The Cursed Touch Witch Test

PixabayA person could be accused of being a witch if someone claimed that they fell ill and then were healed after that person touched them.

Another witch test that was used during the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was the “touch test.” This was used to identify witches who had cast a spell on a victim.

The idea behind this witch test was simple: if someone suddenly fell ill after being in contact with another person and then they were suddenly cured of their ailments after being touched again by that same person, then that individual who touched them was guaranteed to be a witch.

If, on the other hand, the victim was still not cured after a second touch by that person, then that person must be innocent.

But rules related to witch tests were usually self-determined by the judges and often bent to the will of the accusing public. For example, according to court documents from the Salem Witch Trials, Abigail Faulkner was among the accused after a number of people fell ill after being in contact with her.

Despite Faulkner’s denials and even her invocation of God, people were convinced that she was a witch, especially after the sick people were suddenly healed from their fits after being touched by her a second time.

De Agostini Picture Library/Getty ImagesThe cursed touch witch test was well-documented in the Salem Witch Trials.

Faulkner did eventually confess, but only to the fact that she had wished ill upon people because they had made fun of her. She maintained that it was the Devil who had cast the spell during her ill thoughts, not her.

During the trials, one of the alleged victims of Abigail Faulkner, Mary Warren, fell into a convulsive fit that subsided only when she was touched by Faulkner. To the judges in Salem, this proved Faulkner’s culpability and she was imprisoned and sentenced to death for witchcraft.

Faulkner narrowly escaped execution because she was pregnant and later exonerated by the town, but at least 18 people in total were tried on the basis of the dubious touch test in the Salem Witch Trials alone.

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