Ergot and salem witch trials

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Email required Address never made public. Name required. Follow Following. Salem Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. It is also found in Ololiqui which is a ritual hallucinogenic drug the Aztecs used Linnda [2]. Ergot infestation favors and prevails in conditions that are continuously moist during both stages of the disease cycle. Also, warm, damp areas contribute to the chance of ergot infestation on crops, in particularly rye.

Since the people in Salem relied heavily on rye as their staple crop and it was often stored in barns after it was harvested, the stored rye fits the timing of the events and is thought to be infected and the cause of the whole situation.

Also, since several of the initially afflicted girls lived in Putnam; a residence big on farmland, their exposure was seen as natural. As for the other girls, Putnam was a big distributor of rye and therefore, they could have been infected by the rye they got from Putnam.

Both the growing conditions and timing for ergot fit with the events occurring in Salem at the time. This fits with the timeline, with the first examples of strange behavior coming from girls in the town, preceding a more general malaise. However, the town doctor was not aware of the existence of the disease named ergotism, and instead made a diagnosis based on his religious beliefs. So, he concluded that the symptoms shown by the young girls were because they had been targeted by witchcraft.

It is possible that the girls themselves, unable to explain their symptoms, believed the same. The Salem witch trials finally came to an end in May This sudden resumption of normal behavior was not because the witches were driven out. Instead, it was because the ergot-contaminated grain had been exhausted by this point. The Salem witch trial stills remain a topic of much debate among people.

A number of social psychologists suggest that the behavior of young girls could be due to the political and social unrest in the area.

However for a change so sudden and so widespread to affect only a single community requires a more tangible explanation. Unfortunately, it will probably remain unknown what happened in the Salem witch trials. The hallucinogens that might have sparked the Salem witch trials. Bipin Dimri is a writer from India with an educational background in Management Studies. He has written for 8 years in a variety of fields including history, health and politics. This website uses cookies to improve your experience.

We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More. History Unexplained Mysteries. Its victims can appear bewitched when they're actually stoned. Ergot thrives in a cold winter followed by a wet spring. The victims of ergot might suffer paranoia and hallucinations, twitches and spasms, cardiovascular trouble, and stillborn children. Ergot also seriously weakens the immune system. Now Mary Matossian tells a story about rye ergot that reaches far beyond Salem.

She studies seven centuries of demographics, weather, literature, and crop records from Europe and America. Down through history, Matossian argues, drops in population have followed diets heavy in rye bread and weather that favors ergot. During the huge depopulation in the early years of the Black Death, right after , conditions were ideal for ergot. Many symptoms of ergot poisoning and the plague are similar.

They probably coexisted.