The Physical Appearance of the Witch

 We’re all familiar with the stereotypical appearance of the witch: thin, old woman in a long dress and tall, pointy hat with a couple of warts and her broomstick and cat not far away.  This is how witches of all types are often portrayed in film, books, and of course, Halloween costumes, as I learned at a young age). 

 

 

Halloween, 2003: Casting a spell in hopes of receiving lots of candy during Trick-or-Treating. 

 

However, as we’ve learned in the course, this hasn’t always been the case. Like fashion today, a witch’s garb has been highly dependent on her time and place.  For example, the immortal women painted on the vase (A History of Magic and the Occult, p. 51) shows women in traditional Chinese clothing.  Even the witches at the Salem trials, as shown in film clips in class and on p. 189 of A History of Magic and the Occult appear to be wearing typical clothing for the 17^thcentury (though it would probably not help one’s case to stand out from the rest of society any more than they already did, by dress or other means).  

 

The photo of a Swedish wise woman on p. 198 is one of the first “stereotypical” depictions I’ve seen in A History of Magic and the Occult. This shortly predates the 1809 illustration of the witch in Hansel and Gretel. Both photos remind me of the Old Hag Witch from the Disney film Snow White (which is definitely not a coincidence). 

 

So, how did this archetypal imagery come about?  

 

According to an article I recently read, the pointy hats (arguably the most recognizable symbol of a witch), ancient Chinese burial sites included Chinese women, accused of witchcraft, wearing a pointy hat in the grave. Later, during the Middle Ages, pointy hats were also donned by those practicing Kabbalah, who were believed to be associated with the devil. Hungarian Jews were then required to wear such headwear in order to be easily identified, called a judenhut. Sadly, it’s unsurprising to learn that the witch’s hat originated as a symbol of “othering”, a recurrent theme in witchcraft. 

 

On a lighter note, the hallucinatory plant henbane is described on p. 209, with witches making use of the plant to fly—perhaps a precursor to the modern broomstick depiction? Alice Kyteler, the Irish witch tried in 1324, was shown with a broom in the statue pictured on p. 115 of A History of Magic and the Occult. As noted on p. 268, many wiccans see the symbol “as a cliché” of witchcraft. 

 

Cats, which persist today as a symbol of bad luck (something I think about often when I see black strays wandering around my neighborhood), had a “reputation for detecting demons,” (p. 127), and familiars in general were purported to give a witch “supernatural abilities, allowing the witch to see through the creature’s eyes or to transform herself into an animal and so gain access to forbidden areas,” (p. 187). 

 

A witch with warts was believed to have been in contact with the devil. According to JAMA Dermatology, “warts were seen as the ‘devil’s mark’, a justification given to accuse women of witchcraft,” bestowed upon the witch by the devil to “confirm his pact… by giving her a mark of identification”.  Other indicators of a witchy woman included “moles, scars, birthmarks, skin tags, supernumerary nipples, and natural blemishes,” (JAMA Dermatology). Given the prevalence of these marks today (continuing after the advent of modern dermatology, healthcare, and skincare) I can only imagine how prevalent many of these marks must have been in the harsher conditions of 17^th century Salem, contributing to the hysteria around witchcraft.  To be honest, I’m surprised there were so many people spared from such accusations given the common nature of these blemishes.