New light on a dark past - 25th February 2022

Witches in stories use magic. In the past, people were afraid of magic. In 1563, Scotland made a new rule. It said that witches had to die.

People usually thought women were witches. They killed 2,500 women. They looked for 'witches marks'.

They burned the women. They were worried about the witch coming back.

Lawyer Claire Mitchell organises Witches of Scotland.

Claire Mitchell: The way that women were killed as witches was by strangulation and then by burning. So, the mosaic denotes the fact that she was burnt as a witch to get rid of her ashes. There was a belief that if you didn't get rid of every part of a witch, that they might 'revenant', rev, coming from the French 'revenir', to return."

Most women were poor. They couldn't stop their deaths.

The devil was scary. People thought he used women. Women weren't strong.

Zoe Venditozzi makes Witches of Scotland's podcast.

Zoe Venditozzi: "They really felt they were operating in a world in which the devil was out to get them. And that women were weak vessels basically, who the devil could act through. So that's why women tended to get accused, because women were seen as being somebody that the devil could manipulate easily. Whereas men could withstand, you know, the devil's advances."

Witches of Scotland wants change. It wants the government to say sorry. The women weren't criminals.

But people kill women as witches today. Some countries want to make rules against witches. Venditozzi wants this to stop.

Zoe Venditozzi: "We feel that it was an absolutely terrible thing that happened in Scotland's history. It was a miscarriage of justice and unfortunately it's not a finished with issue. There are still people across the world, generally vulnerable, often women or old people, that are being accused of witchcraft and in some cases being killed by mob justice. And in fact there are some countries that are trying to put it into their legal system where people can still be accused of witchcraft. So we don't think that it's an issue that's past. It's still sadly very, very relevant."