Under the first code of New England’s Puritan colonies passed in 1641, witchcraft was one of twelve crimes punishable by death. The article read: “If any man or woman be a witch, that is, hath consulted with a familiar spirit, he or she shall be put to death.” Cotton Mather described witchcraft as, “the doing of strange and, for the most part, ill things by he help of evil spirits.” And these “familiars” and “evil spirits” were considered either invisible or able to change their form and size at will, which made them all the more frightening. ~ Olde New England’s Strange Superstitions by R. E. Cahill
