1. Witches and the Puritans
By Tom Terzano
a.k.a t-staxsz

3. What is a witch? A witch can be a man or a woman.
Witch is a feminine term
Wizard or warlock is a masculine term.
A group of witches or warlocks is called a coven or a klatch.
The word witch comes from “Wicca” an Old English term that means sorcery.

5. What do witches do?
Through rituals, charms, spells and the conjuring or invoking of spirits, they manipulate natural and cosmic forces for either good or evil purposes.
They were thought to be vindictive, cast evil spells upon others and consort with evil spirits.
Witches in many cultures are helpful, kind, and wise in the ways of medicine.

7. A question:
Why are witches good in English class?

8. Answer:
They are good at spelling!

9. Who can be a witch? Simple answer: anyone who doesn’t fit in!
Any person of any race.
Any person considered an outsider to the dominant culture.
Any person who keeps dolls, weird pets, strange spices, brooms, pots, pans, or books not related to the Bible.

11. Question:
Do witches smell?

12. Answer:
Only if they have noses!

14. Witches were a social problem
Catholics were gaining momentum in building strength.
They wished to spread fear in those who opposed them.
Their logic led them to believe that they could kill people in the name of God work.
They justified this to their people with the idea of evil witches.

16. Question:
Did you hear? I met twin witches…

17. Answer:
I couldn’t tell witch was witch!

19. The Inquisition
During the Inquisition the Catholic church rounded up, tortured and killed anyone who they thought might be a threat.
The tradition of killing witches stuck and spread to other organized religions.

21. Famous people killed for witchcraft.
Joan of Arc was killed.
Anne Boleyn was killed. (Henry the VIII’s wife).
Margaret Jones was killed (first in America!)
Caroline of Brunswick (made voodoo dolls of the King of England).

25. A beluga witch!

26. Powers of witches!!! Magic potions Voodoo dolls made of wax or wood
Charms and spells
Ability to fly
Transform themselves into animals.
Make themselves invisible.

28. Question:
What witches do you find in the desert?

29. Answer:
Sandwiches!

30. Powers of witches!!!
Kill from a distance by thinking about it or wishing it.
Conjure the dead (speak to the dead, interact with spirits).
Affect nature with storms.
Give life to inanimate objects.
Telepathy, hypnosis, and reading minds.

32. Testing for Witches
Look for weird marks on the body (moles, birthmarks, “devil’s marks”).
Water test.
Scales test.

34. Testing for Witches Recite the Lord’s prayer. Crying test.
Laying on hands.

36. Question:
What do witches put in their hair?

37. Answer:
Scare spray!

38. So you are accused of being a witch. You need to confess!!!
Get a priest to bless the tools of torture!
Inspect the person by poking with fingers all over body.
Collect money from the families of the accused.

40. Time for torture! Much torture for public amusement.
Torture to send a message to enemies or opposition.
Torture backed by the church and government (they were one in the same).
A sensitive person protesting the torture might be a witch, too!

42. Common Tortures… Horsewhipped. Hot irons. Device called the “turcas.”
Boiling water or oil.
Eyeballs ripped out with hooks.
Bleeding by cuts above the nostrils believed to weaken a witche’s powers.

44. Tortures, tortures, tortures.
Strapado:
Involves tying a person’s hands together above their heads, hooking them to a pulley, and then yanking the rope quickly.
Water torture:
Involves making a person swallow a knotted rope, then pouring boiling water down their throat, and pulling it out.

46. Question:
What do you call two witches who live together in college?

47. Answer:
Broom-mates!

48. You’ve survived, and confessed.
You need to confess so you can go to heaven.
You need to confess so that the government was right.
You need to confess so that they won’t kill your family.
You need to confess so that you won’t be tortured for longer than necessary.

51. Death options. Having stones thrown at you till you die.
Putting heavy flat rocks on your chest till your ribs crush and you die.
Hang you by the neck till you die.
Burn you while you are tied to the stake till you die.

53. Denial versus confession.
If you deny that you were a witch, then you defy the government and are a traitor.
If you confess you might live.
If you confess your family will be known as a witch family, and lose their property and rights.
If you confess, but name someone else as a witch you might live!

55. So then do witches really exist?
Not in the ways you think.
They are often anti-establishmentarian.
They are liberal and forgiving.
They are recognized now as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural.
Science explains away witchcraft for the most part.

56. Last question:
What is evil and ugly on the inside and green on the outside?

57. Answer:
A witch dressed as a cucumber!