SOURCE: "Mutations of the Supernatural: Witchcraft, Remarkable Providences, and the Power of Puritan Men," American Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 2, Summer, 1982, pp. 125–48.

In the following excerpt, Kibbey explores how the concept of maleficia, or harm-doing by occult means, influenced the social roles of adult males and played a central role in the Salem prosecutions.

On April 19, 1692, Mary Warren appeared before the court convened to try suspected witches at Salem. Having testified initially as a victim of witchcraft, the twenty-year-old woman now stood accused of it herself. After altering her plea several times over a period of several weeks, she finally confessed she had signed the "Devil's Book." Strangely, this yielding to Satan did not damage Warren's credibility as a star witness for the court. Self-confessed witch though she was, the court continued to take depositions from her and she continued to be "afflicted," paradoxically performing the legal roles of accuser...