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6 Five Myths About ‘Witch Hunts’

Five myths about ‘witch

hunts’

By Rickard L. Sjoberg

It’s not unusual to hear the term “witch hunt” in
politics, but it has no greater devotee than
President Trump, who uses it when complaining
about the Mueller investigation. How does this
modern meaning — which has to do with
supposedly unjust harassment of an individual
— map onto the historical phenomena that the
term derives from? Perhaps we do not do the
original victims of witch hunts justice when we
carelessly compare contemporary events to their
experiences, which remain clouded by myths.
Here are five of the most common.

Myth No. 1
Most witch hunts happened in 17th-
century New England.

During the 1692-93 witch panics in and around
Salem, Mass., 14 women and five men were
executed by colonial authorities. Because these
events often show up in American plays, films
and works of art such as Arthur Miller’s “The
Crucible,” it should come as no surprise that
these “witch hunts” are the most well-known to
the American public. This might be the reason countries to “stop the medieval witch hunt ” or main driver of a small percentage of witch
that National Geographic, when explaining the PRI compares a recent murder in Cambodia of panics.
historical foundation of the term, exclusively an accused sorcerer to “a scene from a medieval In fact, in most cases, far more
refers to the Salem incidents and why an Oxford witch hunt.” testimonies came from adults and were provided
University Press advertisement points to these Yet in 1975, scholar Norman Cohn under torture, as Brian P. Levack and H.C. Erik
trials as “the greatest witch-hunt of all time.” demonstrated that these documents were not Midelfort show. During interrogations carried
From a European perspective, however, original and would be most appropriately out with torture, suspects would not only
the events in Salem were a relatively peripheral described as early instances of research fraud. willingly confess to deeds that were inconsistent
episode in the history of witch persecutions. In For instance, the description of the Toulouse with the rules of nature (like flying) but also
fact, scholars estimate that from the 15th trials includes several historical inaccuracies, provide the names of an abundance of alleged
through the 18th centuries, about 60,000 and the original documents have never been accomplices. As these accomplices were
Europeans were executed for allegedly being located. If one disregards such dubious records, subsequently rounded up and interrogated, even
witches. there is no evidence that large-scale witch more names of yet more suspects would appear.
One of thousands of examples occurred persecutions occurred during the “Dark Ages.” As a result, torture tended to lead to mass trials
in the parish of Mora, Sweden, about 23 years Instead, the phenomenon first seems to have — and more victims.
before the Salem events, when 16 individuals appeared during the Renaissance, which
were beheaded and burned at the stake. The historians typically describe as the beginning of Myth No. 4
sentencing, by a royal commission of inquiry, the modern era. In the words of historian H.R. European witches were members of a
was primarily based on testimony from Trevor-Roper, rather than being medieval, witch fertility cult.
hundreds of local children. The New England persecutions can be seen as the dark side of the
theologian Cotton Mather mentions the Renaissance, the Reformation and the scientific The idea that witches were members of an
“horrible outrage” committed “at Mohra in revolution. ancient fertility cult was floated repeatedly
Sweedland” by “the Devils by the help of
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Witches” in several of his works, a fact that most Myth No. 3 The most prominent proponent of this theory
likely played an important role in shaping the Witch hunts relied primarily on was the Egyptologist Margaret Murray, who
events in Salem.
testimony from children. argued, for instance, in her 1931 work, “The
God of the Witches,” that accused witches were
Myth No. 2
In 17th-century New England, Sweden and the actually followers of a religion far older than
European witch persecutions occurred
Basque provinces of Spain, children were the Christianity, which had been kept alive by a
during the Dark Ages. most important sources for allegations against special race of beings known as “fairies.” These
supposed witches. Evidence from 17th-century ideas helped inspire Wicca, whose adherents
Until the mid-1970s, most scholars believed that Sweden aligns with modern psychological sometimes complain that Trump’s use of the
the myth of the Witches’ Sabbath — central to research; preschool-age children in particular term “witch hunt” in relation to special counsel
most witch panics — first emerged in the are more vulnerable to suggestion and influence Robert S. Mueller III’s probe evokes times when
Medieval period, more specifically during the from interviewers and peers than are older people who may have been practitioners of
early 14th century. Transcriptions of documents children. These findings have contributed to Wicca were rounded up and killed.
that supposedly supported this premise, such as legitimate concerns about suggestive
those describing mass trials in Toulouse, France, interviewing of child witnesses in modern (Continued on Page 8)
from 1335 to 1350, found their way into the cases. But when experts in psychiatry and
authoritative set of original sources on witch pediatrics, such as professors Susan Hatters Want To Know The Truth About UFOs?
panics published by Joseph Hansen in 1901. The Friedman and Andrew Howie , highlight the use Join KEVIN RANDLE AND His Guests
enduring influence of that conviction is probably of child witnesses during witch persecutions, On The ‘X’ Zone Broadcast Network for “A
why Amnesty International still calls for they obscure the fact that children were the Different Perspective.” Visit www.xzbn.net