The Ultimate Witches Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
The Ultimate Witches Quiz
Image: Carol Yepes/Moment/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Grab your broomsticks and black cats because it's time for the Ultimate Witches Quiz! Find out the hocus pocus behind the Salem witch trials, witches today and other magical facts.
The word "pagan" comes from the Latin "pagini," which means what?
evil
home dweller
flying object
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The connotations of "pagan" didn't start off negatively. In fact, the word comes from the Latin word meaning "home dweller" or "country person."

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During the Salem witch trials in 1692, the two girls who accused women of practicing witchcraft may have suffered from what condition?
epilepsy
Tourette's syndrome
clinical hysteria
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The two girls who blamed their convulsions and painful sensations of being pinched and bitten on witchcraft may have suffered from clinical hysteria. Twenty people were executed as a result of their claims.

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The Malleus Maleficarum, published during the Roman Inquisition, established what long-standing stereotype about witches?
Witches are predominantly women.
Black cats accompany witches.
Witches wear pointy hats.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, the authors of the Malleus Maleficarum, outlined witchcraft as devised by females. They claimed that women are, by nature, more susceptible to the influence of evil spirits.

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How long did witch hunts last in Europe?
50 years
150 years
300 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Middle Ages weren't a good time for witches in Europe. Witch hunts lasted in Europe and European colonies from the 1450s to the 1750s.

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What does a witch's broomstick symbolize?
fertility
death
protection
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The broomstick connection, which began during the Renaissance, is most closely associated with fertility. Women used brooms to clean the house, and some cultures included broomsticks in rituals to promote fertility and bountiful harvests.

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The Wiccan religion, which draws on ancient pagan beliefs and rituals, was created where?
United States
Britain
Ireland
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Wicca, a modern pagan religion that worships the Earth and nature, was established in Britain in the 1940s and '50s by Gerald Gardner, who defined witchcraft as a positive and life-affirming religion. The central Wiccan theme is, "If it does no harm, do your own will."

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Why are black cats associated with witches?
Ancient Celts sacrificed black cats during Samhain.
Old women often kept cats around the home for company.
The cats' dark color was connoted with evil during the Inquisition.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In ancient Egypt, cats were originally worshipped as divine, but during the Inquisition, their ominous black fur became associated with witchcraft. According to some folklore, witches can turn themselves into black cats.

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The magic of modern witchcraft is technically referred to as what?
magick
sorcery
hexing
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Modern witches refer to their craft as magick, to differentiate it from magicians' illusion work.

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What is a male witch called?
warlock
wizard
witch
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Male witches are still called witches, as opposed to warlocks. The term "warlock" is actually an insult meaning "oath breaker" in reference to people who identified fellow witches during the medieval witch hunts.

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If Wiccans perform magick intended to harm someone else, what will supposedly happen?
The devil will visit them.
Their evil magick will return to them threefold.
They'll be banned from the coven.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Since Wiccans are taught to do no harm, ill-intended magick will be returned to them threefold. Wiccan magick is intended for personal change only.

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You Got:
/10
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