Witch Hunts Then & Now: True Origins & Myths

We think we know the story of the witch. Images flicker in our minds – cackling women around cauldrons, the fiery pyres of Salem, perhaps a pointy hat or two for good measure. But like so much of what passes for common knowledge, the truth is far more unsettling, more persistent, and speaks volumes about the fault lines in our own supposedly enlightened world.

The academic consensus, when it bothers to look beyond the sensationalized narratives, points to a grim reality: witch hunts are not relics of a superstitious past; they are a recurring symptom of social and economic breakdown, a brutal tool wielded in times of upheaval and fear. The whispers of accusation that led to Iquo Edet Eyo’s horrific death in Nigeria in 2022, because of a motorcycle crash blamed on her alleged witchcraft, echo across centuries and continents. As Scientific American makes chillingly clear, the narrative could just as easily be set in 16th-century Germany, 21st-century India, or countless other places where the label of "witch" becomes a death sentence. Far from fading with modernization, these persecutions persist, and in some regions, may even be on the rise.

Why? Because the roots of the witch hunt are not solely planted in irrational fear. They intertwine with tangible societal stresses: continue reading article

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Transcript

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This is Heliox, where evidence meets empathy. Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter. Breathe easy. We go deep and lightly surface the big ideas. We've all seen it, right? Like those classic images of witches hunched over bubbling cauldrons or the Salem witch trials, that whole frenzy. Even like the dark prophecies of Macbeth, it feels like. Witch hunts, they're just, they're woven into history. But today, we're not just going to rehash those stories. We're going way deeper. Yeah. Like what really drove these terrifying events, you know, across time and cultures and all of that. Exactly. And we've got some really cool sources to help us with this. One is this really fascinating look at witch hunts around the world today from Scientific American. And the other is this article from English Heritage that like debunks all the common myths about witch hunts. So like one is contemporary and one is historical. Yeah, exactly. And our our mission, you know, for this deep dive is to really cut through the folklore, all the stories and understand what really caused these persecutions both back then and in the world today. You know, like what's still going on. Right. Yeah. So the Scientific American article shows us that this isn't just ancient history. It's still happening in lots of places. And the English Heritage Research helps us figure out what's fact and what's fiction when we think about witch hunts historically. So we're going to get into how social and economic changes have played a role. And we'll tackle some of those really sticky misconceptions that people have. Sounds good. So, okay, let's unpack this and start with this idea that witch hunts, they weren't just like random outbreaks of fear and superstition, right? Right. What's fascinating here, and Sylvia Federici really argues this in the Scientific American article, is that these periods of really intense witch hunting, they often line up with times of huge social and economic change. It wasn't just about people suddenly becoming irrational. Right, right. And for our listeners who might not be familiar, Federici is a really, really prominent scholar who's done a ton of research on the links between capitalism, patriarchy, and the persecution of women. Right. And her argument, as it's highlighted in the article, is that these brutal crackdowns that often targeted women, they tend to happen more when there are big economic changes happening. Right. And the article gives us some really, really striking examples from history. So let's start with medieval Europe. Okay, yeah. If we look at medieval Europe, the feudal system had its own problems, but it did give many women some level of economic independence. They were involved in all sorts of trades like brewing, baking, even some forms of medicine. But then all the silver starts coming in from the new world and things changed really fast. Yeah, so you'd think all the silver would have helped the economy, right? But the article says it actually had a really bad effect on the poor because of inflation. Like wages went way down and all of a sudden even basic things became unaffordable. And this hit women especially hard because, you know, they were often the ones taking care of families. Exactly. Yes. You have all this economic instability in these vulnerable populations. And then accusations of witchcraft, they kind of become a way to control those people. Right, right. And at the same time, we see this thing called land enclosure happening. Right. Where wealthy landowners, they started taking over what used to be common land, like fields and forests and even ponds. And this totally disrupted these rural communities, forced people into really, really unstable wage labor. And for older women, this was especially bad, right? Because a lot of them relied on those common resources or on their husband's land for security. And this just took it all away and left them really vulnerable and dependent. It's like this picture of just massive social disruption. And the article points out that this is kind of the backdrop for that great hunt of witches in Europe that we always hear about. And, you know, we think of it as just like mass hysteria. But the fact that it was at its worst between the 1580s and the 1630s, right when capitalism was really taking off, suggests, you know, there's something more going on there. And it wasn't just the church driving this anymore, was it? No, that's a really important point. The church was involved in witch hunts before this. But now the state, the government, they started to step in, you know? Yeah. And often they were working directly with the religious and political leaders. They made witchcraft like a really serious crime. They made it a capital crime. And the trials, they moved from the church courts to secular courts run by the government. Scotland's a really good example. Yeah. The authorities there, they actually encouraged people to be afraid of witches. And they even gave out lists of people they suspected of witchcraft. Wow. And if you look at the accusations themselves, they often reveal these economic anxieties that were going on. Right. The article gives this crazy list of complaints against this one woman, Margaret Harkett, like picking peas, being refused yeast, taking firewood. It's all so petty. But it shows, you know, the struggles people were facing just to survive and how that could lead to resentment in these communities that were already so disrupted. Right. And it wasn't just the poorest people being accused, was it? No, not always. Yeah. But even when someone who had some property was accused, the article points out that judges and witch hunters, they could actually make money from this by taking the accused person's property. Oh, wow. Yeah. Matthew Hopkins, he was this famous English witch hunter. He got super rich doing this. And this constant fear of being accused, it really messed with how people interacted, especially women. Even just casual gatherings, you know, what they called gossip back then, became suspicious. And women felt pressure to accuse each other, you know, to protect themselves. Yeah, it's scary to think about how this all, you know, helped create this more patriarchal society where women were pushed out of trades. They couldn't enter contracts. They basically became the property of their husbands when they got married. Yeah. And it wasn't just about their economic roles either, was it? The article mentions how people accused of having sex outside of marriage or healers and midwives who might have helped with contraception or abortion. Yeah. Those are all ways to, you know, control women's bodies and their reproductive capabilities. As this new social order was emerging. Right. The article concludes that this whole witch hunting thing, it was like a campaign of terror. You know, meant to crush any resistance to the dispossession that was happening to the peasants. And, you know, 50,000 executions. It's just, it's a mind-boggling number. Yeah, it really is. And this wasn't just happening in Europe, was it? No. The Scientific American article goes on to talk about colonial contexts and how similar things were happening there. So let's start with South America. Okay. In South America, the Europeans, they wanted gold and silver. And that led to a lot of brutal repression. Witch hunts were they were used to crush indigenous rebellions against colonialism and also to force people to work in the mines like the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico is a really clear example of this. Right. And then in North America, you know, even in that really strict Puritan society, you see witchcraft accusations coming up. The article says that witchcraft was actually part of their early legal codes. Wow. And a lot of people accused in New England they were women, like disproportionately women. There's this case of Martha Carrier. She got pregnant outside of marriage. And then later she inherited property. Yeah. And her story really shows how if you didn't fit in socially and you had some economic standing, you could become a target. Right. Yeah. And then the article takes us all the way to 19th century British India. And what's wild is when the colonial authorities took land away from upper caste people, those groups, they couldn't really fight the colonizers directly. Yeah. So they turned their anger on dull women, and that led to another wave of witch hunts. It's like a textbook example of how vulnerable groups become scapegoats when there's big upheaval going on. Yeah, exactly. It really shows that these aren't just isolated historical events. Right. And the scariest part is the Scientific American article argues that these same dynamics are still happening in the world today. It's not just a thing of the past. Yeah, no, no. It's not. Like capitalism keeps expanding and land is still being taken for development projects all over the world. And that's causing displacement and inequality everywhere. And sadly, we see witch hunts happening directly because of these things. Yeah. And the examples they give are really disturbing. The Gusi region in Kenya. Yeah. The IMF, they imposed these loan conditions that led to huge cuts in public spending. And this was happening at the same time that AIDS was ravaging the community. Right. And there was this surge in witchcraft accusations. People were desperate. They were looking for someone to blame for their suffering. Right. And it's the same in Nigeria. They had similar austerity policies. And you see more and more accusations against homeless children. It's awful. Yeah. There's this guy, Leo Igwe. He says that witchcraft accusations tend to go up when governments cut social welfare programs. Oh, wow. And that's a really important point, right? Because it shows that when the state stops supporting people, it creates this vacuum where vulnerable groups become easy targets. The article also talks about about conflicts over resources, like in the Democratic Republic of Congo with among Balalu gold mines and scarcity of land, like in places like Odisha, India and Kilifi, Kenya. Witchcraft accusations become a way to take land away from people. And it's often the elderly or people who are relatively well off who are targeted. Right. And there's this this case in Nigeria, Iko Edith Eyo. She was she was killed and her family believes that it was because people were jealous of her land. and the financial support she was getting from her daughter, it's a really stark reminder that this is happening right now. Yeah. And then there's the generational conflict in Namibia, where younger people who are focused on money and the economy might accuse older landowners of witchcraft. It's just, it's another layer to this really complex problem. Yeah, it is. And then you have these professional witch finders, which is, it's disturbing. They make money off of these accusations, and sometimes they even pretend to be pastors. And this is happening in places like Malawi and Namibia. It creates this incentive for the witch hunts to just keep going. It's a really bleak picture. But the article does talk about people and organizations who are fighting back against these modern day witch hunts. They're doing things like pursuing legal challenges and providing pensions for the elderly, like a kind of social safety net. Yeah. And there are movements growing against land dispossession. So it seems like the fight for justice is still going on in lots of places. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And understanding these underlying socioeconomic causes, it's key to supporting those efforts. So we've explored these driving forces behind witch hunts. And now I think it's time to talk about some of the misconceptions that people have about witch hunts historically. And this is where that English Heritage article is really helpful. Let's debunk some of these myths. So the first one they talk about is the idea that witches were burned at the stake. You know, that's the image we all have, right? Right. Yeah. But the English heritage research says that that wasn't really the case in English speaking countries like in England and the American colonies. They hanged people who were convicted of witchcraft. They did burn witches in Scotland. But even then, it was usually after they'd been strangled. Oh, OK. So not quite the dramatic, fiery death that we often see in movies and stuff. Right. Exactly. OK. What about the numbers? We always hear about about nine million witches being killed. I mean, is that even true? No, no, that number is way off. The English Heritage Source says that a more accurate estimate is somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000 executions during the main period of witch hunts, which was like from the 15th to the late 18th century. Okay. It's still a horrible number, but nowhere near 9 million. Yeah, that definitely puts things in perspective. Another thing people think is that once you were accused of witchcraft, you were doomed. Like there was no way to prove your innocence. Right. But again, the English Heritage Source says that's not really true. They say that in England, only about 25% of the people who were actually put on trial for witchcraft were found guilty and executed. Oh, wow. So, you know, even though being accused was scary and disruptive, it didn't always mean you were going to be killed. What do you think caused that difference, you know, compared to other parts of Europe? That's a really interesting question. Maybe it was the legal system or maybe people were just more skeptical about witchcraft in England. I don't know. It's really fascinating to think about. And what about the number of people who were accused? Was it like millions of innocent people being rounded up? No, the source says that that probably no more than 2000 people were ever put on trial for witchcraft in England. And and they also say that a lot of judges and even jury members didn't really believe in magic. thought a lot of the cases were fake or that they were just about like neighbors fighting with each other. Huh. So there was some skepticism even back then. Yeah, that's a good thing. It's really interesting. Okay. Now, people often connect the Spanish Inquisition with starting witch trials. Is that true? Well, the English Heritage article says that all the major Western Christian denominations were involved in persecuting witches, the Catholics, the Lutherans, the Calvinists, and the Anglicans. They were all doing it to some extent. And it's interesting, the Eastern Orthodox churches, they mostly stayed out of it. Oh, wow. Yeah. And contrary to what people think, the Spanish Inquisition didn't actually execute that many people for witchcraft. It was the Protestant states in places like England, Scotland and Scandinavia that were really active in carrying out those trials. OK, so it wasn't just a Catholic thing. No, not at all. What about King James the First? We always hear about him being terrified of witches and and like really driving the witch hunts. Yeah. Well, King James definitely was interested in witchcraft. He even wrote a book about it. But the English Heritage Source says that more accused witches were actually executed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was the ruler before him. And get this, the very first witchcraft act in England that was passed under Henry VIII. And what's kind of funny is later on, when James I was king of England, he actually spent time investigating and exposing fake cases of demonic possession. Oh, wow. So he was more complicated than we think. Yeah, definitely. Okay. And this is a big one, I think. This myth that witch hunting was basically just women hunting. We already talked about how women were more likely to be affected by the economic stuff going on. But what does the English heritage sort say about the genders of the people accused? Well, in England, most of the accused were women. That's true. But in some Scandinavian countries, it was actually men who were accused slightly more often. Oh, wow. And across Europe, about 10 to 15 percent of the people executed for witchcraft were men. So the idea of a male witch, it definitely existed. And it's also really important to note that in England, most of the accusers were women, too. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. So it's not as simple as men persecuting women. Right. Okay, and lastly, there's this romanticized idea of witches as, like, these wise women, you know, goddess-worshiping herbalist midwives being targeted for their feminine power. Is there any truth to that? Not really. The English Heritage Source says that there's no historical evidence of any widespread goddess worship during this period. And the idea that accused witches were mostly midwives who had some kind of, like, threatening knowledge, that's just not true. In fact, midwives were rarely accused. And they often worked with the accusers to find those supposed witch marks on people's bodies. So the reality of witch hunts was much more complicated than the myths we hear. They were tied to social and economic upheaval. They were used to marginalize vulnerable people and to silence dissent. And we've seen that, that some of the most common beliefs about witch hunts are just plain wrong. Exactly. And I think the most important takeaway for our listeners is to understand these historical patterns. because as that Scientific American article showed us, witch hunts are still happening. They've just changed to fit the world today, you know, with things like land dispossession and inequality. Yeah, it really makes you think, like how might the anxieties and changes we're seeing today lead to new forms of scapegoating and othering? It's not a fun thought, but it shows how important it is to learn from history and to keep fighting for justice for the people who are still facing these accusations today. So this deep dive has brought us to a really crucial question for you, the listener. You know, knowing what we know now about witch hunts, both in the past and the present, how can we become more aware of these echoes of the past that are happening today? How can we recognize when vulnerable groups are being targeted and blamed? Whether it's really obvious or more subtle, it's a question I hope you'll keep thinking about. Thanks for listening today. Four recurring narratives underlie every episode. Boundary dissolution, adaptive complexity, embodied knowledge, and quantum-like uncertainty. These aren't just philosophical musings, but frameworks for understanding our modern world. We hope you continue exploring our other podcasts, responding to the content, and checking out our related articles at heliocspodcast.substack.com.