Branded as agents of the devil, the chosen companions of witches, cats especially black ones, were enthusiastically tortured and executed during Christian festivals all over Europe. But by teaching people to associate cats with the devil and bad luck, it appears that the church provided the underprivileged and superstitions masses, in other words, something to blame for all the many hardships and misfortunes of life. .
Another widespread stereotype of witches is the belief that they are always women. American history has few subjects as interesting as witchcraft, because if confronts us with many ideas about women. It confronts us with fears about women, the place of women in society, and with women themselves. Also, it confronts us with violence against women and how the problems of society were often blamed on women. This stereotype is also false. In the Salem witch trials of 1692, 19 men and women were hanged, 17 innocents died in filthy prisons, an 80-year old man was crushed to death, and two dogs were stoned to death for collaborating with the Devil (Richardson 6). Throughout the history of witches there are many instances where men also participated in witchcraft.
So where did all these stereotypes originate? The idea has always had a strong grasp on the imaginations of Americans. The fear of witches arose from stories that their magical powers came from the devil. Many people have said it all began with the bible. The bases for the witchcraft law were Exodus 22:20, Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27, and Deuteronomy 18.10 (1-2). Deuteronomy 13:6 states, "If any man or woman, after legal conviction, shall worship any other God but the Lord God, he shall be put to death. Also, religious leaders would tell the people that witches were doing the Devil's work on earth.
"In a book entitled Malleus Maleficraum, written in 1485, the authors, two clergymen, not only wrote about the history of witches, they also gave their views on why women were more likely than men to become the Devil's helpers.