History Of Witchcraft In Barbados

History of Witchcraft in Barbados


Every island probably has it own share of terror stories that are passed on generations to generations through the wagging tongues of individuals who have an uncanny flair of recounting tales. True or not, whether met with skepticism or unwavering belief, the exotic and magnificent island of Barbados has its own sinister and creepy stories to tell. In fact the origins of Wicca can be easily traced back to that of the history of witchcraft in Barbados.

Story has it that a certain pastor by the name of Samuel Parris have a slaved named Tituba who is a native of Barbados accused responsible for the convulsions and fits of sobbing of young girls in Salem as she recounted the horrific tales of the colorful history of witchcraft in Barbados. As she were telling the story, the girls, who were the daughter and niece of Parris were said to have grown disturbingly distressed which made a lot of people believe she was actually responsible for their conditions. There were a number of episodes of hysteria and trance-like state coupled with high fever. Parris secretly contacted a physician to check on the conditions of the girls but later found out that there's nothing really wrong with them. Soon enough the word leaked out and the people of Salem pressured the two girls to divulge the reason of their distress. Apparently, the girls named three witches who were directly responsible, one of which was Tituba, another was a peasant named Sarah Good and another personality who was dragged into the controversy was Sara Osborne, who often failed to attend church.

Soon other girls were also acting strangely and were immediately assumed to be victims of witchcraft. This definitely created uproar and hysteria all across the town and later led to the fateful execution of Tituba along with the two other women on the now infamous Salem Village. Looking back, with the knowledge of today one can simply assume that the girls were not afflicted with any form of witchcraft but were clearly suffering from what is known to be called "clinical hysteria'.

In the history of witchcraft in Barbados, Tituba was the very first openly but wrongfully accused of being a witch and harshly died at the hands of people who also suffered from sheer ignorance at that time. Soon enough, Tituba was labeled as the Reluctant With from Barbados. Way back in 1661, a great number of Africans were shipped to Barbados where they were used as slaves- Tituba was one of them.