O/T Ergot

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Ergot

Rev. Steve Hulford

ERGOT.... 'Claviceps purpurea`, a fungus that affects cereals,

especially RYE. It is a toxic alkaloid that causes convulsions and

hallucinations.

It is believed to be the cause of the illnesses `St. Vitus Dance'

and `St. 's Fire'. And as we shall see `Bewitchment'.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Essex was a main growing

area for Rye, as was Salem, and the parts of Europe where witch

hunts were most prevalent.

Witch hunts were rare in places that did not grow rye as a staple

food. In Ireland where oats were the main grain, there were only

four witchcraft trials. While in Scotland, the trials were most

common in areas where rye was grown, while in the Highlands they

were absent.

This pattern seems to appear throughout England and Europe, as well

as Salem, where `Bewitchment' only appeared in the parts of the town

that relied on rye for their bread.

Ergot thrives in a cool, wet growing and harvesting season and even

today small amounts of ergot are to be found in rye crops. And where

records are available, it seems that the worst witch hunts occurred,

following these weather conditions.

In 1943, in Switzerland, Prof. Albert Hoffman was working with

extracts of ergot, when he spilt some on his skin, causing

hallucinations. This led to him developing something more well

known....LSD.

In 1976, Prof. Linnda Caporael realised the similarities between the

details of bewitchment at Salem and the symptoms of a bad acid trip.

This caused her to do more research and she not only found that rye

was the staple diet for the parts of Salem affected but the weather

conditions were ideal for ergot.

Following up on this research, Prof. Matossian, studied seven

centuries of demographics, weather, literature and crop records.

She points out that throughout history, drops in population have

followed diets of rye bread and damp weather.

During the early years of the Black Death 1348 on, conditions were

ideal for ergot.

Many symptoms of ergotism and plague are similar. The worst plagues

occurred where ergot suppressed the immune system. Records of deaths

show large regional variations, possibly showing areas of rye

farming.

In August 1951 (only 50 years ago), `Pont St. Esprit' a small town

in France, was struck by ergot poisoning, following a local bakery

selling rye bread contaminated with ergot. Four people died, and a

large number suffered `possession' or `bewitchment'

The bakery was actually believed to be possessed by the Devil and

was exorcised by the local bishop.

Witnesses still alive today recall the symptoms.....

Thousands of pin pricks on the skin / insects crawling under the skin

Seeing all sorts of wild or deformed animals

Visions of fire and blood running down the walls

Violent convulsions

etc

Ergot poisoning also affected animals, causing sickness and death. A

good example and comparison of cases is this....

France 1951.

A dog was fed small scraps of rye bread. He soon started running

round in circles, gnawing on rocks so hard that he broke his teeth,

and finally dying.

Salem 1693.

Tituba and her husband Indian were asked to bake a witch cake -

made of rye soaked in the accused's urine - which was then fed to a

dog. The dog became bewitched and died, thus proving the guilt of

the accused.