional “prickers” were well paid, and unscrupulous ones used knives with retractable blades that did nothing. The accused might also be scratched by the victims they had “bewitched” and if any symptoms eased as they drew blood... guilty!
Bible weighing
The suspect was weighed against a heavy Bible or a stack of them. If she weighed less she was guilty. Some got off only if the scales matched exactly.
Prayer test
Sorcerers were believed incapable of speaking scripture – so suspects had to recite passages, usually the Lord’s Prayer, without a single error. Illiteracy or nerves were no defence and in 1712 Jane Wenham was hanged after missing the “not” out of “Lead us not into temptation”.
At the Salem Witch Trials in America in 1692 accused sorcerer George Burroughs recited the Our Father flawlessly before his execution. It was dismissed as a trick.
Bleeding the corpse
If you suspected a witch had murdered someone you made her place her hands on the dead body. If she was guilty it would start to bleed.
Catching the imp
Catching a hag with her “familiars” – imps in animal form – was cast-iron proof. They could not survive more than 24 hours without suckling their mistress so locked-up suspects were watched from peepholes. If a rat, mouse or beetle was in the cell – it must be an imp.
Make a witch cake
Take a victim’s urine, mix it with rye meal and ash and make a little cake. Then feed it to a dog, or better still, one of the accused’s familiars. This was meant to make the beast fall into a trance and reveal the name of the guilty party. It should also make the witch cry out in agony.
Talking to yourself
During the Salem trials one Sarah Good was damned because she sometimes muttered to herself, often when leaving people’s houses. She said she was reciting commandments or a psalm. Accusers said she was casting spells and she was hanged on July 19, 1692.
Spectral evidence
At Salem someone just had to claim they “saw” the accused’s apparition harassing neighbours, flying on a broomstick or cavorting with the devil himself in the woods.
Tools of the trade
Got any unusual potions, ointments, a broomstick, a crude dolls, particularly impaled by a sharp objects? Sorry, you’re obviously a witch.
Touch tests
If a possessed person fell into a spell or fits, the suspect was fetched and asked to a lay a hand on them. No reaction meant they were innocent, but if the victim came round that was enough proof of witchcraft. In 1662 Rose Cullender and Amy Denny were charged with bewitching two girls whose fits left their fists clenched so tightly no one could pry them open – except when they were touched by the two old ladies. Judges had the girls blindfolded and touched by others in court and their fists also opened. But Cullender and Denny were still hanged.
Incantations
The accused was forced to verbally order the devil to let the possessed victim come out of their trance. Other people would also utter the words as a control and judges would then gauge whether the statements had any effect on the victims.
Source
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