The Thing About Witch Hunts

Episode 200: The Long Arc of Witch Hunts—From Connecticut to a Global Crisis
The Thing About Witch Hunts: We mark episode 200 by tracing the full arc of witch hunts from ancient prosecutions to early modern demonology, colonial New England, and today’s escalating global violence. We begin with Connecticut’s executions—starting with Alice Young in 1647—and the 2023 resolution absolving the indicted victims, then widen out through England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Basque country, Sweden, and Salem, emphasizing how courts, texts, and laws shaped prosecutions and how “hysteria” does not accurately describe these bureaucratic trials. We connect historic concepts like the diabolical pact, the sabbath, and “crimen exceptum” to modern accusations, banishment, torture, and killings across at least sixty nations, citing UN-documented violence, Ghana’s Akua Denteh, and contradictory legal responses. We center survivors and the accused as people, invite action, and point listeners to endwitchhunts.org and World Day Against Witch Hunts (August 10).Thank you to the 175 guests who have appeared on the podcast and to all who have viewed or listened to The Thing About Witch Hunts. And we aren't stopping with 200 episodes. Subscribe today and watch the amazing episodes coming up.
End Witch Hunts endwitchhunts.org
About Witch Hunts aboutwitchhunts.com
Salem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts

00:00 Episode 200 Mission
02:53 Ancient Roots
05:14 Church Turns to Heresy
09:58 Malleus and Sexism
11:36 England Goes Secular
12:23 Pamphlets and Skeptics
18:12 Laws Across Colonies
25:02 Europe Scale and Stress
27:17 England Local Panics
31:02 Scotland Burning Regime
34:50 Wales and Healing Magic
37:25 Ireland Rare Trials
40:11 Basque Hunt Split Courts
43:16 Sweden Blockula to Salem
44:40 Connecticut Before Salem
46:20 Massachusetts and Salem
51:22 After Trials Vigilantes
53:45 Modern Global Crisis
58:59 Law Patchwork Today
01:01:07 Memorials and World Day
01:03:20 What You Can Do
01:05:22 Final Call to Action

What was a witch's familiar, and why did these animal spirits sit at the heart of English witch trials? Returning guest Dr. Holly Bamford joins hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack to explain the witch's familiar, the witch's mark, and the overlooked history of male witches in early modern England. Learn what the familiar meant, how the witch's mark was used as evidence, why the witch-familiar bond mirrored motherhood, and why men accused of witchcraft were not simply feminized. Featuring Agnes Waterhouse and her cat Satan, John Bysack and his six snails, and John Palmer's familiar named Jezebel.
What a witch's familiar was in English witchcraft

Why the familiar mattered so much in witch trials

How the witch's mark was used as evidence

Who was accused of being a male witch

Why men accused of witchcraft were not feminized

How the witch-familiar bond mirrored motherhood

Why Agnes Waterhouse and her cat Satan became a foundational case

What John Palmer's familiar Jezebel reveals about marriage

00:00 Familiars in Trials
01:01 Meet Dr Bamford
02:08 Conference Paper Idea
04:14 What Is a Familiar
07:51 Pamphlets and Audiences
11:47 Counting Trials Limits
15:03 Agnes Waterhouse Case
19:21 Marks and Teats
22:56 Motherhood and Familiars
31:52 Male Witches and Snails
41:49 Humanoid Familiar Jezebel
46:27 Further Reading Wrap
48:53 Modern Meaning Outro
#WitchTrials #Witchcraft #WitchsFamiliar #WitchesMark #MaleWitches #WitchcraftHistory #EarlyModernEngland #Familiars #Folklore #AgnesWaterhouse #HistoryPodcast #WitchHunts #EndWitchHunts
Buy: Witchcraft, the Devil, and Emotions in Early Modern England by Charlotte-Rose Millar https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780367204549
Buy the book Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781845190798
Register for the Magic and Witchcraft Conference June 24-25 Online & In Person
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/magic-and-witchcraft-conference-2026-nature-and-the-supernatural-tickets-1989231567166
End Witch Hunts: https://www.endwitchhunts.org
The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com

Metacom’s Resistance, Puritan Mythology, and King Philip’s War with Sarah Stewart (Partnership of Historic Bostons)
We speak with Sarah Stewart, president of the Partnership of Historic Bostons, a public history organization focused on 17th-century New England, to confront Puritan mythology and widen the lens beyond Salem to Indigenous history, enslaved Africans, and displaced peoples. We dig into why King Philip’s War, which is often skipped in schools and told through colonial monuments, Increase Mather, and captivity narratives, was a turning point that devastated Native sovereignty, reshaped New England, and fed the fear that later influenced the Salem witch trials. Sarah breaks down PHB’s “Metacom’s Resistance” series, the need for reframing the war through Indigenous voices, and the realities of enslavement, land commodification, and legal encroachment on sovereignty. 
00:00 Meet Sarah Stewart
00:50 Origins of the Partnership
01:51 Broadening the 17th Century Lens
03:21 Programs and Events
04:58 Puritans Beyond the Myths
06:51 Building Community Feedback
08:06 Why King Philip's War Matters
10:53 How the Story Got Distorted
13:22 Metacom's Resistance Series
17:49 Indigenous Voices Center Stage
20:50 Violence and Witch Trial Fear
23:59 Captivity and Enslavement
25:53 Land Commodification Clash
28:50 Land And Equality
29:31 Amplifying Indigenous Voices
33:08 Powerful Panels And Future Events
37:08 Puritans Fear And Ongoing Wars
39:11 Courts Sovereignty And Punishment
42:23 Thomas Morton And Other Paths
45:29 War Choices And Modern Parallels
46:55 Audience Reflections And Truth
52:01 Keep Learning Stay Connected
Partnership of Historic Bostons
“The Unknown War: King Philip's War, 1675-1678” (video)
“The Past is Now: An Inter-Tribal Panel Discussion of King Philp's War” (video)
“Surviving Slavery: Indigenous Enslavement in King Philip's War” (video)
“Erasure: History, Memory and King Philip's War” (video)
“What Really Happened at Turners Falls?” (video)
“The Long Legacy: The Cost and Consequences of King Philip's War” (video)
“The Slews and Hoars of Beverly: From Witchcraft to Slavery” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GEspMnY9-o
“The Other: Understanding Witch Hunts, Part I, with Emerson Baker, Sarah Jack, and Josh Hutchinson” (video)
“Resistance: Stopping Witch Hunts, Part II” (video)
Jenny Hale Pulsipher, Subjects unto the Same King: Indians, English, and the Contest for Authority in Colonial New England
Jill Lepore, The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity
Peter C. Mancall, The Trials of Thomas Morton

We turn the mic on each other for a fast, personal Q&A spanning Salem and global witch hunts, from the infamous Salem witch cake to pop-culture “broom” upgrades and the accused people we can’t stop thinking about, including Samuel Wardwell, Katherine Harrison, Mary Esty, and Rebecca Nurse. We dig into why confessions didn’t always save lives, how spectral evidence shaped cases, and how banishment could be a brutal alternative to execution. We break down our three podcast formats—Salem Witch Trials Daily, The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials, and The Thing About Witch Hunts—and share what listeners most ask about innocence, “real” witchcraft, and the reality that accusations still occur in at least 60 countries. We close with how End Witch Hunts grows through volunteering, donations, subscriptions, and petitions for exonerations.
00:00 Welcome And Guests
01:18 Witch Cake Debate
02:23 Flying On Appliances
03:52 Accused Who Haunt Us
08:17 Banishment And Survival
09:20 Three Podcasts Explained
10:57 Questions We Get Asked
13:32 Research Methods Shift
15:21 Growing Reach Staying Grounded
19:10 What Makes Our Show Different
24:15 Devil Nicknames And Laughs
26:58 Witch Trials Ice Cream
29:38 Descendant Emotions And Ancestors
35:31 Understanding Accusers And Fear
43:43 Why The Accused Were Innocent
45:31 June Trials And Daily Plug
46:24 How To Support End Witch Hunts
51:36 Final Thanks And Call To Action 
Links
Support The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://endwitchhunts.org/donate
The Thing About Witch Hunts Website: https://aboutwitchhunts.com
The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.com
Salem Witch Trials Daily: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts
Salem Witch Hunt Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/salemwitchhunt

Divination folklore, folk magic history, and the practice of reading omens, cards, and natural signs are at the heart of this conversation with Icy Sedgwick, author of Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination, folklorist, and host of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast. From ancient liver divination in Mesopotamia to love divination games played by young women in early modern England, this episode traces the deep folk roots of divinatory practice across centuries and cultures.
Icy Sedgwick is a writer, researcher, and diviner specializing in folklore, plant lore, and folk magic. Her book Fate or Fortune: The Art of Divination explores the history, folklore, and practice of divination from a folklore studies perspective. She is the creator and host of the Fabulous Folklore Podcast, based in Newcastle, England.
Divination is one of the oldest and most universal human impulses, and its fingerprints are all over witch trial history. In this episode, Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack sit down with Icy Sedgwick to explore what folk magic tradition tells us about the people who practiced divination, why they sought answers through omens and tools and rituals, and what those practices reveal about the communities that preserved them. The conversation is wide-ranging, deeply grounded in folklore scholarship, and endlessly surprising.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:
What separates divination from fortune telling, and why has that distinction mattered throughout history?

How did cunning women turn ordinary household objects into powerful folk magic tools?

What do love divination rituals reveal about the real lives of women in early modern communities?

Why did playing cards become so deeply entangled with the devil in folk tradition?

What ancient civilizations left behind physical records of their divination practices, and what did those records reveal?

How has dowsing been used for purposes far stranger than finding water?

What does folklore say about omens you never asked for but receive anyway?

Which forms of divination are experiencing a genuine resurgence right now, and which trend is Icy warning practitioners to avoid?

Pick up Icy Sedgwick's book Fate or Fortune: The Art and Folklore of Divination through our affiliate bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/endwitchhunts
icysedgwick.com
#divination #folklore #folkmagic #witchtrials #salemwitchtrials #fortunetelling #cunningfolk #omens #tarot #cartomancy #dowsing #folklorePodcast #witchhunts #occulthistory #historicalpodcast #folklorestudies #divinationhistory #witchcraft #palmistry #scapulamancy