Thanks to mass hysteria and collective suggestion, in the Middle Ages hundreds of thousands of women were burned at the stake, accused of practicing witchcraft. The Inquisition acted on the supposed evidence offered by witnesses, who were sure of the 'witch' condition of the accused.
The Ancient Roots of Witchcraft
Witchcraft is as old as man. Although only in the 14th or 15th century did the Holy Catholic Church through the Inquisition dedicate itself to the mass burning of (mainly) women accused of practicing witchcraft, these practices date back to the Paleolithic. In almost all prehistoric cultures, rituals were performed to improve crops, fertility, or propitiate hunting. Often the women of the tribe were in charge of performing these rituals (mainly dances or performances). This tradition, in one way or another, was maintained within societies until practically the present day.
The Church and the Inquisition
Even today it is possible to find a 'celestina' who can find us a partner or someone who through a spell can 'cure' the 'evil eye'. But there was a time when practicing this type of activity was definitely dangerous. At some point near the turn of the first millennium, the Church began to worry about the matter. In some way, witchcraft diminished its power, since many people went to the village sorcerer or witch to solve their problems instead of consulting the priest. This undermined the idea that the clergy was the only and true intermediary between God and men.
To defend their interests, the clergy began a crusade that included the persecution of heretics (witches, magicians, sorcerers, and healers), accusing them of practicing actions alien to the Church and religion. The mechanism used consisted of linking witches to the figure of the devil and using the institutions created for the suppression of heresy created by the papacy in the late 12th century through a papal bull of Pope Lucius III: the Inquisition. For centuries they would persecute anyone who strayed from the ideal of life proposed by the church.
The prevailing superstition of that time triggered a brutal persecution against those accused of practicing magic and witchcraft by their fellow citizens. One can wonder what drives someone to accuse another of something, knowing that this action could lead to being burned at the stake. In reality, in many cases envy or jealousy was enough. And in most cases a psychological effect was produced, caused by fear and 'propaganda', which forced people to be on one 'side' or the other: either you were an accuser or you were accused.
Consider that no irrefutable proof was needed for a woman to be condemned. Sometimes a simple accusation by a child was enough for someone to be executed. This mechanism allowed, for example, in Germany more than 70,000 women were burned, or 3,500 only in the Scottish town of Prestonpans. The total number is not known, but over the centuries it is possible that more than a million people were eliminated due to collective suggestion.
Magic, Possession, and Suggestion
One of the most popular types of witchcraft is based on the so-called 'image magic'. Within this group are included demonic possession, the evil eye, spells, charms and enchantments, love potions, and amulets. All this works (when it does) thanks to the witch's ability to suggest the subject. The most impressionable people could (and can) be influenced by the witch of the moment in such a way that they believed and presented symptoms due to such possession. These manifestations included vomiting, speaking in a deeper voice, writhing strangely, blaspheming, etc. These types of 'possession attacks' were more frequent in girls and virgins, nuns, and adolescents.
The figure of the exorcist arises, generally personified by a member of the clergy, to 'fix' this state, also appealing to suggestion. Although nowadays medicine has demonstrated the similarity of these symptoms with those of hysterical attacks, panic attacks, and epilepsy, 500 years ago an attack like this could end with someone tortured and burned alive.
Spectral Evidence and False Accusations
But not only suggestion caused havoc among medieval societies. The accusations were most varied and capricious. Strangely, the mass hysteria caused by the Inquisition generally made witnesses appear reinforcing the charges presented. Women were burned accused of causing rain, originating storms, transforming into animals (especially wolves), causing diseases, or sinking ships, among other equally illogical charges.
For example, most of the women condemned by the Court of Barons of Prestoungrange and Dolphinstoun were found guilty on the basis of 'spectral evidence': witnesses who declared that 'they felt the presence of evil spirits or heard the voices of spirits when the accused were near'. Of course, such evidence is totally impossible to refute (or prove), especially when the accused cannot, by the laws of the Inquisition, defend herself. In fact, the officials were instructed to interpret any statement by the accused as demonic attempts to influence the jury.
Except for occasions when accusations were made by someone who wanted to 'eliminate' a neighbor for some cause (there are cases of this kind), most witnesses really believed in the charges presented. The accusers were, at heart, ordinary people who, immersed in ignorance, traditions, and religious pressure, were convinced of the witches' ability to perform satanic acts. At no time did they feel they were doing something wrong in condemning these women to the stake. In fact, sometimes they were members of their family or circle of friends.
The Decline of the Witch Hunts
This situation occurred, as we said, for centuries. Around the start of the 18th century the phenomenon began to decline, as the number of executions decreased. In Scotland, for example, the last execution for witchcraft took place in the early 18th century, and accusations in that sense were declared illegal by the Witchcraft Act, according to which it was a crime to merely pretend that someone was a witch.
A Modern Echo
However, in some societies, even today every now and then a case of this type is known. For example, not many years ago the human rights defense organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) asked the king of Saudi Arabia to prevent the execution of a woman condemned for witchcraft. Fawza Falih, the accused, is a woman, illiterate, detained in 2005, beaten and forced to sign with her fingerprints a confession she could not read and which she later retracted.
However, she was sentenced based on testimonies from people who said they had been victims of her spells, among whom was a man who claimed to have become impotent as a result of her witchcraft practices. Fawza Falih died in her cell in 2011. Her execution had been postponed due to international pressure, but she did not survive the torture and mistreatment suffered over the years.
