Book Review: How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women
Book Review: How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women
Authors: Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell, two Scottish writers and podcasters and co-leaders of the Witches of Scotland campaign.
Publisher: Tantor Media, 2025 Audiobook.
Genres: Scottish History, Women's History, Great Britain History, Gender and Religion, Mythology, Women's Rights
Why I Chose It:
I had just read Embracing the Old Witch in the Woods: Liberating Feminine Wisdom from Christian Patriarchy, and Women Who Run With Wolves. These got me thinking about how patriarchal power can silence women and force women to hide who they really are. Tying Christianity to patriarchy has resulted in separating women from the divine and causing ongoing feelings of guilt and low self-esteem, the opposite of the forgiveness, love, and worthiness that Jesus demonstrated.
Summary:
This non-fiction book was gripping, showing that the truth is stranger than fiction. The audiobook is read by the two authors in the style of a podcast, with humorous side comments making it easier to listen to the horrific history. I love that the authors provide stories of specific, named women, and what happened to them. The stark facts of allegations against those who seem different, and the demonizing of women, are enough to shake us into seeing signs of similar problems today. The way these offences are tied to Christianity highlights not only the problems of Calvinist Christianity in the 16th century, but of Christian Nationalism today.
Part One: The Law of the Land
Chapter 1: How to Believe in Magic
First, it was a mainstream belief that magic was real. This was accepted as fact. It was common to sell magic in the form of charms or spells.
Modern people still turn to magic and rituals to try to understand misfortunes or to predict their future or cope with stress or problems (Essential Oils, aromatherapy, diffusers, tarot cards, superstitions, spiritualists, mediums, tea leaves, psychics, or astrology).
It was a fact that the devil was real and could have carnal relations with women and take command over foolish women. Christian beliefs were combined with magical practices to manage the travails of living. However, the belief in magic did not cause the witch trials. The belief that magic came from the devil and that protection was only found in the church.
How to Start a Witch Hunt
The union of church and state killed thousands of women in Scotland alone. It was motivated by Christian men who were greedy for power and felt threatened by women. The church cemented its power in people's lives.
The Scottish Parliament wanted to prevent citizens from indulging in any spiritualism except that available at the Protestant Church of Scotland. John Knox was central in establishing the rules and governance of the Church of Scotland and in dismantling Roman Catholic jurisdiction, instituting Reformed Protestantism as the national religion.
How could the church and state legislate against Catholicism, witches, and the devil? John Knox preached against women ruling in Scotland, criticized Mary, Queen of Scots, for being Catholic as well as for ruling when he believed that only men should rule. In 1558, John Knox wrote The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, arguing that female rule or leadership was against the divine order. John Knox was heavily involved in drafting the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563, which was then passed by Parliament. To discredit the mysticism and saints of Catholicism, it outlawed acts of witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy. It's almost like Reformers wanted to replace Catholic power with their own personal power.
Know Your Enemy: Newes from Scotland
If an accused person did not confess, men would determine that she was under the power of the devil, who made her unable to confess. They would strip and examine her, and if they found a mole, birthmark, scar, or callus, they claimed this was the devil's mark. The devil put his mark on those he claimed as his own, and this mark was proof of guilt.
In addition, there were many methods of torture, and confessions that resulted were legally accepted. The brodequin and thumbscrews were government-sanctioned mechanisms. In addition, it was common to use sleep deprivation, keeping the prisoner awake for several days to extract hallucinations or confessions.
Know Your Enemy: Daemonologie
King James VI of Scotland became an expert in witchcraft and in 1597 published Daemonologie, a Scots treatise on demons, spirits, and witches. In 1603, on becoming James I of England and Ireland, he republished the book in English. It presents James's thoughts on:
magic, necromancy (communicating with the dead)
sorcery and witchcraft
ghosts and spirits
The section on witchcraft notes that women are likely to blame for a man being unable to perform according to his natural drive, and also to blame for a man having too much drive and being forced to illicit or unnatural intercourse.
The law observed the trial by ordeal, or swimming test, where a person is bound and tossed in the water. If they were floating, they were guilty, rejected by the holy water. If they were sinking, the pure water was accepting them, and they may be innocent (but dead). The church and state taught that if someone was killed for being a witch, she was probably guilty, for God would have intervened if she were innocent.
King James contradicts other scholars who claimed that witchcraft was not real. King James believed that women were more frail and easily deceived than men, and more likely to be duped by the devil and become the devil's maidservants or witches. King James believed in the divine right of kings, and that he had a divine right to pursue women as witches, torture, and execute them. This King James is the same man who commissioned the King James Version of the Bible, giving instructions to translators to uphold male rule in the nation and the home.
How to Believe in a Witch
The era was a great time to foster belief in witches because there was so much hardship, disease, drowning at sea, and famine. The minister of the Kirk (Church of England) was seen as a direct connection to God. Preachers could teach that things happened because of the devil and his witches, and the citizens would have a place to direct their rage at their loss and hardship.
Part 2: Building a Case
How to Accuse a Witch
The system was pursued by the church and the law. Kirk sessions were led by locals, and often more eager to use their power to affirm their suspicions or penalize people they didn't like. The Minister and men of the Kirk Session met every Sunday to bring forward allegations. Citizens who did not attend church three times on Sunday were automatically suspect.
How to Prick a Witch
A profession called a Pricker could come to town and point to those who may be suspected of witchcraft. Men could strip, shave, and inspect a woman's body, including her private parts, in the search for a wart or other devil's mark, which was proof that she had been touched by the devil.
The professional Pricker would come and prick the accused with a pin or needle, and if she did not bleed, it was proof she was a servant of the devil. The Pricker could test points where she may have suckled the devil. The Pricker may have also used a special retractable needle. He was paid well and could not be contradicted. His testimony was valid in a court of law.
How to Kill a Witch the American Way
This chapter discusses the Salem witch trials of 1692 in Massachusetts, USA. In Salem, there were 200 people accused of witchcraft, 19 of them executed by hanging, and at least 5 died while in jail awaiting trial. There was a swift recognition of the miscarriage of justice, apologies, and pardons.
How to Gather Evidence Against a Witch
The Scottish courts of law accepted a variety of evidence to support those accused of witchcraft. The Witch Prickers gave evidence from their bloodless pricks and devil's marks. In addition, confessions resulting from sleep deprivation were acceptable as evidence.
One example is spectral evidence, a testimony where someone describes a ghostly spirit or spectre who appeared to them in a dream or vision, and the account of this vision proved the accused was guilty. They may find charms or herbs or familiars (pets) in the home of the accused.
How to Try a Witch
A judge was not required to record his reasoning. A judge would check that confessions were directly from the accused, lawfully obtained, and honestly and reliably recorded by the legal clerk. A judge would also check for the devil's mark and other physical evidence. The criminal is not being a witch, but using witchcraft, sorcery, or necromancy to perform an act of witchcraft. The punishment for acts of witchcraft was death, whether it was a woman or a child.
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." (Exodus 22:18, King James Version)
How to Burn a Witch
It was believed that the devil could revivify, or reanimate, witches who were killed. The only way to prevent this was to strangle the victim (or hang) and then burn the body so that she became no more than ashes on the wind. This death was the only way to protect the community from these maidservants of the devil. The community was encouraged to see and smell this legal execution.
How to Bury a Witch
A person convicted of witchcraft was not eligible for a Christian burial on consecrated land. Any bones not burned would be crushed. Besides turning a body to ashes, a Christian minister could prevent the devil from revivifying a person accused of witchcraft (but dying before being legally convicted) by burying her under water (at low tide).
Part 3: A Thing of the Past?
How to Lose a Witch
Many families suffered losses in WW2; there was a great demand for séances, spiritualists or mediums who could speak with their loved ones who had been killed or lost at war. At this time, witchcraft was not a crime, since the population believed witchcraft was not real or possible. However, psychics could be accused or found guilty of fraud.
How to Accuse a Modern-Day Witch: The Twentieth Century
The Witchcraft Act of 1735 declared that witchcraft did not exist; the crime became "pretended witchcraft". In 1944, Britain convicted a woman who hosted séances under the Witchcraft Act. The state and religion continued to accuse women and make an example of them to keep them silent.
In 2022, Pastor Greg Locke alleged that there were witches sitting among the congregation in Tennessee. He cast them out and broke their spells, and called them out by name.
How to Accuse a Modern-Day Witch: The Twenty-First Century
In 2021, the Human Rights Council expressed concern about harmful practices related to witchcraft and ritual attacks, resulting in violence, mutilation, torture, human trafficking, stigmatization, and death. These particularly harm women and children. The accusations of witchcraft and consequent human rights abuses continue, particularly against women.
As of 2025, witchcraft accusations continue to be legal crimes in several nations. Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW) is an organization working in several African countries to assist victims accused of witchcraft. Since 2011, the National Working Group Against Spiritual and Ritual Abuse has been working against child abuse.
Afterword: How to Forget a Witch: Then Remember Her
The abuses illustrated by Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid's Tale are those found in our own Western Christian history. And these attacks on women's rights are increasing, as seen in the new rules against women being able to secure an abortion as required or women being able to vote in America. Accusations of women as witches have become more widespread. IN 2024, a Texas evangelist named Lance Wallnau claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris used witchcraft, was guided by demonic forces, and used the spirit of Jezebel to deceive voters. Accusations of women as witches have become more widespread. Christians who already listen for the Spirit speaking to us may be especially vulnerable to believe that evil spirits speak to us.
The three objectives of the Witches of Scotland campaign are:
Secure an apology from the Scottish Government for those accused and executed under Scotland's Witchcraft Act of 1563. The 2022 apology was the first legal acknowledgement of wrongdoing. The Church of Scotland also apologized for its historic role in the witch hunts.
Seek justice and secure posthumous pardons for those convicted under the Witchcraft Act of 1563.
Establish a national memorial to honour the victims accused of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736. Victims include an estimated 4,000 people in Scotland, about 85% women, and about 2,500 of them executed.
How do we ensure that society does not normalize accusing women as witches?
Embrace the title of "quarrelsome dame", take up space, get involved in politics, educate yourself and your friends about the witch trials and draw parallels with today. We need to protect our safety and rights. We need to join together to stop history from repeating and causing modern witch trials. When your talk about attacks on women are met with resistance, call it out. Do not let the patriarchy silence you. Don't simply stay quiet to please others. The Witches of Scotland continue to be "quarrelsome dames" and invite us all to join them.
Elaine Ricker Kelly retells stories of the Gospels and Acts of Early Apostles from the view of women. First-century Christianity was not about power and subjugation, but mutual service and equality. I bring this life-giving and freedom-bringing faith to life in my historical fiction.
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine.
Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)
The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)
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