This was the choice facing those accused of witchcraft in the village of Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. They were the victims of (a)   about the supernatural.

They were also victims of misdirected religious (a)   .

Additionally, they were victims of a justice system that valued (a)   over truth.

Even though he found nothing physically wrong with the girls, a doctor (a)   the girls as under “an evil hand.”

Puritans believed that the Devil wreaked (a)   in the world through human agents.

Puritans believed that witches blighted nature and conjured fiendish (a)   .

Puritans believed that witches (a)   children.

Accounts describe 12 so-called “ (a)   ” girls contorting their bodies, having fits, and complaining of prickling skin.

Sarah Good’s 4-year-old daughter was imprisoned and eventually gave (a)   against her mother.

As (a)   multiplied, others, like Tituba, made false confessions to save themselves.

The court accepted all kinds of (a)   evidence.

The court accepted all kinds of dubious evidence, including so-called “spectral evidence” in which the girls began (a)   when supposedly touched by invisible ghosts.

Complicating matters further, many of the jurors in the trials were relatives of the accusers, compromising their (a)   .

By the spring of 1693, over a hundred people had been imprisoned, and 14 women and six men had been (a)   .

Some have (a)   that the girls were suffering from hallucinations caused by fungus; or a condition that caused swelling of the brain. But ultimately, the reason for their behavior is unknown.

Today, the Salem Witch Trials remain a (a)   .

Today, the Salem Witch Trials remain a cautionary tale of the dangers of (a)   .

Today, the Salem Witch Trials remain a cautionary tale of the dangers of groupthink and (a)   .

Today, the Salem Witch Trials remain a cautionary tale of the dangers of groupthink and scapegoating, and the power of fear to (a)   human perception.