Witch Hunts

In our philosophy club last month we listened to a lecture on witch hunts titled, “Let Us Burn the Witches to Save Them.” It is not a pretty piece of history, and it lasted for several hundred years. (The witch hunts, not the lecture.)

There is much more that can be said about the topic than I have either the time or inclination for here, but I wanted to draw attention to one facet of the witch hunt phenomenon. These witch hunts were a little different from lynchings which are essentially a mob action. The witch hunts involved “experts” and proceedings that had an air of legal authority based on the Pope-endorsed document Malleous Malficarum. (Protestants had their own rigorous codes as well.)

According to the book, there were three tests for determining if someone were a witch. The Tear Test (as in shedding tears, or not being able to), the Float Test and the Prick Test. The float test itself seems a no win proposition. If you float, you are a witch. You had better be able to hold your breath a long time after exhaling because you sure don't want a lot of air in your lungs if you're aiming for the bottom of the pond. Evidently, you have to sink in order to prove you are not a witch. I'm not sure how you're supposed to breathe down there. Looks like a bummer if you have osteoporosis, like many older women do.

The Prick Test involved pincers which the “experts” would use to probe for the “devil spot” where the evil entered you body. These experts would pinch you all over looking for a spot that has no feeling, a dead spot where the evil one entered through your skin. It was an ugly business.

Witch hunts today are of a different character, of course. We no longer burn them at the stake. But they still have the same effect: making people afraid to become heretics.