| “ | Imagine my surprise to find that, of all the Hives that survive, it is weak-blooded Essex Witches who have done the undoable. Complete our Grand Rite. | ” |
— Countess Von Marburg
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The Essex Hive is the hive of witches at the center of the events narrated in Salem. Allied with the Dark Lord, they managed to complete the Grand Rite with unsettling results. However, after his arrival on earth and the shocking revelation that he did not at all care about any of his witches, the Essex Hive rebelled against him by ostensibly returning to their former earth-based pagan practices and powers that stemmed from the earth itself before making the ultimate sacrifice to help Mary Sibley in permanently destroying his earthly vessel.
Description[]
The Essex Witches are a coven of endangered witches who are the first Hive in history to complete the dreadful Grand Rite. The Essex witches were originally pagans who went back hundreds, possibly thousands of years in their beliefs ended up being murdered in Europe during the brutal witch-hunts, particularly in Britain. They made a pact with the Devil in exchange for more power to fight against the same enemies. They are commonly considered unclean and uncivilised by more sophisticated covens. Since the Essex Witches fled Europe to the New World, they have made Salem, Massachusetts their new home and haven. The survivors took refuge in a stronghold created in the subsoil of the Salem woods and claim to be hundreds of years old and, according to Tituba, they belong to the ancient order of the true witches. Old World hives perished at the hands of the witch hunters or due to feuds between rival hives, Essex Hive thrived creeping like a snake within the puritanical society of the small town of Salem.
The Hags[]
- Main article: The Hags
The Hags were an elderly group of witches who served as the Elders of the Essex Hive. Unlike the Widdershins, the Hags that serve as Elders often leave the stronghold to communicate in the woods with witches who live hidden in plain sight in the town.
Widdershins[]
- Main article: Widdershins
The Widdershins are the most mysterious figures of Essex Hive, at least a thousand years old, and at the head of the entire hive allocated in Salem. These refugees live in a web of underground tunnels and are those who have managed the steps of the Great Rite by manipulating New World witches created and brought up with the express purpose of freeing the Devil. A small group of elder witches work as an intermediary between Widdershins and witches settled among ordinary citizens in town.
Throughout the Salem Series[]
- To Be Added!
Memorable Quotes[]
- Countess Von Marburg: "I will admit you're impressive for a common Essex witch."
- Mary Sibley: "Has our hive not survived when so many others have perished?"
- Countess Von Marburg: "Yes. But your strength is also your weakness. You are, as you said, a hive filled with lovely, little bees, but no true queen. You are in reality mere sister drones, little, meek equals whose power is shared. Why? You're like the foot of a pyramid. But you will make a fine and mighty base for one more naturally designed to rule."
- — The Wine Dark Sea
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- Widdershin (to Mary Sibley): "We have served Him for a thousand years. And we are the ones who prepared the ground. Now, even if it is Von Marburg who raises our Dark Lord, we will claim our reward."
- — Midnight Never Come
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- Dark Lord: "What tribe of witches is so exalted that they will not bend the knee before me? "
- Good Mother: "The Essex witches, my Lord. It is we Essex who brought you forth to walk the earth again."
- — After the Fall
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Essex Hive is considered formed by outcasts and weak-blooded witches, yet throughout the series witches of this hive have demonstrated great powers and have done the unreachable to even ancient hives from the old lands, completing the Grand Rite.
- It is possible that these judgments were a biased vision towards the New World witches, a prejudice against the settlers that Europeans showed. Or maybe the ancient European hives were actually more powerful, but were then destroyed and therefore their true power remains unknown.
- The Essex Hive was a pagan tribe that worshiped nature similarly to shamans. They revered the Earth, referring to its divinity as "she" or "her".[1] Among witches, their practices were well-known for association with trees and earth.
- The Essex Hive is native of Essex County, England.
- At San Diego Comic Con 2016, Adam Simon revealed that season three will cope with the explanation of Essex Hive origins and how they got involved with the Devil to face a common threat.
References[]
See Also[]
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