17.4: The Great Witch Hunt

The legend of the witch that spread during the three centuries of witch hunting and lasted through the Renaissance began with the devil. A woman or man (but usually a woman) who was down on their luck would suddenly find themselves in the company of the Prince of Darkness. Great gatherings of witches would take place on a sabbat and witches had to travel great distances to reach it, flying on a ram, goat, pig, ox, black horse, stick, shovel, spit, or the iconic broomstick. Witches who missed the service or didn't do enough mean magical stuff in the time between sabbats were whipped for their transgression, suggesting the degree to which the witch was simply an inverted mirror image of the strictly controlled religious life of Renaissance Christianity.