The Witch's Hat

Disclaimer

This is NOT a page about Wiccans or neo-pagans, and I do not advocate the belief that Wiccans are Satan-worshippers and/or baby-killers. I am well aware that they are not. This is a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD. And please, don't ask me for spells.

The Witch's Hat

The sterotypical images of a witch is that of an ugly, old hag wearing a tall, black, pointed hat with a broad rim. There are different theories as to the origin of this sterotype, none of them certain. Most likely, the hat is a fairly modern artist's creation. In medieval woodcuts, witches are shown wearing various costumes of the times, including headscarves and hats of different fashions. Many are shown bareheaded, with locks flying in the wind.

It is possible that the witch's hat is an exaggeration of the tall, conical "dunce's hat" that was popular in the royal courts of the 15^th century or the tall but blunt-topped hats worn by Puritans and the Welsh. No matter what the fashion, pointed hats were frowned upon by the Church, which associated points with the horns of the devil.

Brimless, conical hats have long been associated with male wizards and magicians. Goya painted witches with such hats. It is possible that an artist, somewhere along the way, added a brim to make the hats more appropriate for women. One theory holds that the sterotypical witch's hat came into being in Victorian times or around the turn of the century, in illustrations of children's fairy tales. The tall, black, conical hat and the ugly crone became readily identifiable symbols of wickedness, to be feared by children.

According to another theory, the witch's hat may go back to antiquity. Ancient Etruscan coins from the city of Luna have a head on one side which may be the goddess Diana, who is associated with witches. The head wears a brimless, conical hat.

In addition, medieval Jews were made to wear conical hats. Jewish people were rumoured to hold blasphemous Sabbaths paralleling the Sabbats of witches. Perhaps the hat and its connotations of sin and depravity were transferred over to the stereotypical depiction of the witch (Guiley 1989 388).

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The Witch's Hat is copyright 1997-1998 to Shantell Powell.