Tituba and John Indian were married servants in the Parris household. They both served Samuel Parris in Barbados and in Salem. Tituba was fully involved in the witchcraft hysteria. When Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, and other young girls started complaining about witches causing them great pain, one of their aunts went to Tituba for help. Her and John Indian made a witch cake to break the spells. The witch cake was an English recipe of meal and the girls’ urine. The cake was fed to the dog and the spell was broken. When the spell was broken, the girls’ tormentors were revealed. One of the witches named by the girls was Tituba.

After being accused, Tituba confessed to being a witch. According to her, the Devil appeared to her in different forms (a man, a hog, a dog, and rats) and wanted her to harm the children, which she refused to do. When in human form the Devil was a tall man in black with white hair. He claimed he was God and she had to serve him for six years. He also had a book that the witches signed with blood. Tituba saw nine marks from different witches in the book. She also claimed that she went to witches meetings with other members of the community. Two of those witches were Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, both women did not regularly attend church and people generally disliked the two. After her confession and accusations, it made the community believe instead of being isolated events they had a group of witches.  

By: Jessica McKenzie 

Credits and Sources:

Games, Alison.Witchcraft in Early North America.New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010.

Hansen, Chadwick. Witchcraft at Salem.New York, NY: G. Braziller, 1969.  

Rapley, Robert.Witch Hunts: From Salem to Guantanamo Bay.Canadian Electronic Library: McGill-Queen’s Press, 2007.