Accused Witches Body example essay topic

The religion of Witchcraft dates back about 25,000 years, to the Paleolithic Age, where the God of Hunting and the Goddess of Fertility first appeared. Out of respect for the overwhelming power of Nature grew a belief in beings, gods, who controlled the winds, the seas, the earth and the fires (Rinehart). People have been slaughtered for ages because they had different belief systems or they simply were not liked. Whether they were witches or not, hundreds of thousands of people have been burned at the stake, dunked in freezing rivers, or otherwise tortured because people accused them of being witches. People have been moving over to get a better life Shortly after Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic trying to get to India and unknowingly bumped into South America. People started moving over very quickly after finding that gold was present in South America.

Several countries moved into various parts of South America, Central America, what is now Mexico, North America, and Canada. This new place was ripe for the taking there was gold, plenty of game and a lot of farmland. In 1620, a group of Separatist Puritans called Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in the Mayflower seeking religious freedom. Once the pilgrims got settled down in various villages people started accusing each other of practicing witchcraft. Whether it was new people from another separatist group or just jealousy the accusations flew.

The people who were often thought to be the accusers of witches were commonly believed to be men wishing to suppress unruly women. This may be true, but is far more indirect and subtle than popularly believed. The responsibilities held by a housewife had immense importance in her role in society. Women were responsible for preserving the boundaries of social and cultural life. When this process was disrupted, the authority and identity of the housewife were put into question, she could no longer control the processes needed to fulfill her role. Instead of admitting this loss of control, it may have been easier for the housewife to blame a witch, usually someone who had wronged her.

(Starkey 24) Female accusers may have felt the need to prove their own "normality" and their willingness to accept the restrictions and assumptions of a religious society. Accusing another may also have been a way of diverting attention away from themselves. It may also have been that men manipulated such fears in order to dominate women. Due to the anxiety surrounding pregnancy, when a woman was nearing birth, she chose four or five close friends. One of them would be the midwife, and they saw her through the labor. They provided her with a mother's caudle, which was warmed ale or wine with sugar and spices.

They also blocked the keyholes in the room and hung heavy drapes over the windows. This served to separate the mother from normal household affairs. No men were allowed in the house during the birth period. (Marshal 53) 2 Problems arose when a baby was stillborn, malformed or died soon after birth. On these occasions the mother sought to blame outside influences. Often, a woman who had not been chosen to be one of the people involved may feel she had been unfairly treated, and if she voiced these beliefs and the baby was harmed in some way, then the woman who was not included was often blamed.

(Marshal 53) It has been believed those accused of witchcraft were lonely old women who lived alone on the outskirts of the village and possibly had knowledge of the healing properties of herbs. (Marshal 54) It is true to say that women were the healers who gathered the herbs and made up the medicines. It was a strong fear that these women could use their knowledge of herbs to harm as well as well as heal. It would also be true to say that "old" women (around 40 or 50) were believed to be "useless" to the community.

Such marginal women were feared dangerous, due to a desire seen in them to affect the community in a craving for importance and respect. Many of the accused probably did conform to this stereotype, although the high proportion of younger women accused also begs an explanation. The social and legal inferiority of women seemed to trigger fear in men that women would use diabolical means to gain desired recognition. If women were, in general, less trusted and more feared, intimidation and torture would be more likely directed at them. (Marshal 53) 3 It was also very common, for a man to excuse a love affair by claiming he had been bewitched, this would seem a logical explanation for the high proportion of attractive young women being accused of witchcraft.

Whatever power women were denied, they still possessed the power over life itself. This power lead to some beliefs that women may also have had power over death. The miracle of birth held such importance (due to high infant mortality) that fears escalated during pregnancy, birth and the first years of life. The many precautions taken before, during, and after the birth lead to superstition based upon the anxieties experienced. (Site 5) It could also be that midwives were accused due to the complex rituals that were performed during the birth period - such as using blessed cradles. These could cause suspicion among those present if the rituals were not performed satisfactorily and the baby was stillborn or malformed.

(Site 5) A woman's role as housewife also endowed her with power, it was the housewife's responsibility to keep the house orderly and clean, and feed and clothe the inhabitants. A woman's domestic responsibilities were filled with symbolic significance. A housewife's responsibilities involved transforming "natural" items into culturally useful and acceptable objects: she must create thread from wool, cream, butter, and whey from milk. In cooking, churning, spinning, skimming and washing, the housewife became a mediator between nature and culture. (Site 5) 4 The witch was often represented as the "anti-housewife". The presence of witchcraft and sorcery is often claimed when milk goes sour or cows won't produce milk.

It is in this way that the witch was seen to rebel, creating chaos, pollution and disorder where she should maintain order, cleanliness, and tradition. (Site 3) The demand for female submission was growing, as early modern society became more patriarchal. Witchcraft was therefore represented as anti-social behavior. Those rejecting roles imposed by "patriarchal" society could, in this way, become a focus for social tensions, and become ostracized by society, also acting to infuse a feeling of unity in the rest of society. (Malcolm 53) For obvious reasons most sane people would never admit to being a witch in those times, so the people in charge of the "investigation" had to devise ways to make the "witch" talk. Torture was not always the first method used, often the inquisitor would search the accused witches body for "the Devils Mark" These occurred in almost all reported trials of witches.

(Site 2) The Devil's mark resembled a scar, mole, birthmark or tattooing, whereas the witches mark was defined as a protuberance on the body from which the familiars were supposed to suckle. The two types of marks were often confused, and many used the two terms interchangeably throughout the persecutions. Even some modern day historians make no distinction. 5 The theory surrounding devil's marks was that they were a type of 'branding' by the devil, much like a rancher brands cattle.

One of the main methods for determining whether a woman was a witch was to prick her. The theory of pricking was linked to devils marks. If none of these marks was visible on a suspected witch, then they were assumed to be invisible, and the witch was pricked anyway. (Site 5) Pricking involved sticking a long pin into the skin, and if there were a devil's mark present, then no pain would be felt and no blood would run out. Here is an account of a typical pricking carried out an a woman named Michelle Chaudron, of Geneva, took place in Switzerland in 1652. Michelle was accused of causing two girls to feel continual itching in parts of their bodies.

(Site 2) 'Michelle was searched by physicians for Devil's marks, and long needles were stuck into her flesh, but blood flowed from each puncture and Michelle cried in pain. Not finding a Devil's mark, the judges ordered the woman to be tortured; overcome with agony she confessed everything demanded. After her confession, the physicians returned to hunt the devil's mark, and this time found a tiny black spot on her thigh. Michelle Chaudron, at this point in a state of exhaustion following the torture, did not shriek. This evidence confirmed her confession, and she was immediately condemned to be strangled and burned. ' (Rinehart) 6 The practice of pricking was soon brought into disrepute by prickers falsely identifying witches to collect money.

One unidentified pricker was called to Newcastle by the magistrates there, and to be paid 'twenty shillings a piece for all he could condemn as witches, and free passage thither and back again. ' (Site 2) Thirty women were tried by him, he condemned twenty-seven of them. As a result, one man and fourteen women were executed. Due to his success, the pricker went to Northumberland, increasing his charges to three pounds for each witch convicted. Ralph Gardiner was responsible for producing a pamphlet condemning the practice of this unnamed pricker, he writes:' Henry Ogle, Esquire, a late member of Parliament, laid hold on him, and required bond of him to answer the sessions, but he got away for Scotland. And it was conceived if he had stayed, he would have made most of the women in the North witches, for money...

And upon the gallows he confessed he had been the death of above 220 women in England and Scotland, for a gain of twenty shillings a piece. ' (Rinehart) This man may well have used one of the 'false bodkins' (like a toy knife with a retractable blade) which had a hollow shaft and a retractable blade. Of course there is the most commonly known way to get a witch by way of torture. There were many different types of torture used to make a person confess to witchcraft. First of all there is preparatory torture, which was used to force a confession of guilt. 7 Several methods used in this were stripping, threatening, binding, whipping, thumbscrews, stretching on rack or ladder.

(In court records this torture was often not reported, and the accused were said to confess voluntarily.) (Rinehart) If simply threatening the accused the torturers used a much more painful torture to force confession in cases of taciturnity, and to force naming of accomplices, who, having been defamed could then be tortured. Some of the more extreme tortures used was using the strappado, squassation or hot irons. Additional tortures used for special offenses were used to cause agony in retribution. Methods used were cutting off hands or legs and tearing of flesh with red-hot pincers. These methods were Occasionally used at individual prisons by some torturers to satisfy the sadism of judges or hangmen. The execution methods used were gruesome and often ended in Burning by fire.

Possibility of strangulation before burning if accused did not recant, otherwise burning alive. According to religion, the was accused tied to a stake, and then placed in straw hut or set on barrel of pitch, green wood used for slow burning of impenitent witches. Occasionally, the body was desecrated before burning by smashing on the wheel or hacking of limbs. One of the different tortures used was the Strappado, The prisoner's arms were tied behind their back with a rope attached to a pulley, then hoisted into the air.

Frequently, weights were attached to the feet to pull their shoulders from their sockets. 8 The strappado was not used in England, but was used in Scotland. A variation on this was squassation, where the prisoner was hoisted into the air a few feet and dropped so that they never quite hit the ground. This jerking caused intense pain and complete dislocation of the limbs, the higher the drop, the greater the pain.

(Rinehart) In current times there is no penalty for being a witch. Even though there are still misconceptions about the religion, Witchcraft or Wicca is more widespread than one might think. But it is actually quite popular, especially around teenage youths. Sources " Cerridwen's Retreat" web 1 George Malcolm. 1692 Witch Hunt the layman's guide to the Salem witchcraft trials.

Heritage books, in 1992". The History of Witchcraft and The Salem Witchcraft Trials" web Site 2"The Inner Sanctum" web Site 3 Starkey L. Marion. The Devil In Massachusetts. Anchor Books NY New York, 1949". Naidra's humble abode" web Site 4"Nema in" web Online, July 18 2000 Site 5 Trask B. Richard. "The devil hath been raised" A documentary of the Salem village witchcraft outbreak of march 1692.

Yeoman Press, Danvers Massachusetts, 1992. Marshal Richard. Witchcraft The history and Mythology. by Random house publishing, Avenel, New jersey 1995. Rinehart, Ca tara. Personal interview, 19 July 2000"Witchcraft in Salem village" web Site 69.