In 1692 Salem was an unremarkable town in Massachusetts. In this Puritanical stronghold witch fever took hold and spread throughout the population; neighbour e denounced neighbour and children accused well respected townsfolk of hideous Satanic practises. Before the frenzy had evaporated it claimed the lives of 22 people and two dogs, who were also executed for practising witchcraft.

The furore was sparked in the minds of impressionable children. A group of girls habitually met in the home o...

Catholic elders of the Middle-Ages believed Europe was blighted by a witch epidemic. Their reaction was to send in the Inquisition. Already tried and tested against the like and so called heretics over the past centuries, the inquisitor monks had wide ranging powers to seek out witches……and destroy them.

In the year of 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issued what is known as a Papa Bull that declared all ‘…(witches) do not shrink from committing and perpetrating the foulest abominations and f...

As darkness fell, witches sneaked out of their houses to mount broomsticks, fire-rakes, cats or even hypnotised human beings, their destination was the sabbath or sabbat, the witches’ orgy. The Sabbath was a mixture of flames and feasting, with toads lurking in the undergrowth and owls dipping soundlessly overhead joined by the odd screech from a bat.

The witches definitely knew how to throw a feasting party on a budget! For most part, the food was stolen. But there was a carefully made ca...

As winter drew near, the superstitious Celts were gripped by fear. If the gods were angry the sun might never shine again. With the prolonged hours of darkness the spirits of the dead were free to roam the earth. Against this background of dread a special celebration evolved some 2,000 years ago to protect and nourish.

In Celtic Britain winter lasted from 1st November to 30th April and summer arrived on 1st May. Officially the end of summer was on 31st October, which was the feast day to the...

It’s stated that superstition is a form of layman’s magic. In a bygone age beset by marauding devils and sorcery, people were constantly on the look-out for possible harbingers of ill-fortune and fate. As a result they looked no further than home for remedies against the evil forces.

Let’s start this off by taking a look at chimney-sweeps, blacksmiths and ladders. But also bearing in mind that life amongst the superstitious can be quite complex.
The chimney-sweep, thought by many to be ...

Magician or madman, wily wizard or guardian of the good, Merlin is alive in the minds of schoolchildren today as mentor to the heroic King Arthur. But did he really live at all? The legend of Camelot’s court magician has been scrutinised down the centuries, yet the facts are still few and hazy.

Much of today’s perception of Merlin comes via Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose work includes ‘Vita Merlin’ and ‘The Prophecies of Merlin’.
These were written in the 12th century but are still c...