Book Review: Witchcraft by Clary Croft

Nimbus Publishing graciously sent me Witchcraft: Tales, beliefs and superstitions from the Maritimes by Clary Croft to review. I thought it would make perfect spooky reading during the dark turn of November in Nova Scotia. I had no idea what I was in for.

Clary Croft is a good writer who sought to share the tales of witches in the Maritimes without embellishing or adding his own flare. From reading this book I can tell he is a true folklorist, dedicated to gathering tales from the people in one book for us to enjoy. I found it fascinating that no matter where he went, someone had a tale or a secret interest in hearing about the witches of the east coast of Canada.

He himself obviously is very open-minded and began this project out of the love of stories and all things witchy. In the introduction he begins with, "My destiny was foretold by a witch." Love it! I found the story of the woman who lived next to his grandparents fascinating. Her penchant for crossing sticks in the middle of the road to prevent people from passing her house intriguing, how she accurately predicted he would end up having special gifts and be born a boy. Sadly, from there, the book takes a dark turn.

"Women living alone were sometimes unjustly suspected of witchcraft, especially if they were from outside the common heritage of the community."

Over and over again, the stories people tell Clary Croft of witches of the east coast are for the most part, quite disturbing. The common theme throughout is witches get blamed for just about everything. If your cow stops milking, if your butter will not churn, if you suffer an ailment it is obviously a witch's fault. 

"Place needles around the house because if the witch changes herself into a cat, the needles will pierce the cat's skin" [Creighton]

One belief from the east about witches that is interesting is that people truly believe they can transform. A common way they would trespass into someone's home is through a keyhole by turning themselves into smoke. They could also transform into animals. It is quite clear that in the mindset of Maritimers, witches are powerful supernatural creatures. As a result of this belief, they get blamed for just about everything.

Retribution is also a common theme throughout and practising a hex against the witch was one of the only defences against "her evil ways." "Stopping her water" was a common approach to making her suffer as well as revealing that she is a witch:

"... if you suspect someone is a witch and she comes to your home, you must have ready a bottle with a cork stopped into which you have stuck nine needles and nine pins. Once the witch is in your home, you excuse yourself to urinate into the bottle and stop it up with a pin-stuck cork. Tie the cork on firmly with string so it can't pop out. Once this charm is enacted, the witch will suffer great pains because she will be unable to pass her own water. In addition, the imprint of the needles and pins will be clearly visible around her throat."

Fascinating that doing witchcraft was evil unless you practiced it against a witch. Then it was OK as long as she suffered and not you or your family members.

When I first got this book I was so excited. I thought it would be filled with tales of wise women who helped heal people in the community, who were secretly admired and feared from afar. Instead this book is packed with ways to purge witches from your life forever. There are some somewhat positive stories about witches but for the most part it is quite clear they are feared and treated mercilessly:

"A witch in Lunenburg County wasn't so careful and the results were tragic. A man suspected his wife of being a witch and decided to test her. He said he was going away to learn the art of witchcraft to which she replied, "You needn't go away. I can learn you." That was his proof, and later that night he took a hoe, she took a shovel and together they went out to the dung pile... that act was the wife's undoing because once there the man took his shovel and 'killed her stone dead.' [Creighton]"

If you want a book filled with stories on how to fight evil witches (who were for the most part probably just innocent scapegoats for people's bad luck), then this is the book for you. There are just not enough positive stories about good witches to share, probably because they know that being labelled a witch on the east coast would be a bad idea considering how they have been loathed for centuries. "Understandably, some people are reluctant to speak to me about witchcraft." I wonder why?

For those who love the folktales of the east coast, you would probably enjoy Witchcraft: Tales, beliefs and superstitions from the Maritimes. A lot of research has gone into this book to share Maritimers' stories and personal experiences dealing with who they thought were witches. If you have a positive perspective towards witches and have no desire to repel them or do them harm, let this one go.