Claire Mitchell > Quotes

“A state-sanctioned murder ae innocent folks”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“People thought Matthew Hopkins was a lawyer because he spoke so well. This type of confidence goes a long way – behold the ongoing phenomenon of the temerity of mediocre men. If you act like you’re right, people will generally believe the confidence even without evidence. We only need to look at recent British and American politicians to see how this confidence trick still works.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy

“Janet Horne was the last person to be executed for witchcraft in Great Britain. While there’s a stone marking the location of her execution”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“Witnesses claimed both to see the specters of the accused practicing witchcraft and to be attacked by them in their spectral form. Just to be clear: it was accepted as evidence admissible in law for a witness to testify that they had had a dream or a vision of an accused person’s spirit tormenting them”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“No matter how terrible”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“It would appear that the misplaced confidence of delusional men is not a new phenomenon.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy

“Sadly, many women died during their prison stay due to the conditions they were kept in, their poor health, the torture, or more likely a combination of all three. Doubtless there were suicidal deaths attributed to the Devil that were much more man-made.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“Do not let the patriarchy silence you. We need to be sure we elect those who will actively protect our safety”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“One of the most unsettling features of the witch trials was how guilt was “proved” by searching for and (almost always) finding the Devil’s mark somewhere on the accused’s body. People viewed this evidence the same way as we view DNA today, in that it was believed to be compelling proof of guilt. The idea of sin showing up physically on the body goes back to ancient times: you see it in medieval descriptions of “leprous” skin and in beliefs that warts and other skin irregularities were outward signs of evil. When Anne Boleyn was executed, there was much discussion about how many warts she had, and rumors abounded she had an extra finger (a certain sign of witchcraft).”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“The point Liv makes about the parallels between seventeenth-century witch trials and the experience of women today is striking. Women are still too often seen as potentially dangerous and so must be controlled.241 When fearful men are running courts”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“Despite Louise’s take on Knox”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“Sara Sheridan’s book Where Are the Women? 2 In her book, Sheridan reimagines Scotland as a place where all the streets are named after women and there are museums and grand buildings dedicated to the great women of Scotland. This complete reversal of how Scotland was actually constructed brought into sharp focus how much of our civic lives are centered on men’s achievements and how neglected Scotland’s women are in terms of being a visible part of the geography of our nation.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“A Devil’s mark (or witch’s mark) was a blemish such as a mole, skin tag, wart, scar, or unhealed area on the body. It might not bleed or hurt when the skin is pricked. The mark was said to be physical proof of the Devil’s pact with his initiate.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“was so much more violent than Salem. There should be memorials all over the place. The names should be recognized. This is something that’s so relevant today. It’s very much important for us to learn about now.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy

“but we can remember Lilias for who she was as a person: a poor, old, probably ostracized, and lonely woman who was accused of something for which she wasn’t guilty; a woman imprisoned and harassed by the very society that ought to have protected her; and someone who, even in death, was further exploited for the entertainment of wealthy men. Her story and life are important to hold in our memories—both out of respect for her and in hopes what happened to her will never be repeated.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“The fact is that with the burning of the accuseds’ bodies and their deaths being recorded in the official documents in only the most basic of terms—in some cases not even noting the names of those executed and just recording that “sundry witches” were burned—history quickly forgot them. Recordkeeping was often very poor, and there was no benefit to recording the details of a witch. They weren’t so much written out of history as never properly written into it. Although we know thousands were accused, there are rarely full records of what happened.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“The good news for those who can’t make it to the Salem Witch Museum in person is that there’s an excellent online tour, which anyone can access—so long as they possess the heretical magic of Wi-Fi.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“Not all prickers were men. Scotland’s other most notorious brodder, Christian Caddell, was a woman, most likely in her late twenties or early thirties. In the early 1660s, Scotland was in such a frenzy over witch activity that work in witch finding was readily available for those who wanted it. It’s believed Caddell was inspired to take on the profession when she saw Kincaid at work in Newburgh, Fife. 124”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“when the going gets tough in any society, it is the vulnerable that are accused of causing the damage, as an easy target to avoid dealing with the greater problems of inequality.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy

“the Devil generally marks his witches with a private mark, as the witches have confessed themselves. The Devil licks them with his tongue in some private place of their body before he receives them as his servants. The mark is commonly given to them under their hair on some part of their body, so it is not easily found when searched; generally, as long as the mark is not discovered, the person who has it will never confess anything. 37”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“when the going gets tough in any society”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“we learn that the Devil was very cunning at hiding his work. If you were accused but could somehow withstand the torture enough not to confess, that is because you had a Devil’s mark somewhere on your body that had yet to be found. So confession or no confession—either way was proof you were a witch.”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

“See it”
― Claire Mitchell, How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy