The witches of Salem, or anywhere else, have been a scapegoat and source of legend since the dawn of mankind. His image has crept into our minds since childhood thanks to stories and pop culture, in both this group has been divided between good and bad. Everyone born between the 80s and 90s has felt the terror personified by evil witches who attacked children, ate them or simply did evil (Hocus Pocus, The Curse of the Witches or Snow White). But at the same time we fell in love with those sorceresses who used their powers for good or who at least resembled us (Sabrina and Charmed). And it is that the stereotypes around this group have persisted throughout the centuries, although their motivations or powers have changed.
But, our modern way of understanding witches was not shared by our ancestors who could only see them as sources of malice. If we investigate the accused we will quickly see that they were women who shied away from social norms in one way or another. In this sense we have many interesting documents that bring us closer to the way in which witchcraft was understood and Salem is one of the most striking cases in this regard.
It is impossible not to have heard of the witch trials that took place in this small community in Massachusetts in 1692. Among other reasons, because the cinema and television have used this case to criticize the unreason of human beings and to what extent hysteria and stereotypes can lead to abominable acts. Undoubtedly, this case draws attention above others for various reasons and that is why today we will focus on learning more about some of its protagonists.
What is a witch?
To resolve this doubt, we must point out that witch, sorceress and magician are completely different entities based on the knowledge they possessed. Magicians and sorceresses were dedicated to magic that was understood as a way of knowing nature and interacting with it through beneficial supernatural objects or entities, it would be a crossroads where religion and science came together. Witches, for their part, could do magic, but their powers were the result of a deal with a demonic entity that they would join. (Ortega Muñoz, 2012: 4).
The first were women who worked in medicine, santeria, pharmacology, and other activities based on the oral culture that they had inherited from previous generations. This collected all that natural knowledge that had been gradually collected by people through practice and error: what kinds of food are edible or not, what herbs can help a patient overcome a disease or specific illness, etc.
Within these, the specialty that had a greater number of women convicted of witchcraft would be midwives. Although the attacks against them responded to many variables, we could consider that the fact of being women (they personify superstition against men of “science”), that their functions became lucrative activities, that the church considered them to be murderers ( In addition to helping with childbirth, they advised in the case of wanting an abortion) and the state’s need for birth rates to remain high, so as not to lose labor, are the most important. (María Tausiet Carlés, 1997: 378-387)
In general, it could be said that witchcraft consisted of a set of practices based on the use of hidden means (which moved away from divine revelations) with the aim of overcoming human limits. Over time it became increasingly difficult to differentiate between witches and magicians, but the latter were necessary: thanks to their knowledge they saved lives and helped the populations in which they lived. Although normally the “white” magic exerted by the latter was considered harmless, it was still considered to be a possible gateway to harmful activities. (Fernando Figueroa, 2005: 107)
In the Middle Ages they had been more or less respected because it was impossible to survive without them (I will treat the defendants as feminine for two reasons: this gender was the most persecuted and the work that was condemned was typical of it), but the misunderstanding of their activities and that the political power will need to control the population led to a growth in general hatred towards them. From our point of view, these practices are not paranormal, but the mentality of the time left no room for doubt: anything that moved away from the corseted system of Christian beliefs was the work of the evil one (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 12-13).
Although witches have historically been persecuted since ancient times, it was with the arrival of the Modern Age that the witch hunt appeared (Ortega Muñoz, 2012: 16). Mainly due to a change in the belief system itself, specifically regarding demonology, a branch of study that since the Late Middle Ages had acquired many followers in Europe.
We could trace the beginning of this phenomenon with the appearance of the papal bull Sumnis desiderantibus affectibus of Pope Innocent VIII in 1484. It emerged at a key moment: when the Devil ceased to be a concept, the absence of Good, and began to be understood as an entity proper, a fallen angel, who could influence human beings. At the same time, the witches ceased to be a constructive and healing element, becoming servants of the demons.
Another possible starting point for these attacks can be found in the book by inquisitors Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Instistioris, Malleus Malleficarum. (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 16) This came before the bull, was published in 1487, and for the first time established the bases of stereotypes related to witches (they devoured children, offered human sacrifices, drank human blood, etc.) (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 17).
In the 16th century these theories are collected, but a nuance is added: witches become mostly women, something that was not yet defended in the Malleus Malleficarum. So we would be talking about a persecution based on gender as some feminist authors name, who consider this moment the beginning of the struggle of the sexes. This is the case of Anne Llewellyn Barstow, who focuses this persecution on the desire for male domination (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 17-19).
Who were normally accused? Poor women, from lower classes, with a strong or “arrogant” character, older women, beggars, braceras, healers, assistants, vendors, marginalized, unbalanced, hysterical or prostitutes who inevitably had satanic marks (spots, warts, moles… ) (Ortega Muñoz, 2012: 7-8) but also widowed and single women heirs to great fortunes (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 19).
Why are women the most persecuted group in the world of witchcraft? In this society, women were considered weak (physically, morally and mentally) and sexually more unrestrained (Ortega Muñoz, 2012: 8). Women were more likely to become witches because they were easier for the devil to manipulate., with which they supposedly gave free rein to their carnal desires (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 22). This does not mean that when the hunt increased, men and boys could be prosecuted (it was believed that powers were transmitted by teaching and inheritance).
At present there are still linguistic nuances that show the inequality of the system: witch and sorcerer take their powers from the devil, but they were seduced and deceived by the antichrist, and they would conquer him by usurping powers from the devil (Ortega Muñoz, 2012: 3). In the Puritan case, the physical weakness of the woman is added to the fact that the soul was a feminine element.insatiable and weak, the devil took advantage of this fact to seduce the woman who was doubly weak for his body and his soul (Fargas García, 2016: 79).
Why does the hunt start? There are as many theories about the beginning of the persecution as there are experts who have dedicated their lives to researching this topic. Marvin Harris believes that the state attacked these women as a means of controlling the population, managing to annul their guilt around the crisis of social values that exists in modern times (from medieval collectivism we went to individualism) (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 19-20). In a similar sense, Alan Macfarlane and Keith Thomas argue that the driving force behind the accusations was the internal tensions in rural communities: the powerful no longer defended the weak and hid their guilt by attacking them (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 21). Norman Coban believes that this persecution is linked to the sexual repression to which the Renaissance society was subjected, the witch personified the resistance and hostility against Judeo-Christian values (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 22).
But, in addition, there is another key point that is related to the witch hunt: the Protestant Reformation. In the places where this religious movement began to be followed, the persecutions intensified, as Luther and other heads of the reform followed the popular beliefs about these and their relationship with the devil. (Amores Bonilla, 2012: 18) And, how not to mention the Puritans, who appeared in modern times, who considered that witches were accomplices of evil at the time they joined the devil. For them a “league was formed to undermine the Gospel and overthrow the Church; and conspiring and cooperating in rebellion against God”, the worst crime that could be committed (Fargas García, 2016: 75).
Witches, as I have already pointed out, were linked to a whole series of stereotypes that have survived until today (Ortega Muñoz, 2012: 9-10):
- They are elderly women, perhaps because the short life expectancy made older people suspicious, because the healers/pateras were older women, or because old age is linked to eccentric behavior and physical weakness.
- Single or widowed, something common in a society that wanted to see its women married and with children to support the system.
- Capable of making potions something linked to magic and healers, one of the only professions that women could choose.
- Unpleasant or arrogant, this fact would be linked to singleness and the way in which women could fight against gender roles.
- Misshapen or ugly, any “strange” physical sign (freckles, humps, pimples, warts, etc.) was considered to be a sign of a pact with the devil.
This scene appears in one of the best-known Monthy Python films (The Knights of the Square Table, 1975), which, as was customary in this English comedy group, uses surrealism to deal with social problems. In this case, the witch hunt and the stereotypes that prevailed in the past regarding them are criticized: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux6fBfXOIuo
Also, the witches had powers thanks to the pact they had made with the devil, depending on the culture one or the other is established, but there are some common ones.…