This store has become the most popular tourist attraction in Salem. The employees often organize events that demonstrate how cruel the medieval witch hunts were.
The ancient Chinese had practiced a form of herbal medicine that was also used by these witches to cure certain illnesses. The medical profession, feeling threatened by these homeopathic remedies, declared this practice to be the work of the devil.
Most herbs that are now found in modern health food stores were at one time considered to be evil potions.
Generally, it was the women who upheld and passed on the use of herbs for medicinal purposes, and this is one of the reasons that the majority of those who were put to death in these times were women.
Throughout most of history and in many places in the world, the word "witchcraft" has a strong connotation of evil.
Throughout all of history, the implications of witchcraft have been negative, and there has been a great fear amongst the population of those who have been deemed to be witches.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, sorcerers are frequently denounced and the offenses are punishable by death. In retrospect, it's impossible to determine why their acts were considered so evil; perhaps they are things which today would be considered within the realms of normalcy! There has been speculation that some of the behavior considered out of the ordinary and therefore evil could encompass phenomena such as simple psychic predictions.
In both Greece and Rome only magical practices intended to be harmful were condemned, (which would let "white witches" off the hook.)
There was a "witchcraft craze" in Europe from the mid-15th to the mid-18th century wherein witches were accused of having links to Satan. Both Roman Catholics and Protestants continued the campaign against witchcraft, and thousands of people were tried and convicted of witchcraft. One of the most awful and by far the most famous manifestation of this craze were the trials of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.
