Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Witches flew out of a Split Rock

Here is a very interesting quote:

"Like the devil, witches liked to hang out around large rocks for their meetings. The famous Witch Rock in Rochester got its name because the local Indians would not go near it for fear of the witches that supposedly flew out of a large split in its surface".  

[Emphasis added] From "Weird Massachusetts" by Jeff Belanger (here). Found here in the section on "Witches and Wizards". 

Now that I go look for it, it appears the town of Rochester MA includes these particulars about witches and split rocks in its Histories.

How about this:

"The Indians believe the spirit of the witch lives inside the rock, and during a full moon, one could hear the cackling and screaming of the witch emanating from the rock." 

From here. Who knew? All these years we have been wondering about split rocks.Turns out you just needed to search on the phrase "Witch Rock"!

2 comments :

JimP said...

There was this from seven years ago.

http://massachuset.blogspot.com/2008/04/split-boulders.html

pwax said...

You were promoting the idea that splits are places of offering. The word "witches" is significant to me, and the hint of a split as a place of evil. I continue to see wedges as something different from offerings.