A small girl fell sick in 1692. Her "fits"--convulsions, contortions, and outbursts of gibberish--baffled everyone. Other girls soon manifested the same symptoms. Their doctor could suggest but one cause. Witchcraft. That grim diagnosis launched a Puritan inquisition that took 25 lives, filled the jails with innocent people, and jaded the soul of a Massachusetts community called Salem.
The idea of witchery in communities began around 1231 in England when Pope Gregory claimed the in the biblical readings said that witches must die.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,
a…
