#pricking

(Image:https://www.newcastleghostwalks.co.uk/single-post/witch-pricking-newcastle-witches)

In order to determine if a person was a witch and therefore a servant of the devil, persecutors would attempt to find an insensitive spot that wouldn’t bleed when pricked by a needle. Supposedly, the spot indicates the devil’s touch that occurs within which is supposed initiation. A pricker would be used to jab at the person’s body repeatedly until said spot was found.

Working mainly occurred in the height of the witch trials in the 16th and 17th centuries. The most commonly used instruments were dagger like tools typically used for drawing ribbons through hems or punching holes in cloth. Some other tools used however were needles and daggers. Very often those accused would feel pain and bleed when pricked on their witch marks, however the witch prickers would not stop at this and use their occupation as an excuse to torture the accused by repeatedly pricking the victims until they had no choice but to confess. Others still would alter the results by using prickers with a retractable ends or blunt points, creating the illusion of having found a witch’s mark.

(Image:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricking)

There are some which prickers who ended up being quite famous for their deeds, such as a Scottish witch pricker named Christian Caddell.  A witch pricker was always male, which made Christian Caddell’s case a very Interesting one. This was because Caddell was secretly a woman posing as a man in order to terrorize communities by pricking, accusing, and sending to death many women and being paid very well throughout it all. 

In fact, many prickers were paid extremely generously for their jobs, which unfortunately promoted even more deceit.

“The concept was that when a witch made a pact with the devil, a mark was left on the skin to show allegiance to the Dark Master. This mark could be large or small and could be found almost anywhere on the accused’s body. Often the mark was in a hidden area such as the armpits, under the eyelids, or in private areas and cavities. But how was it possible to tell the difference between a devils mark and a benign mole or freckle? To be able to ascertain the nefarious deeds of the alleged witch, a test was done whereby a skin blemish was pricked by a small and sharp instrument. If the spot did not bleed and did not cause any pain to the suspected witch, it was taken as proof of allegiance to the devil.” - Witch Prickers Were Paid Generously for Finding Witches By Doug Macgowan

https://www.tainmuseum.org.uk/article.php?id=4

https://www.realmarykingsclose.com/blog/scotland-witch-prickers/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-20315106

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014107689709000914

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25519442

https://www.historicmysteries.com/witch-prickers-inquisition/