| “ | This is not a witch hunt... it's a reckoning. | ” |
— A common saying amongst Vera witches
| ||
Witch hunts or witch trials are events in which witches are hunted down, put through trial and often murdered by townspeople. The process of execution is usually hanging, drowning or being burned alive at the stake.
This kind of persecution in Salem was the reason for Celeste to create special protectors for witches.[1]
Metaphor[]
Witch hunt can also be used figuratively to refer to an investigation usually done with much publicity that's accused of hysteria and seeking to purge undesirable elements from society.[2]
Cameron Russo believed that the accusations of sexual harassment against Professor Warner Thaine (in reality, the immortal demon Taydeus) to be a hysterical hunt with no evidence.[3] Members of the Vera family, ironically a coven of witches themselves, often dismiss this accusation, instead claiming that they're making wrongdoers face the full consequences of their misdeeds.
Trivia[]
- The use of this term by Charmed is part of its themes of intersectional feminism.
- Mel's claims that "strong women were accused of witchcraft" has historical basis as historical witch hunters did not believe it possible for women to be successful healers without supernatural or demonic aid.