The Devil's mark, often confused with the related witch's mark, was a spot on the body that early modern demonologists and witch-hunters claimed the Devil left on his followers to seal their pact. Believed to be insensitive to pain and unable to bleed, it was searched for during witch trials in Europe and colonial America, often with cruel and fraudulent methods.
Devil's mark at a glance
| Also called | Witch's mark (related), sigillum diaboli |
|---|---|
| Period | Chiefly the 16th and 17th centuries |
| Regions | Europe, especially Scotland and England; colonial New England |
| Supposed traits | Insensitive to pain, did not bleed when pricked |
| Detection method | Bodily search and "pricking" with needles or bodkins |
| Modern view | Ordinary skin blemishes; tests considered unreliable and abusive |
Definition and related terms
In the theory of witchcraft developed by learned demonologists, a witch entered into a pact with the Devil. The Devil's mark was the physical sign of that pact, said to be impressed by Satan's claw, teeth or touch. It could be any blemish: a scar, a mole, a birthmark or a patch of discolored skin. Some writers claimed the mark had a particular shape, such as a hare's foot or a toad.
English sources often speak instead of the witch's mark or "witch's teat," a supposed extra nipple by which familiar spirits were fed. Historians generally treat the two as distinct ideas that overlapped in practice: the Devil's mark was prominent in continental and Scottish demonology, while the familiar-feeding teat was especially characteristic of English trials.
Role in the witch trials
Because pacts with the Devil were secret, courts looked for physical proof. A mark on the body offered what seemed like tangible evidence, and in several jurisdictions suspects were stripped, shaved and examined, sometimes by midwives or by specialist searchers. Finding a mark did not by itself guarantee conviction everywhere, but it could strongly influence judges and juries, and it was frequently combined with confessions extracted under pressure.
The idea spread through printed demonologies. English theologian William Perkins, for example, discussed the Devil's mark in his treatise on witchcraft published in 1608, and similar views appear in many continental works. Belief in the mark was bound up with the wider imagery of the witches' sabbath and of inverted rites such as the Black Mass.
Witch pricking
Since the mark was believed to be insensitive and bloodless, examiners tested suspicious spots by driving a needle or bodkin into them. This practice, called "pricking," was especially notorious in Scotland, where professional prickers were paid to find marks, and in England during the Civil War era witch-hunt associated with Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne in the 1640s.
Contemporary critics and later historians have documented abuses. Some prickers were exposed as frauds, and it has been suggested that retractable or blunt instruments may have been used to make a spot appear insensitive. Exhaustion, fear and repeated pricking could also make results meaningless. Several prickers were eventually discredited or prosecuted themselves.
Skepticism and decline
Doubts were voiced even at the height of the trials. Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) attacked the credulity of witch-hunters, and physicians increasingly pointed out that moles, warts and scars are common on ordinary bodies. As legal standards of evidence tightened and elite belief in diabolical witchcraft waned in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, searches for the Devil's mark disappeared from the courts.
Modern historians view the mark as a product of a particular theological and legal system rather than a real phenomenon. Its history illustrates how an idea accepted by educated authorities could turn natural features of the body into deadly evidence.
Related folklore and protective marks
The Devil's mark should not be confused with apotropaic or "witch marks" carved by ordinary people on buildings, such as ritual symbols scratched near doors, windows and fireplaces in early modern houses and churches. These were meant to keep evil out rather than to identify a witch, and many have been recorded in surveys of historic buildings in Britain. For such traditions see our guide to protection symbols.
Related entries include curses, the Islamic figure of Iblis and the biblical demon Belial, which together show how different cultures imagined evil and protection against it.
Scale of the witch trials
The search for the Devil's mark took place within the wider European witch-hunts of roughly 1450 to 1750. Historians estimate that tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft in this period, most of them women, although men made up a large share of the accused in some regions. Intensity varied greatly: parts of the Holy Roman Empire, Switzerland and Scotland saw severe persecutions, while other areas had few trials.
Bodily searches were only one element of the process. Accusations often grew out of local quarrels, misfortune, illness or the death of livestock, and the learned theory of the diabolical pact gave these conflicts a legal form. The mark became notorious because it turned the suspect's own body into evidence.
Related entries
On The Mystica today: Protection symbols · The Devil tarot card
Frequently asked questions
What did the Devil's mark look like?
Witch-hunters had no fixed description. Almost any blemish could qualify, including moles, scars, birthmarks, warts or patches of discolored skin, especially in hidden places. Some demonologists said the mark resembled an animal's paw or a small creature. Its supposed key feature was that it felt no pain and did not bleed when pricked.
What is the difference between a witch's mark and a Devil's mark?
The Devil's mark was believed to be a brand left by the Devil to seal a pact. The witch's mark, particularly in England, was usually described as an extra teat used to feed familiar spirits. In practice trial records often blurred the two, and both were searched for on suspects' bodies.
What was witch pricking?
Witch pricking was the practice of stabbing a suspected mark with a needle or bodkin to see whether it bled or caused pain. It was common in Scotland and during the English witch-hunt of the 1640s. The method was unreliable and open to fraud, and several professional prickers were later discredited.
Sources and further reading
- Witch's mark · Wikipedia
- Brian P. Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (1987) · Longman
- Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) · Book
This entry replaces an article from the original Mystica encyclopedia (online since 2001). It was rewritten from the sources above by The Mystica Editorial Team under our editorial standards. Last reviewed: September 30, 2026.