It is commonly asserted that people were hanged at Salem on
charges of spectral
appearance; and the way to avoid hanging was to confess. Non-spectral
acts of witchcraft are regarded
as inconsequential to the outcome of the trials. Yet it was the
non-spectral acts which provided the one
magnet that attracted attention from the court. No one charged only
with spectral appearance was even
tried. The reprieves granted to confessors were the last decisions the
court was allowed to make. This
profile provides evidence that the standard claims about the court of
oyer and terminer's use of evidence
are the reverse of what actually happened, and highlights a number of
patterns that have gone unremarked, requiring fresh interpretations.