" Abigail and Betty Parris were secretly practicing "black magic" with Tituba. Soon, Betty started having "fits," possibly because she could not bear to keep secrets from her parents. Soon, Abigail also started having "fits." Instead of being accused of relations with the devil, they became very popular and respected. Soon, their friends joined in. Most of the girls that joined in the rituals lived in the houses of the Parris's and the Putnam's. Soon after, the girls also started having "fits." .
During the "fits," the girls screamed, rolled their eyes back into their heads, shook, and twisted their bodies into impossible positions. They also accused people of biting and pinching them. The people they accused that were against Samuel Parris, or had an argument with the Parris's, or the families of the other afflicted girls. By the end, they had accused most of the people that were in conflict with the new church, or their families.
Soon the girls started to scream out names, which were considered accusations. Later on, Mary Warren, one of the girls afflicted by Tituba, tried to tell everyone the truth about the rituals and the "black magic," but the other afflicted girls accused her of lying, and she was sent to prison. A few days later, the girls let her out.
One way of convicting someone was called spectral evidence. An example of this is if someone had an argument with their neighbor and a few days later one of their cows died. They could use that evidence to accuse their neighbor of using witchcraft. Another example is if a person did not like someone, they could say that they saw a little yellow bird flying over them, and accused person would be immediately arrested. There was no way to fight against spectral evidence. If someone was accused, they were as good as convicted. After the trials, though, an individual needed solid evidence to convict somebody or the accused had to confess.