In a compelling exploration of Scotland’s dark history, authors Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell have co-authored a thought-provoking book titled “How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy.” The novel dives deep into the brutal, real-life witch trials that ravaged Scotland. It explores their historical context and makes comparisons to our modern society. Released as “How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy’s Guide to Silencing Women” in the United States, the work aims to shed light on the systemic oppression of women throughout history.
The Witchcraft Act passed in Scotland, which came into effect in 1563, aimed to enforce “godliness” in the newly Protestant nation. This law criminalized anyone who seemed to be “plotting with the devil,” sending thousands to brutal persecution. Two monarchs King James VI and I (1567-1603, 1603-1625) had a huge impact on the witch trials. He staunchly opposed that women were of weak, soft mind and easily swayed due to their lusty tootsie. His viewpoints shaped the legal underpinnings that authorized the trials—not just personally, but institutionally.
A new project wants to commemorate the victims of these trials. To support their campaign, they have created an official tartan, named “Witches of Scotland.” This tartan features a color palette symbolic of the trials’ grim legacy: black and grey represent dark times and ashes, red signifies the blood of victims, and pink symbolizes the legal tapes that bound their fates.
Venditozzi and Mitchell’s book is an intriguing and insightful look at this dark chapter in our history. It further stresses its relevance to contemporary global debates on gender and power relations. They bring out the drama of King James’s difficult, ill-fated passage to Scotland with his queen, Anne of Denmark. The trip would end up being widely impacted by tragic extreme weather. This odyssey would lay the path for a reign defined by paranoia and magic.
Judith Langlands-Scott, an expert on the topic, contends that the rituals employed in the witch trials were profoundly humiliating. She describes them as extremely psychosexual, emphasizing the period’s fixation on sex in Scottish Presbyterian culture. Venditozzi argues that these historical episodes should highlight our societal tendency to seek scapegoats during times of mass panic.
“Definitely – when Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, she said that all of the things in it had actually happened in Western culture, and that was in the 1980s. It was very prescient. The wheel turns but there’s not much change.” – Zoe Venditozzi
The victims of these trials were mostly Christians themselves, frequently referred to as heathens or heretics. Many of these Christians were Catholics. Venditozzi argues that the prevailing belief systems of society during this time period formed an environment perfect for scapegoating.
“It’s a clever trick isn’t it, the way in which society blamed women – because they were considered so weak, the devil got to them and got into their knickers, and their confessions about this were often fairly elaborate. All to justify what they were doing. It’s bananas!” – Zoe Venditozzi
The authors explore how modern interpretations of witchcraft differ significantly from historical practices. This current renaissance of interest in witchcraft, and broadly occult practices and spirituality through mediums such as WitchTok, is quite the opposite.
“The modern-day witchcraft or WitchTok is very different from the crime of witchcraft hundreds of years ago. People who identify themselves as witches in the present day are not suggesting that they are ‘agents of the devil’ who are doing evil in society. The modern idea of a witch is far removed from the historical definition.” – Claire Mitchell
In that novel, Langlands-Scott meditates on how society continues to be possessed by that which has gone.
“People are still haunted by what happened,” – Judith Langlands-Scott
Venditozzi and Mitchell share the real-life tragic outcomes for the accused. They provide an unsurprising but necessary account of how these acts were too often executed. The authors don’t shy away from stating that thousands of these victims were burned at the stake. They were most often strangled beforehand to remove any possibility of being reanimated.
“It’s a caricature. They did get burnt but they were generally strangled first, then thrown on the pyre to get rid of the body, so the devil couldn’t re-animate them, and so that they couldn’t get to heaven.” – Zoe Venditozzi
Venditozzi wants to underscore the positive.
“to burn the bodies so they couldn’t rise on judgement day, [so] all hope of being put out of their misery would have been obliterated – as the accused would have known going to their death.” – Judith Langlands-Scott
The authors do not treat the writing of history lightly, and it shows in their book. They incorporate pernicious humor so readers can survive the painful details of this history.
“The fact that there is a groundswell of interest to have the truth brought out, and that apologies have been made is a cause for optimism. It’s mainly women who are apologising, and I think that’s reclaiming the fact that it was mostly women who were tortured and tried. It’s almost like giving their voice back, us women giving them a voice, and warning for the present day of what can happen.” – Judith Langlands-Scott
The authors acknowledge that their book takes a serious approach to documenting historical facts while incorporating dark humor as a coping mechanism for understanding distressing aspects of this past.
“We’ve always taken a very serious approach to the facts and horrors of the witch trials, but we definitely have wry, dark humour to cope with some of the more distressing or aggravating aspects of the times,” – Zoe Venditozzi
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