Black magic women:
Spell casting in Salem, USA
My guide, Tom, raised his arms dramatically above his head.
‘Earth, wind, fire and air – I call upon your powers!’ he bellowed.
I was in Salem, Massachusetts – the unofficial witchcraft capital of the world – and this was my first ever experience of spell casting. I was taking part in a tour led by real-life Salem witches to learn all about the town and its spooky history, and Tom was casting a ritual to help us witch tourists get the most from the day.
Back in 1693, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft in Salem. It started when nine-year old Betty Paris, daughter of the local Reverend Samuel Paris, and her cousin Abigail Williams, 11, began to suffer strange ‘fits.’ They screamed, threw things round the room, and complained they were being pricked all over by invisible pins. This sounds a lot like children acting up – but the devoutly religious local community refused to entertain this idea, so instead the finger of blame was pointed at three social outcasts, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and a slave named Tituba, who were suspected of being witches.
Executed
Events swiftly spiralled as more children claimed they were being ‘attacked.’ In the end, 19 men and women found guilty of witchcraft and executed. One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to plead, and at least five people died in jail. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of the United States.
Tragically, none of the accused were actually practising witches – they were just victims of a horrific masspanic. But the town’s association with everything magical stuck. Disney’s 1993 film Hocus Pocus, starring Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as evil witch sisters, was set here, as were several episodes of 1970s classic TV show Bewitched. And its reputation has drawn real-life witches from all across the US to make this town their home – the shops are filled with candles, herbs and crystals line the streets, and signs advertise tarot and palm reading. Even the taxis – which are green – have pictures of broomstick-
Witches were feared in the 17th century
riding witches on their sides. After we’d finished casting the spell in the garden of Crow Haven Corner – an eerie black wooden house that we’re told is the oldest witch shop in Salem – Tom gave me and the five other tour attendees an orange crystal each to carry, and we made our way out into the town. Highlights of the tour included the graveyard where the witch trials victims are buried – and the statue of Samantha Stephens of Bewitched that sits in the town centre. Bewitched, it turns out, is responsible for much of Salem’s appearance today. ‘It was that TV show that actually started drawing would-be witches to Salem,’ Tom explained. ‘They loved it so much that they never moved away!’
Earth power
I said goodbye to Tom and headed off to explore on my own. Salem is a quintessential historical American town, its streets lined with cute wooden houses painted in sugar candy shades. Keen to explore some of the witchy shops, I entered the yellow-painted Artemisia Botanicals, where I was greeted by floor-to-ceiling rows of every type of dried herb, flower and leaf you could imagine.
‘We believe that all power comes from earth – the mother,’ Terri, the owner, told me. ‘If you want to do a spell, the energy comes from nature and from within people.’
I bought a bright orange spell candle that promised to bring success. Terri instructed me to light it, look at the flame and visualise the success I want, then let it burn all the way to the end.
Next day, I headed to the pretty red brick downtown area, where I had a rendezvous with a witch at Hauswitch Home + Healing. At first glance, it just looked like a trendy interiors store – until I spotted the rows of spell kits and crystals on its shelves.
The owner, Erica Feldman, a cool-looking woman in her 30s with a black bob and red lipstick, came bustling out to greet me, and explained that she’d be guiding me through a New Moon meditation.
‘Lie on the rug and make yourself cosy,’ she said, giving me a drop of flower essence in my mouth to clear away any negative energy. She told me to clear my mind, then asked me to visualise myself flying over a field of beautiful pink flowers while my worries and cares floated away...
When it was over, I felt as blissed out as I would after a day at the spa. Wandering back towards my hotel for a lie-down, something suddenly stopped me in my tracks. A huge pink flower, just like the ones I’d imagined during the meditation, had floated down from the sky and landed right between my feet.
Of course, it was only a coincidence… or was it?