 The idea that witches gained their powers through a pact with the Devil provided a satisfactory explanation, and allowed authorities to develop a mythology through which they could project accusations of crimes formerly associated with various heretical sects (incestuous orgies, cannibalism, ritual infanticide, and the worship of demonic familiars) onto the newly emerging threat of diabolical witchcraft.This pact and the ceremony that accompanied it became widely known as the witches' sabbath.By 1300, the elements were in place for a witch hunt, and for the next century and a half, fear of witches spread gradually throughout Europe.