We're better educated, can understand how viruses spread disease, but still superstition persists. Photo / 123rf
As a firm believer in the power of storytelling, I read to my children every night.
One night Miss Six asked, "Mum are you a witch?" I don't remember what I was reading but there was a witch and I read her speeches with a "witchy" voice and a cackle.
Thinking that a silly question deserved a silly answer, I replied, "Yes. I am a witch."
Some time later I discovered that Miss Six had gone to school the next day and proudly announced that her mother was a witch. She had believed me.
It remains a family joke but in 16th-century England, being called a witch was no joke. It was dangerous. People believed in witches and their magic powers gained from their pact with the devil, hence the Witchcraft Act of 1563 made it legal to kill a known witch. Similarly, the 1735 Witchcraft Act meant that doing tarot card readings was punishable by 12 months' imprisonment with quarterly appearances in the stocks.
The main reason behind the superstition surrounding witches and the herbalist healers was ignorance, a lack of understanding of the science involved. Today science can explain most things, including diseases and their cures. We're better educated, can understand how viruses spread disease, but superstition still persists.
