Thanks for reading! September 11, Astrid Apissoghomian. Why do we represent witches with tall pointy hats and cats? At Inchoo Bijoux, we are interested in everything related to witches and their history! We decided to do a bit of research to share some knowledge! After reading books and articles there seems to be lots of different theories to answer this question. The most credible ones being a combination of women alewives taking to much place in the home-brewing beer industry and antisemitism.
Married and non married women without real education could exercise that activity while making good profits. These women could live without depending on husbands or prostitution to survive. But, the Christian church does not like it when women are independent and have knowledge, they should be home taking care of their Christan children while staying ignorant.
As you can see in this painting of a Quaker meeting in the s. Look at that woman speaking publicly! About God and the scriptures. Obviously a witch! This painting from also shows a woman with a witchy looking chapeau, but again, it was the fashion of the day. As Cox notes, the prejudice against Quakers, and especially Quaker women, was widespread in England, and it coincided with the witch not just becoming a focus of prosecution and persecutions in the 17th century but also with the witch becoming a popular figure.
This also may have been true in America, where Quakers were also persecuted does anyone else remember the Quaker woman accused of witchcraft in the YA novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond?
As the quaker hats grew more out of style, as associated with another age, they remained associated with witches. The first witch we see depicted with her famous pointy hat is from this woodcut, date to around , long after the quaker hats were out of fashion.
This is an era when witch hunts and superstition were beginning to fade, the enlightenment was around the corner and mass media depictions of the witch were becoming more fantastical, rather than warnings of a real threat. From here on out, the English vision of a witch spread and gained traction, and as all cultural images do, this version of the witch spread.
And then Hollywood came calling. The season of the witch is here! With Halloween and all-spooky-everything taking over for the month of October, you're bound to spot one of the most popular costumes of all time: the witch. However, before you dress up as this iconic and magical being, or schedule your annual viewing of Hocus Pocus or Double Double Toil and Trouble , you might be craving some real tea about that witchy gear and the history behind their traditional getups. As a witch myself , I've learned that the witch costume we know today holds a deeper meaning and that those pointy hats and broomsticks aren't just things they pulled out of the closet.
Here's what's been said about witch fashion, and how each specific item came to be part of the traditional uniform. It may make you view your neighbor's festive decoration in a whole new light. The first known people to wear big, cone-shaped hats are from a lost city in China.
During the Middle Ages, pointed hats were actually associated with the Jewish religion — and, unfortunately, Satan. Participation in Kabbalah rituals had people believing that Jews held magical powers from making a deal with the devil, and in the s, Jews in Hungary were required to wear this specific hat style to signify their religion.
Somehow, despite the fact that the Quakers of the mids to s didn't wear pointed hats, the style is still strongly associated with the group as well. Puritans in America believed the Quakers were magic practitioners who danced with the devil during the nighttime hours, and their hats, which were black and included wide brims, were part of the controversy.
In medieval Europe, women who brewed beer at home also had the reputation of being witches. These "alewives" were suspected of being herbalists, which was associated with magic at that time, but more importantly, they wore hats similar to the classic witch hat.
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