WITCH MADNESS.

What Happened In Salem in 1692?

There is a hint of winter in the air. Dead leaves cover the ground. The wind whistles through bare tree branches. The moon shines with an unnatural brightness amid dark clouds.

Soon it will be Halloween--the annual holiday when sidewalks and streets fill with small (and not so small) goblins, ghosts, and witches.

Witches are often figures of fantasy and imagination today. But there was a time in this country's history when witches and their craft were seen as real threats to society. That time was 1692. The place was Salem, Massachusetts.

Imagine a cold January night in the Salem home of the Rev. Samuel Parris. On such nights, the minister's 9-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and 11-year-old niece, Abigail Williams, might have listened to tales of the Caribbean told by Tituba, Parris's West Indian slave. Tituba, a full-blooded Arawak Indian is said to have told the girls stories that involved magic and traditional Arawak spirits.

The girls probably listened to Tituba's stories with rapt attention. In Puritan New England, life for young people, especially girls, was filled with restrictions. Dancing and singing were forbidden. Children were expected to spend their few idle moments studying the Bible.

The Caribbean woman's strange tales may have fired the girls' imagination. Elizabeth found it harder and harder to sleep after hearing Tituba's tales. She would have nightmares about demons and witches. During the day she would suddenly cry and sometimes could not speak. Abigail began having seizures and occasional screaming fits.

Reverend Parris, seeing the girls in such a condition, called on local physicians to diagnose the ailments. The doctors had no trouble finding a cause. "Witchcraft," they told the minister.

In 1692, mental and emotional disorders were not well understood and were often explained as the work of witches or evil spirits. To most people, the devil and his followers were living, breathing creatures. Witches, especially for devout Puritans, were real threats--agents of the devil himself. People believed that by casting spells or "possessing" a person's body, witches sought to claim that person and their soul for Satan.

Seeing the Devil

When local officials questioned the girls, they named Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne as witches. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne denied the charges. But Tituba confessed to having seen the devil, who appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog." What's more, she testified, there was a secret group of witches at work in Salem itself.

In late February 1692, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, two magistrates (similar to judges), rode into Salem. Both men were determined to wipe out the evil of witchcraft.

On March 1, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne appeared before Hathorne and Corwin at the Salem meeting house. According to eyewitnesses, a large crowd attended. In the front row sat the accusers--the "possessed" girls. When the three accused women entered the room, the girls fell to the floor, screaming. They claimed the invisible spirits of the three witches were torturing them.

The magistrates decided that all three women were guilty and sent them to jail.

An Uproar

The verdict threw Salem into an uproar. More and more people were denounced as witches and were questioned by the judges. Neighbors accused neighbors. No one was safe.

Accusers pointed to seemingly solid citizens of Salem, such as Rebecca Nurse, Giles (pronounced JILES) Corey, Philip English, and John Proctor, as secret witches. The judges grilled more than 300 townspeople suspected of practicing witchcraft.

The witch-hunt continued for months. From June through September, 19 people were hanged for witchcraft. Giles Corey, who refused to plead either guilty or innocent, was crushed to death with stones--an ancient form of execution. Four others, including Sarah Osborne, died in jail awaiting trial. Sarah Good was hanged, but Tituba, because she confessed, was released from jail. She and her husband were purchased by another master, and she disappeared from history.

By October 1692, the madness had run its course. Accusations of witchcraft drew less and less attention. On October 29, the Massachusetts Bay Colony's governor, William Phips, dissolved the witch trials.

Why Salem?

Historians and other experts have tried for years to figure out why the Salem witch-hunts happened when and where they did.

Historians have often attributed the Salem witch-hunts to the psychological phenomenon of widespread hysteria. Hysteria is a mental condition marked by disturbances of psychological and physical functioning. Frances Hill, in her book A Delusion of Satan, says hysteria often manifests itself in fits that the victim cannot control. Hill writes, "What its [hysteria's] victims have in common is powerlessness."

Some historians say it is not surprising that Elizabeth and Abigail felt powerful when they accused others of witchery.

Was a Fungus to Blame?

Other explanations have been offered for what happened in Salem. In 1976, a University of California graduate student, Linda Caporael, suggested that a fungus called ergot triggered the witch-hunt. Ergot produces a highly poisonous mold that thrives in certain weather conditions--particularly when a cold winter is followed by a wet, warm summer, as was the case in Salem in 1692. Rye, the main crop grown in Salem at the time, is particularly susceptible to ergot disease. If a person eats bread made from ergot-infected rye flour, the result can be hallucinations, loss of bodily control, delusions, and even death.

Caporael became interested in a possible physical cause of the witch madness during the 1970s after reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible, a play about the 1692 witch trials. She suggested a possible connection between ergot poisoning and the "possessed" girls' afflictions after looking up symptoms of ergot poisoning in a medical dictionary.

In a 1998 Boston Globe story, Caporael said, "After some research, I discovered the very unusual symptoms of [the accusing girls] matched the unusual symptoms of ergot poisoning." Caporael's theory has not been generally accepted.

Was a Fever the Trigger?

Another researcher, Laurie Winn Carlson, wrote a book published last year titled A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials. Although Carlson agrees with Caporeal that the witch-hunt could have been triggered by a physical or environmental condition, Carlson attributes the cause to encephalitis, not ergot poisoning.

Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain most commonly caused by a virus. The disease is usually transmitted by mosquitoes, which thrived in Salem's wet climate. Encephalitis symptoms include sudden fever, headache, vomiting, seizures, confusion, and paralysis--all symptoms exhibited by many of the girls who accused others of being witches. According to Carlson, the "possessed" girls most likely could have picked up the virus in the summer, but symptoms may not have appeared until January. It is not uncommon, scientists say, for the encephalitis virus to lie dormant, or inactive, for months.

Carlson further faults Caporael's idea because, "historically, epidemics of [ergot poisoning] have appeared in places where there had been a severe vitamin A deficiency in the diet. Salem residents had plenty of milk and seafood available; they certainly did not suffer from vitamin A deficiency."

Combination of Theories

George W. Hudler, a professor of plant pathology at Cornell University, suggests a combination of theories might be closer to the truth of what happened in Salem. In the Boston Globe article, Hudler said, "I buy parts of [the ergot theory]. I think that the symptoms of ergot poisoning could have initiated the episode. At the same time, I think some of the adolescent hysteria probably fed on some of those episodes, too."

Whatever the causes, the witch-hunt in and around Salem remains one of the darkest times in U.S. history--a time when mass fear and superstition ruled a community. After the trials, jurors and magistrates apologized, and, in 1711, the colony's governing body made some payments to the victims' families.

In 1992, an anniversary committee dedicated a memorial to the Salem witch trial victims. The memorial is in Salem, in a small park surrounded by a stone wall engraved with the victims' vows of innocence. The memorial stands as a reminder of the dangers of intolerance and oppression. There, visitors can read and remember the tragic consequences in the words of victims such as Mary Easty, who said, "... if it be possible no more innocent blood be shed ... I am clear of this sin."

CONSIDER THIS ... Do you think Salem's witch madness could happen in modern America? What conditions would be necessary for a modern-day witch-hunt to take place? How is modern America different from Salem in 1692?

What's the Story? Indicate the answer that best completes each statement by placing A, B, or C in each blank.

--1. How many persons were executed during the Salem witch trials? (A) 19, (B) 25, (C) 200.

--2. In Puritan society, play or games were considered (A) essential to a child's growth and development, (B) important in moderate amounts, (C) idle and sinful activities.

--3. Ergot is (A) an insect that can carry a deadly disease, (B) a fungus that thrives in marshy climates and can infect crops, (C) a type of bread made primarily in Salem.

--4. Which play by Arthur Miller is about the Salem witch trials? (A) Death of a Salesman, (B) The Crucible, (C) The Rainmaker 

--5. Tituba confessed to witchcraft and was (A) burned at the stake, (B) hanged for being a witch, (C) released, and then sold to another slave owner.