Naked and bound hand and foot, she is lowered into the cold water. If she sinks, she is innocent and will be hauled out again. But if she floats, she’s a witch.
Several learned men, as well as the Catholic Church, repudiate this rough practice, but the popular trial by water is very popular among the common people and is still carried out in parts of Europe. Trial by water is one of a number of methods recommended by certain experts in witchcraft and sorcery as a means to assess someone’s guilt. Being a witch is an invisible offence after all, and thus requires a more radical approach than ordinary trial procedures.
In Holland, the courts have taken to weighing the accused. If they weigh less than expected for a human being, it’s a sure sign of witchcraft.
The Devil also leaves his mark on those who enter into that unholy pact. In England and Scotland, professional witch prickers specialize in finding these devil’s marks on the bodies of the suspects. They prick them with a pin. If no blood flows from the punctured skin, the Devil has taken hold of the marked person.