by Mariah Jones
October is known for fun treats and silly tricks. It’s a time to indulge in your favorite sweet treats and tour a haunted house or two, depending on how brave you are. For years witches have become synonymous with October and Halloween in the United States. In reality, witches are not the villains our favorite cartoons depict. America’s obsession with witches and witchcraft is nothing new. The Salem Witch Trials of the late 1700s sparked this obsession with the unfortunate persecution of individuals suspected of witchcraft.
Image: Drawing that depicts the accused “witches” on trial.
The movement began when a sickness started spreading within the village that could not be explained. Two young girls began to have convulsions and exhibit other “strange” symptoms. To attempt to explain the complicated and rare symptoms, the village doctor diagnosed the sick as being “bewitched.” The local townspeople began to hunt for the witches that were believed to have caused this sickness as more people in Salem fell ill with similar symptoms. From February 1692 to May 1693 roughly 200 people (men and women) were accused of witchcraft. Once accused, a trial would occur (Salem Witch Trials) to determine their guilt or innocence. Of the 200 accused, 19 of them were found guilty and sentenced according to the standards at the time. The idea that an entire village could go into complete chaos and paranoia stumped historians for years to come. For years following the trials, the village in its entirety was studied to gain clarity and understanding.
This brings us to 1976, roughly 300 years later, when Dr. Linnda Caporael of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute generated a new theory. During her studies, she found evidence that seemed to explain the sickness plaguing the village at the time. She believed the culprit was ergotism, a disease caused by the fungi ergot. Like humans, plants such as rye can be infected with various diseases.
Image: A rye crop infected with ergot.
Image: Harvested rye that contains infected (ergot) seeds.
The ergot fungi thrive in wet, cold, and damp conditions. Historians have concluded that around the time of the trials, the weather conditions were ideal for the fungus to grow. If the infected crops are ingested, an individual may contract the disease called convulsive ergotism. The symptoms can include convulsions, choking, prickling sensations on the skin, and even hallucinations. There are still some aspects of the trials that cannot be explained by the infected rye, however, ergotism could explain the mysterious illness and the hysteria that plagued the village. A witch casting a spell is a lot more interesting than bad bread, but sometimes things aren’t as complicated as they may seem.
