It’s that time of year when ghouls, goblins, and witches appear on store shelves and lawns, and, on October 31, big and little ones knock at your door. When I had the idea of writing a humorous book about a witch with limited powers, I did a little research into the history of witchcraft in the US to go beyond the Salem witches most of us know about.Author Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads
While the Bible refers to the concept of witches in two verses (in Exodus and in Leviticus), actual, large-scale prosecution of witches did not occur until the 1400s and began in Germany—with 25,000 executions occurring from 1500 to 160. At about the same time, those seeking new opportunities accepted William Penn’s offer to settle in Pennsylvania, the first arriving in 1683. ?That same year and in the same colony, the first witch trial in the colonies occurred. A Swedish woman, Margaret Mattson, was found “guilty of having the common fame of a witch, but not guilty in manner and form of which she stands indicted.” She was fined 50 pounds and held to good behavior for 6 months. A much larger and harsher series of witch trials occurred 9 years later in Salem, Massachusetts. There, 150 were jailed and 20 executed for witchcraft. The tragic history in Germany failed to immigrate to the New World, but did manifest itself among the Puritans. ?Witchcraft practices, however, did immigrate and continue today, particularly in the present-day Pennsylvania Dutch area. Barns and houses still have six-pointed hex signs painted over doors or and sides of buildings as a prevention against witchcraft. Pow-wow practitioners (known as Hexenmeisters or Braucherei) still use incantations and herbs to heal locals or remove a curse placed by a Hexerei (black magic practitioner). ?This history and practice of Pennsylvania Dutch witchcraft helped me to select the setting for my book Wilhelmina Quigley: Magic School Dropout, and I have sprinkled certain aspects of this folk magic throughout the story. The concept of good and evil (white and black) magic is very strong in this belief system, and Wilhelmina has her own confrontations with this dichotomy. After her father disappears when she is a baby, her family breaks apart. Her mother, unable to care for her, sends her to live with her grandmother in a magical witch colony. Wilhelmina returns to live with her mother after one-too-many magical mishaps on her part. There, she finds a mysterious woman who seems to have a strange control over her mother. She’ll need to use both her intelligence and erratic magical powers to save her family from destruction. Her intelligence and magical abilities will be put to the test against the evil forces; will she disappear like her father, or emerge victorious? As Halloween approaches, we’re reminded that the history of witchcraft in the United States continues today in the enduring practices of Pennsylvania Dutch and that not everyone in a pointed hat is evil.
Leave a Comment