American Toby Jug Museum 

Witch character jug prototype modeled by William K. Harper and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, in 2000. A witch is a person alleged to have received supernatural powers from evil spirits, generally to harm people or to damage their property. From earliest times, people in all parts of the world have believed in witches. According to some scholars, more than half the people in the world today think witches can influence their lives. Witchcraft as practiced in countries with European tradition and culture is anti-Christian and involves an association with the devil. People believe a witch can bring harm to her victims by using various methods. Spells include meditation, burning candles, chanting or reciting incantations, performing physical rituals and making herbal preparations. Persecution of witches dates back many centuries. In 1431, the French national heroine, Joan of Arc, was tried as a witch and burned at the stake by the English. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, an almost hysterical fear of witchcraft swept through Europe, during which time thousands were tried and executed as witches. American colonists brought the belief in witchcraft from England. The most famous witch-hunt in American history occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, when twenty persons were executed as witches. Part of the witch's broomstick and black cat form the handle of the jug.