Witches

Witches have been around since prehistory and witchcraft is still practised in different parts of the world. No one is certain where the word 'witch' comes from; some theories suggest it originated from the word 'Wicca' which is an ancient Anglo-Saxon word for witch or wizard. Wicca is also a form of modern witchcraft, a type of paganism that believes the Earth is the body of the Goddess and followers essentially worship nature.

In ancient cultures, witches were seen as priestesses, or wise women with magical powers who could foresee the future. They had the power of healing and would make 'unguents' (ointments and potions) from herbs. Ancient Greeks and Romans only condemned witchcraft that was used for evil purposes and, in Celtic cultures, Druids were respected priests and witches. Viking witches used 'runes' to foretell what was to come.

Early Christianity had a tolerant disbelief in witchcraft because it was not considered to be 'devil-worship', but a collection of different practices and beliefs. This changed in the mid 14th century, when the church became fanatically paranoid about the evil power of witchcraft. The Church began to teach that witches were in league with the devil and so must be identified and executed. Anyone could be accused of being a witch, although single, older women, or those who practised healing, were especially vulnerable. Some poor 'witches' were reported by their neighbours out of spite, while overzealous clergy accused others.

Once someone had been accused, they were often tortured, so that they would confess to consorting with the devil and name other witches. Once they were found guilty, if they survived the torture, they were hanged, burned or crushed beneath heavy stones. Another popular method of determining if someone was a witch was drowning. If the person sank, he or she was found innocent, but by then it was too late to save them. If they floated they were deemed a witch, because they are opposed to baptism and so the water would reject them.

Witch-hunts took place all over Europe, spreading to Britain and then across the Atlantic to the New World. There are no exact figures of how many 'witches' were executed in the 400 years, sometimes known as 'The Burning Time', but it is estimated that hundreds of thousands may have been put to death.

In England, the unscrupulous Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed Witchfinder General, terrorised East Anglia in the mid 1640s, executing 200 'witches' before people turned against him. One of the most famous witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, after girls in the village suffered convulsions and hallucinations. Witchcraft was blamed and 19 people were found guilty and executed. Some modern critics of the trials say that the girls were simply attention seeking. Others suggest that their 'visions' could have been caused by ergot, a rye or cereal fungus that can cause spasms and effects similar to those of LSD.