In Salem Massachusetts 1692 eight young girls got very ill. They convulsed, screamed in horror, claimed to see visions of animals or creatures, ripped at their own skin, and quickly died. There were several other incidences, even including a dogs and cows dying. The people of the community were freaking out and needed an explanation for why such terrible horrifying deaths were happening, so of coarse, they decided the victims were bewitched. 25 innocent people were executed for witchcraft. None of them confessed to the crime. Admitting to witchcraft would have meant devil worship, and back in those days that definitely wasn't happening cause they thought that meant condemning their souls. Turns out, surprise surprise, the devil wasn't the culprit here. Science has shown that an outbreak of a hallucinogenic mold called ergot infected the rye crop in Salem that year, and it has a pretty scary side affect. Whatever it does makes your brain seize up, causing a person to convulse, the blood flow would get cut off causing their skin to tingle with pins, it would cause incredible visions, you would loose speaking ability, and then die. It sounds like a totally horrifying way to go. This piece of information doesn't make the story of the witch trials any less upsetting, if anything more upsetting. Sorry about that.
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