Witch Mark

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

Oftentimes the witch mark is confused with the "witch's teat", yet the two are different. The prime difference is that a Devil’s Mark or "Seal" resembles a scar, birthmark or tattoo, and is given by the Devil to seal a pact, whereas a Witches’ Teat is a protuberance of the body upon which familiars were said to suckle. The witch's mark is also known as the "stigmata diaboli" or "sigillum diaboli".

“The Devil giveth to every novice a marke, either with his teeth or with his clawes.”
Reginald Scott

These are marks given by the Devil at the initiation of a witch, and seal the oath, or pact, with the Old Ones. It is a badge of admission, and is thus a means of identification. The mark tends to be a blue, black or red spot, but it may also be in the shape of an animal idenitified with witchcraft,such as the hare, toad, owl, or even the hoof print of the Devil himself. It is made upon the witch’s person by the talon of the Devil, or by His hoof, or even tongue, in which case it is said that the Devil has licked the Initiate. The exact place of the Mark differs from person to person, and clan to clan, but in general it is made in the following places:

For a Man
Upon the lips, under the eyelids, upon the shoulders (especially the left), in the armpits or by the anus/perineum.

For a Woman
Upon the breasts or within the private areas of the generative organs (including the perineum).

However, in common to both sexes, it is often made upon the hands, especially upon the third or fourth fingers of the right, or occasionally upon the index finger. It may also be made upon the forehead, which is suggestive of the protective Mark of Cain.

Being found to have the mark was considered undeniable proof of being a witch. All witches and sorcerers were believed to have a witch’s mark waiting to be found. When a person was accused of witchcraft, they were brought to trial and carefully scrutinized. Their entire body was suspect as a canvas for a mark, an indicator of a pact with Satan.

Witches’ marks were commonly believed to include moles, scars, birthmarks, skin tags, supernumerary nipples, natural blemishes and insensitive patches of skin. Experts, or Inquisitors, firmly believed that a witch’s mark could be easily identified from a natural mark; protests from the victims that the marks were natural were ignored.

Inquisitors routinely stripped an accused witch of clothing and shaved all body hair so that no potential mark could be hidden. Pins were driven into scars, calluses, and thickened areas of skin – the practice of “pricking a witch”. Customarily, this routine was performed in front of a large crowd. Medieval inquisitors also believed that the Devil left invisible marks upon his followers. If after stripping and shaving, the accused witch was found to have no likely blemishes, pins were simply driven into her body until an insensitive area was found.

The writings of British anthropologist Margaret A. Murray argue strongly for the theory that Devil’s marks were in actuality tattoos that identified members of an organized pagan religion she felt flourished in the Middle Ages. Her controversial ideas have been largely rejected by academics due to lack of evidence.

Whatever the witch's mark may have been in the medeival past, many contemporary Traditional Witchcraft practitioners receive a triangular three-dot symbol on a ring finger where it can be easily hidden from unfriendly eyes (but easily revealed to those of the Faith). The witch's mark is also called the "mark of Cain" or the "toad's footprint".