Witch

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

This painting by Thompkins H. Matteson is called Examination of a Witch

Punishing Witches, an illustration in the Laienspiegel (1508)

A witch is a person, often a woman, who practices witchcraft. A man that practices witchcraft is often called a warlock. The stereotypical witches are commonly portrayed as wicked old women who have wrinkled skin and pointy hats. They wear clothes that are black or purple. They also have warts on their noses and sometimes long claw-like fingernails.

Witches have often been seen outside accepted cultures and faith. People often made them feel unwanted in their societies.

In the Bible the punishment for witchcraft is death (Exodus 22:18, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," meaning "you should not let a witch live"). "Witch" in the Bible means summoner of spirits, so it might really mean warlock. In Europe in the early modern period persecution of witches (witchhunts, witchcraft trials, in the King James Bible) took place. A widespread scare of witchcraft erupted among the Christian people at that time. As a result, about sixty thousand people were unfairly executed. Most were hanged, but some were burned at the stake. Convicted witches were tied to a long pole, and burned alive. Especially in the early modern period this punishment was often applied.

In the Salem trials, there was Giles Corey who simply refused to speak because he knew he did no wrong. He was pressed to death (using stones) regardless of his innocence! Women were burned at the stake for simply sweeping their porches on Sundays or putting herbs in a soup.

Among those punished in that way were people who did not live peacefully with their rulers, like Joan of Arc. In the USA they were executed also.

There were some men who protested against torture and against the chase of witches like Johann Weyer, Friedrich Spee and Anton Praetorius.

1 How to tell whether someone is a witch
2 The mark of the devil
3 Modern-day understanding of Witches
4 Famous Witches
5 Other websites

[change] How to tell whether someone is a witch

People believed that a witch had certain things that clearly identified her as a witch. Some of these were:

What was called Diabolical mark. It was a mark of the devil. Most of the time, this was a mole or birthmark. If the examiner found no mark, often he would say he had found an invisible mark
A pact with the devil
Being denounced by another witch. This was common. Often, witches who told about other witches were punished less severely. For example, they were strangled before being burnt at the stake.
A relationship with other known witch(es)
Blasphemy
Taking part in Sabbaths.
To harm someone with sorcery
To have some of the things needed to do black magic
To have one or more witches in the family
To be afraid during the interrogations. Most often the interrogations involved torture.
To not cry when tortured
To have red hair

[change] The mark of the devil

People believed that witches had a pact with the devil. The diabolical mark (or mark of the devil) was a token left on the skin of the witch.

Most of the time, this was believed to be a mole or birthmark. It was said that since this was a sign of the devil, touching (or picking) it would not hurt the person. People also though that this mark could not bleed.

This soon developed into a safe test for witchcraft. Most often, special techniques were used by those doing the test, so that the pricked spot would not bleed, or hurt. Some needles were also found that were special. When touching the skin, the needle would go into its shaft. In that way it could not be felt, and did of course not bleed. Many innocent people were wrongfully convicted because of this test.

[change] Modern-day understanding of Witches

In the 20th century, a new attempt has been made at understanding witch-craft. Many people say that witches were in fact wise women who were hunted down by the church (mostly for their knowledge of herbs to treat certain diseases). This has led to a new movement. Some of it is known as Wicca. Some of it is known as Shamanism. Often, women understand this as a way to express themselves. Sometimes feminists have also spoken about it. Some of the rites have also been used as a form of protest.

[change] Famous Witches

All of the following persons were real people.

Child-Witch, Agatha Gatter
The Witches of Salem, Massachusetts. The trials of 1692 contributed to the title of "the Wich-city", Salem has today.
Elisabeth von Doberschütz, beheaded and burnt outside the gates of Stettin, on 17th December, 1591
Anna Roleffes, better known as Tempel Anneke was one of the last witches to be executed in Braunschweig. She was executed 30th December,1663.
Hester Jonas, known as The Witch of Neuss. Beheaded and burnt on Christmas Eve 1635. She was about 64 years old. The complete proceedings of the trial is still available in Neuss.
Catherine Monvoisin, close to Marquise the Motespan, a lover of Louis XIV. She delivered poisons, and held black masses, against payment. Burnt with some others on the Place de la Grève in Paris, in 1680.
Maria Holl, also known as The Witch of Nördlingen. She was one of the first women to withstand being tortured during her Witch-trial of 1593/1594. It was throgh her force that she rid the town of Nördlingen of the Witch-craze. Her act led to doubts quelling up about the righteousness of which-trials. She was cleared of the accusations. She died in 1634, probably from the plague.
Anna Schnidenwind, one of the last women to be publicly executed for Witchcraft in Germany. Burnt after being strangled, in Endingen am Kaiserstuhl, 24th April,1751
Anna Göldi (or Göldin). Last witch to be executed in Europe. This happened in Glarus, Switzerland, in the summer of 1782.