I was happy to stumble on this book in a used bookstore the other day. I was looking in the “folklore” section, but not really for anything in specific… just something to go along with the book Cultish I just finished.

This book was a very quick read. It’s a primer on the social phenomenon of witch legends & witch hunting… it doesn’t go too deep on any topic. But it did pique my interest in this topic! How “witch hunts” of all kinds have been used throughout history to punish societal out-groups, and to consolidate (or exercise) power.

It was also published in 1999, so it was refreshingly devoid of navel-gazing about “these uncertain times” it talks about Hitler and Sen. Joe McCarthy as 20th century witch hunters.

Between this book and Cultish, I’m thinking a lot about the power of group affiliation, and how different self-identified groups interact. Also: how groups work to try to lump outsiders together into a group… whether or not that other group actually exists as such.

One point I liked from the book was that, if you want to, you can demonize other people based on anything. Witch hunters come condemn women for being witches both on the basis of being “bewitching” (alluring, seductive) or “wicked” (repulsive, unfriendly).