Salem Witch Hysteria

From Brad Steiger's 'Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, And Haunted Places.



     Because of the accusations of a small circle of prepubescent girls, an entire community in the Massachusetts Bay Colony became crazed and allowed themselves to get caught up in the fear that many of their neighbors were secretly serving Satan.

     A strong case might be made from the argument that the famous Salem witchcraft hysteria of 1692 is an example of poltergeist phenomena that got out of hand.  The young girls, who claimed to have been bewitched by invisible spirits under the control of various elderly women in the village, complained of being pinched, having their hair pulled and being stuck with pins.  All these classic symptoms of witch's wickedness we now recognize as familiar manifestations of poltergeists.

     The madness at Salem began innocently enough in the home of the Reverend Samual Parris, when his slave Tituba began telling stories of voodoo and restless spirits to his nine year old daughter Betty and her eleven year old cousin Abigail Williams.  Soon the exciting storytelling sessions in the Parris household were attracting older girls, such as sixteen year old Mary Walcott, and eighteen year old Susanna Sheldon, who wanted Tituba to tell their fortunes and predict their future husbands, as well as tell them ghost stories.  Although Parris and the other preachers fulminated from the pulpits about the dangers of seeking occult knowledge from spirits, the girls of Salem ignored such warnings in favor of a thrilling pastime that could help them through a long, cold winter.

     Perhaps the psychic energies grew stronger when Ann Putnam, a fragile highly strung twelve year old, joined the circle in the company of the Putnams' maid, nineteen year old Mercy Lewis.  Ann had a quick wit, a high intelligence and a lively imagination, and she soon became Tituba's most avid and apt pupil.  Perhaps while a part of Ann's psyche was thrilled with the forbidden knowledge that Tituba was sharing with them, another more conservative religious aspect was racked with guilt for having flirted with devilish enchantment.  Undoubtedly this conflict of conscience and the fear of discovery also affected the other girls.

     As the winter days passed in Salem, little Betty Parris became distracted from her chores, subject to sudden fits of weeping, and was often seen staring blankly at the wall.  Shortly thereafter, Abigail got down on all fours and began barking like a dog or braying like a donkey.  Mary Walcott and Susanna Sheldon fell into convulsions.  Ann Putnam and Mercy Lewis also began to suffer seizures.  Something evil had come to Salem.

     When members of the Salem clergy began to ask the girls who ti was that was tormenting them, Tituba was the first to be named by the 'possessed' children.  Nor did anyone doubt the naming of Sarah Good, an unpleasant woman who smoked a foul smelling pipe, and who had been suspected of spreading smallpox through witchcraft.  But when Sarah Osburne was also named by the children, the village was shocked.  Mrs. Osburne was a wealthy woman who lived in one of the most substantial homes in Salem.  Nevertheless, warrants were issued for all three women.

     From such a dramatic beginning, the list of names of the Devil's disciples who were tormenting the girls grew steadily longer.  Two magistrates, John Hathorne and Jonathon Corwin, were sent out from the General Court of Massachusetts Colony to hear testimony that included tales of talking animals, dark shapes, red cats, and a Tall Man, who was undoubtedly the Devil himself.

     When the pious, saintly seventy-one year old Rebecca Nurse was arrested for witchcraft, the townsfolk of Salem began to realize that no one was safe from such accusations.  Although the jury initially acquitted her, the judge ordered the jury to reconsider, and she was found guilty.  She was hanged on Gallows Hill on July 19, 1692.

     Massachusetts governor William Phips became outraged when his own wife was accused of being a witch.  He ordered that there should be no further imprisonments for witchcraft in the state, and he forbade any more executions for the crime of witchcraft in Salem.  Because of the governor's actions, the nearly 150 men and women who were still chained to prison walls were set free, and many who had been convicted of witchcraft were pardoned.

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