The Library will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2024, in observance of Veterans Day.

Which Witch is Which? Witches in History: Salem and Beyond

Daniel Tures, Adult Librarian, Edendale Branch Library,
Collage of witch books
If you know only the basics about witches, take one of these deeper dives, historical or fictive, for truly eye-opening reads

Over the years, the witch has become a popular figure and costume choice for our modern commercialized holiday rituals. And the stormy events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-3, which we tend to revisit around Halloween time, have become the inspiration for all sorts of mass-media entertainment; there are more serious attempts, but just saying: Love At Stake (1987). Salem itself has rebranded as the spooky Halloween fun capital of the country. Of course, there was nothing particularly Halloween-related about the original tragedy in colonial Massachusetts, in which a bizarre mass hysteria fueled by underlying socioeconomic turmoil and frontier clashes led a group of young girls to experience, or at least act out, spectral possession and accuse an ever-growing number of innocent community members of witchcraft, a craze that local leaders and tribunals somehow failed to stop. More than two hundred were accused, nineteen were hung, and one was pressed to death with heavy stones; at least five others died in jail before the madness finally burnt itself out in 1693. It was the culmination of a long era of ‘witch hunts’ in Europe and the colonies and a shattering moment of self-doubt for American governance—sidelining the more obvious forms of theocracy, if only temporarily. Formal apologies, reversals, and memorials have been issued since.

Though dozens of men were accused and five went to the gallows, the Salem Witch Trials were fundamentally an explosion of female power struggles (which quite overwhelmed the men ‘in charge’). The American witch is now definitively feminine. Whether vamping in sexy black mini dress or cackling in the green and warty mode popularized by Margaret Hamilton in the blockbuster Hollywood version of The Wizard of Oz (1939), witches are everywhere at Halloween, stirring cauldrons, riding broomsticks, and of course, rarely sans black cat. Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West is generally considered the cultural locus for the pointy witch hat, likely descended from the tall Puritan Capotain. The overlay of seasonal caricature tends to obscure a truer appreciation of witchcraft's evolving social role and witches, fairly or unfairly labeled—reviled and put to death in some times and places, seductive or celebrated for wisdom and power in others.

Witches predate the rise of modern science and medicine, just as Halloween is our modern expression of a pre-Christian Celtic sun festival celebrating the completion of the harvest and the end of Summer. Before there were medical doctors, there were folk healers, staving off disease and ill health with traditional remedies and rituals. Their power was largely home-and hearth-based, and thereby traditionally feminine—the broom or besom would have been used to clean an interior space to receive one seeking healing, long before the literary image of riding it through the night sky was conceived. Aged folk healers with magical faculties, in tune with invisible forces of nature, could be feared as well as revered, and the idea of the evil witch causing affliction at a distance came along with the good. As science confronted tradition in the West, magic was increasingly regarded as occult and fearful—other societies enjoyed a smoother integration or even coexistence of the two. This all came to a head in Salem, with accusations of witchcraft wildly hurled at innocents out of complex misfortunes, cementing the modern image of the evil witch. Older traditions lived on in the margins, and there is a growing resurgence of ‘good witchcraft,’ Wicca, and similar approaches among younger generations seeking ancient wisdom and a deeper connection to nature. Wiccans would be quick to distinguish themselves from Salem's terrors or the Halloween party witch, despite their commonality of origin. There are many resources in the library’s collection on the history of witches and witchcraft, from historical roots to modern-day Wiccans.

The savage clashes of the Salem Witch Trials themselves are so vivid, complex, and formative as to repay endless research and reinterpretation—to say nothing of their continuing resonance through American mass hysterias from the 1950s Red Scare right up to post-9/11 panic, which reanimates with eerie regularity from the fertile soil of American ignorance. They have birthed an ever-growing shelf of texts from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible to more recent investigations and novels, examining through lenses from politics to psychology, religion, race, economics, gender, and generation. A wishful 1692 ban on all writings about the witch trials by Massachusetts Governor William Phips, fearing that publicity would incite more widespread trouble, was immediately flouted by the publication of Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World (1693). Quite a few of these are gripping and insightful, adding perspectives and layers to a surprisingly rich story. If you know only the basics, take one of these deeper dives, historical or fictive, for a truly eye-opening and blood-curdling read.


Some Histories


Book cover for The Witches: Salem, 1692
The Witches: Salem, 1692
Schiff, Stacy

Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling historian Stacy Schiff brilliantly recreate the strangeness and fascination of the Salem Witch Trials, juxtaposing fantastical reports of witches sighted flying around the township with richly excavated detail. Her tightly-plotted study, vivid with imagery and subtle humor, shows how the sadistic schoolyard fantasies and wild physical tumult of young girls easily overwhelmed the sputtering, scientistic rationalism of the elite adults supposedly in charge of the hearings. Vengeful emotions, rivalries, and jealousies swirl through the muddy lanes with murderous finality. An impressive narrative plunge into the world of colonial 1692 and the psyche of the accusers and victims.


Book cover for A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience
A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience
Baker, Emerson W.

This 2014 study from Oxford University Press explores not only the details of the trials but also the broader context: the civic rivalries, the economic hardships, the effects of King Philip’s War and Indian raids, and the 1691 Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter. Baker also takes a rare look at the aftermath of the trials, how the authorities’ denial of wrongdoing led Salem to become symbolically tainted, and the difficulties of participants’ re-entry into society. The psychology of mass hysteria is thoughtfully treated and connected to similar episodes in recent years, while the potential role of ergotism, Lyme disease, encephalitis, and other proposed medical culprits is effectively undermined.


Book cover for In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
Norton, Mary Beth.

Norton’s insightful book digs deep into the textual evidence of letters, diaries and trial records to evoke the mindset of a frontier people in crisis, feeling beset by violent Indian raids and personal failures. It was unusual for adult magistrates to take the frenzied outpourings of young girls as serious testimony, but in Norton’s telling, this presented a unique opportunity to deflect blame for their economic and military mismanagement. She resists analyzing the psychology in modern terms, instead sensitively evoking how 17th-century minds on both sides of the bench would have perceived the events at play.


Book cover for Six Women of Salem
Six Women of Salem
Roach, Marilynne K.

Throughout the trials, so many became accusers, accused and afflicted that the individual stories can blur into stereotypes: Cotton Mather’s ‘desolation of names’. Roach takes the ingenious approach of thoroughly telling the lives of six of the women involved, accusers and accused. Her expert narratives create an intimacy with the world and its participants, laying out the facts and the perceptions in detail without overly judging or drawing bold conclusions. The horror of the time and its visceral impact on individual lives should be remembered like this.


Book cover for Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England
Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England
Hollman, Gemma

Book cover for The Witch of Lime Street: Seance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World
The Witch of Lime Street: Seance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World
Jaher, David

Book cover for The Witch: A History of Fear, From Ancient Times to the Present
The Witch: A History of Fear, From Ancient Times to the Present
Hutton, Ronald


Modern Witches


Book cover for Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers
Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers
Kitaiskaia, Taisia

Book cover for Revolutionary Witchcraft: A Guide to Magical Activism
Revolutionary Witchcraft: A Guide to Magical Activism
Lyons, Sarah (Witch)

Book cover for The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
Hutton, Ronald

Book cover for The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft: A Modern-Day Guide to Making Magick
The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft: A Modern-Day Guide to Making Magick
Kiernan, Anjou

Book cover for Weave the Liminal: Living Modern Traditional Witchcraft
Weave the Liminal: Living Modern Traditional Witchcraft
Zakroff, Laura Tempest

Book cover for Bewitching the Elements
Bewitching the Elements
Herstik, Gabriela

Book cover for Practical Magic: A Beginner's Guide to Crystals, Horoscopes, Psychics & Spells
Practical Magic: A Beginner's Guide to Crystals, Horoscopes, Psychics & Spells
Van De Car, Nikki


Witches in Fiction


Editors note: There are so many excellent witch and witchcraft books in our collection, I've broken the lists into age categories. Also witches in graphic novels is its own category for the sheer volume of terrific titles. This is by no means a complete list, but I made sure to have my favorites here. Magic Lessons I'm thinking of you, and how you'll surely be on my year's top ten!—Tina Lerno


Adult Fiction

Book cover for Magic Lessons
Magic Lessons
Hoffman, Alice

Book cover for A Discovery of Witches
A Discovery of Witches
Harkness, Deborah E.

Book cover for The Mercies
The Mercies
Hargrave, Kiran Millwood

Book cover for The Once and Future Witches
The Once and Future Witches
Harrow, Alix E.

Book cover for The Witch Hunter
The Witch Hunter
Seeck, Max

Book cover for The Witch's Kind
The Witch's Kind
Morgan, Louisa, 1952-

Book cover for Circe: A Novel
Circe: A Novel
Miller, Madeline

Book cover for The Familiars
The Familiars
Halls, Stacey

Book cover for The Remaking: A Novel
The Remaking: A Novel
Chapman, Clay McLeod

Young Adult Fiction

Book cover for A Wicked Magic
A Wicked Magic
Laurens, Sasha

Book cover for Witches of Ash & Ruin
Witches of Ash & Ruin
Latimer, E.

Book cover for Akata Witch
Akata Witch
Okorafor-Mbachu, Nnedi

Book cover for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Tokuda-Hall, Maggie

Book cover for B*witch
B*witch
McKenzie, Paige

Book cover for The Lost Coast
The Lost Coast
Capetta, Amy Rose

Book cover for The Merciful Crow
The Merciful Crow
Owen, Margaret

Book cover for The Near Witch
The Near Witch
Schwab, Victoria

Book cover for The Shadow Glass
The Shadow Glass
Chupeco, Rin

Book cover for Toil & Trouble: 15 tales of Women & Witchcraft
Toil & Trouble: 15 tales of Women & Witchcraft

Book cover for The Burning
The Burning
Bates, Laura

Book cover for How to Hang a Witch
How to Hang a Witch
Mather, Adriana

Book cover for The Babysitters Coven
The Babysitters Coven
Williams, Kate

Book cover for Cemetery Boys
Cemetery Boys
Thomas, Aiden

Book cover for The Wicked Deep
The Wicked Deep
Ernshaw, Shea

Book cover for When the Moon Was Ours
When the Moon Was Ours
McLemore, Anna-Marie

Graphic Novels

Book cover for Okay Witch
Okay Witch
Steinkellner, Emma

Book cover for The Witch Boy
The Witch Boy
Ostertag, Molly

Book cover for Spell on Wheels
Spell on Wheels
Leth, Kate

Book cover for Hex Vet: Witches in Training
Hex Vet: Witches in Training
Davies, Sam

Book cover for Witchlight
Witchlight
Zabarsky, Jessi

Book cover for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Book One, The Crucible
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Book One, The Crucible
Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto

Book cover for Snapdragon
Snapdragon
Leyh, Kat

Book cover for The Weirn Books, Vol 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods
The Weirn Books, Vol 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods
Chmakova, Svetlana

Book cover for Grimoire Noir
Grimoire Noir
Greentea, Vera

Book cover for Flying Witch, Vol 1
Flying Witch, Vol 1
Ichizuka, Chihiro

Book cover for Séance Tea Party
Séance Tea Party
Yee, Reimena

Book cover for Witches of Brooklyn
Witches of Brooklyn
Escabasse, Sophie

Book cover for Rivers of London: Night Witch, Issue 1
Rivers of London: Night Witch, Issue 1
Aaronovitch, Ben

Book cover for Supermutant Magic Academy
Supermutant Magic Academy
Tamaki, Jillian

Book cover for Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 5
Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 5
Shirahama, Kamome

Book cover for Witchy
Witchy
Ries, Ariel Slamet

Book cover for Little Witch Academia, Vol 1
Little Witch Academia, Vol 1
Yoshinari, Yoh

Book cover for Baba Yaga's Assistant
Baba Yaga's Assistant
McCoola, Marika

Book cover for Blackbird, Book 1: The Great Beast
Blackbird, Book 1: The Great Beast
Humphries, Sam

Book cover for The Montague Twins: Vol. 1, the Witch's Hand
The Montague Twins: Vol. 1, the Witch's Hand
Page, Nathan

Book cover for Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki's Delivery Service


 

 

 

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