According to Christian belief, if a woman sold her soul to the Devil, the Devil would kiss the woman in some place on her body. This place, often marked by a scar, mole, blemish, etc., would be insensitive to pain and would not bleed when pricked or punctured. This resulted in the practice of “Witchfinders” using a pointed, awl-like tool (see bodkin) to prod a woman’s body in order to determine if she was a Witch.
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Deborah Blake, author of several books, including The Everyday Witch's Coven and the new Llewellyn's Little Book of Witchcraft.
I love the Llewellyn's Little Books series, so I was thrilled when my...