Salem is located North of Boston. It is the site of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692. The trials were well documented. Twenty people were found guilty of witchcraft and were hung.

The Salem Witch Museum located in Salem has a presentation on the Salem Witch trials of 1692.

The Witch Dungeon Museum in Salem has a reenactment of the witch trial and a dungeon tour.

The Witch house in Salem is the restored home of the Judge who condemned those people found guilty of witchcraft in 1692.

Witches in Massachusetts Colony - The Feminine Soul - Puritan Beliefs

The Puritans believed that the soul was feminine, weak and frail and susceptible to the devil. It was thought that women were susceptible to being witches. The devil attacked the soul through the body. A womens body was weak and frail. Together with a feminine weak soul, a woman was more apt to be a witch than a man. Colonial women who were assertive and aggressive were accused of witchcraft. Colonial women who had the outward appearance of masculinity were accused of being a witch. Being unfeminine was defined as having small breasts or childless. If a man possessed unusual strength, he was accused of witchcraft. Women accused of witchcraft underwent a physical exam by other women in the town or village. A mole, a wart or any form of a lesion found on the body of the accused witch was proof. These lesions were called witch's tits. It was thought that devils sucked at these tits.

If a woman did not conform or fit in with Puritan ideas of womanhood she was forced to recant. A woman who did not submit to her husband was subject to being called out a witch. If a woman admitted she was a witch to save her life, she admitted she was weak and frail susceptible to Satan. The admittance further demonstrated weakness because she proved she was too frail or weak to endure the trail and her execution. A no win situation. Often times, admitting witchcraft did not save their life, the judge who promise to spare the life of the accused would not be the judge residing the sentencing. Colonials believed that they were doing the witch a favor by burning her at the stake they were cleansing her soul.

• The feminine souls of women and men were responsible for the evil of the world
• Women served the devil in ways particular to their sex
• Women witches did not have the power of their male counterpart. women witches could not inflict pain on a male but were able to inflict pain on other women
• A witch was aggressive, gave permission to the devil to commandeer her body, her soul to recruit more witches and perform evil.
• The Devil appeared directly to witches and be persuasive that some women confessed to giving themselves completely to him.
• Witches less likely to seduce men than women into the devil's service
• Male victims of accused witches complained about attacks on personal property rather than on bodily pain to them.
• Men complained of a family member suffering from an accused witch.

See Puritans and Mayflower for more information