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Those few words ‘Hubble Bubble Toil & Trouble’ are synonymous with witches and all that is considered dark and occult in magic. However nothing could be further from the truth.
When it comes to casting a spell, you may need nothing more than a candle and a heart filled with the purest of intentions, it all depends on what you are hoping to achieve.
There are a multitude of spell kits available to buy, whether you are a complete novice or a well seasoned spell caster. It is entirely up to you whether you use the spell kit as it stands or choose to incorporate some extra items of your own to fortify its powers and increase the chances of a successful outcome.
I can hear people reading this and thinking ‘What on earth could I add to a spell kit?’ Well you have a whole host of options, depending on what has been included in your kit you could add crystals, gemstones, incense, herbs or spices and of course photographs or personal effects if appropriate.
Remember that any good spell can only be effective if the intent behind it comes from the heart.
The witch hunts of the 1600’s are a dark period of history. The concept and practice of the witch hunt was actively participated in, in almost all European countries. It is a period in history that I have always been drawn to, and as a modern practicing witch my sympathies lie solidly with the victims of such crusades.
It was in 1604 that King James I passed the ‘Witchcraft Act’, an act that was repealed in 1736 when it was universally declared that there was: No such thing as witchcraft, and anyone found promoting themselves as having any kind of magical power was guilty of committing fraud. The Witchcraft Act itself was enough to force many followers of the craft underground, keeping themselves out of harms way, forcing them to abandon activities and practices that had been performed for centuries, for fear of arrest, torture, imprisonment and even death.
During this period of history it has been estimated that nine million people across Europe, were tortured to death, how many of these poor people were truly initiated witches is debatable, and indeed something that will never be known exactly.
In England however, it was a man named Matthew Hopkins that rose to the fore in the witch finder business. He actively sought out those with whom the Puritan regime of the day had issue with, who were unpopular, or flouted the law. He was paid handsomely at one pound per head, for each conviction that was acquired. With ‘offenders’ being tortured at will, it is understandable that confessions were forthcoming when faced with being burned at the stake, or drowned, depending on how the torture progressed.
To illustrate the intolerable cruelty that those accused of witchcraft were subjected to, here is a description of the actual torture applied to one unfortunate woman. This is a translation from Konig, (Ausegeburten des Menschen-ahns p130).
1. The hangman binds the woman, who was pregnant, and places her on the rack. Then he racked her till her heart would fain break.
2. When she did not confess, the torture was repeated…he cut off her hair, poured brandy over her head and burned it.
3. He placed sulphur in her arm pits and burned it.
4. Her hands were tied behind her, she was hauled up to the ceiling and suddenly dropped down.
5. This hauling up and dropping down was repeated for some hours, till the hangman and his helpers went to dinner.
6. When they returned, her feet and hands were tied behind her back; brandy was poured on her back and burned.
7. (This item is missing from the translation.)
8. Then heavy weights were placed upon her back and she was pulled up.
9. After this she was again stretched on the rack.
10. A spike board was placed on her back, and she was again hauled up to the ceiling.
11. The master again ties her feet and hangs on them a block of fifty pounds.
12. The master fixes her legs in a vice, tightening the jaws until the blood oozes out from the toes.
13. She was stretched and pinched again in various ways.
14. Now the hangman began the third grade of torture.
15. The hangman’s son-in-law hauled her up to the ceiling by her hands.
16. The hangman whipped her with a horsewhip.
17. She was placed in a vice where she remained for six hours.
18. She was mercilessly horsewhipped.
The accused met with all of this torturous activity on her first day if imprisonment.
So what could this poor woman have possibly have done to incur such an awful torturous captivity? In all probability she had done nothing. She could have spoken out of turn within earshot of someone who took offence, she could have been sighted as a bad neighbour, she could have been unpopular in the area. Women, especially older women who lived alone were more commonly accused, someone who was a nuisance or a burden, and if they had a pet and spoke to it, as most people do, well that was almost certainly a sign that the woman was in league with the devil himself.
There would often be eye witness statements, claiming that they had seen the accused riding on a broomstick over the farmer’s fields one night. Which is probably correct, but there was certainly no flying involved. What they were witnessing was in fact a fertility rite, to encourage growth and a good harvest. The broomstick would be ridden much like a hobby hose would be, straddled by the witch and ‘ridden’ around the field. The witch and any followers would leap into the air to encourage the crop to grow tall and strong, but she certainly didn’t have the ability to hang in the air, or fly from field to field.
Even today, after all of the history that has passed, witchcraft is still very much an underground activity. There is always the thought that the witch finder could be resurrected and the dark times could descend once more.
