| The Museum Of Witchcraft. |
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What is Witchcraft? When you hear the word Witch thoughts of black cloaks and pointed hats, spiders and black cats, cauldrons pouring with smoke whilst the witch drops in her eye of newt and toe of frogs, broomsticks, Halloween, voodoo dolls and sorcery all come to mind, this of course is not so. The use of supernatural powers was used to harm or damage people in communities and their property by bad witchcraft. Good witchcraft was used to heal someone from the bad. In the 19th Century,
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Persecution of Witches |
| Witchcraft was not a punishable offence until the sixteenth century. |
| Witches
were respected for their healing powers and foresight and were
accepted in everyday life. But, they were also blamed for
anything that went wrong, infertile couples, damaged crops or
anything else that was considered bad luck. |
| Matthew Hopkins was a Witchfinder in 1645. Torture was unlawful in England however Hopkins used various methods to extract confessions from victims. |
| A Scold’s Bridle was used in the witch trials of women. Its metal cage goes over the head, the tongue and cheeks are pierced by sharp prongs that are forced into the mouth. If a witch did not bleed after being cut on the arm with a blunt knife, or floated when thrown into deep water they were executed, hung. Moles or birthmarks were often thought of as a sign of a witch. |
| Some were thrown into deep water to see if they floated, if they did then this was taken into guilty and they were executed. In England they were hung, but burnt to a stake in other countries. |
| In 1563 the Witchcraft act was passed introducing the death penalty in England and Scotland. |
| In July 1566 in Essex, Agnes Waterhouse was found guilty of ‘bewitching’ in England’s first major trial for witchcraft. She was hung for her crime. Over the next 150 years, thousands maybe several million witches were condemned to death. |
| In 1684 Alice Molland was
the last woman in England to be executed for witchcraft. In 1727
Janet Home was the last woman in Scotland to burn for
witchcraft. In 1944 Helen Duncun was the last woman to be
convicted of Witchcraft by a court in London. |
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Weighing Chair This is a reproduction of a
chair found in This method of charging a person with witchcraft was introduced to save people from the Witchfinders cruelty. If a person weighed more than a bible then they were innocent of being a witch. |
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Carrying a Coul when at sea will prevent drowning and will prevent the sinking of a boat. Seafarers use it as an amulet. A Caul, the membrane which sometimes covers the head of a new born baby, is still today worth a lot of money. |
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Granny Boswell was born in 1823 in Ireland and
came to England in the 1840's. She married, had at least 8
children and based herself in Helston. Granny Boswell was a
powerful and well known witch, feared and mistrusted by some, and yet
hundreds of locals turned out for her funeral.
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Cats For Protection Cats were often placed in the walls of buildings as a magical protection from rats and mice. |
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Pierced Hearts - Hearts and other parts of animals are pierced with pins and thorns and are used for protection charms. These were placed in the chimneys of cottages, and are still often found today. |
| Often an organ represents a witch who has a cursed a house, the witches power of the curse disintegrates with the charm/organ. |
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Wooden Hand/Bronze Hand - These were use to ward off evil and to protect the house. They were decorated with magical symbols. |
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Sea Horses - Are worn as protection from the Evil Eye. They are placed on the walls of a house/home to ward off ill fortune for those who live there |
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Mirrors are used to deflect evil intent. To place a mirror behind your door or to visualize yourself surrounded by mirrors will reflect evil. |
Mandrakes |
| A Mandrake is a plant, a parsnip shaped root that sometimes resembles a human figure, the roots have been used in magic rituals to ensure conception. |
| The legend says that the root screams and kills all who hears it when it’s dug up. |
| A dog must be tied to the root and follows it’s master, who runs away covering his ears, pulling the root with it and dying instead. |
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The
Mandrake plant is a member of the nightshade family, and has been used
as a medicinal plant since ancient times, being used as a pain killer
and a sedative. |
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An overdose
can be fatal as it is poisonous. |
| Visit the museums own website for further information, more
photographs and to make a donation, at - The Museum Of
Witchcraft |
| All Photographs © Anna Marrie 13th April 2010 with kind permission from the Witchcraft Museum (Some text copied from the photographs.) |